Regenerative Leadership Institute
Reviews and Complaints
Regenerative Leadership Institute has worst customer service ever!!
Buyer beware of scammy, false advertising
Hello fellow permies -
I recently purchased two online courses through the Regenerative Leadership Institute without first doing a thorough research. (See the 13 furious letters on the BBB complaints page, as well as other furious reviews you will find under "Open Permaculture Institute, Regenerative Learning Institute, Common Circle Education, Permaculture Design Training, which constitute the trail of "corporations" run by Vladislav Davidson. When my credit card started being automatically charged $9 per week, I emailed the "customer happiness team" to let them know there must be a mistake, and politely asked for a refund and a stop to the weekly subscription services. (When I signed up for the second course, it was on my mobile phone, and I absolutely did not see--more likely it wasn't there--that this company had automatically checked the extra "subscribe" button.) I then received an email from Vladislav Davidson himself saying that I was not deserving of a refund. I then emailed back with a direct quote from his advertising: “You won’t end up in one of those “hidden subscription programs” that charges your credit card every month or anything even remotely like that."
I called the man out on his blatant false advertising, then (due to the red flag and the fact that his course material was incredibly shallow and did not present me with any new material, on top of the fact that he aggressively advertises a 100% no-hassle, cancel-any-time-whatsoever, no-questions-asked song and dance) I asked to cancel the second course. Vladislav emailed back saying he would cancel the course but would have to blacklist my name and send my information around to other companies to make sure none of his “partners” ever sell anything to me again, “not even 10 years down the road,” he wrote. (Great! Please do blacklist me as I never want them to prey on my hard-earned dollars ever again!) I then Googled his name and found a LONG trail of extremely angry customers and people who felt they’d been scammed and defrauded. When I read the CEO’s responses to these people, and his trademark threats to sue and force them to pay $225 per hour for HIS attorney fees, it made my skin crawl. (Why create a culture where you breed pissed off customers in the first place? How about just showing “honesty and integrity” like you advertise all over your brand?)
Vladislav compares his company to Starbucks, but here’s the irony: Not only was permaculture never meant to be corporatized (much less employ deceitful marketing), but, unlike Starbucks, this company’s “customer happiness team” is horrendous, miserable and offensive to the highest order. For a company that devotes so much of its advertising efforts to convincing the customer that this is, in their own advertising words, "definitely not a scam, not even remotely close," it is remarkable that the program is ridden with gimmicks, false promises and hidden subscription fees. This is incredibly offensive to the permaculture and sustainability movement. When I called around and asked various permaculture teachers and leaders about this company and its so-called “leader,” I then find out that he is considered a scammer who has hijacked the permaculture movement for his own monetary gain. Anyone who confronts his shady business practices is automatically threatened with a lawsuit and labeled a “competitor” from another permaculture company. Absurd. Laughable. For the record, I am not a competitor permaculture teacher; I am one of many thousands of pissed off customers, a master’s student, and a concerned citizen who will not tolerate the abuse of innocent consumers.
Not only is Vladislav’s advertising heavily laced with deceitful gimmicks, but the toxic tone with which this individual runs his business (and previous businesses that also came under intense fire) distressingly misses the point of permaculture altogether. It's as destructive and poisonous as the chemical spills they claim to fight against. For a business that touts sustainability, what a very unsustainable business model it is, having to constantly change brands and names to flee from angry consumers and an ever-expanding bad reputation on Yelp and Google. How sad, how exhausting, of their energy and of so many innocent people. Whether they have 250,000 (which Vladislav continues to brag about) or 25 students means nothing to me. Anyone with an aggressive enough online marketing scheme can fool people into clicking buttons.
To add insult to injury, this company advertises having an “A+” BBB rating. What? Due to all the furious customers, the score has fallen to A- and will continue to fall as more customers muster up the balls to speak out. In their own words, “We want to leave you delighted, thrilled and in awe by our courses! We fully believe that the skills and knowledge you will gain from this program will change your life. If there is absolutely anything we can do to help, please do e-mail us and one of our Customer Happiness Team members will assist you." How about apologize for your poor treatment of customers, your exploitation of the permaculture community, the scammy marketing designed to deceive, and expedite my refund immediately, Vladislav?
My friends, social circle, nor I will ever spend a dime with your company. So please keep my name on your blacklist even after you shut down this company and start a new one (yet again) as you run from your ever-growing bad reputation.
Preferred solution: Full refund
Scammy
Preferred solution: Full refund
I look forward to do a certification course
Preferred solution: Price reduction
Summary of PDC manual first three chapters
Preferred solution: Price reduction
Permaculture is a lifestyle
To be honest, I am usually a little suspicious of “free” products as sometimes they are followed by a barrage of emails trying to sell you other things/programs. I am extremely grateful and really appreciate that this was not the case with this CD!
I was very happy with this product. It was a lot of helpful information presented in an organized fashion with good use of appropriate examples.
It was clear and seemed well-planned! Great job!
Its really not something I can put into words
Inspired and deeply appreciative
Site was a perfect location for our course
This tour gave us the experience
Meaningful Interactions & Coursework
I would suggest expanding
Preferred solution: Let the company propose a solution
Spent the time learning
Good experience
Total scam
I have nothing but bad feelings about this company. I signed up for a "free course", and then got dunned with emails asking e to pay for a "certificate". Then I found a review of professional permaculture teachers who said the course was not recognized by anyone.
When I wrote Vlad, asking why it was not "free" he sent me abusive and threatening emails, and threatened to take me to court and sue me for damages. He said he had thousands of students all over the world, and that his "school" was the largest permaculture school in the world.
I took the "course", which was nothing more than some videos, which were very low in information.
I ended up taking a REAL permaculture design course in Belize, and it was amazing, nothing like this fake course being promoted by "Open Permaculture School".
Do yourself a favor and avoid this scam.
Thank You for Your Reply! We are processing your message.
Your comment is successfully posted.
I had a more expensive experience with Common Circle and the individual described. 6 years later, i still have 2 collection companies on my credit report that cannot be erased due to his slimy misleading cancellation policies. No services were rendered whatsoever and I got charged large sums of money before I was able to convince my credit card company to stop letting him charge me.
I was going to order but I always read the terms and privacy statements. I thought the terms had some ridiculous statements so I decided to see what kind of reviews this company had.
I want to thank you for sharing your experience. This company has bad reviews all over the internet so I've decided NOT to buy AND I blocked them from ever advertising on my Facebook page again.
Thank you for sharing your experience. It helped me make a better and informed decision