9/5/2019 Since 1993 I utilize my Oregon Society of CPAs for most of my professional training courses. I am a licensed CPA. Just to learn what it's like, I finished a class from Fred Pryor Seminars on Payroll and it was very poorly done. I would not send staff to it let alone take another course. I have asked to be removed from the mailing list for the past three years and Fred Pryor Seminars has failed to do so. I do not recommend. The Company still prefers to send me fliers in the mail, I write return to sender and they waste a good deal of paper. Its unfortunate. Useful Funny Cool Comment from Abby H. of Pryor Learning Solutions Business Manager 9/17/2019We're sorry to learn that our Payroll course did not meet your expectations. Additionally, if you've submitted your name for removal from our list, that should happen. In regards to our printed brochures, we do send these electronically as well. We understand you not wanting to receive them, and to that end, a customer service representative will be in contact to correct. We appreciate your feedback and apologize for the inconvenience you've experienced. 9.26.19 It is more than inconvenience that I have experienced. It's three years of continued unwanted junk mail from Fred Pryor Seminars. More importantly, it's failure to improve your accounting courses. By the way two weeks have passed and no one has contacted. Just remove my name and address; no need to bother me further. Staff and I look for useful/accurate seminars. We decided not to attend another Fred Pryor Seminar. read more

The session was very engaging, and Patrick made some easy and understandable examples when dealing with difficult people.

This morning I attended the Microsoft Excel Basics 1-day seminar. I ultimately left at the lunch break because I felt I had spent the first 3.5 hours of the class learning "how to learn" and why I should sign up for more seminars. I'm not doubting the potential to better myself these courses could provide, but, I missed a half day of work to hear about them. I signed up to learn Excel and although I'm sure the second half of class was more focused on that information I missed half a day at work to be given a lengthy sales pitch. It is apparent that the focus was NOT on Excel. 90% of the time was spent selling other courses and 10% was spent on actual Excel specific material. I confirmed my thoughts with the people sitting near me during a break. They wholeheartedly agreed with my assertion. I approached the instructor at the lunch break, after he was done speaking to a group of students who were interested in the "Empowered Speed Learner" $1,500 seminar (on special markdown to $750 for today only). He spent the last 20 minutes before the lunch break on the benefits of that seminar alone. I expressed my concerns that I wasn't being taught much about Excel, only how to learn and he immediately asked if I had signed up for the next day's "Beyond the Basics" seminar. I told him I was not and he implied that I would get much more Excel specific instruction at that seminar, which felt like MORE sales pressure. He repeated the laundry list of his qualifications to be a certified instructor that he had also stated several times during the class and advised me that I must be part of the 1% who learn a different way than the method used by him and Fred Pryor Seminars. I'm very disappointed in what I got, or more accurately DIDN'T get, from the course today. Although I chose to leave early it was an executive decision I made while in contact with my 2 bosses to cut our losses of lost time at work and while there was probably some valuable information I missed in the second half of class, I can not recover the 4 hours that were wasted in a live infomercial for Fred Pryor Seminars. I' I'm not sure if this issue is instructor specific or if this is the usual M.O. for all of your seminars. I will be researching a different Excel course and hopefully I will be able to convince my boss to let me miss another day of work and shell out more tuition money for a more desirable outcome this time. read more

A near complete waste of money and time. If you're born prior to 1975 then maybe this course might be helpful with how the content is delivered. just be prepared to be spoon-fed sales pitches for 65% of the duration. I'm appreciative of the snippets of content that were actually useful but this entire program is a sales pitch in disguise as a teaching platform. If this wasn't a sales pitch for outdated resources that can be completely replaced by free online resources with a simple google search then it wouldn't be that bad. The material that was actually taught was useful, just completely buried behind a wall of irrelevant certification and sales plugs. read more

I was very hesitant taking a full day class on Excel, especially still having to do my daily work. It did not feel like a full day of class. That being said I cannot say enough how amazing the class was was with Dave Suson and Jaime Swindell. Very entertaining and engaging. I learned a lot of tips and tricks to Excel that I did not know. I am now looking forward to taking the Beyond Basics class. Thank you Dave, Jaime and Fred Pryor! read more

