Advent Computer Training (Barclays Partner Finance)Info and discussion thread

[whitie666]

I find this edited up! only yesterday i was speaking to advent about lower 1 payment, Laffin and joking around they accepted my 1 off payment then took my money.!

 

Funny ive been mailing them for 3 weeks to book my exam. First its have you completed all question in the book... ( i done them all ) they wanted proof so got proof. Then its we are booking you in for a MOCK wouldnt mind but its 50 miles away.! This is total BS! Now am finding that ive payed for nothing sat on my ass studying for nothing complete bs!

 

I thought we pasted this credit cruch.!

Edited January 29, 2010 by HSBCrusher
I understand how you must be feeling, but please watch your language.

[Advent Advisor]

Hi Folks. I have been an Advent Training advisor for 4 years. They told us last week to stop selling as Barclays have stopped funding courses. Barclays were the main suppliers of finance so everything stopped. We haven't heard a thing from Monday when we got an e mail saying they were still in talks with Barclays. We are now presumably out of work but as yet have had nobody actually tell us that. We had absolutely no idea this was going to happen as they were talking of expanding. Barclays pulled the plug so that started the chain of events and no other bank is prepared to offer finance for training

[rbarnes]

Hi All! I’m so glad I found this forum post! I too received a blunt email from Advent Training today at 17:01 stating that their funding had stopped and that an Insolvency Practitioner will be in touch.

 

At first I thought it was a hoax email as the email address didn’t look right ([email protected]). I read the email several times and I feel so sick! I thought it was only me who received the email but after clicking onto the Advent website it has been confirmed.

 

I like everyone else is interested in a career in IT and I wanted to boost my knowledge and so I began the MCSE course. At the time I was able to obtain finance from Clydesdale Finance which has been now bought by Barclays Partner Finance. I had enough trouble with the switch over of finance and now this. I have to pay back nearly £9800 now for this course - which I was hoping to complete and pay back ASAP. I’m lucky to have a job but I cannot afford to receive nothing in return for paying back nearly £10,000! I hope I won't have a black mark against my name now! I thought Advent seemed a solid company and backed by many partners.

 

I am hoping something will be sorted and that we can somehow continue our training. If not then I don't know what to do.

 

Please keep posting to keep everyone updated!

 

Thanks

Russell Barnes

Edited January 28, 2010 by rbarnes

[BMOORAK]

ive signed up for advent a year ago paying over 5.5k Im still doing my A+

I almost feel sick about whats happened as essentially I have paid 5.5k for a book you can buy in waterstones for £30

I every hope one gets there money back I really dont have 5.5k to lose . Even if I did there are much better ways to blow 5.5k

 

(also edit lol how a company can charge me 5.5K give me a £30 book and be insolvent)

 

ps sorry about the spelling had to go out for a few beers after getting the email today

Edited January 28, 2010 by BMOORAK

[rbarnes]

Thanks for your post Advent Advisor!

 

I really hope someone will step in and save Advent!

[stopmybeat]

Hi Folks. I have been an Advent Training advisor for 4 years. They told us last week to stop selling as Barclays have stopped funding courses. Barclays were the main suppliers of finance so everything stopped. We haven't heard a thing from Monday when we got an e mail saying they were still in talks with Barclays. We are now presumably out of work but as yet have had nobody actually tell us that. We had absolutely no idea this was going to happen as they were talking of expanding. Barclays pulled the plug so that started the chain of events and no other bank is prepared to offer finance for training

 

I got my CDL through barclays, what i do not get is, we pay 5.5k to give to you, so we can have our course, all i have done is 1 workshop, which wud of only cost you 100pound or less for the time and materials you gave, and a book which is hard to read, which you can buy from the corner shop for 20-40pound... 140.. and your telling me you had to go to Barclays for Funding Sources? We pay 5.5k for our material, our time.. not 140pound worth of things and very bad customer service, which takes 10 hours for mentor to contact back

[stopmybeat]

I find this edited up! only yesterday i was speaking to advent about lower 1 payment, Laffin and joking around they accepted my 1 off payment then took my money.!

