My wife went to Qingqiu Road to buy books, focusing on English books. As a result, many salespeople from Wall Street English training institutions were stationed there. Seeing me looking at English books, they would come up and ask if I was interested in learning English. Then, they had my wife fill out a personal information form and invited her to attend a trial class on a certain day of the week.
After a few days, my wife went for the trial class. Before the trial even began, they mentioned enrollment. My wife called me saying she was at Wall Street English and wanted to enroll. I told her not to enroll yet and that we should discuss it first, then I hung up. However, when she returned home, she said she had already enrolled. I said since it’s done, let's just go with it and hope for the best.
I asked her about the cost, but she was hesitant to tell me. After repeatedly questioning her, she finally revealed that it was 40,000 yuan. I asked her to repeat it, and she confirmed it was indeed 40,000 yuan. I thought, what kind of training costs so much? I thought she was joking with me. Normally, I assumed English training would cost around 5,000-6,000 yuan at most. When she mentioned this price, I was genuinely shocked.
This led to an argument between us. I said, why didn’t you discuss such a large sum of money with me beforehand? Moreover, nearly 30,000 yuan of the 40,000 was on credit card debt (my wife has three credit cards). I started to suspect if she had been brainwashed by them. My wife earns around 2,000 yuan per month, and paying off close to 30,000 yuan would take at least one and a half years without any other expenses. My wife isn't usually reckless with spending, and we haven't even bought a house yet. I had plans to start some small businesses, so how could we just spend so much money, especially on credit?
I really can't understand how they managed to persuade her. She told me that several people there pressured her with talk about a 5,800 yuan discount if she enrolled that day. Nonsense! I checked a few days later, and the discount was still available. Afterwards, I went to their training center to request a refund. They agreed to refund but insisted on keeping all original receipts and contracts, only giving me copies. I asked them to at least write me a note, have someone sign it, or stamp it. Their school representative said they don't write notes or provide stamps. Because of this incident, my wife is still in denial, and we argue daily. I'm almost driven mad.
I want to ask:
1. How does a training institution operate without an official seal? How do they issue receipts? It sounds fake.
2. Why didn't they provide a confirmation of enrollment when I requested it on March 15th?
3. What kind of training requires such an exorbitant fee?
4. In their place, one cannot even speak Chinese properly, let alone Japanese?
Edition commentary: The "expensive" nature of Wall Street English is well-known among the local community interested in learning English. I also called to inquire about enrollment, and they stated that they require about half an hour to understand each individual's situation before tailoring a study plan according to different goals and levels. Simply put, for a normal person progressing from beginner to advanced level, the cost is at least 30,000 yuan or less.
World Without Peer, another internet friend named xiaoxiaoegg also consulted Wall Street English last week. Based on his personal situation preparing for TOEFL and SAT exams, the entire process, including achieving his goal, would require 28 sessions, totaling around 53,000 yuan in tuition. Even with some so-called discounts, after all the calculations, the final tuition would still be over 40,000 yuan.
Alas, it seems we can only set an example for the next generation, emphasizing the importance of learning English in school. Otherwise, spending so much money on English classes later in life truly becomes a "money-burning" endeavor.