Misleading Advertising

Reviewed by BumbleBeeTou on Sat, 11/15/2014 - 11:05
BumbleBeeTou's picture BumbleBeeTou
BumbleBeeTou
Joined: Feb 14, 2008
Posts: 108
Review of Beijing Mandarin School
1

I contacted this school, based on the advertisng they currently have on tbj's own website.

When I called, a member of staff answered, very unprofessionally with 'Wei (hello)?" I said hi, and she simply said "Yes?"

When I finally established that I had called the right number, I asked directly about how I get my 60 free hours for signing up in November, as the advertisment offers.

"We don't have anything like that" I was told. I explained about the tbj ad.

"Oh, that? Yes, that means if you signup for 60 hours in November, you get entered into our Christmas lucky draw to WIN 60 free hours." I told her that wasn't what the ad said. 'Get 60 hours' is not the same as 'stand to win 60 hours'.

"Then I guess the ad is wrong", she laughed. I put the phone down at that point.

So very unprofessional. If this is an example of their attitude and professionalism, I would suggest everyone avoid this school.

Comments

LuxMike81's picture LuxMike81 Submitted by Guest on Sat, 11/15/2014 - 23:33

I feel compelled to defend this language school that I've always appreciated. I've studied with BMS on four separate occasions (totalling approx 200 private hours / 50 group class hours) and my experience has been completely dissimilar to the one described above.

I've always enjoyed polite and professional service from the receptionists, particularly in the Guangming Hotel site, where I've taken the majority of classes. It's true that they default to Chinese and their English can be limited, but I've never had a problem with this. With regards to laughter, clearly I've not heard the context, but could it not be a cultural response to slight embarassment over a misunderstanding?

I took the opportunity to see what appears advertised on here and their website:

http://www.thebeijinger.com/classifieds/2014/11/04/beijing-mandarin-school-group-class-start-33rmbhour

http://www.beijingmandarinschool.com/a/en/News/News/

http://www.beijingmandarinschool.com/a/en/News/News/2013/0506/331.html (the 'November Courses' Good News' article from 3rd November 2014)

I see absolutely no mention of 60 hours free classes in either, whilst there is a mention of a 'Christmas Lucky Draw' ...

I'm happy to stand corrected, but for now my two cents would be that perhaps this was rather a 'misreading of' rather than a 'misleading' ad ...

They are not perfect, but I'd give BMS 4 stars without hesitation.

BumbleBeeTou's picture BumbleBeeTou Submitted by Guest on Sun, 11/16/2014 - 09:24

'Cultural differences' or not, any company who's primary clientele are foreigners should at least appreciate some semblance of knowing western customs and professionalism.

As for my 'misreading'. No, I didn't misread. The ad, clearly visible on most pages of theBeijinger website, says "Get 60 hours free".

What is there to misread? Can you tell me another meaning, except they are trying to trick people into going to their website?

I have no experience with this school, save for the false advertising and unprofessional call. But that's what reviews are. Reviewing a store, service or product at the moment in time that you interact with it. And that's what i did. And based on that, I recommend people avoid this place.

Validate your mobile phone number to post comments.