Are You This Client?

Late last month, one father asked about the review for college entrance test that we offer during summer. Our officer-in-charge, in her usual friendly manner, explained everything the client needs to know . But when the client asked whether it is guaranteed that his son will pass the entrance test in the University of the Philippines, Ms. Ann, the officer-in-charge, said that we do not guarantee that, as it also depends on the performance of the student. The client didn't like her answer and asked what's the point of enrolling his son in a review center if we can not guarantee that he would pass, so Ms. Ann answered, it will increase his son's chances of being admitted to the university of his choice, only if he cooperates and works hard.

The client started to rant about how useless and expensive our program is, and that if it will depend on his son's 'work' then why would he enroll him in a review center after all. All of us are getting annoyed then, we wanted to tell him that nobody is forcing him to enroll, and if he believes his son will pass the test without the review then we don' t advise him to do so. But we kept our cool, and acted the way a professional would, we just waited for him to leave, but he didn't. He kept telling us that if it will depend on the student, then the review wouldn't help at all, why would he pay P15,000? All he asks he is a guarantee. Something that we could NEVER give. So, our officer-in-charge thought of something to keep the client quiet. She offered to give the client's son the mock test. The mock test is normally given after the review program to assess whether the student learned something or not. It also indicates the student's chances of making it to the school of his choice.

Ms. Anne said that if his son gets 80% (and above) from the mock test, then WE GUARANTEE that he will pass the entrance test in the University of the Philippines. But if he gets less than 50%, then maybe he needs the review after all. The client agreed. His son took the test the following day, and despite our busy schedule, one of us found time to check the paper when he was done. The son got 39%.

The client lowered his voice all of a sudden and asked for our price list again. He looked at it and sadly walked away murmuring about how expensive the review is..

The review really doesn't guarantee that a student will pass an entrance test, but it surely increases his chances only IF he works as hard to help himself as we do to help him, and it is simply NOT FAIR to say that it is USELESS, when there are tutors like us who stay late at night trying to find some ways to make the lessons easier and more understandable..