changing bar prep company? Forum

[mjj]

I was going to sign up for Barbri, and paid the deposit earlier this year. (I'm a 3L.) It ended up being too rich for my blood, and when Themis told me they'd cover my Barbri deposit, I signed with them. I paid in full - $1100ish - and they mailed the materials to my boyfriend's place.

This week, Barbri started calling me and offering me extravagant sums of money to sign up with Barbri. A few days go they said they had a lot of leftover funds and if I could pull out of Themis they could "come pretty close to that price." This morning they said they would give me $1000, bringing their price down to around $2400 - when I said I just didn't have another grand to spend on bar prep, they said they could bring it down another $1000 to $1400 if I could get a refund from Themis. I haven't called Themis yet because I have a final tomorrow morning and I'm just not sure how to approach it. Also, in my first conversation with them (before they were specific about how much they could give me) they said that if I couldn't get a full refund from Themis, they'd cover the difference. The guy didn't mention that today - I have no idea whether they'd give me a $2000 scholarship AND cover the money I paid to Themis. If they would, I would essentially be getting Barbri for $300, and still have access to Themis to boot. That seems unrealistic but if it's possible I'll take it.

So has anyone been in this situation? Any tips on how to get the best possible outcome here? Is it unrealistic to expect I might be able to get a refund from Themis after they've already mailed me my materials? Barbri was pretty quick to offer me that second $1000 - I feel like I might be able to push them for more, but I'm not sure how to go about it.