I read an article in the Wall St. Journal yesterday about Rosetta Stone's new Totale online subscription. If it was not expensive enough to spend several hundreds dollars for their program, they are charging $999 to access this online program for just one year, then it is finished. I refuse to sell Rosetta Stone, because of its price (and because of the fact that several years ago, a vice president with the publisher told me if I could not be 100% positive about the product, he did not want me to sell it. I replied that I was not 100% about any product - they all have weaknesses, and because I want to be honest about what I sell, I took it off my website that day!)
This is the email I sent to the WSJ this morning:
As a businesswoman selling foreign language resources since 1989, and one who refuses to sell Rosetta Stone because of its price, I felt compelled to email re the article by Katherine Boehret. There are SO many alternatives to paying $999 for one year for their program, I was surprised by the emphasis only on this product and no mention of other products. I personally recommend Learn to Speak French Deluxe 9.0 for adults who want to learn a language - $34.95 - with 30 topics, videos of native speakers that one can converse with using their speech recognition, etc. Instant Immersion French Deluxe - $45.00 - hours and hours of varied activities, etc.
Then one can purchase dvds of French films to practice comprehension and learn about the culture and the slang, the way the language is really spoken. You can then buy books to read to further your vocabulary. Upshot?
2 software programs - $80.00
4 French films on dvd - ~$100.00
5 books to read - ~$50.00
You could buy a dictionary, audio cds for the car, etc. and STILL pay less than $999.00.
There are SO many online groups one can chat with, for free too - why would anyone pay $999 and then lose the access after one year?
Forgive my rant, but so many people call me, looking for programs and disappointed at what they got after buying Rosetta Stone. They felt, with all the publicity and marketing Rosetta Stone pays for, that it must be the best out there and did not realize all the alternative programs. When I see free publicity like that article, it makes me aggravated.
I feel so much better now that I have gotten that out. In these tough economic times, value is important.