Renewed Subscription - Cannot Access Lessons

yilingsquare

September 14, 2011, 12:08 PM posted in General Discussion

Hi,

I recently renewed my subscription for 6 months with a premium package. However, when I try to download new lessons, I am told that I need to subscribe to chinesepod.

The payments section of my profile has a clearly shows that I had recently renewed my subscription.

Who do I contact to handle this problem?

Thanks!

jennyzhu

September 15, 2011, 02:44 AM

Hi yilingsquare,

I sincerely apologize for the glitch. I've fixed your account. You now have 6 month Premium access to the site. I tested your account and it works. You might need to log out and log back in again for the system to recognize the change.

Best,

Jenny

yilingsquare

Everything seems to be working fine now.

Thank you for the quick response!

podster

September 15, 2011, 03:08 AM

Am I the only one that is confused by all the changes to the service offerings? Its very unclear now what the difference is between a "course" and "speaking lessons", although I finally had it explained to me that one now has to purchase each separately. Also, whereas previoulsy a sequence of "carefully selected" lessons was offered to guide student progress, now there are only two "courses" shown, one of which is Shanghainese. Only after following the "what are courses" link was it revealed that students can also get custom-made courses, but I have to wonder if the old system was deemed a failure. (I hope not, since I paid good money to try to work my way up to the next level.) In short, as a long time fan of CPod, I am frustrated that it seems so difficult (and more expensive) to continue on with what I was already doing. On top of all the technical problems with the site, and with the the mobile site (now defunct?) and the mobile iPhone apps, I'm a bit surprised that CPod would choose now for a price increase.

jennyzhu

Hi Podster,

You are definitely not alone in feeling confused. The store is a big change for us but we want to minimize disruption for users. However, there has definitely been confusion for users which we sincerely apologize for.

We are spending this week fixing remaining bugs with the store switch. Next week, I will publish a blog post detailing the changes and implications.

But just a quick note, courses now refer to stand alone packages which give you lifetime access to lessons, not the library though. They are like books if you will.

What was formerly known as courses, are actually lessons assigned by your teacher. Hence, they are referred to as assigned lessons now. The reason we are implementing these changes is to provide students with a more structured learning approach. It doesn't mean what you have been doing is a failure. In fact, we are compiling these courses based on what lessons teachers frequently choose for their students. And with the new system, you can still do customized assigned lessons if you prefer. So I will categorize it as we want to keep providing flexibility but at the same time, offer a structured path. Students can thus choose what suit them the most.

In terms of prices, we give old students discounts to make sure they won't pay more. If you haven't received special renewal offer from us, please let me know.

With the mobile apps, we have updated the Android app and hope it provides a much better user experience now. The iPhone app is being reviewed by Apple now and will be available soon.

podster

Jenny,

Thank you for the prompt and detailed reply. I have sent an e-mail to inquire about returning student discounts. I look forward to reading your blog post next week. Your presence at CPod is a comforting constant in times of change. It's also a great community with whom you have been entrusted. I hope we can all poddie on, dudes.

Podster

yanosr

I also recently renewed my subscription for 2 year premium package and the payment page shows that I have paid in full however the front page still asks me to renew my account.

Can you please check my account as well.

Thanks!

jennyzhu

yanosr,

It's fixed now. You now have 2 year Premium access to ChinesePod. Please log out and back in again for the system to register the change. Our sincere apologies about the inconvenience!