ADVENT COMPUTER TRAINING WARNING !!!!!

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At last we agree on something, thanks for putting it into perspective.

 

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"I do have a placement with a computer firm and have probably learned more than any book"

Thats hit the nail on the head. There are many certifications for people starting out in IT. MCSE/MCITP's are really the top of the scale unless you want to go and be a MCA or MCM. Ive have had students in my classes who have looked at me as if I am speaking in German when I start talking about IPv6 Subnetting for example.

Whilst courses to teach things, there needs to be some underpinning knowledge before people attend. Some TP's will sell you any course which is wrong. Ive seen people on Enterprise Extraction, Transformation & Loading with SQL Server 2008 Integration Services who havent even seen SQL before.

My advice reasearch and forums like these.

Regards

 

No offence intended.

Unfortunately on a public forum you end up generalising and risk saying things that don't apply to everyone.
Anyway, I wan't actually treating anyone like an imbecile, I was just pointing out how the business model works in these cases. I didn't make any comments on what I thought about people who had signed up for them.

I think you'll find that everyone here, myself included, will be happy to answer your questions and to help in any way we can.

 

Please accept my apologies, what I said was wrong. I was forgetting this is a public forum and I look forward to any advice you give.

 

Just Joined the Forum.. Hi Guys... I have been signed upto and working with Advent for my CompTia A+ for the last 7 months... THANK GOD I signed up to pay monthly and not pay the whole lot in one go.....as I have both Books for studying... so I dont feel too hard done by about it as I agreed to pay monthly. plus I have learned a heck of a lot from the 2 books that I didnt know of before... Im set and booked to go on a training course next month which im guessing will now no longer happen so Ill have to call Barclays monday and find out the latest news..... Im sorry to hear about all those who have paid the full amount up front and lost it all. look forward to gettin to know you all and seeing where Us Advent Virgins go from now...

 

I know I don't feel sorry for them - sales people are some of the worst of society I've come across, just slightly above the benefit spongers - both need to get a proper job!

That said, I do have sympathy for all the guys/girls on this thread and that are reading it - hope you get the money/resources that you need!

 

Hi,
I've just read my agreement with Barclays and it looks like I might be in luck from clause 75 or something.
Fingers crossed.

 

Hi everyone

I've just joined, having googled 'Advent Computers' in a panic after receiving the doom and gloom message too.

I just called Barclays and was likewise told they are trying to secure a new training provider to take over where Advent left off, so that sounds promising in that all of us part-way through the course may at least be able to finish and take our exams, so it won't be money for nothing. I was assured too like the other poster that they will be writing to everyone who took out a loan with them to cover Advent fees.
If Barclays fail in that, at least those who had a loan with them have some comeback it seems to claim their money back if I understand the posts about the Consumer Credit Act correctly. I feel sorry for those who forked out of their savings though.

I paid my loan for the A+ course off when the year was up, so I just owe mum the £5,000 now - not the end of the world but a real eye opener. Wish I'd come across this forum before - I probably wouldn't have even bothered applying for the course in hindsight now, having read all the warnings here now about private training. It seemed a good idea at the time though. Nevermind. At least I have a job and no other debts/responsibilities. Gutted to effectively lose £5,000 though.

I'll post anything new I learn. At least we can support each other here with sharing info. Hopefully they'll come up with another training company.

 

Amen to that mate.. Hopefully we will find out soon... just glad I didnt pay up front and took the pay monthly option... "Phew"....

 

Confused now mate.

If you are a 'barclays' customer, they'll find alterntive training for you.
If you paid by any other means, they won't.

Generally, Barclays customers are all paying monthly anyway because that's pretty much the point of taking out a loan. You pay it back over time.

Are you paying Advent directly in monthly installments through some kind of in-house pay as you go thing?

 

it was or is i should say the standard contract through Barclays finance to pay advent on a monthly payment system over 3 years for the 5K course. I was given the option to either pay the whole 5K up front or pay in monthly installments so I took the Monthly installments route through Barclays finance mate, I guess a kind of Pay as you go monthly thing. and luckily have only paid for teh last 6 months giving me the books training course etc etc. so hopefully Barclays will find anothe rtraining Company and slot me in there so I can just carry on as before.

 

OK, with you now.

You have taken out a Barclays loan.
Although you're paying it back monthly, you are still tied to the entire loan like most other people here.

Hopefully they can find you another trainer, but in your case, by paying monthly you aren't actually any better off...

 

I will have to look into it some more as I didnt take out a loan and get 5k put into my account. it was more like an agreement through barclays finance that I would pay for the full course kind of like a monthly direct debit through the finance company.. I will have to have another read of the paperwork to find out the details and let you know.

 

An upside to all of this for you troubled guys/gals is that you have found a place on the interweb (here) for some advice - stick around!

 

It's still a loan agreement, the money won't have gone into your account first of all because thats just too much administration work, instead it would have gone straight into the account of whoever (in this case Advent, but it could have been someone like Everest Windows or anyone else that uses Barclays Capital Finance).

You do have an outstanding loan agreement however so you do need to be careful here. If I were you I would be contacting the Bank as well as the CAB to discuss this further.

 

What he said.

Barclays would have paid the money straight to Advent so you're still accountable for the loan.

Please don't make the mistake of thinking that you can just stop your repayments, as warped as that may seem. Not only will Barclays come down on you like a tonne of bricks, but you will also lose out on any alternative training that they manage to arrange.

 

Hi, I've been studying with Advent for 20 months now, and recieved 3 books from them, but i still haven't passed the essentials exam. My studying seemed to be going on forever, and I have felt that i have not achieved alot in those months. Advent going bust seems to be a relief in some way, because they never actually gave me alot of encouragement. The more i visited this forum, the more despondent i got. Quite a few students agreed with my sentiments. So for me it draws a line under that part off my studying, and hopefully I'll be able to achieve what i set out to do, either by obtaining my own study materials or through another training provider.
I, myself are paying a direct debit to Hitachi Capital. It would be useful to know how many other students are with the same credit supplier.

 

Dont get me wrong Jonny, I wont stop the repayments as Im not short of a few Pennies so that wont be a problem at all I was just trying to understand where I stand. but I will be contacting Barclays first thing tomorrow.

 

I must say that was my experience too, Generalgaz, very little useful support and only one phone call ever from a mentor, mostly very 'state the obvious' suggestions after I failed the mock. I've plodded on as I realised what I was weak on but the only help I was offered was the suggestion to email my multiple choice answers to the quiz at the end of each chapter and they would mark it. They did, but I could have done that myself as I have the answers book! Also, I was told if I wasn't sure of an answer to look it up...what's the point of that? I couldn't do that in an exam so it wouldn't give me any realistic guide as to how I was doing.
I'd prefer to just have the money back now and look at some local college courses maybe.

 

Hitachi Capital are basically a similar set up to Barclays Partner Finance (formerly Clydesdale).
I suspect that you are in the same boat as most others here, which isn't a bad thing.

When I think back, I paid my first TP by cheque in full and in advance.
At the time, it seemed like the easiest thing to do, but my, have I learned a thing or two since...