I enrolled in the William Brewster TESOL Institute Indonesia location’s 200 Hour TESOL course over one week ago. This school's Director is Ernest "Trey" Woodward citing an impressive list of experience, but no listed formal educational credentials. My research also shows he is Director of the American Language Institute in Indonesia as well as founder of the International Conservation Society reported to be a non-profit NGO. He also advertises franchises at a discounted price. They do not accept Major credit cards (should have been a red flag), so I had to go through the procedure of their designated online payment acceptor PayPay. The tuition was quickly deducted from my checking account and Module I of 10 was immediately sent, including a HELP link.
I quickly determined the HELP link was no good. Over 48 hours ago I finished Module I and immediately attempted to submit it for grading at least 9 TIMES in over 48 hours! Each time Yahoo rejected saying the "Mail Quota was exceeded". I searched their website for a phone number in Indonesia and found none. I did find an alternate E-mail link which I was able to send my materials. It was not rejected, but no response was ever received. I also sent a message VIA their website contact page and it appears it was not rejected, but no responses.
I always try to give people the benefit of the doubt since there can always be an accident, natural disaster, technical problem, etc., but the circumstantial evidence against Brewster-Indonesia does not look good. The alternate E-mail link works; therefore it is not a tech problem. The HELP link does not work and furthermore there must be many unread messages to generate a "Mailbox quota filled" message. On the surface the outline of the Course looks like a good value for the money ($103.99 USD) compared to schools costing $300- 500 USD and up for less hours. However what is the value when you can not get your questions submitted much less graded in a timely manner?
Module I has some good material, but it is grades a "C-" at best in my opinion and does not necessarily contain all the information to answer the questions. If I did not have a personal library of books or do independent research online, I would not have been able to answer all the questions properly. This 200 Hour TESOL Course almost appears to be a "Draft" and not a polished lesson one would hope for. I made my living writing Federal Grant proposals, policy and procedure manuals, organizational plans, operational plans, training and other reports for a State Police agency. I believe I am an excellent judge of professional vs. unprofessional. Of course, there are no text books, CD's, etc and, in all fairness, at this price I did not expect this. I intend to take any course seriously to LEARN and not just get a certificate, but at this rate I would never have been able to learn anything or receive a certificate in a timely manner.
Therefore today I enrolled in a more expensive, but apparently more professional and internationally recognized school in my home state Americantesol.com. Their curriculum appears to be professional, internationally recognized, modern international text books, e-mail lessons, online tutors and maybe most important a toll-free phone number (I verified) you can actually talk to a live person who is responsive. As I am writing this, I have received from Americantesol.com my log-in information, access to all my lessons and questions and verification of shipment of printed or recorded materials. UPS or FedEx will ship the books and CD's by early next week.
I have several excellent prospects for potential employers in China that require completing a TESOL course and have no time for any delays or incompetence. Americantesol.com has links to China, as well as other countries, recognized to make it easier to get a PRC "Foreign Expert" certification.
Today I began proceedings to get a refund on my tuition through Brewster and PayPay. If need be will contact the appropriate USA State and Federal agencies responsible for consumer fraud to seek remedies.
The William Brewster TESOL Institute in Indonesia is "Bush league" at best and a total waste of time and money. I can not accuse them of fraud (still can not get a message to them demanding my refund!), but the “Juryâ€