Review Detail
5 of 19 people found the following review helpful
"Mixed feelings about this course"
Overall rating
5.4
Effectiveness
4.0
Ease of Implementation
9.0
Innovativeness
1.0
Packaging/ Customer Service
9.0
Value for Money
3.0
Reviewed by Andres
July 22, 2014
July 22, 2014
Coaching/ Bootcamps Information
Instructor(s) for Coaching:
Nick Sparks
Date Program Took Place:
May 15, 2014
Before I begin listing reasons why I was highly unsatisfied with the program, I must give credit where credit is due.
Nick Sparks is an incredible speaker and salesman who truly believes in his craft and stands by it 100%. I commend that as I have learned of several dating coaches in my past experience who tend to waiver or change their outlook in an effort to "revamp" their product. He means well & will be brutally honest with you about your pitfalls. Tessla Nichols is a very cute, sweet woman who will help those new to "game" rid themselves of approach anxiety, a term that this group made every effort of eradicating, changing the name rather to hesitation (perhaps to offer a different perspective). Christine is passionate about her craft as well and seems to be very in tune with her emotions and read on people. Her presence can be intimidating at first glance, especially if you have zero experience.
Which brings me to why I was unsatisfied.
When I spoke with Nick, I had made it clear that I did not consider myself inexperienced. I have learned and practiced under several "gurus" and feel a certain level of comfort with the skills I have acquired over the years. Nick assured me that this program would revolutionize my way of thinking and improve upon the level of experience I already have. He also made it clear, as virtually every coach in the community does, that if I was unsatisfied for whatever reason, I would be given a full refund. The only exception being that he would not refund the initial $500 deposit which reserves my seat in the live training. However, this could not be further from the truth.
In what little time I spent attending the program, I did not witness these revolutionary methods he spoke of. He said he could handle hesitation without forcing people, however, all I saw was him pushing us into women at the bar and practically berating me when I chose not to approach. It wasn't that I was timid or hesitant. I was made to feel uncomfortable and became upset as the night grew. He also taught methods about how to stand or how close to be when speaking with women, that I did not find at all appealing and have even practiced when I was first introduced to game (5 yrs ago), and this did not work. In other words, it was not, in my opinion, innovative by any means, but rather a rephrase of what other coaches had taught in the past. I'm obviously not going to divulge into the details of what he taught or how, because it is HIS product/program to teach. But I will say, that this program made me feel like a creep. And no, I was not uncomfortable in the sense that I have limiting beliefs; I was uncomfortable the way a lone woman in a subway would be next to a drooling man in a trench coat. I felt THAT creepy applying his methods.
When I left the program, I did not want to share this explicitly with Nick, for fear of offending somebody I did in fact grow to admire as a person. And divine intervention being what it is, I did unfortunately have an emergency family issue to deal with the very next day which prevented me from attending the rest of Nick's program. Had it not been for this, however, I still would have left the live training.
When I emailed Nick requesting a refund, I received NO response for over 2 weeks. I must have emailed, texted, called, and Facebook messaged countless times before I finally got a reply. He was apologetic in his delay, but was unwilling to offer me the refund he had guaranteed before the start of the program. I acknowledged in writing that I knew I was not going to receive the $500 deposit, but wished be refunded the rest of the amount ($2000) because I was unsatisfied. He responded by detailing what the "retail" value of the program would have been HAD I signed up to an individual night out. He first only agreed to refund me $250 as his show of good faith stating that he had not agreed to a refund and couldn't possibly refund me as I already took 1 days worth of the program. Then after further rebuttal on my end, he agreed to only refund me $750, stating that my reasons for being unsatisfied did not meet the requirements needed for him to refund me the $2000. In other words, the terms of the refund agreement changed twice during this back and forth of emails. As it stands today, I am still owed a refund of $1250. For anybody reading this, please note the guarantee offer in the description section of the product (full money back guarantee, with terms).
I have never, I repeat, I have NEVER, dealt with something as unprofessional as this in the dating coaching industry.
I have delayed in writing a review precisely because I was so upset and feared I may write things I did not mean. I am still upset, but I am taking action to resolve this issue.
