Question to former students

[expendableone]

Before starting your training at Pan Am you gave a $500 deposit(I sent mine to someone in Orlando). I have recieved the remaining money from my account(after the wait) and was wondering who you contacted to get your Initial $500 back. It was never added to your flight account so where is it? I have my reciept and the original copy of the deposit payment. Appreciate responses.

[FLDiver]

I gave them my credit card number and got a letter welcoming me to Pan Am, that they had received my $500 deposit and my slot in the class was secure. When I disenrolled, I discovered that they never billed my credit card for the money and therefore I never got it back. I got a half assed itemized receipt and as far as I can tell, they never reimbursed me for the ground schools that I did not attend AND I think, but can not prove, that they somehow stole money out of my training account for the $500 deposit. I am sure they got their $500 but took it from the Key Loan instead of my credit card. Watch them VERY carefully.

[pure_IMC]

fl driver- curious, how long did it take to get the money back from your account? They told me the deposit would come at the same time fyi. Will see if that happens...

[justme]

After I withdrew from Pan Am I got my $500 deposit back with the rest of my remaining funds....And believe me I was on the phone with admin and accounting many, many, many times making sure they were planning on sending every last cent I was owed. So the good news is I think I actually got all the money back that I was supposed to. The bad news is that it took them about 68 days to get it to me. Fortunately, the school I switched to allowed me to start flying there without even having the money to pay for it....Talk about bending over backwards for your customers huh!? Something I was not accustomed to at Pan Am

[bigs024]

Face it bro, you will never, I repeat never, see your $500 again. I have a much better suggestion, however. Why don't you write off that $500, add another $500 "investment" to it, and purchase a hundred or so "slightly used" copies of the Tarver report. If you'd spend a little more time researching that and a little less time bitching about your $500 then maybe you wouldn't have flunked out of Pan Am and would be a CRJ captain by now!!! Good luck.

[panampilot]

Classy, very classy.

[FLDiver]

ditto on that !!! Anyway, I didnt get my deposit back as it was never charged to my credit card. What was left of my account was sent back to Key Bank EXACTLY at the 60 day mark...they held it for as long as the contract specified. They could have sent it all back within a day or two....well, you guys know the rest of the story.

[PanAmFPRHappy1]

Okay...here's the procedure ...LISTEN UP!!!!

You either fax or e-mail or you can send a snail mail requesting your refund. A Refund Request Form is in your Initial Packet sent by the school, if you can't find one CALL the school and ask for a fax number or their address. Simple enough??? If a deposit was never charged to your account...how do you expect them to give you a refund??? With that mentality..I hope you are never piloting a plane I am flying on. If you had checked your credit card receipt you would have been aware that it was never on there to start with.

As far as the refunding of the entire accounts...they are completely audited. Again, if you are checking your account on a regular basis for any errors, your audit goes smoothly and your refund goes quickly.

In other words...take the initiative and some responsibility where your accounts are concerned.

[dakovich]

i just called to confirm reimbursment of the $500.00 deposit and recieved a check after my inquiry. i didn't have much trouble at all getting my money sent back to Key excpet for the fact that it took greater than 60 days to do. i just called, asked polietly and got a polite response about my questions. still it took more than 60 days, but what ya gonna do

[rausda27]

Is it just me or did anyone else think that PanAmFPRHappy1, doesn't seem that happy?

[FLDiver]

[ QUOTE ]
Okay...here's the procedure ...LISTEN UP!!!!

You either fax or e-mail or you can send a snail mail requesting your refund. A Refund Request Form is in your Initial Packet sent by the school, if you can't find one CALL the school and ask for a fax number or their address. Simple enough??? If a deposit was never charged to your account...how do you expect them to give you a refund??? With that mentality..I hope you are never piloting a plane I am flying on. If you had checked your credit card receipt you would have been aware that it was never on there to start with.

As far as the refunding of the entire accounts...they are completely audited. Again, if you are checking your account on a regular basis for any errors, your audit goes smoothly and your refund goes quickly.

In other words...take the initiative and some responsibility where your accounts are concerned.



