Hi. I was accepted as an international student, but due to visa problems, I was unable to attend the course. I have been trying to get my refund which is in excess of 5000CAD for a YEAR now. They told me I was due for my refund in November but since then no one has responded to my emails or answering the phone at reception. Not only is this extremely unprofessional, but also illegal. I hate posting on Google like this, but I hope someone from the school will respond, specifically the accounting department.

Watch your wallet with this company. I contacted this company with the intention of restoring currency to my Canadian pilot licence. They have always been nice to me, but communication, especially by telephone, has been a struggle. I chose this company because they have a lot of Cessna 172s and a relatively low rental rate. I also went with them because I thought the air traffic around Abbotsford would be lighter than around Vancouver. I told them that I needed to work on my training during the week of my vacation, which was January 4 to 12. They told me that to engage with them, I had to send a deposit, CA$295 of which was nonrefundable. I had no reason to suspect malfeasance at this point and, in their defence, they did not insist on immediate transfer of funds. I sent the funds early because they had been nice and I wanted to get the registration process started. So, I sent them CA$1295 on November 27 after they told me that they would reopen from their holiday break on January 6. After I sent them the money, Yvonne Feng, who has left a 5 star review, then informed me that they would close on December 15 and not reopen until Friday, January 9 when my vacation was almost over. They quoted me in their reply below, but they neglected this quote which came soon after: "on second thought, that schedule is not going to work for me." They said they would return the refundable portion of my deposit after I returned a form requesting the refund. I sent the form to them on December 4. After that, they kept blaming the lack of refund on delays with their accountant. By mid-January, the accountant was still blamed for my absent refund. Meanwhile, I did my flight training and regained my currency with Pacific Flying Club at Boundary Bay Airport. Dealing with Pacific Flying Club was the opposite of dealing with Coastal Pacific. They did not take a prolonged break, they answered their telephones, there were no deposits, whether refundable or not, and they provided very professional and timely service. Since I was going to be in Delta, BC on January 18, on Thursday, January 16, I asked Coastal Pacific if I could stop by on January 18 and pick up a check. I received no response at all from them. On January 17, I sent them an email threatening to take them to Small Claims Court and to send evidence and a complaint of possible fraudulent business practices to the local prosecutor. After this threat, on January 19, I received an email saying that they were finally processing my refund, but they had a problem because I had not sent my bank account number to them, along with an ABA number. First of all, I had never been asked for an ABA number. Second, I sent my account number on the refund request form on December 4. So, I knew they were just feeding me more garbage. Finally, on January 21, after 48 days of delay, I received the refundable portion of my deposit. I am still outraged that I am out the nonrefundable CA$295 because of the scheduling misinformation I received from them. I have email evidence and bank records to support everything I described above. I can't say anything about the flight instruction at this company, but their business management is very unprofessional, providing some reasons to suspect fraudulent practices. I strongly recommend Pacific Flying Club over this company. It is definitely worth the drive over to Delta. As you can see in the response to my review, they fail to mention that they established their January 9 reopening date after I sent them a lot of money based on the January 6 date that they told me. They offer to make amends for my mistreatment, but they have refused to return my non-refundable deposits that were made based on the misinformation they provided to me. I love that they try to describe my review as unprofessional when it is their behavior which is clearly unethical. My review is remaining as is because potential customers need to understand that this is how they do business. Nothing may come of this, but I am also forwarding my information to the Abbotsford Police Department.

Coastal Pacific has been by far my best experience flight training in the Lower Mainland, and I can say this having trained with four different schools, two at Boundary Bay Airport and one at Langley Airport. Although a further drive from the city, the airport is right next to two less crowded practice areas making training more efficient. The airport is not busy and very little time is wasted on the ground. The planes are in excellent condition and easy to book, the Dispatcher, Kayla, is friendly and extremely helpful, and the Instruction us top notch. I also felt there were less unnecessary restrictions placed on students (you can do more as long as safe) making for better training. I hesitated about the longer drive from the city, but it's actually saved time and money for me.

Qualified professional instructors with high standards, makes every learning experience safe and enjoyable. Best in Vancouver

During my recent visit to this flight school, I was genuinely wowed by their awesome simulator building. It's fantastic how they provide students with advanced training right on the ground. I'm seriously considering choosing this school for my aviation journey.