It could be the mis-selling will be the strongest point for people in the guarantor position if the Advent rep badly advised you.

Yes, that's the one, Lowdown. Sounds like good news for you if there's no start and end dates.

FUZZBUTT ANNOUNCEMENT - GOOD NEWS!!!!!!!!! We have now had a FOS ruling at last in favour of one of the Advent students. The main circumstances are there were no start or end dates on the Advent agreement form (green form which you signed at the interview with the Advent sales rep) and therefore FOS agreed it was reasonable to assume the course was open-ended and so not like-for-like terms to Computeach. This is good news for those who do not have dates entered on your agreement and there is a fair chance you may now be entitled to a refund. Please contact Fuzzbutt if you are one of these people (send a scanned copy of your agreement and your full name/address). If you can't scan your document then post a photocopy directly to Ingrid at Hausfeld with a brief note of your full contact details and let Fuzzbutt know you've done this. I am compiling a list for our lawyer of all those now able to claim a refund under this ruling. For those who have no dates on their agreement and have NOT yet put in a complaint to FOS our lawyer advises you to do so now and make this issue clear in your complaint. If you HAVE but you're still waiting for a decision from your adjudicator ensure you contact them and point out that a ruling has been made in favour of a student in similar circumstances to yourself. In the long run, this may be of benefit to the general group as it is proof that Advent courses were sold as open-ended as agreed Advent policy, and could help many of us currently being turned down by FOS on the grounds we can't prove this (although we are arguing we were told by the rep the course was 'extendable by arrangement').

Post just arrived and with it my final decision from the ombudsman (I'd asked for my complaint to go to the ombudsman as I disagreed with the adjudicator's decision). They've turned me down with the claim that the offer from CT is reasonable, despite the delay of 3 months (!presumably because BPF arranged us an extension of 3 months as compensation) and my evidence of the verbal promise that this was sold as 'open-ended' was totally disregarded. I'd have thought a verbal account is as valid evidence as written proof - it is in a court of law but not according to FOS!! What a joke! However,I have been contacted by someone who has had a ruling in their favour and the adjudicator agreed the course was not like-for-like as it was sold as open-ended. I'm trying to find out more as this ruling may be good news for the rest of us. Hausfeld ar aware.

I've put a few questions in an email to our lawyer so will let people know when I hear back. A few people are receiving letters from Moorcroft it seems, offering to write off a portion of their debt if they pay so much within a number of days. Someone has forwarded their letter to me and I have to say it looks a mite suspicious (no Deed of Assignment letter I noted!) Wonder if this is a desperate means to claw back some money for BPF, who are probably aware that they would be forced to write off the debt by a court ruling in our favour? Hmmmm....

Agree - I didn't give anyone permission to pass on my details either. And what was that about not paying any further to continue with CT? That are charging people once their contract end date expires to continue study ON TOP of what we already paid BPF!

I've just contacted 'BBC Watchdog' again and sent them my minister's letter. I've had an acknowledgement so maybe they'll look at it for the next series. Also contacted 'Rip Off Britain' (they recently featured one of the Access2 students on there in similar situation to ourselves). Also written in depth to the 'Gaurdian' newspaper money editor. Hope to hear more on the case this week.

I did try and find who these alleged people were when this article first came out but had no response to any appeals on the forums. The circumstances could be a telling factor, as one lady who did contact me had her loan refunded as she cancelled her Advent agreement days before they went bust, and within her cancellation period so the Ombudsman upheld her case. Sadly that's the only one I could confirm. If they exist they could well have signed a gagging clause.

If you check your inbox here I replied to you couple of days ago with the details.

That's an old article now. I tried to find out who these alleged people were but no one came forward to various forum appeals so I'm guessing it's either incorrect or there were particular circumstances, such as the lady who contacted me who did get a refund as she was still within her cancellation period, just days before Advent went bust. Either that or these people had a gagging order put on them.

Hausfeld wrote to BFC just before Xmas - that letter of 26/11/10 is up on the site. I understand they are waiting for a full reply, although Hogan Lovells did give a holding reply quickly. It will move as fast as it moves, I'm afraid. That's the way of these cases. We just have to sit it out.