Now I do recognize I am one isolated opinion, but I feel I wouldn't be doing other guys any justice by keeping this to myself, especially when all I see is rave reviews. I owe it to the community to provide an honest and balanced perspective. If you are completely inexperienced with talking to women, then YES, this program IS for you. However, if you are like me, then you would get more value for your money studying under coaches from RSD (Real Social Dynamics) or Tao of Badass. These two programs both cover and surpass what can be learned under Sparks.
Hopefully, nobody else experiences what I have had to go through over the past couple of months. I have been in distress over what's happened and only hope to reach a full resolution as soon as possible.
Nick Sparks is an incredible speaker and salesman who truly believes in his craft and stands by it 100%. I commend that as I have learned of several dating coaches in my past experience who tend to waiver or change their outlook in an effort to "revamp" their product. He means well & will be brutally honest with you about your pitfalls. Tessla Nichols is a very cute, sweet woman who will help those new to "game" rid themselves of approach anxiety, a term that this group made every effort of eradicating, changing the name rather to hesitation (perhaps to offer a different perspective). Christine is passionate about her craft as well and seems to be very in tune with her emotions and read on people. Her presence can be intimidating at first glance, especially if you have zero experience.
Which brings me to why I was unsatisfied.
When I spoke with Nick, I had made it clear that I did not consider myself inexperienced. I have learned and practiced under several "gurus" and feel a certain level of comfort with the skills I have acquired over the years. Nick assured me that this program would revolutionize my way of thinking and improve upon the level of experience I already have. He also made it clear, as virtually every coach in the community does, that if I was unsatisfied for whatever reason, I would be given a full refund. The only exception being that he would not refund the initial $500 deposit which reserves my seat in the live training. However, this could not be further from the truth.
In what little time I spent attending the program, I did not witness these revolutionary methods he spoke of. He said he could handle hesitation without forcing people, however, all I saw was him pushing us into women at the bar and practically berating me when I chose not to approach. It wasn't that I was timid or hesitant. I was made to feel uncomfortable and became upset as the night grew. He also taught methods about how to stand or how close to be when speaking with women, that I did not find at all appealing and have even practiced when I was first introduced to game (5 yrs ago), and this did not work. In other words, it was not, in my opinion, innovative by any means, but rather a rephrase of what other coaches had taught in the past. I'm obviously not going to divulge into the details of what he taught or how, because it is HIS product/program to teach. But I will say, that this program made me feel like a creep. And no, I was not uncomfortable in the sense that I have limiting beliefs; I was uncomfortable the way a lone woman in a subway would be next to a drooling man in a trench coat. I felt THAT creepy applying his methods.
When I left the program, I did not want to share this explicitly with Nick, for fear of offending somebody I did in fact grow to admire as a person. And divine intervention being what it is, I did unfortunately have an emergency family issue to deal with the very next day which prevented me from attending the rest of Nick's program. Had it not been for this, however, I still would have left the live training.
When I emailed Nick requesting a refund, I received NO response for over 2 weeks. I must have emailed, texted, called, and Facebook messaged countless times before I finally got a reply. He was apologetic in his delay, but was unwilling to offer me the refund he had guaranteed before the start of the program. I acknowledged in writing that I knew I was not going to receive the $500 deposit, but wished be refunded the rest of the amount ($2000) because I was unsatisfied. He responded by detailing what the "retail" value of the program would have been HAD I signed up to an individual night out. He first only agreed to refund me $250 as his show of good faith stating that he had not agreed to a refund and couldn't possibly refund me as I already took 1 days worth of the program. Then after further rebuttal on my end, he agreed to only refund me $750, stating that my reasons for being unsatisfied did not meet the requirements needed for him to refund me the $2000. In other words, the terms of the refund agreement changed twice during this back and forth of emails. As it stands today, I am still owed a refund of $1250. For anybody reading this, please note the guarantee offer in the description section of the product (full money back guarantee, with terms).
I have never, I repeat, I have NEVER, dealt with something as unprofessional as this in the dating coaching industry.
I have delayed in writing a review precisely because I was so upset and feared I may write things I did not mean. I am still upset, but I am taking action to resolve this issue.
Now I do recognize I am one isolated opinion, but I feel I wouldn't be doing other guys any justice by keeping this to myself, especially when all I see is rave reviews. I owe it to the community to provide an honest and balanced perspective. If you are completely inexperienced with talking to women, then YES, this program IS for you. However, if you are like me, then you would get more value for your money studying under coaches from RSD (Real Social Dynamics) or Tao of Badass. These two programs both cover and surpass what can be learned under Sparks.
