Refund of course fees from computeach

[Cityred32]

Can anyone offer some advice. I am trying to get a partial refund from computeach for a course which I cannot complete. I paid £4450 for the course on a Clydesdale buy now pay later plan which I have since transferred to another loan. I was unable to obtain the pass mark of 90% and see no way of achieving it. I have not even got a 1/4 of the way into the course. No mention is made of this pass mark in any literature. I have written to them several times asking for a refund. I have told them that there salesmens representation of the course was not accurate and because of that representation I entered into the contract. I have also stated that they misrepresented my competence by failing to carry out their test procedure correctly. They have refused all my requests for a refund and just keep encouraging me to continue my studies.

I have also tried persuing the matter with the finance comapny to no avail. I have had some legal advice and they say small claims court may be risky.

ANy advice would be gratefully received

[ruralgirl]

What course is it and can you give us more details of how this was financed?

Did your loan with Clydesdale pay for the entire course? Was the course sold to you in your own home? Did you sign a Consumer Credit Agreement for your loan? Did you get a cooling off period? Why did you transfer the loan and who is it now with? How much do you owe on the loan?

Don't want to appear nosey but you will need to give specific details if you need the great people here to help you with this.

[Hippy-chick]

Computeach are, I'm told, very good at signing folk up and very bad at following through. Give us the details as per ruralgirl.

Also - you could think about reposting in the students forum and seeing who else there has experienced these folk

[Cityred32]

The course is Microsoft Network Administrator and was sold in my own home by a pretty pushy salesmen. Clydesdale financed the whole course and i transfered the loan as it was on a buy now pay later scheme with absurd interest when it ran out. The loan is now with Northern Rock. The course had a 14 day cooling off period but no course material turned up until after this date. I did sign a credit agreement form with clydesdale.

I still owe about £3k on the loan.

The advice I got from a legal service was to find an expert in the field to say that I am not able to complete the course but it's finding one.

[ruralgirl]

This is a bit different to my situation (I signed up for a course with Scheidegger), less said about that the better. I contacted Consumer Direct and the lady there was rather less than helpful. She told me I had to keep paying for the course even though they were not marking coursework and sending the next part. I explained to her that it was like buying a car and not having the wheels but to her, if I stopped paying, I was in the wrong.

I did stop paying and after a few threats from them and a couple of Curlyben's letters from me they have backed down and have finally written off the balance. I have the CCA I signed which was enforceable but obviously they didn't.

The DCA I was dealing with were a bunch of muppets BUT Northern Rock are not, they are a slick outfit who will get their money, whatever it takes.

I feel out of my depth here so will leave it to those with more knowledge to give you advice and help. It may be that you can do something under the Supply of Goods and Services Act (the benchmark stuff) but I'm not in a position to say.

I wish you loads of luck.

Incidentally, how much extra did Clydesdale want to charge you? My own 'loan' was interest free.

[MARTIN3030]

Welcome to the site.Am moving your thread into the students forums as suggested.

[welshincomer]

Hi there,

I was "sold" a course by a Computeach rep in May 2006 - I paid using the Clydesdale buy now - pay later scheme which I paid off before the 9 month deadline. I was 'persuaded' that it would be bet to buy the whole package of 4 levels at a cost of £4950.

The first books duly arrived which I found very simple and I passed the IC3 level very quickly and got on to the proper course (CIW). From then on I struggled, the course material consisted of three books and downloadable material from computeach-online. All went quite well, although the study material was quite difficult to follow, until I felt I was ready to take the mock exam - no mention was made of the fact that I needed to obtain a 90% pass mark before I would be asked to attend the in-centre class and take the exam proper (which I have understood is about 65% to pass).

I have attempted the mock exam five times (acheiving as high as 85%) but no pass. The so-called tutor help is not very good - they just say where you are going wrong and suggest that you read up on such and such subjects. Nothing very specific and some of the subjects are not even covered in the literature they send.

I have become very dis-illusioned and written to Computeach requesting a partial refund. Their reply is that I have entered into a contract and to make use of the tutors. they have no intention of any refund as they say they have fulfilled their side of the contract.

I have only requested a refund for the remaining levels of training, of which they have not supplied any material and these materials can be used for other students - i.e. they are not unique to a student and have no date constraints.

Please let this be a salutary warning to anyone taking out Computeach or indeed any 'home-study' courses. Do not let the salesman persuade you that it will be easy or you can gain a well-paid job etc. Do your homework first and trawl the internet for other peoples experiences.

I would love to hear from anyone else who is trying to get a refund and I urge anybody who is having trouble with Computeach to contact the BBC Watchdog programme, the more people who complain the more Computeach may back down.