Video Professor

Infobox_Company
company_name = Video Professor, Inc.
company_type = Private
foundation = 1986
location = Lakewood, Colorado, U.S.A.
industry = Education
num_employees = Over 300
products = Learn Microsoft Office Tutorials, Learn Microsoft Windows, Learn Online Travel, Learn Quicken, Learn QuickBooks etc.
homepage = [http://www.videoprofessor.com/ www.videoprofessor.com]

Video Professor, Inc. is a U.S. company that develops, manufacturers and offers tutorials for a variety of computer-related subjects, such as learning to use Microsoft Word, Microsoft Windows, and eBay. The company was founded in 1986 by John W. Scherer and is located in Lakewood, Colorado. It is known in the U.S. for its ubiquitous commercials and infomercials on late night television.

Company founding and marketing

The company is an outgrowth of Data Link Research Services (DLRS), a seller of PC clones founded in Colorado in 1986 by John W. Scherer. In 1987, DLRS produced its first VHS tutorial primarily for its own customers, "Introduction to DOS". Scherer says that he quickly realized that the tutorials were more profitable than the PC clones, and in 1988 the company switched to focusing solely on the tutorials, and changed its name to Video Professor.cite web |url=http://www.westword.com/2006-04-20/news/prof-positive |title=Prof Positive |accessdate= 2007-09-08 |last=Roberts |first=Michael |date= 20 April, 2006 |publisher=Westword (a Denver alternative weekly)] [cite web |url=http://www.videoprofessor.com/aboutvideoprofessor/companyinformation/companyhistory.html |title=Historical Timeline |accessdate= 2007-09-08 |publisher=Video Professor website]

The company is perhaps best known in the U.S. for its frequent late-night commercials and infomercials, most of which feature Scherer. The company's first infomercial was aired in 1991, and since then all but one of the commercials and infomercials have been produced by an in-house production team. The production values of the commercials are intentionally kept minimal.

The company started with VHS lessons, but began offering its lessons on CD-ROM in 1996, and online in 2003. [cite web |url=http://denver.bizjournals.com/denver/stories/2003/11/24/story6.html |title=Tutorial company predicting big growth after online move |accessdate= 2007-09-08 |last=Berry-Helmlinger |first=Lyn |date= 24 November, 2003 |publisher=The Denver Business Journal] Lesson sets are primarily sold through TV offers and online.

Business model

For CD-ROM lessons, Video Professor uses a continuity sales model [cite web |url=http://www.videoprofessor.com/termsofuse.html |title=Terms of use |accessdate= 2007-09-08 |publisher=Video Professor website] , similar to the model for mail order book clubs. The subscription is started when a customer orders a tutorial on a subject of their choosing. This tutorial is often free except for shipping and handling charges of $6.95. The customers are required to decide within 10 days whether they would like to keep the tutorial or not. But by the time the customer receives the tutorial, most of the 10 days have already passed. The customer is usually unaware of the 10 day rule and before they realize it, they are charged for $129.95 as the 'actual cost' of the tutorials.cite web |url=https://www.videoprofessor.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=shoppingCart.howItWorks|title="How it works" from Video Professor Website] The customer then periodically receives other tutorials on subjects chosen by Video Professor automatically, until the subscription is cancelled.

For online lessons, the same lessons are provided to the customer through streaming media. These lessons are billed on a per-month basis; access to all lessons is available for a monthly subscription fee of approximately $30.

The company has been criticized for its CD-ROM sales and advertising practice. Some complaints center on an alleged lack of clarity regarding the nature of the continuity sales model and the "free" CD-ROM, and in perceived difficulty in contacting the company for refunds. Others are based on the lack of choice the customer has in subsequent offerings. The company says that such complaints are rare, and promptly resolved. As of September 2008, the company has a "C-" rating by the Better Business Bureau [cite web |url=http://data.denver.bbb.org/commonreport.html?bid=15503 |title=Video Professor, Inc. BBB Reliability Report |accessdate= 2008-09-01 |publisher=Denver/Boulder Better Business Bureau] .

In 2008 the one free lesson pack promotion is typically later charged to customers at $189.95

Video Professor lawsuit

In September 2007, the company filed a lawsuit against 100 anonymous posters of critical reviews, stating their belief that the negative reviews were the result of a competitor's efforts to damage Video Professor's reputation. [cite web |url=http://www.denverpost.com/search/ci_6966387|title=Video Professor wants the book thrown at anonymous critics|work=newspaper business column|accessdate= 2007-10-02|publisher=Denver Post|date=2007-09-23 ] [cite web |url=http://videoprofessor.blogspot.com/|title=Setting It Straight (In September 2007 Archive)|work=Company Blog|accessdate=2007-10-12|publisher=Video Professor] Most of the negative reviewers were critical of Video Professor's practice of automatically charging customers' credit cards $79.95 per month for additional lessons after a "one free disk" offer, complaining either that they were not informed or had difficulty canceling the charges.

The legal action launched by the company was criticized by the consumer advocacy group, Public Citizen. [cite web |url=http://www.citizen.org/pressroom/release.cfm?ID=2522|title=‘Video Professor’ Has No Legal Basis for Unmasking Identities of Anonymous Web Critics|work=press release|accessdate= 2007-10-01|publisher=Public Citizen consumer advocacy group] As part of their action, Video Professor requested and received the IP addresses of registered Wikipedia users from the Wikimedia Foundation Inc, the parent company of Wikipedia, who posted what Video Professor claimed was defamatory information about their business. When they approached Internet provider Comcast with a subpoena for the user identity of the IP adresses, however, Comcast refused, stating they only relinquish that information under court order, not subpoena.Enoch, Joseph S. [http://www.consumeraffairs.com/news04/2007/12/video_prof03.html Video Professor Drops Subpoena, Goes After Wikipedia Users] ; ConsumerAffairs.com; 2007-12-19; Retrieved on 2007-12-23]

On October 23, 2007 the California law firm of Nassiri and Jung, LLC responded to this suit by launching the site [http://www.vplitigation.com Video Professor Litigation] and extending an offer to represent some of the 100 anonymous critics for free.

In late December 2007, Video Professor Inc. withdrew its lawsuit against John Does 1 through 100 in the U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado. [ [http://www.citizen.org/pressroom/release.cfm?ID=2580 12/27/2007 Press release, ] Public Citizen. Accessed February 19, 2008 ] [cite web |url=http://www.denverpost.com/search/ci_7824421|title=I smell a nice filet, Vid Prof |work=newspaper business column|accessdate= 2008-03-07|publisher=Denver Post|date=2007-12-27 ]

References

External links

* [http://www.videoprofessor.com Video Professor website]
* [http://www.infomercialscams.com/scams/video_professor Video Professor 2008 critics]