The Great Courses Reviews

I recently discovered Great Courses Plus and right away I was bothered by how outdated everything appears. Nothing looks recent. Does it just look that way to me, or is the site actually loaded with old material? It seems like an archive of ancient videos. Things have changed so much since those were recorded. The library definitely needs fresh, current content. Maybe I'm just not finding the newer stuff on the website. I really hope that's the case, because otherwise I was let down pretty badly.

This company used to be really special with fantastic presentations, knowledgeable instructors, and a real dedication to education. But lately, things have gone downhill fast since new ownership took over. The lessons seem less rigorous, nobody answers support emails, and the integrity that made them special has vanished. What was once a reliable place for continuous learning is now just an empty version of what it was.

Do NOT sign up with this outfit. They suck you in with promotional deals where you pay for two years upfront, but then lock you into auto-renewal. After two years of barely watching anything and not touching it at all in year two, they automatically billed me for a full year and flat out refused to give me a refund even though I immediately requested to cancel once I saw the charge. I've never encountered a business so unethical that they'd charge you for a whole year and deny a refund when you haven't used it and have no intention to. This company is wrong and misleading.

I've been ordering from this company for over 20 years without any real problems. When they launched their streaming platform around 2015, I was thrilled to suddenly have access to such a huge library. I did call support once when I realized I'd created accounts under two separate email addresses, and they combined them perfectly. Their support team has always been helpful whenever I've reached out. I contacted them today with questions about Wondrium since they rebranded, though online searches now point back to their main platform. In recent years they've restructured quite a bit, merging services and retiring the Wondrium name. Customer service explained it wasn't the right approach. It's unfortunate that some customers had issues with returns during the transition, and it seems like information about what's happening wasn't clearly communicated. I hope the company gets those problems sorted and addresses them for everyone.

Watch out, because everything points to this company struggling as a business. There's a real possibility your courses might not be accessible much longer. I've spent years building a personal collection of around 900 courses, pretty much covering their entire library. Recently they've forced me over to their Plus version. This happened because they suddenly made me upgrade the app, and doing that deleted almost 700 GB of downloaded courses sitting on my iPad. When they called, they had zero options for me, though they did try to make it better by offering a free course, which I turned down. On top of that, when I grabbed a new course to test it out, the app wouldn't let me download it without the new software, so now I need a strong internet connection just for streaming. Offline viewing and storage, which used to be standard, is completely gone now. The people behind these changes clearly didn't think about what they were doing, which seems to happen more and more. Not everyone has great internet speeds when they're out and about. So I'm stuck having to throw away 696.3 GB of courses I paid for.

I've picked up more than thirty different courses over the years in DVD and book format, and every single package has been top notch. The issue started when they stopped making DVDs. Now you can't actually keep any new courses you buy. Your options for streaming are pretty thin, and there's zero ability to save a video file for watching later without wifi, which used to be how it worked. They claim it's to stop people from copying and distributing materials without permission, but modern web design should solve that problem. Yeah, you can still get a PDF version of the coursebook, but it's not the same as getting a real printed one that arrived at your door. Maybe I'm stuck in the past, but when you shell out cash for something, you ought to own it. Everything requires an internet connection these days, which is fine until the internet goes down or the company closes shop. Then you've got nothing to show for what you spent.

The actual course material is solid and interesting, so that's a plus. But their customer support is absolutely terrible and bad enough that I'm not coming back. Over the last few days, I contacted support multiple times about a messed up order. They said they would cancel it, but it showed up anyway and they charged me. When a different order came damaged, they wouldn't help even though they guarantee satisfaction. They keep saying I'll get a callback from management in two weeks, but that never happens. The reps I've talked to have been snippy, interrupted me constantly, and acted defensive. I have recordings of all this. Bottom line, they just don't seem to care. I'm not ordering from them again, especially with their current high prices. I can get the exact same stuff on EBAY for way less.

The courses themselves are great, but the customer support is absolutely awful. I mailed back a course three months ago and have the tracking information to prove it. Zero response. When I called support, they confirmed they got the discs, but when I phoned twice more, the rep said no refund had been issued and didn't have any other info. This is a terrible organization. Best to steer clear.

I bought a course on DVD with the book back in February 2023. Their one-year money back guarantee made it feel basically no-risk, so if it didn't work out, I could return it anytime within twelve months. By May 2023, just three months later, I decided to send it back in like-new shape. I completed their form correctly and mailed it through USPS with tracking confirmation. According to tracking, delivery happened on May 22, 2023. Now it's July 25, 2023, and I still haven't gotten my money back. I've called them every couple of weeks. First they said wait three weeks. Then four to six. Then six to eight. Well it's been ten weeks now. Think twice before ordering if you're not totally sure you'll want to keep it. Forget about relying on that one-year guarantee, it sounds good in theory but doesn't work in reality. Expect to keep phoning and emailing just to get excuses. It's now ten weeks and they can't even tell me when I might see the refund. So really, assume whatever you buy from them is yours for good and you won't be getting your cash back. By the way

The geology content about our national parks is genuinely interesting, informative, and comprehensive. The problem is sitting through the same presenter for 18 straight hours in identical wrinkled khaki pants got pretty tedious. Even worse, the guy seemed totally over-coached on stage presence: constantly using hand movements, gesturing wildly, pacing around, cutting between different camera angles. It became incredibly distracting. The course could really benefit from more maps, charts, and photos to support the material instead of keeping the focus on the studio setting itself.