Sounds like you're on the right tactic there, Roadie. I think the fact that these debt collection agencies do get away with their blackmail/scare tactics is people are often isolated and don't know their rights, don't even know where to start looking sometimes for info, but we are many (rather than the few, or the one!) and there's strength in a group, sharing advice and helping each other out. Come to think of it, I rather like to think Star Trek style of the heads at Barclays as Klingons (clinging on to our money that they should have given back!)

That's good advice from, Lowdown there. All demands like this are unlawful and need to be reported. If you get any replies from OFT and Trading Standards, Bluedo, please could I/Hausfeld have a copy (all good stuff for the evidence file). Thanks. Good luck! As you say, if you weren't on here you'd likely be frightened into paying up - frightening is exactly what they intend so all power to you! Be interested to hear how you get on.

You're welcome - let's hope it gets some official hard-looking at Barclays activities now. As the letter also went to the head of OFT operations and FSA's consumer affairs I think we may get some joy.

You're welcome Wicko. I've just put my approved letter to the Education Minister up on the 'Case Updates' on the student website if anyone wants to read it.

Hi Wicko I just replied directly to your home email.The letters are actually in the library section here at CAG but I've re-linked it all up now.

Yes, bizarrely you can now read that there is a group legal case going on in the first post on the old thread on Advent/Barclays but not how to get the details about it....kinda defeats the point of editing in the first place I'd have thought, as it is still mentioned! :confused:Nontheless! I'm the group organiser so anyone can PM me and I'll send you a link (I don't check here everyday though so be patient). Sorry can't put my direct email or the website up here due to forum rules. Edited to add....There is now a revised advice page on my site (approved by Hausfeld) which should hopefully be easier to navigate for info than the previous news posts.

Good point, DonnieB. I did manage to get the document out of FOS under Freedom of Information which they are basing their decisions on in refusing our complaints against BPF. Barclays provided this as their defense of the 'bespoke courses', claiming it proves 'like for like' but, as you say, they just state the case and expect us (and FOS) to take their word for it. Computeach apparently claims it will honour all the agreements but how can they honour an open ended study programme when CT has already stated it will start charging once the end dates on agreements plus the 3 months extra compensation time agreed with Barclays runs out? That will certainly prove the open ended study promise was a false selling point by Advent reps and so courses were mis-sold to us (not forgetting that BPF also mis-sold loans to unsuitable and unemployed people without full credit checks, as well as Advent reps badly advised guarantors signing agreements so that they were not covered by S75 CCA when they came to make a claim against BPF with FOS).

Newcomers can contact myself or Bluedo directly for details of how to join the case and get a link to the advice/bulletin website I've set up for the Advent and Access students. Send me your email address (include your full name so you can be added to the list) and I'll reply directly, which will comply with forum rules I believe.

Indeed! I'll be posting my letter to the Education Minister, Head of OFT and FSA in the next couple of days on the you-know-where website I've set up.

Thanks Blade.

The guarantors issue is still not clear, I'm afraid, but it seems many people were wrongly advised by the sales rep when signing the agreement so there is a case of mis-selling that Hausfeld have raised with Barclays.

And let's look forward to some joy in 2011 when we win this case! Just to say everyone 'keep your chin up' and hope you had a good Xmas break! On a more negative note, I have had some people joining up recently who have started spamming the Fuzzbutt hotmail account with unidentifiable links (mostly 'earn money from home'!). They seemed bona fide desperate ex-Advent students wanting to sign up to the group legal action in the initial email but now I'm not so sure, so these people have now been marked as junk mail, all future emails they may send also blocked. If you are genuine and find yourself suddenly blocked it is possible someone has hijacked your account and is using it to send spam (I had this done recently to one of my hotmail accounts and had to delete the account - so please be aware). With over 600 members there will always be a few I guess, but please ensure the fuzzbutt address is not included in any group circulation or general mass mail lists you set up.

Thanks Lewis - and everyone else who has responded.

Hi Bluedo - good to see you here. Thanks for the offer of adding your name to the letter. I'm glad to hear the harrassment from Barclays debt collections services has dropped off and I think you're spot on there, they give it a shot at scaring you into paying, then give up. I think Aaron joined the group action - could be wrong and it's a different person but I have got an Aaron at the top of my contact list here. Would have been interesting and maybe useful to hear what he had to say regarding his solicitor's advice, as he also had a court date if I remember correctly?