[/ QUOTE ]

Geeeeze...this post really does not warrant a response from me but I guess I will humor this arrogant Pan Am Admin slimeball. The $500.00 deposit...I never expected it to be refunded if it was never charged...read the post. You might want to take a class to enhance your reading comprehension...and because you can't seem to comprehend what you read, how do you fly a plane or even drive a car??? Once again, I NEVER stated that I expected a refund if I was never charged.

One thing that I do agree with, is to take the initiative and responsibility where your accounts are concerned...especially when dealing with Pan Am, you never know what might be charged or NOT charged to your accounts. So my question is, if Pan Am never charged my credit card, then why did they send me a welcome letter stating that they did indeed recieve my $500.00? Also, I agree that you should keep track of your account at Pan Am, but in the event that you disenroll, THEY will audit your account and send you some half assed handwritten statement with the total amount sent back to Key Bank..then if you question it, they just may tell you that its none of your business, just like they told me. Then when you request that all important itemized statement, it is the exact same printout that you always get when you ask for a printout of your account. Do yourself a favor and get that printout right before you leave for the last time. Then compare it to the one that you will have to request.

Potential students...the attitude of this arrogant idiot is exactly what you will run into at Pan Am if you ever have any type of administrative problems. I am not saying that it will happen to you, but it could. Why take that chance?

You have to think, in todays market with jobs running scarce, schools abruptly closing and stealing all of their students money (ATA), Pan Am's recent layoffs, Pan Ams reputation for ripping off their students and not being customer oriented as well as Pan Am's admin staff being extremely arrogant towards the very people who pay their bills (students)....is it really a wise decision to attend a place like this??? Be smart, take a good look at the situation brewing at Ft. Pierce, with their layoffs and the fact that YOU the customer have absolutely no control over your own money makes you extremely vulnerable...again, why take that chance?

The account audit, takes about an hour to do, if that long..but Pan Am is well known for keeping the money at least 60 days per the contract but seems to frequently go over stated 60 days and is in breech of their own contracts.

All in all...do yourself a favor and avoid Pan Am at all costs..its just not worth the risk. There are many places that will get you where you are going and in a much more secure way when it comes to your money. Sorry for writing this book.

[rausda27]

If PanAmFPRhappy1 is indeed an employee then he is not setting a very good example on how the business should handle its public relations. Kinda makes ya want to slap him around a little.....

[expendableone]

I am thinking about how to respond....Oh yeah I only wish I would have interpreted the TARVER report(and to think they provided me with it) more thoroughly and saved myself a Wad of cash! As for you Bigs D... 024 in your backside, I suggest you continue to stay on the ground with your aviation goals since you didn't do the Whole program. Therefore making you a Sub-standard pilot, cause we all know that Only pan am pilots get hired! Even in times like this they are "Pumping" out some serious numbers to all regionals and some corporate, according to their website. In 9 months you COULD have become a Real pilot, but no you had to run off and get a Real job making money. As for the refund they only took over 100+ days to get it to me from the day they decided to disenroll me, then notify me a month later. My mistake I was off vacationing in Figi.

[casaosa]

Next time you go to Figi...take me, I'm unemployed!!!
As for the money issue, this topic has been around since day one...obviously, it's still a problem. But I am the bitter, non cooperate one so I shouldn't throw my 2 cents in anymore. And please....again, when they brag they got one of their pilots into cooperate, I'll take credit where credit is due.....PA had nothing to do with it except had both of us employed at the same time....hmmmm i'm beginning to like the word slander!!! And I do believe the last female instructor got hired on her own merits from the Women in Avaition conference....I could be wrong tho.

[PanAmFPRHappy1]

Casaosa...I was very sorry to see you go and so were many others. When I saw the managers on that Friday morning, they did not look bright eyed and bushy tailed as most appeared to have had little to no sleep. I am sure it was not an easy decision for anyone as the remaining people have 2 or more jobs to do. Just because people were laid off does not mean their job work load ceases.

Sorry if any of you felt I was being arrogant in my previous response. It was certainly NOT my intention. I was trying to tell you that there is a way to ask for an enrollment refund without a hassle. I enjoy working with the students and have no problems getting answers for what they need.

