Georgia Piedmont Technical College — Local services in Clarkston

We are a vendor who recently did a wedding reception in the conference center. I have been in the food business for many years, dealing with a variety of venues and rarely have I had such a negative and unprofessional experience as I did at Georgia Piedmont Technical College's Conference Center.

After several emails, I scheduled an appointment with the venue rep to view the facility before the reception date. 24 hours before our meeting the rep called to change the time from 2pm to 10:30am. We had to do some reshuffling, but because of the last minute time change, the wedding coordinator and DJ were not able to make the earlier time. Then the next day, when I arrived to meet the venue rep at 10:30am as she asked, I was told that she was not there and at an out of town meeting. So the last minute time change not only inconvenienced me, the coordinator and the DJ, but no one ever bothered contacting me to tell me that the rep would not be there.

One day before the wedding reception, we were told that the venue was making a room available for the vendors to store items overnight for the next day. When I called to confirm this the person I spoke with was not very helpful. She was all but trying to talk me out of bringing items into the room, saying "it might be too small" "she can't be responsible if we bring things that don't fit" "she doesn't have any other rooms available for storage if our items don't fit", etc. I told her that because they double booked the date and insisted on giving us ONE HOUR to set up for 300 PEOPLE, storing some items onsite would be a big help for us to make our bride happy.

The woman became upset and told me "WE did not double book anything! It was the BRIDE who signed the contract for an event to start right after a previous event!" But my opinion is, the bride DOES NOT run the facility. So whoever DOES run the facility made a CONSCIOUS CHOICE to book an event KNOWING there would not be enough time for vendors to be ready. I explained to her that no matter what the bride signed, it was not reasonable to poop all over her on her wedding day by making everything run late and then throw your hands up and say: "...but you signed a contract"...what kind of way is that to run a business?

The day of the reception was the worst. I arrived at 5pm to find my staff locked off the freight elevator and unable to load food and equipment into the kitchen (which was completely empty and unoccupied) I walked around to the front entrance which was locked, but the florist let me in. So I walk in to find the florist and her staff standing in the lobby looking upset. They told me that when they tried to bring in the floral arrangements, they were rudely told "Y'all might as well turn around and go back down the steps with that. You can't come in until 5:30. The florist explained that since it was almost 90 degrees out side, the arrangements HAD to be brought in or they would wilt.

After letting me in, one of the janitorial people walked up to the woman and said "Ma'am we've asked you this before. You need to stop opening the door to let people in!" Then walked away abruptly. Since it was nearly 5:10pm by then and we now had LESS THAN AN HOUR to set up for 300 people, I asked my two staff members to come in to use the restrooms to get changed so that when 5:30 came, we would be ready. Again, the staff refused to even let them in to change in the restrooms (which were unoccupied) and made them stand outside in the afternoon heat.

It is clear that this place cares more about its rules than it does about providing SERVICE to its clients. Rules are fine. But sometimes the ability to be flexible is essential...ESPECIALLY FOR A WEDDING!! Besides that, the staff is RUDE and this place's level of professionalism as ABYSMAL and I would NEVER recommend that ANYONE use...

I wouldn't have imagined that a school could be so poorly run and staffed. That was until I enrolled at GPTC. The only saving graces so far have been two outstanding professors: Dr. Charlette Brown and Mr. Stephen Peprah.

I decided to attend this technical school to raise my GPA and get a degree out of the process so that I may complete my studies at a 4 year school. In the time I have attended, I can understand why the school has such an abysmal retention rate. For starters, the staff is rude at worst, indifferent at best. With students paying tuition there (ultimately their salaries), you would think they would be more willing to help, and do so with a sense of urgency and professionalism. I have only met one staffer there so far (I believe his name is Geordi) who has been pleasant to work with. He goes above and beyond to assist you. As for the rest of the goon squad there... they should consider a change in career. I hear the fast food business is booming.

Communication is a foreign concept at this school. Attempting to reach someone there is next to impossible, and no one returns voicemails. People promise to follow up (on the off chance you get in contact with someone) and they never do, prompting you to either make 10000 more follow-up calls, or just go to the school in person pissed off. Sent an e-mail? Flip a coin to determine your chances of receiving a response.

My favorite communications gaffe by far has occurred twice this year. One of the other saving graces for this school is the fact they offer classes on Saturdays for the working people who wish to return to school. When you get your syllabi for these courses, they are supposed to detail each Saturday your attendance is expected, which classes will be excused (planned cancellations, such as holidays) and the date range for the semester. Two holidays this year (MLK Holiday and more recently Memorial Day) were observed on Monday (as they always are.) Nowhere on the syllabus does it mention that the Saturday course will be cancelled in observance of the holiday following. Imagine the surprise of students waking up early on Saturday morning to arrive at a school with its doors closed and lights out ready for class that day. For the instance occurring the Saturday before MLK Day, a mass e-mail was sent the day the class was cancelled. For the Saturday before Memorial Day, there was NO ADVANCED NOTICE WHATSOEVER. Even the instructor wasn't notified.

The Dean and the President both should be slapped 9,999 times for the appalling way this school is run. They should be flogged for the despicable way their staff treats their students. They should be placed before a firing squad for their flagrant disregard to the needs of their students. If you plan on attending a technical school, please do your research. Find a reputable, solid school in which to invest your time, money and future. Pass this...

Serious staff deficiencies. The Registrar's office received my official college transcripts as verification for a Bachelor's and Master's degree. Nonetheless Piedmont's staff placed me into an associate degree program, and I was taking intro classes as though I never had earned any college degrees. I purchased the books and then discovered luckily the program error. Repeatedly asked for a letter of explanation to give to the book seller to get a credit for returning books. Expect to spend hundreds of dollars for books and online materials. I did not get the letter until Jan 2017. I do not understand why this college permits so much incompetence and prolonged delays. The curriculum, based on the banking model of learning, requires weekly homework assignments and tests, feels more like a public high school than college. Some professors will explain the weekly lessons and others will not. Extraordinary long waits, in student services, financial aid and registrar offices. No cafeteria, only soft drink and snack vending machines. Also, total lack of evening security in the back parking lots. Campus definitely needs a security gate surrounding the back parking areas. Security will give students tickets for parking at night in the front and side faculty lots, but getting a ticket is better than getting assaulted and robbed.

One more thing, please do not trust the four and five star reviews. There are over 100 degrees and certificates offered in GPTC and a few students may get to where they want to go with their careers, but the overwhelming majority of students experience GPTC as a nightmare. I have a disability and had to struggle for months to get a parking space near Bldg A. In the morning every handicapped space was occupied, except in the back parking lots. Imagine trying to walk with painful hips and knees uphill with books, two blocks. Horrible experience. Finally, GPTC does not offer an Incomplete grade, so that a student who encounters personal or medical incidence during the semester will have time to finish their coursework. All coursework assignments go through their online Blackboard system, and GPTC will erase Blackboard when the semester closes. So you are totally out of luck, if trying to submit class work one or two days late. Please seriously don't use this training camp for a two year degree because even though it is less expensive the headaches you will experience from the staff mistakes is...