I don’t live on Earth. I live on planet Quebec and this isolates me from the many opportunities others have to associate with lots of artists and to see them work. Because of this, I’ve become fond of online workshops. I have a Skillshare membership and I’m currently taking Shari Blaukopf’s new workshop (more on this at a later date).
I’m here today to issue a warning about Domestika, an online service that is running ads everywhere about online classes. I took one of their workshops, which seem to be smallish, inexpensive workshops. The one I took was more basic than I expected but it was well organized and produced. I was sufficiently satisfied with this to take a second one. I won’t take a third.
The reason is fairly simple. I downloaded a second workshop only to find that it is taught in Spanish. That’s great for a Spanish speaker but I can barely speak English so it’s not for me. Warning one: I saw NO indication that it was going to be taught in Spanish so beware.
Warning two: Supposedly, you have four days to ask for a refund. I did it within 15 minutes. This resulted in me receiving a canned msg saying they were very busy and that they’d get back to me. In the 10 days since I asked for a refund, I’ve received three more of these msgs. Just for variety they’ve also sent me a msg asking how I was enjoying the course. In short, they don’t respond at all. It’s cost me some money to learn this about Domestika. Hopefully this post will save someone else some money.
Editor’s note: It took just over two weeks, and half a dozen “we’ll get back to you” notices, but Domestika refunded my money.
Wow, thanks for the warning. I know a couple people who have enjoyed a Domestika class, so I’d been thinking about looking around there… I won’t now.
Wow – that’s terrible – I’ve taken a few, but at least on the app it says clearly what language the classes are in. But nearly all of them are in Spanish, and only a small number in English, unfortunately…
That’s interesting. I was buying from their website through a browser. No indicator I could see. If they’re going to advertise EVERYWHERE in English, they should be more clear that their products are not. Mostly, though, I got upset by their complete lack of customer service.
Totally agree. That’s infuriating. Especially not letting you get your money back. Can you dispute the charge?