Educational hologram: Russians complain about the quality of online courses
At least seven participants of the tutoring courses hosted on the Schoolsmart platform were dissatisfied with the services provided to them. They filed lawsuits against the organizers (available from Izvestia). The students are demanding a refund for services that, according to them, were provided in bad faith — the conditions of the course and the program stated in the advertisement did not correspond to reality. About what claims most often arise against the organizers of the courses and how the activities of online schools are regulated - in the Izvestia material.
What did the students complain about?
Participants of the Mastermind and Unlimited courses from Yuri Spivak, hosted on the Schoolsmart platform, filed lawsuits against the organizers of educational programs (available from Izvestia). As the victims noted, the service provided did not meet the criteria outlined in the advertisement. For example, after completing the course, they did not notice the guaranteed increase in income.
"The advertising posted on the defendant's website guarantees that the student will earn more than two or three times after completing the course. However, with a long period of study, having paid for a range of services from books to courses and following the advice of the contractor, the income level decreased from 200 thousand rubles to 48 thousand rubles," the lawsuit says.
In addition, some of the course participants note that they were removed from the chat program because they were in the community of a tutor who had previously been excluded from the "Mastermind" course. The defendant justified these actions by observing the company's policy, but there is no such clause in the contract. According to the victims, the group's presence in the chat was one of the recorded promises of the course organizers when purchasing it. Thus, "the service in this part was not received in full," the lawsuit says.
"It should also be noted that according to the legislation of the Russian Federation, it is impossible to prohibit another person from communicating with this or that person, as this violates the constitutional rights of citizens to freedom of personal contact and movement," the document says.
The victims insist that the organizers did not follow their stated program. For example, the course participants were promised that they would be taught how to set up service advertising. But at the first meeting, they were informed that the program did not include this material, and students could take a course on setting up ads for an additional fee.
In addition, the victims purchased a course to gain knowledge personally from the author. But the promised weekly meetings with him were irregular. In addition, the plaintiffs note that they are faced with a lack of individual support.
"It was impossible to get a timely response due to the large number of students. It was difficult to receive timely feedback, as most of the messages were ignored," the lawsuits say.
"I still don't understand what I paid for"
One of the victims, Igor, told Izvestia that he had bought several products from Yuri Spivak at once.
— The author of the course has no experience in tutoring — we have relevant evidence that we have provided to the court, — he said. — The advice on the course was frankly harmful: for example, they said that it was necessary to take students, and after a short time to announce a doubling of the price to them.
During the training, Igor began to give advice to other participants in the course chat, and then created his own channel, the victim noted. For this, he said, he was "bullied" by the organizers, and then removed from all groups.
— Since I could explain a lot of things to people on my own, naturally, he was offended by the fact that my authority was growing rapidly. Because he (Yuri Spivak. We need to collect money from people, and I give free advice," he said.
According to Igor, insults followed in his direction — this became the reason for filing a lawsuit demanding a refund of the entire cost of the course.
— Initially, I offered to just apologize to me publicly, I was thinking about money in the second place. However, there was no direct communication with me," he added.
Another participant, Maxim, said that he purchased Yuri Spivak's course at the end of 2022 because he wanted to increase his income from tutoring.
— I bought the Unlimited course for 250 thousand rubles in installments. And then, when I was already in the process of completing the course and had not yet managed to pay the full cost, they began to motivate me to buy a more expensive product, the Mastermind course," he said.
According to Maxim, such offers were received repeatedly, and in the end he nevertheless agreed to purchase a second course. At the same time, before buying, he was promised personal attention from a mentor, which in the end did not happen.
— I still don't understand what I paid for. The trial began last year, in September. A complaint letter was sent, the response to which was not provided on time," he said. — And when we had already prepared a lawsuit, the author of the course sent a reply in which he offered to partially refund the amount for the purchase of the second course.
In response to a request from Izvestia, Schoolsmart stated that when course participants contact them, they "always try to meet them halfway and offer a solution."
"At the same time, everyone has the right to defend their position in court, if they consider it necessary. We respect this choice and act within the framework of legislation and contractual obligations," they said.
Why there is growing dissatisfaction with online courses
Dissatisfaction among participants with online courses is becoming more common, the Destra Legal legal service told Izvestia.
"If there were isolated cases a few years ago, now complaints about substandard online courses make up a significant part of our practice - about one in three or four complaints about consumer protection," said Kirill Saprygin, head of the legal team at the service.
At the same time, the peak of appeals usually occurs at the beginning of the year and in autumn, when people motivated by new goals actively buy educational products, he stressed.
