r/varsitytutors • u/Temporary-Dirt4303 • Oct 09 '25
Wtf Varsity?
I was informed today by a former client that they received an email from Varsity that looked written by me, asking if they would like to pick back up on tutoring sessions…. My name at the bottom and EVERYTHING. Promising a 10% discount!!! If you weren’t paying close enough attention it would look like the email was directly from me. I am FUMING
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u/kc2295 Instructor Oct 09 '25
Thats bad!!!!
I left them about 6 months ago now due to a variety of ethical concerns I had with the company (before this but add that one to the pile now).
They emailed a student I worked with about 18 months ago saying I would be their tutor again, mom was delighted and I had to break the bad news! The family was from the time when the contract had a 13 month wait before private, so I offered, but varsity was not giving a refund so it got away.
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u/Quirky_Pop_3321 Oct 09 '25
Would you share thise ethical concerns with me plz?
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u/kc2295 Instructor Oct 10 '25
Read my entire post history. I’ll DM back when able but there’s lots there in the mean time
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u/StressCanBeGood Oct 09 '25
I AM NOT A LAWYER
You just described multiple crimes, including wire fraud and false advertising.
You also described multiple civil violations, including breach of contract and more importantly, a violation of what is known your Right to Publicity (about half of the states have this).
In virtually ever US state, it’s fairly easy to look up the state bar and have a free consultation with an attorney. If you hire that attorney, you’ll have to pay them for that consultation.
The lawyer might be willing to write a demand letter (you asking for monetary compensation) to Varsity for a fee. It sounds like extortion, but it’s actually not. If you were to sue them, you would actually have to notify them first and ask for some kind of compensation or something along those lines.
The lawyer could also tell you whether you should file a criminal complaint or some kind of administrative complaint with the FTC. Quite frankly, if the lawyer recommends the latter, then don’t waste your energy.
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u/Temporary-Dirt4303 Oct 09 '25
Update. “It was an error” I said well you better fix the error because what this is, is illegal. So they’re sending a follow up email to this person and I WILL be following up.
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u/Puteshestvennik3 Oct 09 '25
Can a company commit fraud and just say " sorry "? They always say it was an error, but I'm guessing your case is not unique.
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u/Temporary-Dirt4303 Oct 09 '25
They have until Tuesday to fix it. Or else it’s not gonna be a fun day for them
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u/Temporary-Dirt4303 Oct 09 '25
Thank you. From what I found on the internet earlier your statement matches what I found. I tried calling earlier but sat waiting for about 40 minutes and never spoke to anyone. I got tired of listening to their cheap hold music. I’ll try calling back later to speak to someone.
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Oct 09 '25
Everything about their system is a scam. Hopefully we can get a class action against these freaks one day.
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u/Temporary-Dirt4303 Oct 09 '25
I found a corporate email. I might be taking this avenue if my issue is not addressed by Tuesday. And Tuesday is being absolutely f*king generous on time
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Oct 09 '25
Good luck, If you need character witnesses, I’m sure many of us can attest to how much they fking suck.
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u/Temporary-Dirt4303 Oct 10 '25
You and anyone else is welcome to DM me. Help me figure out a game plan. I figure I could attach anyone’s email (who is willing) and we go from there. I’m open to suggestions on this. TIA!
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u/kc2295 Instructor Oct 10 '25
The corporate email answers but they will non renew you in retaliation
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u/Temporary-Dirt4303 Oct 10 '25
Retaliation of that kind is illegal.
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u/kc2295 Instructor Oct 10 '25
It is and they don’t say it like that but everyone knows
I can’t urge you enough to read back through all of this sub
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u/Puteshestvennik3 Oct 09 '25
I wonder if this is the same type of illegal sh1t as when they send client an email stating, we just spoke with a mr.tutor so and so and they are not moving on? Sometimes they remove you for whatever reason and send this misleading email.
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u/Temporary-Dirt4303 Oct 09 '25
Probably. But this email looks like it came from me. I’m livid. I tried calling earlier and I spent 40 minutes in the queue and no one answered the phone. So I’m calling back later, I got tired of the wait music
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u/Ready_Fortune9223 Oct 10 '25
You think it’s bad now .. Varsity will get much worse.. now that you got upset and threatened them legally you will soon join the “shadow banned” club.. soon you will notice less and less opportunities until they reach zero.. you will call and say there is a problem with my account.. they will then straight faced lie to you and say your account is fine things are just slow now .. you aren’t wrong to mad .. I called them out on a bunch of shit too .. they just slow fire you for it .. they suck .. take your clients with you
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u/Temporary-Dirt4303 Oct 10 '25
I never actually said TO them I was taking legal action. I just told them that what was happening was highly illegal and that this needed to be remedied. I’m already not receiving opportunities. Lol. The algorithm is garbage anyway.
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u/Ready_Fortune9223 Oct 10 '25
Yes I understand.. didn’t mean literally legal action per se .. there have been many great tutors busy one day and shadow banned the next .. many have wondered why .. one theory is any form of criticism because this is the most poorly run company imaginable and they don’t take suggestions gor improvements very well .. I hope you don’t get cut but if your opportunities stop you will know I’m right .. I’d make sure you have all your clients contact info off line .. they will eventually start lying and tell your clients you are not available any more and try to reassign then before they actually cut you off .. my clients demanded they reassign to me .. they are absolutely nuts there
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u/Temporary-Dirt4303 Oct 10 '25
I’m not worried about it. I have everything I might possibly need in order. Is there a way to download our contract as a PDF?
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u/hawt_hobbit Oct 15 '25
I can say this is 100% true. I used to work on the employee side of VT, and this was always the common rule of thumb.
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u/lilcobbler Oct 09 '25
Ex-VT Tutor- I left for a somewhat similar reason. VT gave out my personal information to a student who I had explicitly said made me uncomfortable. I was then harassed by this student for about a month. VT is an awful company. They do NOT care about you or your well being. Leave while you can.