I’m in the process of speeding my way through an online course by Franklin Cove OnDemand and I think it has a lot of value and so far the segments I have completed have taught me a lot and helped me to think a little differently. Before I go onto my review, let me give you a little background about this past year.

 

For those who visit my site regularly, perhaps you’re wondering why I’ve been so quiet as of late. Or maybe you didn’t even notice? I hope you’ve noticed and missed me!! If not, then am I posting all of the motivational and inspirational messages for nothing? Oh bot, I hope you have missed me and that the messages and posts that I do make, touch you and inspire you.

 

So where have I been? Well, I’m very busy completing a Franklin Cover OnDemand course that I had started last year just before my friend Josette George Kaufman passed away. So many people were shocked when that happened, after all she was only 53 years old. Her Mom, my friend, Nancy Marshall, President of the Arthur R. Marshall Foundation, was devastated. Can you imagine losing your daughter, your best friend…it’s one of the worst things in the world that a person can experience. Shortly after her passing, Nancy and I had a few conversations and a few emails back and forth and she asked me to Chair the Annual River of Grass Gala, the one big fundraiser of the year. I had no experience in doing anything like that, especially on the level of which they needed to raise funds, so I suggested that Nancy and I have lunch, so that we could talk about that and our other conversations. I remember the day that we sat down at Belle and Maxwell’s and I joked to her and asked what the job description was, she asked for what? I said well, you said you lost your best friend and you asked me to be your new best friend, what’s the job description? She said things like this, having lunch once a week, enjoying each others company. I told her I could do that…sure, having lunch with someone I admired was an easy thing to do. Then she asked me to Chair the Gala, to which I immediately said “Nancy, I can’t afford to do that!” Let me explain, normally when someone is a Chair, it means they’ve given big $$$ to an organization to become a chair. She assured me it wasn’t the money they wanted, they needed a “working” Chair, because without Josette there was no one to do all of the work. Then,  I expressed my biggest fear  to her, which was that I would fail and let her down, because I had no idea of what to do or how to do it. She assured me that she wouldn’t let that happen. She said that she wanted someone who was a gentle soul like Josette and that someone was me.

Well, I talked with my honey that night and we talked about my plans for 2013; working with people who wanted to change their lives, getting on the speaking circuit, advancing my Life Coach Certification and finally finishing my book. I asked what he thought and he said that he knew how much I loved Josette and Nancy and how important the foundation was to me. So, we agreed, it was the right thing for me to do. After all, I had waited for 5 ears to get going, taking care of business and other obligations, another year wasn’t going to make a difference. So, all of the plans for Robbyn were once again put on hold and I began my journey as a Chair. Little did I know just how much work it was and how many hours upon hours of meetings, phone calls, emails and more that were required. It was the experience of all experiences, that’s for sure. Add that, onto the other obligations I had and my days and nights were full…there was absolutely no time/room for Robbyn Ackner. There was one thing however, that I refused to give up and that was “date night” with my honey. It’s important for us to have that, especially because he works so very hard every day, putting in 15 hours days, 6-7 days a week, often starting at 6am and not finishing until 9pm.

So anyway, here I am…the River of Grass was on December 14, 2013, we had our wrap-up on January 7th and that is now behind me. Now, I have this course that I signed up for just a few weeks before Josette’s passing, “Franklin Covey OnDemand” and I have to finish it before February 3rd. There are 77 segments to the course, many of them about 55 minutes, a few which are not so long. I emailed their customer service and explained my situation to them, I even sent them Josette’s obituary and asked for an extension. I didn’t ask for a lot of time, just a couple of months and they refused. However, they explained that I could sign up for the course again, pay for it again and they sent me a link to do just that. This really pissed me off, because according to the segments that I have already completed, their teachings teaching are about how important it is to build good relationships, they talk about how every situation can be a Win-Win if you work at it the right way and they tell me flat out no and how important it is to have positive reviews from customers, so that they tell their friends and you have more customers and so that they become repeat customers. I called their headquarters and spoke with Crystal, who I explain the situation to in great detail and ask again if there is anything they can do that I would be greatly appreciate. Crystal is very nice to me on the phone, but tells me no, they can’t help me out, but just as was stated in the email, I can buy the course again at a discounted price. I told her that what she’s telling me goes against EVERYTHING that their company is teaching, I talk about their Win-Lose scenario and tell her that by having me purchase the course again, they are creating a Lose-Win, where I lose and while they might win if I purchase the course again, at the same time they’re also losing, because not only will they lose the reputation with me, but I’ll be sure to tell the person who highly referred them to me and who is well aware of my devotion to Josette and Nancy’s foundation last year all about their unwillingness to help me out and I will not recommend them to others.  Again, this goes against everything they are teaching!! I told Crystal I wasn’t asking for another year to complete the course, just a couple of extra months. All I got from her was an offer to transfer me to Courtney, who she said handles the course I purchased. Guess what…I got Courtney’s voice mail.

