I told him I didn’t have an opinion on the actual software, because I hadn’t tried it, but in my view it was much too expensive.

As mentioned previously, I don’t buy the emotive sales pitch: What price do you put on your children’s education.

The first email read:

Hi Michael, I went through the blog on which Mathemagic computer tutor was being discussed. I am a father of a boy who will be attending year 1 next year & thought Mathemagic might help him (without knowing about other products). After visiting your website & going through various products & their features, I am more confused. If we forget money issue (which was discussed in detail on the blog) would you let me know your independent view what product would really be better for Maths development in Kids. What I am after is a quality package, if we forget cost issues for the time being. Thanks for everything.

After my response expressing concern about the price, the author wrote again:

I entered in the contract on last Wednesday (Sept 10th) & today after reading the blog, I have sent mail to sales rep. to cancel the contract. Blog was really an eye opener. I really appreciate your help, as these kind of blogs are perfect platforms for knowing facts & knowing different sides opinions. Surprising thing is, in their contract they talk about cooling of period in their written contract, however, they don’t say the duration. They did not leave any cancellation form behind. In any case, it was a very emotional sales pitch (close to blackmailing I would say) & after sleeping over it for couple of nights & reading your blog I have decided to do a detailed study of various softwares before I decide anything. I am not sure how many more parents who are desperate & who want quick fixes due to hectic life & work schedules gets trapped in these kind of “mouse” traps.

And today:

Believe me these sales reps are too smart for a normal person. Now as I am communicating with different channels for cancellation of contract, I can’t get sales rep. anywhere. I can’t contact her. I have informed about my decision to at least few people in their institute by now though. Why I am writing you again is I would request you to keep the issue on your blog as long as possible, so that other people can not get sucked in, if they google the words “mathemagic” & can get hold of your blog. In spite of it being long it is worth it. For me spending two hours browsing through links provided on the blog were far more crucial than sales person trying to convince me for the software. And the funny thing is, whatever she showed me during presentation, is available on their web site, that clearly says why she is in the middle in the first place.

So despite my reluctance to lead a consumer issues debate, I’m posting here and inviting comments in the Forum.

It’s a concern the sales people are happy to take calls to close a deal, but not to negotiate a refund.

When Juliet told me about the appointment I understood it was a government program to test children at maths, so I was immediately wary and defensive when I learnt it was a commercial product.

I’ve got no opinion on the software. From the demo I would say it clearly has some value and could even be useful. At the quoted price tag of $7530 though (for the complete package) I have no intention of buying it.

Sure, it could be cheaper in the long run than home tutors, and what price do you put on your children’s education? That’s the sales pitch of course and I’m not surprised they were selling strongly in Kalgoorlie where we have a shortage of teachers and high affluence.

I have a few issues though with the whole deal.

Juliet is a soft touch for salespeople, but clearly she misunderstood the initial pitch.

The name “Australian Institute of Mathematics” is legitimate but misleading in my view. For starters, it implies a not-for-profit status.

The cost is huge for the target market of middle-income families. For that investment you get some software and backup from telephone tutors. I could buy all the kids computers for that money, running Windows Vista and a full suite of programs.

I also don’t like being asked to pay that amount upfront without a trial. There should be an introductory module for kids to try. If they liked it and showed progress I might be inclined to consider buying it.

And as with every product purchase, I like to make comparisons.

It turns out there is much cheaper software available called Maths Power. Their site includes a warning for parents about other operators. This section was interesting:

Beware of sales organisations that have official sounding words as part of their name. These words give the impression of some sort of connection to official bodies or places of higher learning. Unfortunately, there is no law preventing sales companies from using the terms in their names to give parents the impression that they are in some way an official body.

I could buy Maths Power for $750, or 10 percent of Mathemagic’s cost.

For all I know it might only be 10 percent as good, but without testing both of them I have no way of knowing.

As it stands I am simply confused and know only that I won’t be buying Mathemagic.