Problems with a chess coach

I'm not quite sure how to proceed and I'd like some advice.

I hired a chess coach from the coaches section on chess.com.  I'm not going to reveal his username at this time.

We agreed on a 10 lesson package for $150 with an addition $25 for a flash drive with study materials.  I sent him a PayPal and we agreed on a date and time for the first lesson.  At the scheduled time, I called him on Skype and he told me that he couldn't do the lesson because he was supposed to be out of the country and wasn't giving lessons that week.  I was surprised but didn't make a stink and we agreed to meet the following week.  I went back and double checked our messages, and we had definitely agreed upon that time.

The next three lessons went as scheduled.  Yesterday, I called him at the scheduled time and he said he was running late and was still walking home.  He asked if we could push the lesson back an hour.  I told him that I had plans later in the evening and that I couldn't change it.  We agreed to meet this evening at 7pm central.  

When I logged on to Skype this evening, I saw a series of messages saying he was busy and couldn't do the lesson tonight either.

So to summarize, he's cancelled THREE times on me, in 5 weeks.  Additionally, he still has not sent the flash drive that I paid him for.

I asked him to just refund the money for the lessons that we hadn't done yet, and to refund me the cost of the flash drive.

He didn't agree to that, and as of this minute, is still chat-bombing me in Skype Chat.  Calling me dumb and a dweeb.  Those are direct quotes.

So obviously, it was my mistake to pay up front.  But if anyone would like to know who it is so you can avoid my fate, I'd be happy to share the info.

Hi, 

Probably best to let support know also because it's not good behaviour and they can get in contact. 

https://support.chess.com/article/346-contact-us

Sucks you paid 150 for a terrible coach who probably isn't even good at chess lol. Just report the bum and move on. To the pleb trying to defend the coach for scheduling training days and backing out multiple times., you're probably the same type of non punctual person that the chess world doesn't need

My chess books always show up when it's time to study and they never call me dumb 😉

I am very dumb too...just to clarify.

Lesson: never ever pay anything upfront for anything

Especially over the internet...

"Not being punctual" would be being 5 minutes late.  This dude has cancelled LITERALLY half of our lessons.

Honestly, with my experience, I would suggest you to hire a cheaper coach, probably who has not advertised on chess.com(they are expensive). These people will try to give the time(or maybe more in some cases) no matter what since they are yet to be established(probably).

Contact someone who is high rated and not listed as chess.com coach and see if he/she has the time.

It's pretty obvious that the smart thing to do is to direct your complaint to Chess.com support. By listing your coach in their directory, they ae implicitly endorsing him. If he turns out to be unreliable or dishonest, they will wan to delist him--at the very least. And they may contact him to help get you some kind of refund. You won't get much help here in this forum

Yeah, I did that.  Hopefully the'll help.  The whole thing is a little bit of "he said, she said".  But I do have all the Skype chats with him heaping abuse on me after I told him I didn't want to continue with him.

I didn't really expect anyone in the forum to actually help.  I was mostly just venting and confirming for myself that I wasn't being unreasonable.

Good Luck! I hope Chess.com will be able to help you out. For what it's worth, I think your experience is very unusual. Most coaches are pretty ethical and reliable

People who do that are a shame to the chess community. We can all learn to not pay in bulk in advance. I am not a listed coach here but i have be training players for few years. I am sorry for your experience.

A younger dude, I assume? Hiring a young coach is always a risk like that, speaking from experience (not in chess, but still). Go for older experienced folks, they at least tend to be more responsible.

This is just unacceptable for a chess.com certified coach...

That sounds quite unfortunate.

I hope this is resolved for you, and I hope you find a responsible coach. There are some excellent coaches out there who would be very eager to help you improve.

Don't let this discourage you from seeking lessons.