AcadiumReviews of acadium.com

I got totally conned by them. I signed up and specifically told my rep I didn't want to renew. Well, guess what? I was renewed anyway! They actually said that I "opted in" which is B.S. Now the rep that sold me the subscription won't return my calls. What reputable company does business like this?!?? I run my own business, if someone signed up for my service and didn't want to continue, why would I force them to? I guess business is so bad that they have to scam to get business. Now I have to waste my time going through Amex. Amex will just do a chargeback. DO NOT GIVE THEM YOUR CREDIT CARD INFO!

I joined the platform to gain some additional experience with marketing and had to sign up for a 15-minute interview before I could go further with the program. Right before the scheduled time, the interview was canceled without warning, reason or apology. When asked about it, I was told I would need to schedule a new meeting (although the online system still showed my meeting was booked and there was no option to schedule a new one). Uninspired by the lack of regard for my time, I immediately deleted my account. If you can't value the time of a brand new user on the platform, I can't imagine things getting much better. Thanks anyway.

What an absolute con, this company have taken to the tune of around £1000 from my bank without my consent and without providing me with a service or invoice. I have had no contact from them for over 18 months. I wrote to their customer service team about this who say that they 'cannot refund outside the trial period'. I did not have a 'trial period' with them. I had a trial period with another company (GenM) previously which I cancelled in 2020. It is disgusting to be taking money unauthorised and not providing the service during a pandemic. If you are a business owner I would avoid this company as they seem to be all too eager to take money for nothing and not tell you when they are taking it. UPDATE: Regarding the below Moe did not get on a call with me, he emailed. They refunded 4 out of the 7 payments. We will have to claim the rest as an indemnity through the bank.

I just had a call with Acadium's Co-Founder Richard Shaw to speak about their apprenticeship program and all he did was try and sell me their Acadium plus program which is $5000. He didn't even know how to explain it properly. Then he told me I wasn't a good fit for the program because I wasn't sure if I needed an apprenticeship or a course.

I worked with two interns. One was subpar and the other was fantastic. I canceled my account because I wasn't using the service enough. Two plus years later and they're still billing me on a quarterly basis. When I brought this to their attention, I was pretty much blown off. They asked me to prove that I canceled the account. Who keeps screen captures when they cancel a service? Well, you better do it with this company because if you don't come with receipts, they'll treat you to a series of sarcastic emails. They finally agreed to one refund - they don't pay with checks and they refunded to a closed account. I explained that I didn't get the refund and the response was... "Most banks are able to find a way to provide refunded money to their bankholders. We suggest you inquire with them so that you'll be aware of how they will hand it to you. On our end, rest assured that it has been processed successfully." At this point and after emailing with them, I gave up because it's not worth it to argue with someone who is unwilling to see reason. And, by the way, I had to finally close the bank account to stop the payments. Hopefully, I'm an exception to the rule, but in case I'm not - be careful with this company. Seeing how clearing they didn't care about a customer (or former customer) and how they created an issue when I happily recommended them to people prior to this issue says a lot about the company.

Horrible. I did two apprenticeships. The first be ghosted me about four weeks in. No reason no contact. Didn’t really have any expertise to pass on. Yes he was a successful businessman, but didn’t offer any knowledge for the marketing I was there for. The second, had a lot of promise. Software startup, successful business woman. Was more focused on setting up click bait marketing. Had another apprentice intern with me, she dropped out after three weeks. After a heart to heart with the owner, I started to develop a more robust authentic plan for content and growth. Never got feedback or opportunity try it out before the apprenticeship ended. At the end… she wanted me to sign up for another 3 months with her. All in all I learned that businesses go to Acadium for free labor. I see a lot of successful looking businesses hit me up to join them. If they are that successful throw some money in the pool. To the people working, not Acadium. I do not recommend. I advise people to go out and look for internships on their own. Most companies are willing to pay their interns.

Addendum: This business is a flawed model with a leader who is a dishonest bully. He is gaming the reviews by offering refunds contingent on removing negative reviews. I would google 'Gen-M' as they had to change their name because this happened before. Basically, Acadium is a scam that profits off of vulnerable interns. And Moe, the CEO, lied in his response to this review. To clarify, there were no actual complaints against my business because there were no interviews, reach outs or interactions with this platform to even complain about. I had multiple documented conversations with Moe with no mention of complaints. I did not get any applications for an internship and conducted no interviews. I hired two stipended interns that were paid an honorarium of 2000 dollars each but not an hourly wage. Most of the positive reviews on here are a few lines from a mentee. I suspect they are prompted by Acadium to game the numbers and negative reviews being removed with refunds. Most mentors seemed to have an experience akin to mine. I whole-heartedly advise you to stay away from Acadium, Gen-M, whatever it's called. Not worth the time, money, headache. And I would not support the leadership team of this start up given the egregious behavior in response to a bad experience. I declined the refund because I don't want other people to waste their time and money with this operation that at best takes advantage of unpaid interns. The disingenuous and desperate effort to undermine my credibility here is something I have fortunately never experienced before. ------- I would NOT sign up for this platform as an employer. It is a waste of money. I've messaged many people over 4 months and not gotten even one good lead. Most ghosted, declined to chat. I even messaged every person available in my timezone and got no responses. The team member who signed me up left the company (Yaz) and did not respond to any of my emails or calls and then left the company. My office was next to their Toronto office and I would overhear them selling selling selling but what they claim to offer does not live up to the hype at all. Furthermore, the calibre of people on the platform that are available are very junior, non English speaking or too busy to take on any internship roles. People don't actively use the platform so hiring someone can take months and requires you to do a significant amount of work to find someone. There is no vetting of mentors/employers. If you pay them the non-refundable fee, you get to post an internship. And any suggestion of the otherwise is false. I posted the internship online via Monster and got several higher caliber candidate leads, one of whom I hired for a paid internship through my University. If I'm going to spend money, I'd rather it go to my apprentice and not this platform who is essentially a poor quality middle man. Our non-profit media publication that has been working tirelessly to report on the pandemic is now out money and there is no way to use this useless platform to hire anyone and no refunds after 14 days. Just friendly emails suggesting I should make the role seem like less work and commitment to attract someone. I was also told the reason I didn't get a single lead was my fault and that I needed to spend more time to make it work. Maybe this works for the 1 or 2 superstar interns that join or for very junior people or those overseas that can't get their foot in the door, but this is a flawed model with money going to the least deserving parties involved. Complete waste of time and money. Stay away, stay away stay away. This is a small step up from a scam and makes money off of the free labor of vulnerable interns.

If you're looking to hire an apprentice, don't pay this company to find you an apprentice -- just post on Indeed for an apprentice, and use that money that you would have spent (~$400) and PAY DIRECTLY TO THE WORKER. Don't pay into a system that tries to make unpaid work 'okay'.