 

Funny ive been mailing them for 3 weeks to book my exam. First its have you completed all question in the book... ( i done them all ) they wanted proof so got proof. Then its we are booking you in for a MOCK wouldnt mind but its 50 miles away.! This is total BS! Now am finding that ive payed for nothing sat on my ass studying for nothing complete bs!

 

I thought we pasted this credit cruch.!

 

I know exactly what you mean, i was ready for my test, the mentor said, im sorry we cannot give you the exam till you have done a mock, why they say this is because, it cost them fundings for this.. which is what they are trying to avoid, yes you give them money and they really dont want to give you nething of it back in there way of fundings..

 

So they give you a ****ty mock one which cost them less then 5p.

Dont get me wrong, it wouldnt bother me but im 90miles away from kiddleminister which is quite a treck.. which is why i only took it once.

 

Feel you mate..

All we can do is not pay it, and all of us go to court and hope it goes back on there parent company's name for the **** that they caused.

Edited January 29, 2010 by HSBCrusher

[tinyt87]

im in the same boat as the rest of you guys , i was just getting ready for my exam too!! not happy if i lose the 9K i paid/paying for!!

 

....i was just thinking we are all sitting here think about our money but has any1 looked at the contract you have signed??? or if there is a contract at all???

[whitie666]

LOL there is a contract.. for 6000 pounds i am looking for ways out and money back for 6k i think it worth the time! however am not to sure on this but ive read if advent are not able to sell off what they have, then they have to go on selling there training tho this is unlikly it may happen ive found that ring your bank and ask about something called a reversal payments for people who are still making payments ive done my maths and ive payed about 800 pounds compared to others is nothing but run the high risk of having to pay off the 6-7k none the less

 

Please forgive the grammer is 2 in morning for some reason i cant sleep...

[bennybelton]

I found out about this last night, I have been with advent for 5-6 months and am due to take the final A+ exam on Monday, I am lost now and dont know what to do so I've taken it public for the simple reason that I took out the whole package with Advent to go all the way to MSCE. Below is the email I sent to the Sun Newspaper & Daily Mirror.

 

'Advent Computer Training has gone into administration and hundreds, maybe thousands of students including myself who were paying to train in IT to better ourselves are about to be thousands of pounds in debt with Barclays who is Advents Indemnity finance partner.

I have been with Advent for 6 months and studying hard toward my first qualification. I was due to take the final exam for this qualification on Monday and start my career in IT but now the dream is over and any chance of a career has all but gone.

To top it all off Barclays has turned round and said that we must continue to pay off our loans that had been organised through Advent Training even though the company no longer exists - I have five years left and still have to pay £6000 as do many many others.

The talk on the forums is disheartening and I can see why people are sick of England. I for one having been unemployed for a few months tried to better myself by training with Advent in IT and now, not only do I not have a job or career that I had been so looking forward to and dreaming of, I am now about to be financially ruined. I hope this email is read as I amongst many others are at the end of the road. I'm leaving England this year, gotta be a better life out there somewhere!'

 

I have also sent two emails to Barclays and am about to contact trading standards and the citizens advice, I am not paying for something I will not be getting. If that doesnt work then I write to the government. Of course this is all minor when you consider the fact that most people/students were virtually relying on advent for their careers.

 

I personally have hit a huge roadblock in my career and life now so...I might just go down the pub...the location of the pub being the furthest most point away from kidderminster...maybe Kirkwall on the Orkney Island, that could be more fun than trying to contemplate what is happening with advent! I feel really bad for everyone involved in this and was not expecting this at all. Hope it sorts out soon!

 

We will be contacted over the next few weeks by the administrators and any payments due to come out for loans will still come out over the next few days (like mine, although i'm causing more trouble by cancelling the direct debit) If we still have money to pay like myself once the company has been shut down by the admin people then our future debts are theoretically abolished depending on how they do it but anything paid, we will be very lucky to see any of it. This is **** and I just had this feeling that in the back of my head something like this would happen. Who has a training centre in the west midlands anyway, if it was a successful company it should have been in London.

 

Made a terrible mistake, anyone in London wanna go down the pub!?

