Indian firm Byju's faces allegations of pursuing hyper growth using high pressure sales tactics.
Digambar Singh says he has been chasing Byju's, an online tutoring firm and the world's highest-valued edtech start-up, for a refund for months now.
Byju's called his allegations "baseless and motivated" and told the BBC Mr Singh "was spoken to several times in the follow-up period". They said they had a "no questions asked" 15-day refund policy for their product, if a student opts for learning material with an accompanying tablet, and an "anytime" refund policy for their services.
Disgruntled parents allege they were misled by sales agents. They said they were lured into contracts by agents who convinced them of an urgent need only to go incommunicado a few months after the sale, making it difficult to get a refund. Once a sale is done, agents would be "least bothered" to follow up, a former Byju's employee said.
So the firm's ascent since the pandemic began has been nothing short of meteoric. It claims it added more than six million paying users, with a 85% renewal rate. "It does not matter if he is a farmer, a rickshaw puller. The same product is sold for a range [of prices]. If we see that a parent cannot afford it, we charge them the lowest price in that range," said Nitish Roy, a former business development associate at Byju's, told the BBC.
In a statement to the BBC, Byju's said "there is no room for abusive, offensive behaviour in our organisation. The affected employee in the case referred by you continues to remain with us and enjoys management's confidence".But more than one employee told the BBC that the pressure to make a sale was so high that it took a toll on their mental health. One sales executive said he developed anxiety, and his blood pressure and sugar shot up during the year he worked at Byju's.
But Byju's said it was incorrect to suggest that it "either docks salaries or marks people absent if they fail to hit the target in the first instance".
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