Interesting blog from someone who scored 800 twice

I don't think it's a scam. At least not in the sense of take your money and run. He just doesn't seem to provide the best customer service and that is about all he offers. If you sell yourself and you're a jerk, what can you really offer that's of value?

Maybe he's one of those annoyingly loud grunter people

This is pretty funny. I believe it should be cross-posted:

I also got suckered. He has no system or strategy. No materials. I even doubt whether he's ever scored an 800. I think he's got a carbon copy of the GMAT test results and he might have touched it up a little...who knows; it's easy to do these days.

When he was selling the service to me, he must have heard somewhere that "the best sales technique is to sell yourself". And he took that literally. He presented his powerpoint using a laptop, presenting all about his hobbies and interests. He actually used microsoft office graphic arts to draw hobbies that he likes...for example, working out, etc.

During one of his class sessions, I had a little trouble with one of the Reading Comprehension and he got frustrated that I couldn't answer one of the questions. This is what he said sarcastically, "...ever read much?~"

Then, I called him one afternoon to check with him on my progress. "Am I making any progress? Because I don't feel it, I don't get it, and I see no improvement." I wanted him to give me a progress report based on the results of my homeworks and self-practice tests that I was doing for his sessions. Since I've paid him thousands of dollars, I thought I deserved at least that.

But, he forgot who I was. Then he said, "...Oh yeah, that's right! You're so and so...Did you use the algebra book I let you borrow?"

He never gave me an algebra book...He got me confused with someone else.

After another session, I asked him again over a phone call and asked for a progress report. "which areas of Quant am I really weak in? Verbal?..."

He tells me that "I'm too busy right now, we'll talk in the next class, I charge for my time to give you that kind of report...Plus, I'm so busy that I didn't even get to work out today. I'm so upset about not working out. You know I'm very into working out and it's very important to me. You can imagine how busy I am to even miss my workout. I don't have time for this conversation. Talk to me in the next class session"

He charges me $800+ per 2.5 hours and he tells me to discuss this in class. What kinda bull is that?

I pushed a little more in that conversation, courteously, asking about my progress. He tells me the following:

"You are weak in all areas! You're too slow!... Look, I have no time for this! So, are you gonna be in the next class or NOT!?" Angrily, raising his voice at me.

So I told him, "...listen, I spent a lot of money so far, I deserve to know the basic progress I'm making and I hired you to do just that: find my weaknesses and help me to improve them..."

He said, "You don't know anything about the GMAT, but I do. Don't tell me what I should give you. If money is an issue, you can't afford me. I've scored a perfect score and I can tell you that you don't even know what you're doing."

"...So, are you going to be in the next class or not? I've got many people on the waiting list to pay for my services..."

I told him "no more", courteously. He was still yelling at me for cancelling his class. I had to calm him down like you would with a cry baby and tell him that "...hey, it's ok; it's not the end of the world. Like you said, I'm sure you have a waitlist"

***By the way, everyone I know at the gym that he works out at hates him ; he almost got kicked out permanently for being extremely rude to everyone. The management at the gym gave him a final warning. He is a nut and a half...perhaps even tempermentally volatile.

I'm going to report his business to the Better Business Bureau and complain about his services.

Alternative study prep:
Do it on your own! Or find an instructor, a true teacher, just like you would find at TestPundit.com (a genuine scholar and a business man who cares)

Plus, try out the following websites as a starter to your preparation:
https://home.comcast.net/~dave.kim/GMAT_ ... rategy.htm

https://daveformba.blogspot.com/2004/06/ ... 60-on.html

If you have any questions, let me know...

Good Luck,
700club

This confirms the impression I got from his website. That guy is a weirdo.

Anyway, just a thought on scoring 800.
Gmat administrates about 200,000 gmat tests every year. Out of those, fewer than 50 scored a 800 (my source is OG11). I recently read from https://www.gmathacks.com that it was 28 people last year.

By definition, 2,000 scores a year are the top 1%.
Therefore, out of the 2,000 top 1%-score, only fewer than 50 scored 800.

=> One in 40 1%-test taker score a 800. And that is a maximum because "fewer than 50 a year".

Well, even if you can consistently score in the top 1%, you may still be a long way from the magical 800.

He's had apparently over 70 clients.

At $10,000 a pop, do the Math. And he works 5-6 hours a day,

I'm happy for him. $700k is a lot of money. To me, no amount of money is worth being a jerk or hard to deal with as is his reputation. Also, when you charge so much for a service, it is going to raise the expectations of those you work with to the point that I doubt that those expectations are often met. I would think someone so smart would understand expectation managment. Underpromise and overdeliver. Maybe he does and we just don't know it, but it would seem almost an impossible task to keep people from thinking they'll get a 780-800 for $10k. I wonder how many people think they can "buy" their score like that? They have the money but not the time or determination to put in the work it takes.

70 clients, probably over 5 years or even longer. And I believe he charged $7k before recently. And deduct the legal costs for his lawsuits. And deduct his gym memberships. Do the math.

LOL - You have a great way of putting things in perspective. I didn't hear about the lawsuit? Share the details you know?