Edit - Please dont post personal contact details on the open forum

Edited January 29, 2010 by saintly_1
Removal of personal data

[RobinWhiting]

Hi guys. I am in exactly in the same boat. Just parted with over £4k for a course I have barely started and had exactly the same email and checked the announcement on their website. I am fuming. If I don't get my money back it is going to really mess my plans up. Please keep the posts updated if anyone has any news. Could we all perhaps write a joint agreed letter to BBC's Watchdog TV series once we know what is happening to our money?

[Awax]

hi all,

 

 

Apparently Barclays are going to be sending out a letter to everyone that had finance between them and advent, they claim that they will be relocating our training to another provider?

 

Is there anyway to get out of them doing this, i would much rather not do the course at all, this has got all very messy and dont want to go through it again.

[bennybelton]

Just received a phone call from barclays partner finance. They have frozen the account temporarily and will send letters out to everyone within the next few days. They said it was not barclays who stopped the funding as they were happy to do so it was Advent itself that suddenly just ceased trading with no mention of this to Barclays at all.

 

This is getting my back up quite a bit now! This means that the directors of Advent had suddenly shut up shop and in laymans terms - run off with the money.

 

I only to have consider now that Barclays - a bank - after the administration will be finding us Computer training to match what we were doing - I signed a contract with Advent so i guess its now just one of those shocking little waiting games.

 

But it was not Barclays fault and Advents directors are solely to blame for this! Like AWAX, I don't really want to this anymore...i'm disheartened.

[Alex399]

Hi guys. I am in exactly in the same boat. Just parted with over £4k for a course I have barely started and had exactly the same email and checked the announcement on their website. I am fuming. If I don't get my money back it is going to really mess my plans up. Please keep the posts updated if anyone has any news. Could we all perhaps write a joint agreed letter to BBC's Watchdog TV series once we know what is happening to our money?

 

AMEN to that!!

 

I feel physically and mentally sick from this, today I am taking an extended Lunch at work and going down to the Citizens Advice Burea and Barclays to explain what the situation is as I received this email yesterday at about 11am but didn't check my inbox till about 10:30PM.

I will hopefully be able to find the Mentor number so I can try and ring them throughout the day to get hold of someone at Advent, I'm not expecting to get through to anyone at Advent but can't hurt to try right!

 

I suggest anyone else in this pickle immediatley goes into there local Barclays Branch and Local Citizens Advice Bureua branch and explain the situation to them immediatley to see where they stand in claiming back the amount payed to Advent (£5000 for me) and contact the Trading standards association as well.

As for getting hold of anyone at Advent I find it highly unlikely I will have any luck but I feel obliged to try and to not waste to much time trying

 

I agree with Robin about getting in touch with BBC Watchdog and writing a Joint letter.

 

Count me In Robin regarding that I will PM you my email

[whitie666]

I found out about this last night, I have been with advent for 5-6 months and am due to take the final A+ exam on Monday, I am lost now and dont know what to do so I've taken it public for the simple reason that I took out the whole package with Advent to go all the way to MSCE. Below is the email I sent to the Sun Newspaper & Daily Mirror.

 

'Advent Computer Training has gone into administration and hundreds, maybe thousands of students including myself who were paying to train in IT to better ourselves are about to be thousands of pounds in debt with Barclays who is Advents Indemnity finance partner.

I have been with Advent for 6 months and studying hard toward my first qualification. I was due to take the final exam for this qualification on Monday and start my career in IT but now the dream is over and any chance of a career has all but gone.

To top it all off Barclays has turned round and said that we must continue to pay off our loans that had been organised through Advent Training even though the company no longer exists - I have five years left and still have to pay £6000 as do many many others.

The talk on the forums is disheartening and I can see why people are sick of England. I for one having been unemployed for a few months tried to better myself by training with Advent in IT and now, not only do I not have a job or career that I had been so looking forward to and dreaming of, I am now about to be financially ruined. I hope this email is read as I amongst many others are at the end of the road. I'm leaving England this year, gotta be a better life out there somewhere!'

