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ICON Academy


Country United States
State California
City Oceanside
Address 550 Seagaze Dr
Phone 602.300.0898
Website http://iconacademybusinessschool.com

ICON Academy Reviews

  • Aug 24, 2016

I have a daughter that's 15 years old and had a little business. In my quest to find an "Entreprenuer Camp" for her, I went to Google and entered "Entreprenuer camp for Teens" There was an article on the Forbes.com website about him and his camp.

The $3000 Six-Day Summer Camp That Turns Teens Into Entrepreneurs -

It looked really great! He had a robust daily schedule, and it seemed to have great reviews. There are testimonial videos on the site that have parents raving. As it turned out, the testimonials AREN'T from the camp. They're from other teen events that were done in one day or so. These were not from the weekly teen camp. He has since removed this robust schedule from the website to avoid legal action, but I have a copy of the origional website as proof. He also changed the wording on the current site as to make no guarantees, as he did on the one i saw.

Also, the camp cost $3900.. not $3000. This initially did not include housing, just the camp and food while they were at the camp. Parents were to find housing for the kids, they told me preferably in the hotel they would be having it at.

They also told me that I could attend with her at no extra cost. I really liked that! So, because the website said the event would be at the Holiday Inn Express in Newport Beach, I booked an Airbnb for the week and we would drive to the location.

A week before the camp, we received this message in an email:

"We have secured a great house located in Carlsbad that will be a central location for the duration of the event. Your teen is welcome to stay at the house with the other teens that have opted to stay there. It can help enhance the experience and their ability to connect with the other teens attending. But ultimately it's up to you and your teen what you want to do. "

So, I had already booked the room in Newport Beach. Carlsbad is an hour away. So, I had to cancel and eat that cost, and rebook in San Diego.

We show up to this house. It's the night before the first day. This was Sunday night, the camp started Monday morning. We were there to drop things off and say "hello". Weeds everywhere and no sign to let us know we were at the right place. There was a "beware of dog" sign on the iron rod gates that led into a courtyard that led to the front door. This house was supposed to sleep 20 teens?

So, a strange, half-naked, 65ish, woman answers the door. She's wearing a spaghetti strap top that's too big for her and falling off...no bra and ripped sweat pants. She seems nice enough, but kind of creepy. We step in and it's about 85 degrees, humid, filthy, it smells badly and no sign of David. I'm met by Pam, who informs me that she's not really sure what's going on because she's only been with the company for 2 weeks. She apologizes for the conditions and assures me it will be taken care of, but isn't sure what the plan is. This woman has her kids running around and the home is sparcly furnished. It's beyond grimy. Someone is sweeping the floors and trying to clean up. I don't think the wndows have been cleaned in years. Some of the teens have arrived and are sitting around talking and watching TV.

Another family arrive and they are also horrified. They have brought their daughters that are 11 and 13. The mother told me that she didn't want to let her daughters stay, but that they strongly recommended the stay at the house to bond with the other team mates. Oh, and we were informed by the creepy home owner that there was only ONE working bathroom for 20 kids and 3 adults. Yep. :) My daughter stayed with me in San Diego.

So, David and his wife finally show up around 9:30pm and I'm on my way out and I've asked Pam for a itinerary for the week. She said they were still working on it. Working on it! When I asked David about getting a copy of the itinerary, he told me there wasn't a printed itinerary, he would just tell me, right then, what we would be doing each day.

He then proceeded to tell me that they would be creating a TV show. I expressed my confusion and frustration with a TV show, since the website stated they would create a business, write a business plan, marketing plan...etc. He asked me who told me we would be doing these things, and i referred him to the website. He blew me off and said that he needs to change the format every year to 'trick' kids into learning. Excuse me, but I'm not paying $4,000 for someone to 'trick' my kid into leaarning...She wants to learn. I expressed my concern and he tried to reassure me. I wasn't reassured.

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