Review summary

Open Colleges has mixed reviews from customers. Customers particularly appreciate service and professional, though some mention concerns about communication and customer service.

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I completed my Certificate in Nail…

I completed my Certificate in Nail Technology and had a mixed experience. The staff are AMAZING and always offer great support. Ellena, the course instructor offers excellent insight and advice around the realities of being a working Nail Technician. My issues are with the platform itself and the out of date education being provided (which is NOT the fault of Open Colleges) and the lack of emphasis of WHERE nail products are manufactured for higher safety. For example: 1. Having to upload a 8-10 minute recording, in mp4 format, that is under 470mb is ridiculous. (It says 500mb but anything over 470-480 won’t work) 2. The overwhelming typos and confusing sentence structure is absolutely unprofessional to say the least 3. The constant going on about nail polish when MOST NAIL TECHS DO NOT USE this is out of date (again not the fault of OC) 4. The lack of actual education around Nail Art is disappointing given the reality of today’s working Nail Tech and what we are expected to be able to do/create Overall, the staff are fantastic but the platform itself? Definitely needs to be improved.

j
Lots of room for improvement

the reading materials were often set for the American context rather than Australian and often full of typos. Navigating around the modules when doing assignments was clunky. Assessment tasks included menial activities that were time consuming but not a reasonable test of skill or knowledge (eg 'write an email to explain your findings'). Requirement for role plays wih multiple actors was a burden on family.

Highly Recommend

One of the great services of Open Colleges was having quick access to a teacher and get feedback within an hour. The times when the teacher was away they would contact me via email or phone when back at work. This service made learning blockages minimal and thus made studying easy and enjoyable. The mini video lectures, quizes and written material was straightforward to understand and the assignments were all applicable to practical accounting work. A few months after finishing my Certificate IV in Accounting and Bookkeeping I obtained a full-time accounting job. A big reason for this was the quality of the course from Open Colleges was of a high standard and the assistance from teachers was excellent. Highly recommend Open Colleges

DC
Certificate III in Nail Technology course experience

I almost done my Certificate III in Nail Technology course. Happy with open college and appreciated the course and im really happy and thankful my trainer -Ellena. She is very patience and guidance and helpful and response my every emails very quick. I truly appreciate everything she have done to help me get thru my cause.

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Showing 31 - 40 of 996 reviews
id
1 out of 5 stars

I enrolled with Open College after…

I enrolled with Open College after getting misinformed about the course Diploma in Community Services by clever sales staff over the phone. My studies commenced at the end of November 2022. Within a few weeks I could tell that it was not at all what I expected or wanted to learn, however I thought I would give it a go. There was NO support, first they were transitioning their software, all computers and online work was down. Then there was teacher shortages and the college was closed for 2 weeks for the Christmas break. By this stage I had enough and wanted to terminate my studies, however they were unhelpful, rude or simply did not respond. All this time money was taken out of my account for studies I wasn’t doing. I stopped all payments… of course they were immediately in touch. I wrote to them and filled out all the necessary forms to end all association with Open College. The 7 day cooling off period is not sufficient and than they will drag it and make it extremely difficult. All of a sudden I am contacted by a third party demanding that I pay the full tuition fees and also their fees. It’s absolutely disgusting, and extremely unjust, I paid almost $800 for nothing. Open college is not interested to resolve or assist in any way, all they are after is money.

Date of experience: September 19, 2023

OB
1 out of 5 stars

I enrolled in a course a few years ago…

I enrolled in a course a few years ago and had to leave due to mental health issues. They refused to accept my medical exemption despite evidence being given. I left the course very early , didn't even do 1 assignment and still had to pay $5,000 over the past couple of years for a course I never did !. I was already on benefits then struggling to make ends meet and yet they came after me with my small income. Take a small cancellation fee not the entire sum of the course. Do not trust this money hungry company !!!

Date of experience: September 8, 2023

DG
1 out of 5 stars

Don’t waste your money

Don’t waste your money, Open Colleges are the worst, they con you into believing they’ll call you back, then don’t bother, such a rip off. My daughter enrolled for a counselling course in 2020, 2 weeks later her partner was diagnosed with Bipolar, she’s contacted them so many times without any satisfaction whatsoever, they have a person named Kate who promises you she’ll mark it as urgent,what rubbish nobody contacted her at all. The course cost $10,000, I would like to do a class action for all the people who’ve been ripped off, they need to be put out of business, so disgusting that the think they can get away with this😡

Date of experience: August 17, 2023

PG
1 out of 5 stars

Absolute rip off!no support

Absolute rip off!no support, going to take this lot to VCAT, over ten grand for her course , don’t bother trying to ring them , they have a front desk but no answers!

