Omg... I am really getting discouraged with TESC customer support... Am I alone?

[andrewtn]

I just find it very odd. Every email I've ever sent to TESC has been responded to within 24 hours. Even as an applicant when they wouldn't answer specific questions, they said they wouldn't within 24 hours.

It doesn't make sense why some people have problems communicating with TESC and others do not.

I'm enrolled and when I email then it opens a ticket and the ticket is always responded to within one business day.

[cypster]

It's been said numerous times, sanantone even started a thread about it...

If you need to communicate with TESC do it through e-mail. For whatever reasons the people answering phones are uninformed, but if you email the registrar you will get your questions answered within 24 hours.


I can only imagine how many phone calls TESC gets daily from people who aren't enrolled students and are only "kicking tires".

Hmmm... This post is a bit disappointing for a newbie to read in this forum to be honest...
1. Although Sanatone may well have posted a thread about this previously, I unfortunately may have missed it or even forgotten about it... yep kinda human here still... I certainly appreciate Sanantone's patient repetition of who to contact and how. I have found all of his posts quite helpful...
2. The college's method of listing the required courses for their majors is understandably somewhat vague to leave room for flexibility, since students are welcome to obtain these credits elsewhere. An unfortunate consequence of this is that prospective students as well as current students in some cases are left with many questions of whether or not a particular course will satisfy a particular requirement and many require assistance. Some of us would even be willing to pay for said assistance if it were available at a reasonable cost and for this reason (among others) your comparison of "kicking tires" is rather offensive. Many of us have paid for the vaguely described "academic evaluation" only to find said evaluation "incomplete" because several questions in this plan remain unanswered and when we turn seeking help we have sometimes been met by less than professional or sympathetic voices delivering canned replies and informing us that the only way we can receive additional assistance would be for us to pay an additional enrollment fee!

Had I been told that my academic evaluation would be incomplete and that I would have enroll for additional answers to course compatibility questions, play Russian Roulette with phone and email advisors, or dig through a forum for days, weeks, or months, I may have been a bit more cautious about jumping forward with the initial application. Remember this, for some of us TESC is the first online school we are attending, the question of course compatibility is but one element of the hurdles that we must surmount before taking the plunge and enrolling in an assessment college. Many like myself are wise and careful planners, we evaluate the college and its credibility before carelessly throwing what for some is "hard earned cash" on the table. If this is "kicking the tires" then I hope that the school can quickly build stronger and better tires that can withstand at least the force of impact delivered by an investigative kick....

I don't ask for you to be patient with me as a newbie, I only wish that you would refrain from following several of my posts as you have today and expressing what appears to be annoyance at the fact that newbs ask questions that may likely have been asked before or that we may well seek an understanding in wrong places for things in wrong places at times. Things which you possibly feel that you have now learned (possibly after being taught by others no less)...

[OfficerA]

Out of curiosity, what kind of complex questions are y'all asking TESC that you cannot get answered??

The questions I had were:

a) If my CCAF degree (which was pending validation at the time) would cause issues if I were to order it (doesn't matter now)
b) If I could have her verify which of my courses at my current school could transfer over (doesn't matter so much now)
c) General question about certificates, and if CLEPs/DSSTs applied to them
d) If TECEP can be covered by the military

Zero replies, and this was back in the beginning of December last year. The only communications I've had with them lately are ones confirming that my transcripts are at least being received, but these are all automated.

Edit: I should add that this was through their military-specific email, so it shouldn't be a reflection for all of TESC. That said, while the initial contact was informative and fantastic, the follow up has been terrible/non-existent.

[JBtesc]

I


I can only imagine how many phone calls TESC gets daily from people who aren't enrolled students and are only "kicking tires".

Yeah, that's no excuse lol. Cost of doing business my friend. I've called a number of schools to "kick the tires" and have even made calls for reluctant friends and young relatives.

[JBtesc]

It was hit or miss with me too.... depending on who answered... But once you enroll your a considered a TESC movie star

You're going to have to tell me who at TESC treated you as a "movie star" lol because that has not been my experience... at all.

[ironheadjack]

Yeah, that's no excuse lol. Cost of doing business my friend. I've called a number of schools to "kick the tires" and have even made calls for reluctant friends and young relatives.

BINGO! It is a business. Priority goes to the student giving them $3000+, the person who pays $75 for an evaluation is less of a priority.

[JBtesc]

BINGO! It is a business. Priority goes to the student giving them $3000+, the person who pays $75 for an evaluation is less of a priority.

$5k+ ... still persona non grata over there. lol

[ironheadjack]

I honestly don't understand how some people get great service and others not so much. At first I thought maybe they knew I was from "Joisey" so I got special treatment but JB you're from NJ and get bad service.

I don't get it.......

[corpsole2]

Cypster, I understand the whole idea of being careful. I had TESC on my radar screen for several years before I took the plunge. I debated between choosing them or Excelsior College. I read all I could about the college and the credit options open to me. I became a bit of an expert in the college and it's inner workings in the process. That's what you might have to do.

There were times when I was on the phone with someone at the Learner Support Center who might not know a technical question like which FEMA course would be accepted, so I'd often do my homework beforehand and was able to often educate them or they put me in touch with someone who knew the answer I needed confirmed.

I can not tell you how many times I called the college before I ever enrolled asking questions about such and such a course and whether it would fit into the degree program. I "kicked the tires" many times, and I'm sure I might have irked some in the process. But I figured that since they have over 14,000 students right now, they would be a bit overwhelmed.

BTW, which DSST was it that you needed for General Education?

[sanantone]

For the few times I've had to deal with them after graduating, I've been receiving decent service through email. Maybe graduates are special. :p