ATL practical Training have ripped me off too. I was signed on to the Renewable Energy Course and have been paying £135 a month. I paid £5770 in total after i paid my final monthly payment (and 90% of the way through the course) they tell me the course has expired! I really dont know what to do now. The 'salesman' who signed me on to the course told me I would have to complete Level 2 Plumbing and some Level 3 plumbing units before I could do the renewable energy side of things. He told me most students finish the course in 4 years. I signed up. I was 3 years and 2 months into the course, had just made my final payment, and had just finished the level 2 and level 3 plumbing units (i was literally about to start the the renewable side of things) when i called to book the practical training I was told that the course had expired and it was up to ATL's discretion whether to allow me to finish. Which they wouldn't. I told them that to my understanding I was on track to completing. they said in the small print it says the course is 36 months. They didnt even send me a letter to let me know. I am devastated that I've been stitched up by these crooks. After reading some of these threads it seems that ATL might be struggling to facilitate the Renewable Energy part of the course. Which would explain why they suddenly told me I was out of time. It would also explain why there were so many delay tactics when trying to progress through the modules. Does anyone have any advice? I have contacted the FOS but they said if it is in the small print I probably cant do anything. surely as they have been so misleading and fraudulently selling a course that they cant deliver accounts for something? Has anyone successfully got their money back off of these ATL crooks??

Thanks for the help guys. After a heated conversation on the phone, I told them I would be picking it up first thing in the morning regardless of whether the work had been done. They called back an hour later and told me if I could leave it with them until lunchtime, they would complete the job... and as long as I didnt need a receipt, it would be under £400. I turned up at 2pm and they had literally just finished it. As they said, I didnt get a receipt (guess they didnt put it through the books) but I did get the first mot failure sheet along with the current one.... which is pretty useful if they deny having the car for as long as they did. Wont be taking it back there again!!

Its a big garage... on a main road. Although the mechanic is a right arse from what i've been told (I didnt know this before hand). Obviously, I wont be taking it back there but would like to know if theres anything i can do about the problems i'm experiencing. I still dont have the car back and am worried that tomorrow the price will have gone up and they'll say the car stil isnt finished. Not to mention i now have dvla and the council on my back about court proceedings.

About 6 weeks ago, I took my car in for an mot at a local garage whilst visiting my parents. The garage called up and said my inner seals needed welding and they were unable to do it as the rear axle needed to be dropped out in order to get to the rusted area. On collection, he showed me this rust. All fair enough. The following week, (the day before my tax ran out) I booked it into a garage in my local area. As expected, it failed the mot. The guy told me they were very busy and would be able to do the work in 3 or 4 days. A week later I rang to see what was happening as they hadnt contacted me - nothing had been done to the car. The following week, i rang again as i still hadnt heard anything. Still nothing had been done. I asked for a quote and how long it would take - they gave me no quote and no time. The following week, I rang again (yes, the 3rd week!). They said its been started... but didnt know when it would be ready, and couldnt tell me how much it would cost. When I got home from work on the same day, i had a letter from the council stating my vehicle had been photographed down a road near the garage as residents had thought it had been abandoned and i was not displaying a valid tax disc. Therefore they had informed the DVLA and were taking legal action. And if it wasnt moved within 7 days of the letter, it would be crushed and i would have to pay the expenses! I called the garage... they said it cant be taken away because they had bought it back into the garage... and it would be ready first thing in the morning. After work I went to collect and guess what... Not ready. But the guy in the garage (who i spoke to when i took it in nearly a month ago when i took it in) said its gunna cost me best part of £500!!! And when i asked about the axle, he said it hadnt been removed... which makes me think they havent done sodall to the car. I know i'm being riped off, but what can i do? Any advice much appreciated. Thanks.