I Wish Lessons

TOTAL RIPOFF!!! I received a certificate for a lesson in 2012 and have been trying to either book a class, convert the certificate to another class or get my money back since!!! It’s now 2014 and they are refusing to respond. DC consumer affairs is next! I would never use this company again and would never recommend it to anyone!!!
The lowest rating I could post is 1 star or else they would have received zero!!!

I wish I had looked at the reviews before I bought a deal for a Sushi-​making class on LivingSocial. I thought, hey, that looks like a fun date night, NEVER again! I bought this deal in November 2011– that’s right, and it’s now May 2013, still no class has worked out! These people do a switch and bate by canceling classes over and over until your deal expires and then telling you, hey it’s still good b/​c we didn’t have enough people so you sign up again. Check out their website, NO classes in DC scheduled for months! If I could, I’d give them a negative score. RUN the other way, RUN!

They finally are replying to my emails but they are just apologizing for the time and unavailability of the class. And to add insult to injury they asked me to sign up for the mailing list which sends out emails once the class is available. The problem with this is that I’ve been on that mailing list since I purchased the class on October 23, 2012.
I decided to get the BBB involved. It seems someone else (Holly I think) got the DC Consumer Protection involved which seemed to help.
This company does not have there sh*t together and should not be selling classes unless they have set dates.

I hope anyone thinking about taking a class from them reads this first.
I have been trying to get my money back from them for classes I purchased that they kept cancelling for over a year now.
I finally got the DC Consumer Protection people involved, they were able to get David Chung from I Wish to send me a check for the $ 165 they owed me.
I just got a letter from my bank. The check, written off I Wish’s company account, was returned for insufficient funds. That’s right — the company does not even have $ 165 in their bank account.
To add insult to injury, I was charged a $ 10 returned check fee.
I urge everyone not to do business with these crooks.

I took the Beginners Sushi Making Class last year through a LivingSocial deal.
Plus: The chef was very knowledgeable and the overall experience was fantastic, especially with company.
Minus: The class started an hour late because the materials hadn’t arrived yet but to compensate, they offered a glass of wine to all participants.
All in all, we loved the class so much that they had a promotion to attend other classes they offered but at a much deeper discount. I enrolled 6 people for the French Cooking Class, but had specifically asked if they could accommodate a weekend class and they said they could. A year later and to much frustration, I asked for a refund because they kept promising to book a Saturday class but never did, so 1 star down for all the hassle.
If you’re going to use I-​wish, just be prepared to purchase & use your LivingSocial or Groupon asap. I def agree that they aren’t the greatest at responding back and they have so much to improve upon in the D.C. area as they say they are very successful in other major metropolitan cities like Chicago.

This is the worst company EVER! DO NOT buy them even discounted as a voucher from a deal company. I bought one from my own company and probably will not be able to get anything back, and they have cancelled EVERY class they have ever scheduled. Below are the dates I have requested classes. EACH one has been cancelled within 2 days or less:
10÷1÷12
5÷30÷12
5÷29÷12
5÷14÷12
4÷16÷12
3÷12÷12
This is the most unprofessional company I have ever come across. They will never get my business and I will be posting this on ALL of their social media pages.
Don’t waste your money or time bothering to schedule these pipe dream classes.

I took the Just Roll It sushi class. I had a coupon voucher for the class that I bought through one of the usual deal sites. Overall, the class was awesome. There was one big screw up at the end that is preventing me from giving it 5 stars.
The class was held at Irish Whiskey Public House, which I found a little funny (sushi rolling at an Irish pub? Okay). It ended up working well, though. They gave us the whole downstairs with a great bartender who kept attentive to the class’s drink needs.
The instructor was very good. I learned a lot about rolling sushi (having zero knowledge about how to roll going into the course). He showed us how to make the sushi rice and even gave us recipes for all of the rolls that we had made. Overall, the experience was a lot of fun, educational, and tasty (since we got to eat the sushi we made).
Which brings me to the screw up at the end. At the end of the class, I left my station to ask the instructor a quick question. While I stepped away, one of the instructor’s teenage assistants cleaned up my space and threw away my last set of rolls (6 pieces left!) that I had definitely planned to eat. Really not cool. I went back to my spot and said, «Hey, I was gonna eat that» and didn’t get an apology or anything. They must have been in a hurry to clean up and get out. I was pretty pissed about that. So, my advice is to watch your food at the end of the class. Don’t leave it unattended if you plan to eat it!
Considering I was actually pretty peeved by the kid taking my sushi, I am still giving it 4 stars. If I had paid full price for the course, I doubt that I would be.
Oh, and yes, I think that the class was cancelled 2 or 3 times before it was finally held. They are a new company, and I understand that they have kinks to work out. I hope that they get it together. I would love to take more classes from them, but agree that they could benefit from some semblance of organization.

Yeah, similar experience to the rest… We tried to make reservations for these classes many times (all by e-​mail you can’t talk to a human) and when we finally got into a class, my friends and I showed up to the place on time with 4 other couples. At 7, when the class was supposed to start, the owner of the restaurant said that no one from «I Wish Lessons» had shown up, she couldn’t get in touch with them and we should go home. We had gotten a confirmation e-​mail for the class 3 days earlier, and never a rescheduling e-​mail or cancellation or anything. Now we have to work on getting our money back… that should be REAL easy…
BUYER BEWARE!!!