I went to this seminar as it was set up by my predecessor for some reason... I knew by looking at the brochure that it was going to be a sales pitch. I only wish I had looked at the reviews! That is how I spent my lunch break though! Most everything negative I have read about this company occurred with my session as well (Payroll Law). This was to be a 7 hour course on Payroll Law. Subtract 2 hours for breaks (yay!) and then.. another hour, hour and a half for sales pitches!!! The instructor was pleasant enough in demeanor, however, admitted to little knowledge on WA State Laws and referenced CA (disparagingly). It was not clear that we were to print out our own materials for this class... which was a bit surprising considering the cost of the class. Additionally, the materials aren't even current! How hard is it to update a soft copy of something the attendees have to print out? The instructor relied heavily on scare tactics to try to drum up continued business. My company paid 150 bucks for me to sit through an all day sales pitch with very little useful information imparted to the class. The information that was disseminated was so basic that anyone having any business sitting in that room should have already been aware of it. We did not discuss a large portion of the items listed on the flyer. And I am now aware that I can expect to be hounded with flyers from here on out. You would have to be INSANE to think I would be interested in paying $1300.00 to sit through more classes where the focus is to sell, sell, sell to people based on ignorance and fear. We will NOT be attending again and I will NOT recommend these seminars as any sort of learning tool. You would be better served utilizing the government agency sites for information that is accurate and free. And don't get me started on me filling out my own certificate. It would be much more professional on their end to just email completed certificates to the attendees so we can print them ourselves like we were expected to do with the course materials! read more

It was like watching an infomercial half the time, trying to sell more subscriptions and books. Did not gain anything from the course. Barely went through the work book or handouts. Would not recommend. read more

Our company sent a team to one of the management seminars and honestly the team thought it was helpful - hence the 2 stars. However, be warned that after getting a hold of a name and address you will be spammed by them - we now receive approximately 5 different pieces of identical mail from them or their associates (yes, they either give or sell your information to other institutions) 1-3 times a week. Yes, 1-3 times a week. We've emailed customer service 3 times, weeks apart each time, with requests to be removed. There has been no response. It wasn't until after these requests that we also started getting mail from FP affiliates. If you're going to take part in a seminar, I'd recommend creating one junk account and sending your team one at a time under that account. Otherwise be prepared to be inundated with sales pitches for additional courses. read more

It was most certainly not prominently noted that there are no computers in use in the class when I signed up. And I prominently stated that I left because of the near constant sales pitches, not the fact that there are no computers. Nice try though. Fred Pryor seminars are a scam. Do not have anyone contact me. I will send a letter. I have your address from the hundreds of worthless flyers I have received. read more

The course I took was decent, and it was very reasonably priced for the material covered, but it was a "survey course" meaning it was a mile wide and an inch deep covering everything from performance management and motivation to hiring/firing and employment law. Honestly, I should have known that I couldn't learn everything there is to know about managing other people in 6 hours. In essence, it was a teaser course designed to get you to sign up for more of their more in-depth seminars. But a word to the wise.. if you take one of their seminars, don't fill out a damn thing you don't have to - addresses, phone numbers, emails, boss's name & title, etc. They will Sell. You. Out. Since I attended that one seminar, I have been subjected to a flood of mailings and emails for other Fred Pryor courses as well as unrelated magazine subscriptions, charity donations, etc. How can I be so certain this was caused by Fred Pryor? Well, that's easy - I now receive spam at my home addressed to me as well as my boss. Yes, my boss. At my HOME. Naturally, she does not live with me, but FP is the only company (other than my actual employer) to whom I have ever disclosed both my home address as well as the name of my direct manager. Yes, they're wasting money on postage and paper, but it's always a bit jarring to know that someone you do business with is willing to sell you out for a buck. read more

I took a two day series of Excel courses. These sessions are basically a tech demo designed to sell overpriced books and online training. You will see plenty of interesting things but learn and retain almost nothing. Prepare to be crammed into a room with a horde of people with nothin to do but watch a presenter. Zero hands on learning. You just watch a guy pull up pre made spreadsheets and basically say "tada!" The only way to actually learn is to - bring a laptop even though the instructor complains about it - try and mirror the workbook while your instructor talks about the topic - if you cannot figure something out just go home and google it Day one was painfully basic. I left an hour in and returned to my office with the provide workbook. Worked through it in 30 minutes. Even the workbook is a challange to use because it rarely mentions the actual function or topic discussed. This is done to make it harder to google the terms (thereby increasing CD sales that actually include terms) You will also be constantly be reminded that to "really learn this stuff" you need to by the overpriced CD's. They cost hundreds. read more

