Are new hosts hired? When are we expected to have new lessons?

[SiYao]

I am a long time ChinesePod student dating back to 2008. I quit the subscription after about a year after it moved to Taipei. I felt at the time that the lessons did not serve my needs any longer. Jenny Zhu, now living in Vancouver, was the best Chinese teacher on staff along with her cohorts John Pasden, David Zhou, Vera, et. al. Their mandarin accent was perfect for me, not the case with the current hosts, no slight intended - it’s only a matter of preference. Recently I bought a .99 special for a month to see how Chinese Pod was doing. Although i enjoy the content which i downloaded for future practice, there is no incentive for me to continue beyond the 30 days. I suggest people also look to iMandarinpod for authentic Chinese lessons from Tianjin, China. Another excellent site that concentrates more on traditional culture, history and current events and media vocabulary. I wish Chinesepod well, I hope their future is bright and that the reorganization brings new talent and energies.

[SiYao]

我同意。我觉得Jenny和John，David， et.al. 是最好的老师们。 可是我们不能回去过去的日子。最好就天天向上吧。

[aawade]

I’ve used ChinesePod on and off for many, many years now. I even had an account back when Ken was here. In my experience, the staff tend to be lukewarm about communicating in general. There was a lot of confusion surrounding the company’s move to Taiwan a few years ago, since they took their sweet time in announcing it and never really did make it all that clear. While I don’t agree with some of the hysterics in this thread, I agree ChinesePod very badly needs to beef up its communication skills. Three months is a pretty long time for a company to be essentially silent to its consumers. I’m wondering why hiring new hosts or releasing some kind of new content is taking so long. Surely there are a few teachers at ICLP willing to do the job.

It’s also not a good look for staff to only reply to those who agree with them in a thread, regardless of the tone of the dissenters.

[657152064]

You didn’t really expect anything other than marketing waffle in reply did you?

[podster]

We have 100’s of thousands of users, and most people have plenty of material to keep them engaged and learning.

Thanks for clarifying that ChinesePod has moved into the “cash cow” （摇钱树）phase of its life cycle. As such it makes sense that you are not incurring the same 成本 as before. I presume the subscriber numbers have held up sufficiently that it makes sense to limit further investment. Or perhaps you are boosting the profit margins in anticipation of a sale? Maybe a Chinese private equity company will buy ChinesePod. Then we can stop complaining about “Taiwan Mandarin” and go back to complaining about off-limits topics.

[earls]

These guys are pathetic!

[MisterXia]

That is what I thought in the past few days. From a business perspective, it makes perfect sense.
Thank you for the new word, 摇钱树。 Do you know where I can buy seeds for those?

[Triggermike12]

Hey, it seems your extremely frustrated and feel ripped off. They did just offer to refund you your money if you feel your not getting the content you paid for. Is that not enough?

[earls]

I asked for a refund, they refused!

[podster]

However, if anyone feels they have paid for a service they are not getting, we will refund your payment.

earls, re: “I asked for a refund, they refused!” , was that within the last 28 days since they posted that they would give refunds? When did your refund request get refused?

[earls]

Yes it was within the last 28 days.
My subscription goes until 28 December 2018.
ChinesePod please, please give me a refund!

[podster]

earls,
You might want to try clicking on HelloChinesePod: on one of the original posts to send a message directly to the person / persons who promised the refund. I would suggest quoting the promise of a refund as explicitly promised here in writing on this forum 28 days ago.

(“However, if anyone feels they have paid for a service they are not getting, we will refund your payment.”)

Good luck with that, and thanks for keeping us all posted on the latest real experience.

[earls]

My subscription is up on 28 December 2018.
ChinesePod please, please give me a refund!

[jds127b]

I totally agree and so glad someone said this.

[alexyzye]

I sent a message to HelloChinesePod asking for a refund 6 days ago. Have not gotten any reply.

[twc3]

Just cancelled my subscription (apparently I have been paying for premium account since 2012).
I have outgrown my needs for Chinese Pod, so it was time anyways, but still enjoyed going through new lessons on the train.
Really appreciate the effort by the Chinese Pod team over the last four months to come out with new content, I can tell how much time and effort went into new lesson planning. Stellar job Chinese Pod!

[francoiseloshouarn]

Seriously ??? WHAT “new lesson planing” ?

[twc3]

Sarcasm my friend. Hence why I cancelled my subscription.

[francoiseloshouarn]

Sorry I’d missed it

[podster]

Have you tried the “Contact” link at the bottom of the main page? I would try that first before whatever mailbox is behind the anonymous avatar.