The Great Courses Reviews

This is definitely not a course for beginners! I am not a beginner piano player... just wanted to learn some theory and use the course as a "refresher" after a long time away from the piano. I found the terminology, new to me, confusing and not explained that well. The workbook was not that helpful. The video is not clear when showing the professor playing - hard to tell what keys she is on. If you have played an instrument previously, you could understand music scores but if not you would be lost.

I am wasting my time with some jerk named Albert from Roku who doesn't understand the simple fact that we paid for a subscription and after the 2nd month, The Great Courses updated their Roku App, lost our account information, and took our money.

Update: Oh, after calling around, I did Roku's job for them. It's now called wondrium. Nice communication Roku.

I would probably 4.5 not five stars to the great courses, but I rounded up. I've been listening since I was in high school listening on cassette. I've listened to dozens of courses thanks to libraries and Audible. I just bought six more. LNoike any publishing house they have duds, but generally the quality is very high. If you like university style lectures they have the best catalog you're likely to find. I find unless I'm in a real classroom I'm more of an auditory learner, so I can't speak too much to their video material. Anyway I do recommend that you check out their material. If you're interested in any kind of vaguely academic subject they probably have something you'll find interesting.

They SEEM to assume that we all have the abilities of a 5-8 year old. I am returning the programs. I do NOT recommend these courses.

Surprised at some of the negative views. Some complain about one course snd then expand the comment to imply it reflects all the courses. Even though we know they haven't watched more than a few. Either sloppy expression or sloppy thinking. I've been impressed with the presenters' skills, knowledge and support visuals where appropriate. I have 13 of their courses.

SCAM. On 22 Jan 2021 I ordered courses on their All Courses $35 Sale Good through 4 Feb 2021. My Total came $185, however, my card was charged $1,759.60. Scam, Scam, Scam

Some of the courses are ok, but when you cancel, they steal money without authorisation from your credit card. I even changed the number of my credit card to one with no funds, & they still stole from my account. Steer clear of them, they are thieves. I have reported to the fraud dept of my bank.

SCAM ALERT. If "The Great Courses Plus" offers you a "free" trial through Roku or any other service, don't trust this organization. RUN. Three days into my "free" trial (for extremely outdated courses, to be honest), I was charged $45 from The Great Courses, as well as $19.99 from Roku. Both The Great Courses and Roku initially refused to refund what I would call FRAUDULENT charges and The Great Courses never even had a record of me cancelling through Roku, but after spending my free time emailing them proof, Roku finally refunded what thei had charged me.

The Great Courses Plus, however, pro-rated my "free" membership to the 3 days it was used and said they "do not believe a refund is required." While I do appreciate you refunding my money, IT WAS A FREE TRIAL. I shouldn't have been charged in the first place, nor should I have had to spend my time calling you to dispute this.
Outrageous. I will go out of my way to recommend against this SCAM and wouldn't recommend dealing with this organization to anyone.

LOW RATING IS BOGUS
I am surprised by the low rating SiteJabber gives to the Great Courses. I have been a customer of theirs since about 2015. There is a 90% sale going on through Aug. 2020, and I will be buying some, like American History, Biochemistry, and How to Play Piano for $35 each!

PRICES
Their List Prices are excessive, however, if you get on their mailing list (they don't spam you), you will get offers for 70%, 80%, and even 90% discounts every month or so. In one year EVERY course will eventually go on sale. So you don't have to worry about the cost.

SAVE MONEY
Purchase the Online Streaming (not DVD) because it is cheaper, has zero shipping cost, and you can download the video (unencrypted) onto your hard drive or other storage device.

PRESENTATION AND VALUE
Some of the courses at TGC are worth having because they are presented well and cover many topics in one entire course. At minimum you get 12-lessons. 24- and 36- lessons is common. Some have 45- or 72-lessons in one course! Each Lesson is half-hour. The Guidebooks are helpful as well. You can even order digital copies of full transcripts of all the lectures.

READ REVIEWS
Before you purchase a course, read reviews on their (official) website and look at the overall rating. Also, be sure you understand what the content is actually about. Some are more technical than others, and some are not technical enough, depending on your expectations. Some courses have bad reviews and you may not want those.

YOUTUBE ALTERNATIVES
Another consideration is to look on YouTube for the video you want. Sometimes they are there. Other times, you will find similar content on YouTube and you don't have to spend the money for it.

CUSTOMER SERVICE
Returns and exchanges are allowed. Read their policy page or call and ask. Because of COVID-19, they are busy. But they have a good reputation to maintain (except on this site for some reason), and they will go out of their way to be helpful.

Second class I've bought hoping they had improved. I was wrong. You would think they could keep up with up to date teaching methods, but instead you get the professor in front of the class lecturing. Very few visuals are used. Need to drink lots of coffee to watch.