Transparency concerns and disappointing…
Transparency concerns and disappointing service experience
Our experience with Mandarin Consulting left us concerned about transparency in their sales and service process.
We paid USD 300 for a trial session after being contacted by a sales representative. At the time payment was requested, no written Terms & Conditions, refund policy, or cancellation rules were provided. No formal invoice or service agreement was issued before payment, which is normally standard practice for professional advisory services.
The receipt was only issued 11 days later after we had to follow up several times.
The trial session was later rescheduled due to a coach emergency, which we fully understood. However, during the rearrangement there appeared to be confusion about the agreed date, which resulted in the session being missed. No reminder email, calendar invite, or phone call was made despite the company having full contact details.
Afterwards, a rescheduling fee was mentioned which had never been disclosed before payment. Although this fee was later waived, this did not address the core issue of unclear terms and weak communication processes.
As the trial session never actually took place, we requested a refund. The company declined and instead offered another session. Due to the overall experience and loss of confidence in the company’s administrative professionalism, we chose not to continue.
Key concerns from our experience:
• No written terms provided before payment
• Important policies only mentioned after payment
• Delayed financial documentation
• Poor scheduling communication
• Service paid for but not actually delivered
• Refund request refused
We would strongly encourage prospective clients to ensure they receive full written documentation, clear service terms, and refund policies before making any payment.
Based on our experience, the internal processes did not match the level of professionalism we expected from an international education consultancy.