 

The course itself is great, I am learning a lot. But I’m taking it at such a fast pace that it’s difficult to absorb all of the details. Therefore, I’m downloading all of the paperwork that they give you after each segment, so that I can at least have that to read and refer to at a later date. The Franklin Covey OnDemand course if very insightful and has given me things to think about that I can not only apply to my own Life coach practice, but also to every volunteer organization I’m involved with, my personal life and even my husband would benefit from it for his Commercial General Construction business. I’m just saddened by having to rush through it because they won’t give me a short extension.  The day passed and it was well after 5pm when I said to myself they’re not even going to call me back. However, Courtney did call me back and we spoke on the phone for a good 15 minutes. I explained the situation again, I told her who I was and about my life and my passion now to empower others. I told her what happened last year and that I signed up for the course with the full intention of completing it…of course I had no idea my friend was going to die and that I would be spending the entire year putting in over 1,000 volunteer hours in her place. I explained to Courtney that I wouldn’t have purchased the course if I could have foreseen the future. Again, I asked for a little extension, I told her it didn’t even have to be a couple of month, but a couple of weeks would do. And I mentioned the segments in the course, as I had done to Crystal earlier about keeping customers happy, about creating a Win-Win situation, etc. Courtney was very honest with me, I’ll have to give her that much. She explained that they are a publicly traded company and they have to answer to their investors. To extend my course would not work with their accounting and that I needed to understand that I was given a special deal and it has an expiration date and they must stick to those or they wouldn’t sell additional courses and their investors would not be happy. I told her I was disappointed, because that wasn’t what they teach…she was aware of the teachings and said she was sorry that because of what happened I was not able to take the course at a slower pace and have it for a year to refer back to it over and over as situations arose. Again, like Crystal, she referred me to the link where I could purchase the course again. What does this tell me…this tells me that Franklin Covey OnDemand cares more about their investors, than they do their customers. I guess I shouldn’t be surprised.

Now, I realize that this is partly my fault. I teach and talk a lot of priorities and making yourself and your needs a priority. It’s how I was so successful in leaving the abusive relationship back in NJ and moving it Florida. Making myself number one is how I finally beat the battle with my weight that I had fought with all of my life and finally lost over 200 lbs. Making myself #1, a priority is how we all can succeed, because if we don’t take care of ourselves first, then we can’t give the rest of things our all. Yes, it’s my fault….I put myself in the background last year, to do something that I had been passionate about and now I am oaying the price.

So yes, while this is so frustrating and yes, I will finish this course, even if I have to work on it 10 hours a day for the next week, but it sure would have been nice to have had a little cooperation from the company and a little understanding of my situation.  I think this bites, BIG TIME. Shame on you Franklin Covey OnDemand for putting profits over people.

 

Anyway, friends and fans, that is where I have been and that’s where I will be until I finish this. Please be patient with me if you’re reaching out and trying to get me. I will get back to you ASAP, I promise. And…I also promise that my customer service will be a lot better. I practice what I preach, I walk the walk, not just talk the talk. And, I am back to making Robbyn Ackner a priority and number one, so that I can then take care of all of the things that I am very passionate about in this world.