Heed the other reviewers' advice and seek out a quality training company. I took the payroll law class. Up front, the speaker advised that this class was not to TEACH how to actually do payroll, but rather to learn the laws and regulations governing payroll. The class material was elementary at best. Anyone who has ever done a single payroll would be able to pass a test on this course if it were available. Aside from the remedial content, the speaker was VERY unknowledgeable and answered several questions flat out incorrectly! When I would try and bring this to his attention, he would dismiss my observation and move right into some story. As if all that wasn't bad enough, it was VERY clear that the MAIN purpose of this seminar was to SELL SELL SELL. I felt like I was in one of those free cruise seminars. The bulk of the class was spent listening to his sales pitch. The only enjoyment I received from those portions of the seminar was when I googled the books he was peddling and found them at equal or even CHEAPER prices online. I have never in my 21+ years of preparing payroll been to such a laughable attempt at "training." NEVER AGAIN!!! read more

80 people filled the tables and chairs when I walked in one minute before the seminar. Luckily there was an empty seat at the end of one of the tables; in the back. Too bad I'm blind and wish I showed up earlier to snag a closer seat. After sitting down, it dawned on me: this is going to be a long day. I know everything about Excel and can't possibly learn anything new. Boy, was I wrong! Marc Carignan started off the seminar with a pop quiz which asked details about the program, which 99% of the room failed. Hot damn, I learned something new in the first 20 minutes, and the revelations kept on coming. "ooooo... aww... that's hot! -- tsssss *sizzle*" he made us say. That was cute. Thanks, boss, for sending me here. I'm not sure how much of this I will use for my current job, but it's nice to have the knowledge just in case. Fred Pryor is a non-profit educational company. They hold over 20,000 seminars a year. The particular class I signed up for, Excel Basics Event #70209 was fast-paced, prompt, timely breaks and the speaker was upbeat and humorous. Marc did a great job at trying to convince me that I need to spend money on all the Excel workbooks. Now, I'm not that interested in spending $457 on these products, but you may want to take advantage of such a steal; normally priced at $1,039.65! A'ight. I've got to go make a chart in workbook now with 65,000 rows and 256 columns. ha. inside nerd joke. go team binary!!! read more

I really enjoyed the in-person sessions that I've taken. I signed up for the Pryor Plus to get access to a year's worth of classes. The online courses are really good material with engaging instructors, but way too much time is spent pitching us on buying more of their support materials. It would be good to get through some more of the teaching points earlier in the day rather than skimming over them in the afternoon after lunch. Ease up on the sales, slow down and instruct more. :) read more

I just signed up for a 2 day training class and the online chat gal made it super easy and painless. I would definitely recommend them helping you sign up if you are in a hurry or just want to make it extremely easy. Way to go! Can't wait for the benefits of a good training class. read more

Pros: ? Cons: I signed up an employee for a class with Fred Pryor a year ago and since September of last year, I have been stuck on their mailing list. I request to be removed from their mailing list every month or so. In total, I have sent them ELEVEN requests to be removed, and am still getting their shit. How many times does it take to be removed? I will update this post when I figure that out... DO NOT REGISTER FOR ANY "FRED PRYOR" OR "CAREER TRACK" CLASSES UNLESS YOU WANT TO GET AN INDEFINITE STREAM OF JUNK MAIL. read more

I value this training that my employer offers. I work for a non-profit that believes in developing people. The training courses offered are led by superior professionals, are held at good venues and offer great value for the cost. read more

Jaime (whatever his last name is) was creepy flirty from the get. And they don't have computer stations to follow along with what they're teaching. It's pretty much like buying a magazine and flipping through all the advertisements. I was so uncomfortable physically and mentally. I'm so glad my work paid for this BS seminar. And at the end we got certificates that we fill our own name in. I grabbed 10, who wants one?!??! read more

We attended the seminar that was presented in Rockford.il May 9, 2018 on Beyond Email and calendar. and tips, tricks, and secrets, on Microsoft outlook, I have never been so disappointed in a Fred Pryor Seminar. the presenter combined the morning class and the afternoon class together so we could get out early. what the heck, I was there to learn more about Email and calendar. which we spent about 20 min on it. she kept, answer question from the attendees during class instead of having them come to her at break. I think it depends on the Instructor and unfortunately ours was not very good. an Instructor should never combine two seminars together. Glenda Hitchcock read more

The worst training I've ever taken. The training is basically a sales pitch for all of the classes they offer and selling their annual membership. Why on earth would I take any other training from this company when the trainer spends more than half the time telling me about other classes they offer. What a huge waste of my time. read more

