I know I have been here before, but my daughter's case is slightly different and may help some of you. She had little or no prior IT knowledge. Advent promised her a better way of life with great prospects, they signed her up to an MSCE course. This course being way out of her depth very quickly destroyed her confidence. I am fighting Hitachi on the grounds that Advent knowingly miss-sold a course that was totally inappropriate for her needs, prior knowledge, or capabilities. No pre-assessment was carried out by the sales person. Without permission the sales lady startled my daughter by entering her personal details into an on-screen credit application. My daughter did say she was concerned at this, but it did not stop the Advents sales lady. Naive you may say, but these actions are no excuse to how my daughter was abused, for the sake of high cost finance to the benefit of Advent. Regards David

749 signatures at 24 Feb, deadline for registration 12 May 2010 Need more signatures!!!! Petition to: Request money back for students of the collapsed IT Firm Advent Consulting Ltd. | Number10.gov.uk

The plot thickens, or so it appears!

Excellent information, almost on my doorstep. The deadline for the No 10 petition is 12 May, 736 signatures so far, there must be many more to go!!!!!

Thank you for your support, we need more like you. Pooling resources will help us all. The petition link Petition to: Request money back for students of the collapsed IT Firm Advent Consulting Ltd. | Number10.gov.uk I wondered when Ashley Jones, Andrew Allchurch and possibly John Whitehead would show up again. Do you happen to know the date of incorporation please and business registration number? Regards David M

Interesting. It then begs the question, was a proper needs analysis and assessment of prior knowledge provided. I requested copies of this assessment analysis from Advent before their closure announcement. In their reply this information was not supplied, we all know why, because there was none. For correct assessments of students prior knowledge and skills, a trained professional would have dealt with this correctly and placed that person on the right course for their needs and advancement. I therefore surmise that the interview staff was not qualified but was in fact a well versed sales person, ready to pounce and close a lucrative sale. Regards David M

My Daughter’s agreement is with Hitachi Capital and it is a Credit Sale Agreement. I did inform Hitachi Capital that any attempts at blacklisting through their credit reference agencies would be reported to those organisations as inappropriate as daughter was miss-sold the products and services, plus I would bring these matters to the attention of District Judge if matters went to litigation. I demanded the details of the credit reference agencies for Hitachi, as follows: Experian and Call Credit. They have now suspended the Direct Debit payments and will reverse any detrimental credit information regarding my daughter and are now reviewing complaints. At least we are in an event temperament of communication now. Hope this helps, Regards David M

The following may possibly help some of you, or offer ideas. With the evidence that Advent signed my daughter to an MSCE course who could hardly send an email (so no pre-assessment was carried out) and therefore miss-sold the course, I decided to tackle this for her. Advents intentions were to make large financial gains at the expense of my daughter. The interveiwer completed an on-line application without her permission. She was subjected to very professional and heavy selling techniques. She has since lost all confidence. Hitachi Capital, despite parting with some evidence (not disclosed all) have ignored all my requests, such as details of credit reference agencies they use. They are now getting heavy, so I have letters prepared for the BBC Watchdog programme, Trading Standards, The Financial Ombudsman, Instutute of IT Training, Microsoft Ltd and the Administrators PKF Accountants which will go off this week. I have also insisted that they freeze the account (with interest) until matter have been resolved. We need more of you to complete the petion to HM Gov please. What disgruntles me is that there was a report that £35M was in their kitty in December 2009. I wonder where Ashley Jones and Andrew Allchurch will pop up next.

A BBC Watchdog programme 20 October 2008 investigated other training companies, SkillsTrain and Train4TradeSkills. Does any one know if there is any remote connection with Advent please? Thank you

Well said! Let us see where the following names pop up next: Ashley Jones, Andrew Allchurch and John Whitehead

My daughter was pestered by phone calls, she asked if they would send details but refused saying that an 'informal chat' was required and she would have to call and visit them. Foolishly she was taken in. To her disbelief the advisor started to fill in a credit application without asking my daughter. Signed her up to a MCSE course. Poor kid feels foolish now, but she was taken by well versed and practised, pressured sales techniques. She did not stand a chance.

Have you seen this link? PKF - David M

That was a good rant though! I have gained substantial information regarding prior knowledge requirements/pre-assessments to prove that the course they signed my daughter up to was totally innapropriate. They were hell bent on signing her up to a course she was not capable of. She has lost all confidence. The directors of Advent have a history connected with other businesses, I would not be surprised if evidence comes to light soon that may give cause to investigate their activities and for this accumulative information to be passed on to the Police. I am sure they would like their good names cleared. Worth looking at Advent IT Training [problem]: The Facts Regards David M

Sign up for this one, its worth a try http://petitions.number10.gov.uk/adventcomputer/ Regards David Michael

Sign up for this one, pass it on http://petitions.number10.gov.uk/adventcomputer/ David Michael