Date of experience: August 17, 2023

kb
1 out of 5 stars

Disgusting I paid over 10 grand for a…

Disgusting I paid over 10 grand for a diploma which I could not even start due to work commitments and personal commitments. No refund, rip off the people. Appalling. I'm having this company investigated through. I should of listened and went through oten colleges who I did a diploma through..they are a much better service. 24/08/2023 update- I'm happy for someone to start a class action against this college they send you message on here to look like they helping you but it's all bs.

Date of experience: August 12, 2023

A
1 out of 5 stars

Extremely distasteful experience.

UPDATE 7/1/24 - still no response. Open Colleges seems to reply to negative reviews like this to appear responsive and caring to the public but once you take the conversation private as they request, they never reply again. UPDATE 22/8/23 - as you can see below, Open Colleges replied to my review, seemingly to attempt to work toward a resolution. I can confirm that since I replied and provided the information they requested, they have not since been back in contact with me. Seems like their response is a ruse to try look like they care. I enrolled in Open Colleges as I live alone in a city across the country from the rest of my family and friends. I assumed, fairly reasonably, that because the course is advertised as fully online, I'd be able to complete the course alone. WRONG. There were 12 units in my course and every single one required a 10-15 minute role play with 2 other participants for the trainer to sign me off. Again, I reiterate; I enrolled because the course was advertised for students to study online and at their own pace within the maximum time frame. I live 3400km from friends & family, how am I supposed to conduct 12 role plays with not just one, but TWO other participants for each unit? What is the point of advertising a course like that if it's not actually entirely independent. I paid the course up front, so I ended up losing over $7000 because they refused to transition me to a different course that didn't require role plays and said I'd passed the census date, so couldn't refund me anything either. It was a 'too bad, so sad' situation they left me in. Very distasteful.

Date of experience: August 2, 2023

LI
1 out of 5 stars

Suspicious

From the start it looks very suspicious. They ask you to enroll without advising on the cost of the course. It is impossible to find the cost of any course. They use gimmicks like 30% off etc. which clearly shows it is about money not education. Avoid, don't give them your personal data. If you give away your data they will bother and abuse you with emails and phonecalls.

Date of experience: July 29, 2023

LM
1 out of 5 stars

Open colleges is trying to take my…

Open colleges is trying to take my money for something I never used. I didn’t even start studying yet (yes I did sign a contract during Covid but my mental health went down hill and by the time I told them I didn’t want to go through they said it was too late and I have to pay the full fee. When you’re in a depressed stay you don’t want to talk to anyone!!! You shouldn’t prey on people who are struggling!!! Disgusting company

Date of experience: July 24, 2023

AW
1 out of 5 stars

Do not study here

I will agree with many of the reviews below. Dealing with Open Colleges was extremely difficult and frustrating. It was one of the most stressful experiences I have had and I would not recommend to anyone. The main issue was communication and assistance with student support. In the course information provided when signing up for the course, it clearly states that open colleges would assist in finding a work place if needed. I had been rejected by over 25 establishments and filled out a detailed and time consuming form for open colleges to assist me with finding a work placement. The student support took MONTHS to get back to me. They would consistently promise me calls and emails back but I would NEVER hear back from them. It took me having a breakdown on the phone for them to simply ask their supervisor, who told me that they could not help me find a work place unless I relocated INTERSTATE at my own cost. The staff reassured me DOZENS of times I would be contacted and I never was. I was under a huge amount of stress worried that I would not pass my course, and they were unbothered. The only time I received any assistance is if I was physically upset on the phone or extremely demanding and emotional. The information given by the staff was always contradictory, they would always have different answers that did not match those in my course description. Halfway through my course the whole course shifted to another website, there was no online chat support available and the messaging function on the website disappeared. My experience with Open Colleges was highly stressful and had a huge impact on my mental health. I would never recommend to anyone. Please take this review into consideration before giving money to this terrible and unorganised company. I am unsure how they feel okay taking customers money and providing such an awful service.

Date of experience: July 14, 2023

MG
1 out of 5 stars

Avoid at all costs

My daughter started a course in June 2022 and it was evident very early on that this college was all smoke and mirrors. Despite numerous attempts to contact support she never got responses. She even set up a time to discuss with one of the teachers who joined the call then immediately hung up. Then in October she was told to stop studying because they were changing the course. That everything she has studied to date was now useless (not that they assessed anything anyway). In February this year we submitted a formal complaint and also course cancellation. In their response to the complaint they admitted there was a lack of support, but didn’t think it was a big enough deal to cancel the course or provide any refund. I finally heard back from the cancelation team today (5 months after submitting the cancellation) only to be told there would be no refund. I am now going to seek legal advice. To others who have a similar story to ours, I will keep you posted!

Date of experience: July 14, 2023

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