In short, I wish Donna Shuman success in finding another tutor who can work with her and her son Jonathan F. Neither demonstrate clear, timely, professional communication skills or prioritizing of SAT/ACT test practice. I never me Donna in person (big mistake) and she did not communicate with me for over 50 days, her son did not even attempt to set up regular appointments or do his follow-up practice work. I have phone and email evidence of (the lack of) our entire working relationship). Long version (for anyone interested in details) - Donna contacted me late in February. I spent over on hour giving her a free phone consultation. I explained how I work (2-hr strategy sessions, expectation of independent practice for focused feedback sessions, etc - my policies and procedures are posted on my website and sent to all clients as Google doc.) I also expressed my concern about cramming so soon before his test. She wanted to proceed so I met with her son Jonathan who is a all-star football player at their home on Feb 27th. He did want to set up regular appointments due to his busy football schedule so he said he would text me about next session. I didn't hear from him so I texted him March 3rd and encouraged him to book sessions since my schedule was getting full for the week before the test. I do work 7 days a week, take on a limited number of clients to accommodate their needs, and am as flexible as possible but can't change prior confirmed appointments. He texted back with suggested days and times and I told me my availability (3 slots would work). So we met again March 6th. We covered strategies for next two subjects but he told me he had not had time to practice previous sections and therefore had no specific questions to ask. I told him to contact me if he needed to prep for April ACT. He took the March 10th SAT and I didn't hear from him, so I texted him on March 17th asking him how it went. No response. The next week I ran into him at Chipotle in Jupiter and he apologized for not getting back to me (again, too busy with football). He said he would once he got scores back. I advised him to prep for next test anyway. No contact until March 24 when I texted him and asked him if he got back scores. He hadn't. No contact until April 12th when he apologized via text for "not being able to shoot [me] a text." I responded and said he should immediately get QAS to analyze errors and told him we could resume tutoring the next week. He responded 3 days later saying "very busy with football sorry I forgot to respond" and asked for a Saturday morning appt. I told him I could if I was able to reschedule other client who had that slot, which I did. Then Donna, who I had not had any contact with at her home or by phone, text or email since Feb 25th (though she claims to have called me from her office with no voicemails or call history on my phone) marked me as "hired" on Thumbtack on April 20, texted me that I was "leaving her son hanging" although he was "doing his part" and then left me the above negative review SIX MINUTES. I called her and she accused me of lack of communication. I sent her screenshots of entire call history and detailed explanation, no response. I texted her son to have her call me. She did not. I texted both to say I would not confirm next apt without an in-person meeting. By text Donna said she would "consider" editing review if I "rectified" things and showed progress. I told her I didn't know what I could rectify. Then they both wanted to change apt to 1 hour. I again explained reasons for 2-hr sessions but agreed to a 1-hr meeting if I could meet Donna in person (which I always think is best for resolving issues) and if session was focused on questions from analyzing prior test. Jonathan texted me that he had not done that. Again, I do not proctor practice sessions or do babysit-style tutoring. Donna claimed via text that Jonathan has done test practice and is a"mature young adult who follows through with his commits and is a very dedicated and disciplined individual." While this may be the case for school and football, he did not demonstrate that to me as I saw absolutely no evidence of this in regard to test prep. I am not sure if he has misrepresented the situation to his mom or she is in denial. whatever the reason, it was not a workable situation.

I would like to clarify this review since I feel strongly that it misrepresents our interactions and I also value clear, timely communication, which requires the participation of both parties. I am honestly surprised since Betania never hired me, called me directly on my cell nor scheduled an appointment. My initial quote included my cell phone number and encouraged her to call me directly. She did not do so and emailed me through Thumbtack, saying "I guess you are too busy to answer my message. Thanks." I responded to her message and again offered a free consultation and provided my phone number. Twenty (20) days later Betania emailed me (through Thumbtack, not my website) and asked when she should call. I told her my soonest availability (that same evening) but she didn't call back for another four days and then called my Google Voicemail number which was forwarded to my cell phone. We briefly discussed her goals, my methods and recommended follow-through. At that time I advised that her daughter fill out my website questionnaire for free feedback as to which test to take and a personalized prep plan. This Questionnaire is not a "test" of any kind nor a practice test as implied. It is a survey of past performance, academic experiences, learning styles, and testing issues. The first entry is contact information, but her daughter did not provide a requested email address so I could not respond directly in writing as I usually do to provide a record. When I texted the cell number provided (which was Betania's), her only response was: "Who is this?" I let her know who it was and she said she would call later, but I never received a call from her on that number. At that point I assumed she chose to go another route since I had made it clear I only work with a limited number of clients and appointments should be made by phone/text to avoid scheduling conflicts. After seeing this review I checked my phone log and found no other calls nor texts, nor did she ever contact me through my website. I honestly don't understand her perceptions and assertion that she tried to call "many many times...wrote messages on webpage and texted her." Perhaps she was calling the wrong number.....? Regardless, I am very sorry we did not connect and certainly hope she and her daughter found the services they were looking for.