Don’t ever make a reservation for a class with this company. I had a Groupon deal and tried to reserve a class in April– it was canceled, and there were no classes until June. We went to the class in June and they canceled it while we were there because they failed to properly reserve their venue. We were offered a free class each time there was a cancelation and both times those classes got canceled, at which point we were offered another free class. I doubt we’ll take them up on it since we’ve so far tried to schedule 4 classes with this company and they’ve all been canceled.

BEER CRAFT CLASS
(disclaimer: I bought a Groupon for a sushi rolling class back in DEC thinking I would use it as a Valentine’s Day gift. Then V-​Day came around (actually the 13^th of Feb.) only to get an email around 3:55pm that our 7pm class had been cancelled. Um… not much time to come up with a new plan. So in exchange for the snafu we rescheduled and got this class too as an apology.
~~~~~
Hi again Kate,
I meant to write you earlier about this, but time got away from me.
So Lauren and I went to the Craft Beer Class the other week and I can only say we were more than disappointed. In fact, the class was laughable. Please understand Kate, I’m not trying to gain anything out of this other than letting you know — if your other classes are anything close to the experience we had @ Black Finn’s then I’m not sure I Wish Lessons will be in business much longer. Had we paid for this class I would have made a scene right then and there.
THE BEER
To begin, the class is misleading. In the class description it reads as follows:
Complex beers are thicker, richer, more flavorful and more spirituous than your garden-​variety beer. So, if you prefer a heartier, more substantive suds experience than you’d get from your typical domestic, then this is the class for you. Students will sample several varieties while learning about the creation process, history, economics, and etiquettes of beer. If you’re a beer aficionado of any sort, this is the class for you.
So why is it that we sampled…
Stella Artois
Smithwick’s
Fly Dog IPA
Sam Adams Summer Seasonal
???
I agree that complex beers are thicker, richer and more flavorful than your garden-​variety beer — -so why serve us garden variety beer??? These are all beers I can pick up at 7 – 11 or the Safeway down the street. And if I’m a beer aficionado, I’m pissed. This class is not for me. It’s for the person who’s never had a beer in his whole life. You may think I’m exaggerating, but I’m not. DC is a haven for great tasting beers from all over the world, and though Stella Artois and Smithwick’s may technically be considered an import, I consider them on the level of imports with Foster’s and Corona. They are NOT complex beers and no aficionado would make them their drink of choice.
To add insult to injury, the beers had been poured PRIOR to the class into these large funnel contraptions (something like an ANIMAL HOUSE style bong for 20 people). I’m not sure if you drink beer Kate, but this is the worst idea for serving beer. So what did the Smithick’s and Sam Adams taste like because of this? Room temperature flat coke. These beers are not meant to be served at room temperature nor should they be sitting for 30 – 50 minutes in a funnel. Lastly, all the beer was served in RED SOLO CUPS. Are you kidding me? We were at a bar/​restaurant and I was staring at over 100 pint glasses behind the bar. Let’s have some class and use big boy cups.
ENVIRONMENT
As for location, I have been to Black Finn’s before and it’s an OK establishment, but there are many better choices to be made in and around DC that will offer a larger and better selection of beers. I’m surprised this location was chosen.
The ambiance was another thing all together. The Washington Capitals were playing that night in the playoffs and of course — the sound was on. I love hockey, but this made in nearly impossible to listen to the instructor. Either he needed to speak up or a new venue is needed. Either way, it was not conducive to learning.
INSTRUCTOR
This is where the icing gets put on top of an already terrible evening. He was not good. And that is me being polite. You said we will be «coached by our „mad scientist“ beer expert, Mr. Arthur Fort.» I have taught classes in middle school, high school and at the University level, I have been a tour guide in DC and I was a professional actor for over 14 years — –this man should not be teaching this class. There was no stage presence, an inability to be audible and frankly — a lack of knowledge on the subject. Granted, when he was asked a question he didn’t know, he admitted it — -but I knew the answers. He also was unsure of what beers we were tasting and he hadn’t even tasted one of them before. Would you think you would arrive at a «Craft Beer Tasting Class» early to learn these things?
This all harkens back to the description of the class. This class is for someone who has NEVER had a beer before NOT for an aficionado. It is rudimentary. Even the hand out describing the history of beer was poorly written and in many instances grammatically incorrect. Seriously?
The best part was when he let the class know that he also teaches a wood carving class and then promptly passed out his card. WOW!!! Just Wow.
At point the Mrs. and I just laughed and chalked up the experience as a story we could tell at parties.
Finally I asked her what we should do next and she said she was hungry — but that we were to eat anywhere

I took the Just Roll It sushi making lessons at the Hill Center. I learned a lot! They provided all of the fod and supplies we would need, two assistants, and an instructor. The guy really knew his stuff and I learned some neat prep tricks! Cash bar if you want beer or wine w/​your sushi. You get to eat the rolls you make. We made Cali Roll, Spicy tuna, and I forget what else. The Hill Center itself was a very nice venue. Super helpful customer service helped pair my date & I with a class that fit our schedules. Will be doing the Whiskey Tasting next!