I attended a seminar on the Indispensable Office Manager. Although the materials were OK it never really dove into any one topic. It touched on all of the topics then said "check out this class for more information" The class moved SUPER slow we could have had 1. More information provided 2. Let the class out early 3. Less sales pitches! I was there to learn not be sold to! read more

Waste of money and time. I wish I could give negative stars. Their online courses glitch out frequently, they are often poorly narrated and are just overall bad quality. When you contact the company to get solutions about their online training, they give you the run around and provide you with no answers. I've unsubscribed from their email lists multiple times and still receive emails from them. What a nightmare! You've been warned! read more

I attended the Employment law seminar yesterday. We walked out at lunch, and did not return. The presenter was awful, She presented us with a outline of the day as she began the class 30 minutes late. she read each line as if we couldnt read the outline ourselves, By lunch she had only completed the first section of 5. Not because she had that much information for us, but because she told the same story over and over 3-4 times asking each time if we got it, or understood. She was very unorganized and gave us no real content. Many in class were very disappointed. It felt like pre-school class. read more

The last two seminars I went to were the biggest waste if time and money. One class was supposed to be about leadership which was an autobiography about the instructor. And the other one to use quick books the teacher didn't seem to know very much. Most of the people taking the coarse ended up answering all the questions that anyone had. You're better of reading books or going on youtube read more

I am beyond ticked off that I paid $150 for their Quickbooks class. I would have thought that it would be taught on a computer, I would've even been happy to bring my own. Nope, we had to sit there and watch this pompous ass zip around the screen so fast, everyone had to ask him to repeat everything. He taught the desktop version, which my company uses the online version and kept saying "the MAC and online versions are totally different." Then why the heck am I learning THIS ONE?? Then he did nothing but talk about how much money made outside of these seminars. Save your money and go elsewhere, totally not worth it. read more

Terrible Training - Complete Waste of Time - Waste of Money I did the Worker's Comp training in Yakima August 2018. The trainer was extremely rude. Extremely condescending and made inappropriate comments. Not only was the training not helpful but the trainer didn't actually understand worker's comp in the State of Washington. The training materials were completely wrong regarding some laws as well. The training was $299.99 per individual. They do not provide food or writing utensils. However they do provide incorrect material and lots of sales gimmicks. Do yourself a favor and go to an online seminar or youtube workers comp. It will provide more information than Fred Pryor will. read more

The trainer for the course I just took spent at least 3 out of 7 hours advertising. There were multiple times where he said it would better your children and family's lives (just to learn how to use EXCEL!). A complete waste of time. Never in my life have I ever wanted to NOT buy someone's product. I can't believe what a ridiculous waste of time this course was. read more

Took the leadership team building class with Steve Walrarh, and it was horrible. He belabored medaphors circling around every point he never got to. We were supposed to be learning team building and he mostly talked about good customer service. What did I get from this course, nothing I haven't learned through 25 years of customer service. read more

I must attend a few seminars a year and it was suggested that I attend a Pryor seminar on social media. Our instructor lacked knowledge, professionalism and was misinformed. At one point during the seminar an attendee asked a question and the instructor answered it inaccurately. When someone pointed out that she was wrong, the instructor replied I'm not here to answer questions. Here is what I learned from this $119.00 course 1) the instructor loves Entenmann's 2) the instruction loves Dunkin Donuts, 3) the Pryor courses are a waste of money and time. read more

I took the "Essentials of HR Law" on Oct. 21st, 2019. I printed the workbook and quiz. I thumbed through some of the pages and thought it had good information and would be an educational refresher course; I've been in HR for 20 years so I do my best to take training 2 to 3 times a year. I received a flyer in the mail from Fred Pryor so I thought I would give them a try. BIG, BIG, mistake. The first quiz question the trainer was incorrect in her answer. Then she went on to tell us about her personal struggles in life, how she sued an employer and won. How she knew the little tricks HR does. How she's a home body. Only trains 3 days a month. The icing on the cake for me is when she said she discriminated against a pregnant women at one of the jobs she had. I couldn't believe it! She kept saying "I'm just trying to be transparent, these things happen". Since I had already paid for the class I started reading from the booklet and tried to tune her out which was very hard to do... she talked loud, snorted when she laughed and seemed more focused on getting attention for her personal experiences than training the class. It's really too bad because their hard copy information is good One nice thing is she didn't take a lot of time upselling. She had a training participant tell us about Pryor+ and it ended there. I left after the 2nd break, I couldn't take it any longer. read more