 

I have also sent two emails to Barclays and am about to contact trading standards and the citizens advice, I am not paying for something I will not be getting. If that doesnt work then I write to the government. Of course this is all minor when you consider the fact that most people/students were virtually relying on advent for their careers.

 

I personally have hit a huge roadblock in my career and life now so...I might just go down the pub...the location of the pub being the furthest most point away from kidderminster...maybe Kirkwall on the Orkney Island, that could be more fun than trying to contemplate what is happening with advent! I feel really bad for everyone involved in this and was not expecting this at all. Hope it sorts out soon!

 

We will be contacted over the next few weeks by the administrators and any payments due to come out for loans will still come out over the next few days (like mine, although i'm causing more trouble by cancelling the direct debit) If we still have money to pay like myself once the company has been shut down by the admin people then our future debts are theoretically abolished depending on how they do it but anything paid, we will be very lucky to see any of it. This is **** and I just had this feeling that in the back of my head something like this would happen. Who has a training centre in the west midlands anyway, if it was a successful company it should have been in London.

 

Made a terrible mistake, anyone in London wanna go down the pub!?

[email protected]

 

 

I am finding what you have said refreshing to find someone with so many common views.

tho with a bit of digging i see barclays are the ones to have pulled the plug on advent leaving them hign and dry while they take in all the profit and use advent to cover this up.... sly and smart but again this is my view..

 

I stand corrected!

[BBC Birmingham]

Hello,

 

in the Midlands Today TV newsroom at BBC Birmingham we have a reporter working on this story right now.

Edited January 28, 2010 by BBC Birmingham

[stopmybeat]

according to moneysavingexpert, theres a rumor on this post:

 

Awax says:

 

hi all,

 

 

Apparently Barclays are going to be sending out a letter to everyone that had finance between them and advent, they claim that they will be relocating our training to another provider?

 

Is there anyway to get out of them doing this, i would much rather not do the course at all, this has got all very messy and dont want to go through it again.

 

is this true?

Edited January 28, 2010 by stopmybeat
nah

[whitie666]

I am a little concerned now i went with anglo not barclays :/ does the same apply here.?

[stopmybeat]

issues

ADVENT COMPUTER TRAINING WARNING !!!!! - Page 2 - CertForums

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

 

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?p=29307739#post29307739

 

http://www.theanswerbank.co.uk/Business-and-Finance/Business/Question856310.html

 

 

old ones,

 

This One

 

Advent Computer Training

 

Training Provide Gone Bust - MoneySavingExpert.com Forums

Edited January 28, 2010 by stopmybeat

[luke100390]

As someone mention on page 2, I would rather have my money back as i dont feel i want to go through this again.

 

Ive been on the course for 13 months now, Managed to pay the 5k off in November 2009 with Barclays. Anyone know what i should do?

[Sumy]

Does anyone know if there is any protection for those that have already paid their loan off with Barclaycard but was still doing the course? I paid the Barclaycard loan off in November to prevent the high APR. I would still really like to do the course but there is no way I could pay the £5000+ for the course again!

[stopmybeat]

can't be as bad as mine mate, i got depressed last yr stuck on the comp ati book and said to barclays can they give me half back as im struggling, they wouldnt and they auto made me started paying 1 yr earlier, when all i was doing is just asking them so they made me pay it back early,

 

they said they cannot cancel the payment going out.. so from april to now i havent paid them a penny.. in feb 5th i was going on a 4 day intensive course.. and was looking forward to paying them back at the real date of ended 10th of february with me carrying on my course, i feel i been ****ed over side ways!

 

when do they actually write off the debt to IVA to nothing?

[Andrew9]

All aboard! I just rung Barclays and they are saying they are investigating the situation and can't do refunds right now. They told me to write a claim for refund to administration of the bank. They also mentioned that they will be looking for a replacement training provider, which I don't want to accept at all..

[stopmybeat]

what if your debt from barclays been passed on to debt collectors? i have to negociate with the debt collectors for my course? lol

[marchingelite]

I took out buy now pay later option with advent, my year was up last november and I borrowed money to pay off the loan as i didnt want it doubled to 12k

 

Where do I stand now? Will i get the money back?