'Online Guru' Who Charges RM4,000 For An Entrepreneur Class Replies To Scam Accusations
Speaking to SAYS, the 'Online Guru' refuted the allegations.
By Yap Wan Xiang — 17 Jan 2021, 04:48 PM
A recent Facebook post centred around an online guru advertising his class, which is known to have cost thousands of ringgit in the past, is going viral for 'exposing' bad reviews
"We're doing a community service. We notice this 'guru's ads are coming up again on Facebook and YouTube," wrote Aurizn Malaysia, an automobile and lifestyle platform.
"Here are some screenshots from people who attended his classes when it popped up during the first Movement Control Order (MCO) last year."
"Spread this so that more people will know about this amazing guru."
Vince Tan, who brands himself as the "leading authority in digital marketing and entrepreneurship".
Image via Aurizn Malaysia (Facebook)Although the post did not mention anything negative about the guru, Vince Tan, the intention seems to be to warn potential students that Tan's course does not live up to the promises
The post attached four screenshots taken from Lowyat.NET, where they show Tan's alleged former students talking at length about their regrets after paying over RM4,000 to join his soi-disant 'Master Class'.
One past attendee said they joined the class at the beginning of MCO, having full trust in Tan that he could teach them his success methods.
However, the RM4,997 course he paid for was allegedly an entry class, whereby another few hundred ringgit was needed to learn about the "details of digital marketing" and another RM35,000 was needed to be the guru's mentee.
Additionally, they said most of the tips Tan imparted was common knowledge and that the syllabus was "not specific".
Read the full review below:
Meanwhile, another review said the class was a waste of money, claiming that the "gathering event" was just an opportunity for Tan to capture a facade of success in order to fool the next group of students
Aside from concurring that Tan's Master Class was a waste of time, the next review claimed that there is no exclusivity when it comes to becoming Tan's mentee. The prior review said only those who "go through an interview and qualified will be selected".
"If you can get people to pay RM4,000 to you and your only lesson is to promote your other business... you win liao," read the review dated May 2020.
"Virtually anyone [who] can fork out another RM20,000 to RM40,000 [is guaranteed] to be [enrolled] as [students]."
The last review on the post said they paid RM5,997 for the money-back guarantee class. But when they were unsatisfied with it and wanted a refund, they could not get it back.
The attendee in Sabah said they felt desperate during MCO. Thus, they decided to pocket out the huge sum in the hope to learn and improve their situation.
They alleged that Tan can "brainwash" their attendees and convince them that they are one class away from becoming a millionaire.
The attendee claimed that after attending the first day of the class and wanting to pull back, their refund request was pushed between two organisers, each blaming the other on why the refund was delayed. Seeing that they could not get the money back, they filed a police report.
"This is my hard-earned money, and during this time of MCO, they can even have the audacity to steal people's money," the review read.
"So here I want to inform the world. Please, this is seriously a scam."
The Facebook post with the collection of reviews has since garnered over 400 shares in five days.
After the post went viral, SAYS reached out to Vince Tan for a comment
Tan deduced that the reason the post surfaced now is because he is currently running a new class, which he claims is absolutely free.
"Side Hustle Convention. It is an event I am running very soon," Tan told this SAYS writer over a Zoom call.
"But do you know they are bashing me on this convention [because] I am selling tickets, wanting to make money from tickets and courses, and all that... But do you know this event is free of charge?"
Tan is currently pushing online advertisements to promote said class, which he claims he will not be making money from. Instead, applicants only need to pay a deposit of RM59 to reserve their seats.
"After finishing learning (sic), I return 100% of the RM59 to you — plus I send a T-shirt to your doorstep. That means I lose money for each person coming to join this convention."
Tan added that other speakers in this convention will not be promoting any other courses.
Responding to the negative reviews that have been circulated online, Tan tried to dismiss them as a small portion of students who will always be unsatisfied
"In fact, the class is still very comprehensive. In fact, most of the time, the comments we get are 'too much' for them some more (sic). So, it is quite the opposite," he said.
He explained that if it is a class about entrepreneurship, he will not leave out any entrepreneurial tips that are only accessible in another class he sells.
"If there is any kind of extra things to sell, it will not be related to entrepreneurship," Tan related, adding that digital marketing classes are a separate course.
"[I design] the programme in such a way that it can be standalone. That means, people can walk away from that class without having to join the digital marketing class or my coaching (course)."
Tan also denied the allegation that his classes are more of a motivational talk rather than a success secret sharing session
He claims that only the first half of the day in the three-day course is "story time".
"The next two and a half days is purely content," he stressed.
He admitted that the refund nightmare among his students exists, but he defended himself by saying that he is also a victim to the organisers as they are not paid until a later time sometimes.
As for the last review on Lowyat.NET, Tan's team showed this SAYS writer proof that the attendee received their refund of RM5,997 on 18 September 2020. Despite receiving it, the attendee still left a negative review on the forum four days later.
SAYS verified that the name of the bank account holder shown in this screenshot matches the username of the review's author on Lowyat.NET.
Image via Vince Tan (Provided to SAYS)Besides, Tan's team pointed this SAYS writer to a handful of positive reviews and mentioned a few businesses that were born out of his coaching and classes, such as Translife Education, Eshop Live, and Oxwhite.
Below are some of the positive reviews left by Tan's students:
Tan's students making testimonial videos and posting them online.
Image via DWS Video Upload (Facebook)