Hopefully, nobody else experiences what I have had to go through over the past couple of months. I have been in distress over what's happened and only hope to reach a full resolution as soon as possible.
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Comments
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Let me start by saying thank you for sharing your experience Andres. I will be making some changes (explained below) to help prevent this sort of disappointment from happening again in the future.
I'd first like to highlight a few of the points you've made so that others are completely clear on what they're getting themselves into when they consider working with me.
1. As I do my best to convey to everyone who is considering this course, it is designed to push you out of your comfort zone. If things like approaching strangers, making strong eye contact, not standing at an awkward distance, and not having any opening lines to fall back on other than "hi" (everything I push my clients to do on the first night that Andres attended) make you feel discomfort that you are unable to overcome, then this course will not work for you. If you leave after the first night and reject my requests to re-take the entire program, you will not get the results that others speak of on this site, including a few testimonials from this very same weekend.
2. As I also do my best to convey, this program is more about clearing out past beliefs and unnecessary teachings than it is about adding any new tactics to your arsenal. If you are unable to come into this class with a virgin mind, and instead are looking to add new techniques to the ones taught to you by other "gurus", then this course will not work for you.
3. As Andres said above, I offer a full money back guarantee, with terms. That term that I once again try to convey to everyone who is considering this course is that you must complete the course that you committed to.
If you fulfill your end of our mutual commitment, at least attempt everything I coach you to do, and are in any way unsatisfied with your results, I will refund you every cent - no questions asked. If, on the other hand you enlist the time and effort of myself and my assistant coaches while holding a seat that could be taken by someone else - yet quit after the first night and refuse any offers to make up your program, then you will receive a partial refund.
As I mentioned above,I will be making changes to help prevent this situation from happening again.
For starters I will be reviewing potential applicants much more critically. The application questions will be much more in depth, the replies in turn scrutinized much more closely, and I will be less likely to give the benefit of the doubt to guys who I'm on the fence about. Please don't take it personally if your application is not accepted.
Secondly, I will be soon be releasing a book and inexpensive online course (with the same full refund guarantee). That way, anyone can find out if my style is right for them from the comfort of their own home at no risk before investing in this program.
Again, thank you for sharing your experience. I will do my best to learn from it and ensure that it never happens again.
Sincerely, Nick Sparks
I'd first like to highlight a few of the points you've made so that others are completely clear on what they're getting themselves into when they consider working with me.
1. As I do my best to convey to everyone who is considering this course, it is designed to push you out of your comfort zone. If things like approaching strangers, making strong eye contact, not standing at an awkward distance, and not having any opening lines to fall back on other than "hi" (everything I push my clients to do on the first night that Andres attended) make you feel discomfort that you are unable to overcome, then this course will not work for you. If you leave after the first night and reject my requests to re-take the entire program, you will not get the results that others speak of on this site, including a few testimonials from this very same weekend.
2. As I also do my best to convey, this program is more about clearing out past beliefs and unnecessary teachings than it is about adding any new tactics to your arsenal. If you are unable to come into this class with a virgin mind, and instead are looking to add new techniques to the ones taught to you by other "gurus", then this course will not work for you.
3. As Andres said above, I offer a full money back guarantee, with terms. That term that I once again try to convey to everyone who is considering this course is that you must complete the course that you committed to.
If you fulfill your end of our mutual commitment, at least attempt everything I coach you to do, and are in any way unsatisfied with your results, I will refund you every cent - no questions asked. If, on the other hand you enlist the time and effort of myself and my assistant coaches while holding a seat that could be taken by someone else - yet quit after the first night and refuse any offers to make up your program, then you will receive a partial refund.
As I mentioned above,I will be making changes to help prevent this situation from happening again.
For starters I will be reviewing potential applicants much more critically. The application questions will be much more in depth, the replies in turn scrutinized much more closely, and I will be less likely to give the benefit of the doubt to guys who I'm on the fence about. Please don't take it personally if your application is not accepted.
Secondly, I will be soon be releasing a book and inexpensive online course (with the same full refund guarantee). That way, anyone can find out if my style is right for them from the comfort of their own home at no risk before investing in this program.
Again, thank you for sharing your experience. I will do my best to learn from it and ensure that it never happens again.
Sincerely, Nick Sparks
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