Academy of Lymphatic Studies - Sebastian, Florida

Joe A.

I initially booked a CLT course in Hawaii, with a few extra days planned, so that I could spend some time there after class to recover from 9 back to back 11+ hour days of instructor led training.

The first class was cancelled on me with less than a month of notice, but got rescheduled from November 2024 to March of 2025, so I rebooked my trip at a loss of about $400 do to not being able to get full refunds on my original travel/lodging.

The second class was also cancelled, this time with less than 3 weeks notice, and this time I was told that the Hawaii class was not going to be rescheduled. Instead I was offered the opportunity to reschedule at one of their other locations, and that one option was Seattle, a week earlier in March. I took it despite the fact that I dislike Seattle, and due to short notice, just a small hotel room in Seattle was more expensive than what I had paid to book roundtrip airfare+lodging when the class was scheduled in Hawaii.

After two cancellations, I finally started class in March, however my classmates and I were saddled with a verbally abusive instructor (Dr Shanie Dasrath) who yelled at and bullied students regularly, with extra abuse for students she had taken a dislike to. The instructor also did not supply adequate supplies for bandaging practice and expected students to share bandage materials which were reused for almost the entire duration of the class.

After multiple anxiety attacks resulting from the behavior of our instructor, I dropped out on day 7 of 9, even though I had already passed the written final exam that morning. I have requested a refund of the tuition as I will never take a class with ACOLS or recommend them again, however it's been 2 days with no response since my request was sent to their "Executive team" .

Afton W.

Like others that have posted, ACOLS canceled 2 in-person classes on me, which was inconvenient for me and my clinic. After the second cancellation, I asked for a $400 refund because I would now have to travel to attend one of their classes when I originally would not have to. I got a confirmation email saying that they would refund me on 10/1/2024.

No refund was given within their 45-day period, so I emailed again on 12/1/2024 and asked what was going on. The refund process had not been started, and they were sorry about that mix-up, and said that I would be refunded soon. I should also note that sometimes, I had to reach out multiple times because emails would go unanswered. What is also crazy about this situation is that my confirmation of the in-person class on states I should be getting a $400 refund as well. I reached out again on after my course and the accounting team still hadn't gotten back to customer service. The customer service representatives also will not give you a direct email to the accounting team, so you constantly have to go through them.

Again, nothing happened, and I ended up talking to AnnaMarie on 1/16/25 (picture taken on the 17th as I figured it might be good to have proof of the interaction), who told me that I should receive my refund within a week and that the person who processed the refunds was currently teaching a class. Again a refund was not given by 1/24/25.

If you're having issues with a refund, I would reach out to the Better Business Bureau and file a complaint rather than play games with customer service. It's unfortunate this happened because I liked my in-person instructor when the course finally happened. However, the negative experience outweighs the bad at this point, and I will be using Klose or Norton for further lymphedema education from now on unless ACOLS can remedy this situation.

Elements H. H.

They cancelled class on me Oct 3rd and have not refunded money. It is well over their 45 day policy. I call and email. They refused to provide me with their “Administrative” staff name or to connect me with them. I am a small business and this is unethical business practice. If I could attach pictures of the email responses I would.
This is horrible I literally begged for my money back! DON’T DO IT! It’s quite possibly a scam!
My mistake that i didn’t read these reviews FIRST. WOW look at all this repeated comments about cancellation and not refunding…. Makes you wonder if something more is going on than poor ethical business practices.

Abby W.

Great school! I loved the staff, all very friendly and helpful. I would highly recommend taking classes here.

Freda L.

DO NOT ENROLL HERE! Signed up for CLT course ($3k+) and have been waiting for (4) months for a refund. Seeing a lot of the same stories. The founder left ACOLS too! There is a whole blog about it.

Christina C.

I recently took the MLD Certification course in ATL. Dec. 11-15th. My instructor was Dr. Tiffany Taylor. I can say, this academy set me up for success. Her teaching style was effective and made the class less boring. We know how that can be after sitting from 8am - 5pm. I will be continuing my additional certifications with this company because they actually care about me and not just here to collect money. Thank you all so much!!

Rejane C.

I really enjoyed the course. Marina is an amazing instructor, very patient and caring…the group was great, everyone always willing to help one another…I will recommend the course to all my friends and colleagues!!

Stephanie H.

I am so disappointed in this company. I signed up for the CDT course, paid my tuition, did all of the online class work (45 hours) only to be canceled a few days before class started. Thank goodness it was in my hometown otherwise I would have been out travel expenses. I was told I would get a refund - that was now 2 1/2 months ago. This company has not refunded my payment of over 3300. Be aware before signing up for any class with this company.