When a student disenrolls, it requires a signature from every dept. manager. That ALONE takes more then an hour. Also, you are able to get a printout of your account at the Pilot Shop anytime..so what is the problem there? We have had students call and ask that a print out be mailed and it has been....immediately!!!

Again, Casaosa...the students enjoyed working with you and I know others at Pan Am will miss you as well.

I wish you all the best.

[Mavmb]

Forget the 500. I'd like the 2000 dollars they stole from me and then labeled it a penalty fee for not completing the whole 80000 dollar program at Pan Am.

[TheFlyingTurkey]

You want some cheese with that whine?

I can't believe you are still crying about that. You read the contract before you signed it. Quit yer bitchin' and go on with life.

[panampilot]

Amen brotha!

[Mavmb]

[ QUOTE ]
You want some cheese with that whine?

I can't believe you are still crying about that. You read the contract before you signed it. Quit yer bitchin' and go on with life.

[/ QUOTE ]


Yeah, for 2000 dollars I would like to have some cheese at least! And for your info, I never saw the contract. It was pushed onto me the day I signed the dotted line. Of course, now I know to read the fine print before I sign anything. However, if Pan Am showed people the contract, the way you implied they do, you can bet nobody would ever sign it!

[panampilot]

Didn't anyone ever teach you to read the fine print?

I wouldn't have signed a thing until I knew what I was getting myself into. In fact, they told me about the fee and also told me I had a week (I think, I can't remember the exact duration) after starting school to withdraw penalty free.

I don't ever feel like Pan Am kept me in the dark on anything. They were upfront and it even seemed like they went out of their way to make sure I knew what I was signing to avoid any type of lawsuit.

[250blue]

I will say that I had asked for the contract 2 weeks before I was to start and was told that they could not fax me a copy and I would have to visit the school again to see it. It took a week to get it (I was told the "lawyers" don't want it sent out). The hassle of getting the contract was a big factor for me not attending Pan Am, I really don't know what the big deal was.

[PanAmFPRHappy1]

[ QUOTE ]
Forget the 500. I'd like the 2000 dollars they stole from me and then labeled it a penalty fee for not completing the whole 80000 dollar program at Pan Am.

[/ QUOTE ]


$80,000 Program??? That amount inlcudes your living expenses that is given directly to you above and beyond your tuition requirements. As far as the "fine print"...contracts are gone over line by line at enrollment in a group setting. After that PRIOR to signing the contract, you are taken individually into a private setting with a staff memeber so that you may ask any financial questions you elected not to discuss in a group setting as it pertains to YOUR contract. What part is Pan Am hiding in the "fine print"???

Congrats to Turk...I admire your accomplishments and attitude. Your posts on here have been informative but most of all truthful. I wish all the students were like you. Again, Congrats for a job well done.

[Mavmb]

"$80,000 Program??? That amount inlcudes your living expenses that is given directly to you above and beyond your tuition requirements. As far as the "fine print"...contracts are gone over line by line at enrollment in a group setting. After that PRIOR to signing the contract, you are taken individually into a private setting with a staff memeber so that you may ask any financial questions you elected not to discuss in a group setting as it pertains to YOUR contract. What part is Pan Am hiding in the "fine print"??? "




[/i] Negative. I was never shown the contract, just asked to sign along with a group of other students so we could hurry up and go out to the airplanes. We didn't even know what hit us. Like I said, my experience with Pan Am taught me about deceitful business practices and now I always read the fine print.

[dakovich]

even though that extra money is for living expenses, it wouldn't even be necessary if there was a chance to have a part-time job. of course there's pro's and con's associated with that whole topic, but the main point is that if you take out $80,000 or $100,00 then you have to pay back that 80,000/100,000 plus interest. all in all that whole ammount is the cost of attending whatever flight school you go to (not just Panam). so don't act like its only going to cost a student the specified tuition cost stated by XYZ school/academy. whatever you spend OVERALL is what it costs you, and that is what you'll have to repay in the end.

this isn't trying to attack panam, its just a universal economic pricipal that potential students to any school need to understand.

[Mavmb]

Yeah. What I found out is that a lot of the younger students didn't understand the loan process. If you take out a loan for 80,000 dollars it doesn't mean you owe 80,000 dollars. It means you will owe 150,000 dollars or more.