I took a Fred Pryor Excel "beyond the basics" and signed up a co-worker to do the same. I was tasked with finding us a good Excel class. I was so embarrased for my coworker because the entire 'seminar' was a sales pitch to buy more FP classes/produts. For every topic that we were supposed to learn, instead of showing us how to do it, the teacher would use another Pryor product to show a video of someone else doing it and then spend 10 mins explaining where we can download the videos. 15-20 mins of every hour I'd say were sales focused. I don't write yelp reviews but hopefully this will save someone some money. read more

If I could give this a 0 I would. I took the class in San Jose, CA, and it was A Crash Course for First-Time Managers or Supervisors. My trainer was sexist and ageist and made cheap stereotypical jokes about both men and women the entire time. When I tried to talk to him after class he ignored all of the leadership qualities in communication he was 'teaching', got defensive, said I was too young to understand and that "Girls are hard wired to like barbies and boys are hard wired to like guns." It's disgusting that there is someone out there trying to train the next generation of leaders. read more

I CANT BELIEVE PEOPLE ARE LEAVING A 1 STAR REVIEW!!! Pryor has done wonders for me and my new business. It's boosted my self confidence and is teaching me skills I would have never learned. I attended a class today in Raleigh, Managing Emotions Under Pressure. My teacher Pat changed my life today. I will use skills he taught today for the rest of my life. I wish I could tell him how much he effected me. Sign up and go! You won't regret it! read more

My boss signed me up for Making the Transition from Staff to Supervisor on 1/17/18 in Harrisburg PA. After reading the negative reviews of this company, I was skeptical. Honestly though, I thought this seminar was fantastic. The speaker, Tony, was very engaging, entertaining, motivating, and passionate. It was so interesting and fun, covered a lot of content, and really went into detail on topics. Yes, there were some sales pitches for the membership - but they were more of an afterthought, he really didn't spend too much time on them and wasn't pushy about it. I am surprised at the negative reviews, but I think it must depend largely on the instructor. It seemed like Tony genuinely wanted to share his knowledge and motivate to us succeed, rather than selling us a product. I did, however, follow the advice of others and did not provide mine nor my company's address, to keep us off the mailing list. The only critique I have is that, for the amount of money these seminars cost, they really should consider providing lunch. For a $200 seminar, I was disappointed that they didn't. Ultimately, this was a very positive experience and I walked away more motivated and confident, with a stronger skill set. I would consider going to another one if it was Tony presenting. read more

The basics class was great and so was beyond the basics. However, I had trouble keeping up with the class in the beyond the basics class. I suggest taking the basics class and using those skills for a while and then take the beyond the basics, use that and then the advanced. The instructors did an excellent job. read more

I have taken 3 seminars and this is the first one I have had to do online due to COVID. I am enjoying this just as much as an in person lesson and the handouts are very helpful. I will definitely take another class in the future read more

Total waste of time and money; I'll never take one of their seminars again. I took an Excel class; they don't use computers in the training and only give you the book to follow along with the presentation. Most of the time, the instructor tries to sell their courses and package deals. They cram as many people as they can into a tiny room and it was really uncomfortable. Don't bother. read more

Very engaging seminars. I've done 2 now and have learned much from their professional teachers. Online seminars are set up well with chat boxes and links to files that you can use later on. read more

Registered for an Excel Basics course in Tampa. Lots of jokes, personal background information by the presenter (a former DJ!) with a scattergun approach to tips and techniques. He didn't believe in following the book provided and then kept referring to the P+ members in the group - those who had signed up for unlimited seminars for a year. Then we get the sales pitch and he rewarded the P+ members by giving ONLY them his personal list of 140 shortcuts in Excel - what am I, chopped liver?! By lunchtime, I realized I had gained nothing and had wasted an entire morning. I left! read more

I signed up for one of their seminars for leadership and team building. I ended up changing roles with work and needed to cancel the seminar. I called a few weeks prior to the seminar to let them know I would not be attending. Two months after the seminar, I received a letter stating that my account has a credit balance of $249. The letter said, "If you prefer to receive a cash refund of your credit balance, please call 800-988-5371 before 1/3/2018. Please note, we will need the above invoice number(s) in order to process your refund." I called the number above, and was then told I need to call customer service at 1-800-556-3012. Upon calling them, was told that they do not give refunds for seminars. I told her that the letter I received, states that I can receive a cash refund of my credit balance. Again, she just said, "we do not give refunds for seminars, only a credit for 12 months." If that is the case, do not send out letters telling people to call with their invoice number, to receive a cash refund. Seems like an easy way to scam money. read more