— The main complaints are typical: the course program is very different from the one stated in the advertisement, there is no or formal feedback from the curators, and the promised "job guarantees" turn out to be just a newsletter of vacancies in a general chat, — Kirill Saprygin explained. — The chances of satisfying the claims are quite high. The courts recognize screenshots of advertising promises, correspondence with curators, recordings of webinars and expert opinions on the quality of the program.
In such situations, the first thing to do is to preserve all the materials that can serve as evidence, Kirill Saprygin emphasized. This will provide a basis for any further actions.
— The next step is to make your requirements official. This is usually a written complaint to the company, where you specify which conditions are not met and what exactly you require. Such a document shows the seriousness of intentions and creates a legal basis for the protection of rights," he said.
If the company does not respond or refuses to cooperate, you can contact the supervisory authorities or the court, he explained.
How to resolve a conflict with an unscrupulous online school
The quality of online educational courses is not controlled in any way, Yuri Pustovit, managing partner of the Yug Law Firm, told Izvestia.
"If a citizen has bought such a course for himself, then violations of his rights fall under the law on consumer protection," the expert explained. — If the content of the course does not correspond to its program specified in the contract, the citizen has the right to demand termination and recovery of damages in the amount of the course cost. There are no gaps in the regulation of this industry.
Today, there are no government mechanisms to control organizations that provide online courses, confirmed Ivan Litvinov, head of the Association of the Self-Employed of Russia.
— The Ministry of Education, for example, carries out work on an independent assessment of the quality of activities of only federal state educational organizations, as well as those that conduct such activities at the expense of budgetary funds, — he noted.
According to him, if you have any complaints, first of all you need to contact the representatives of the courses or the online school and ask them to return the money voluntarily. In case of refusal, it is necessary to make a claim and send it to the legal address of the seller of the service, he advised.
— Specify the reasons for the refund in the written claim, attach copies of the documents (contract, receipt for the purchase of the course). 10 days are given for consideration of the claim. And another 14 days to actually refund the money," the expert explained. — It is important to keep correspondence with the seller and record all violations of the contract. If the money is not returned after a written claim, the person can contact Rospotrebnadzor and the court. In this case, you can not only collect tuition fees, but also fines and penalties.
Many online courses formally provide "information and consulting services" to avoid the need to obtain an educational license, said Alina Laktionova, Head of Private Client Practice at Mitra Law Firm.
"The main control mechanism for unlicensed companies is market—based, as well as control by the Federal Antimonopoly Service and Rospotrebnadzor in terms of compliance with legislation on advertising and consumer protection," she explained. — The claims for compensation in connection with the "lack of result" are quite vague, and it is unclear what exactly is meant by this result, whether it was spelled out in the contract.
In addition to spending money, people often receive false reports from unscrupulous "experts," said Yana Lantratova, chairman of the State Duma Committee on the Development of Civil Society. For example, to eat exclusively freshly squeezed juices for two and a half months, to learn how to drink boiling water. There are even courses where they promise to train a plastic surgeon in 15 days.
"These recommendations are not just meaningless, but also dangerous to health," the parliamentarian told Izvestia. — Now such persons bear practically no responsibility, because the sphere is not regulated, the antimonopoly service or Rospotrebnadzor today have no effective mechanisms to combat such activities. There are also no criteria that could help assess the quality of an information product.
How can the quality of courses be monitored
There is currently no effective system for monitoring the content of education, because a license for educational activities is obtained formally, said Valery Korneev, chairman of the Union of Users of Digital World Platforms.
— This is evidenced by the high-profile story of the closure of the Urban University online university in Kazan — about 10 thousand people were injured. They had a license, and this did not guarantee either the quality of education or a refund," he explained. — In 2024, its size exceeded 149 billion rubles, and the number of annual buyers of EdTech products was 10 million people. And it continues to grow.
According to him, almost anyone can develop and sell an online course without having a license and without being responsible to the consumer. The number of complaints about educational services to official authorities has increased by almost 30% over the past year, he stressed.
— You can consider creating an insurance fund for users of online platforms. And as mechanisms for regulating the digital learning market, an excise duty (tax) on destructive content can be introduced," he suggested.
According to him, expert commissions can determine which content is destructive and to what extent. According to Yana Lantratova, certain qualification requirements should be established for information businessmen, which would be confirmed by real professional achievements and a diploma of education. Especially when it comes to people providing medical services. It is important that a person has a medical degree and constantly confirms his qualifications.
Izvestia sent requests to Rospotrebnadzor and the Federal Antimonopoly Service with a request to assess the situation with the provision of substandard online learning services in Russia.
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