Computeach-Help

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I left school without going back for my exam results and work in a local factory(16 years).I had no previous experience with computers.After the ‘selection executive’ came to my home and filled me in with what I now know was lies I went for the CIW Masters Web Designer course.
I first ‘enroled’ with Computeach in July 2003 after paying £200 deposit and then 12 monthly repayments of £56.30.What with interest the total after 12 months was £875.60 with an outstanding bill of £3160 making a grand total of £4035.60.
By June of 2004 I had finished stage 3 and was waiting for a date for the first In-Centre attendance.At this time my son came to live with me making it difficult to continue studying.
In early August 2004 I received my invitation for the In-Centre attendance,but the September date they gave me meant I was working.I asked them for a date when my annual summer holidays were(late August) but they could not accommodate me.I then decided,what with my son living with me that it would be best to take a year out.
On July 18th I received a letter from computeach stating that the deadline for completion of my studies was January 2006,and to continue my studies after that time I would be required to pay quarterly fees of 5% of the current course cost.Course cost £3950,5% of £3950 is £197.50x4=£790 per year to continue a course that I will end up paying £4035.60 anyway!
Receieved another letter from CDL saying payment of £71.60 is due starting September 9th lasting 5 years.
All I have received is 6 folders,a few books and a few cd roms!A few hundred quids worth if that!
This is on the Computeach web site -‘Price is determined by your career aspirations, existing level of experience and knowledge. We use a careful selection process to ensure that you choose the programme that will best help you to achieve your career goals.’
Why was I allowed to do such an expensive course?
Am I screwed?
Should this be allowed?
Has anyone had a refund?
I’ll be devastated if I lose this money
Gutted thinking about it.

 

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Ouch!

Although it pains me to say this, but as other members here have had simillar experiences I have to say that your screwed.

Unfortunately a lot of these so called 'training providers' simply provide you with a few CD's and books and expect you to get on with it your self, but charge you the earth to do it.

 

Have you read the small print of your contract or agreement with the company ? There may be some clause or other that might work in your favour. Also, consider a trip to your nearest Citizens Advice Bureau.

 

I am really sorry to hear about your troubles. I had similar problems with Computeach. The course was so expensive that I had to take on extra work in the evenings to meet the payments - pushing out my study plans and leading me to ask for extensions, temporary breaks etc. Like you I was told that I would have to pay retainers to allow me to keep studying. In the end I just dropped it completely. Fortunately I was able to enrol on a full time course at a local college where I was able to actually make use of some of the stuff that I had learned through Computeach, so it wasn't a complete loss.
It is worth checking the small print and badgering them, but I don't hold out much hope I'm afraid.

 

Hi cannae007,

While I a have a lot of sympathy for your position (I'm paying NITLC £4000+ and I too would be gutted if nothing came of it), the strange thing that strikes me is your question "Why was I allowed to do such an expensive course?". You did know how much it was before you signed on the dotted line right? This applies to DaveB as well. I couldn't get a CDL so I thought long and hard about whether I could afford such a commitment or not. Computeach are, after all, a business, so they're going to try to get as much money out of you as possible.

The fee for continuing your course after the year out presumably goes towards tutor support and the like. Again, they're not a charity, so if you want to make use of their services for longer than originally agreed, why shouldn't they charge you for it? If you go to university and repeat a year you still have to pay an extra years worth of tuition fees.

I would say your chances of getting a refund are less than nil. You might have a chance if you don't complete your course because of death/injury/illness/bereavment, but your situation boils down to the fact that you have no time because of other commitments.

Sorry to sound so negative but personally, I'd bite the bullet and pay for the extension as it's better to come out having paid more for something than to have paid something for nothing.

Good luck.

 

I signed up to a COBOL course with Computeach fully aware of the price and willing to work hard. I made a big commitment to both take on extra work to pay for it and do the studying in the evening. What happened to change this was my circumstances at work. I worked in catering at the time and was unable to continue working only the day shift. This threw out my extra evening work leading me to seek to take a break from the Computeach course. Like Cannae007 I wasn't wanting to make extra use of their resources or wanting extra help in any way. All I wanted to do was postpone the next stage of the course ( a distance learning course remember) for a year. This still doesn't seem like an unreasonable request. What shocked me was the amount of money they wanted as a retainer. I can't remember the exact figure but I was flabbergasted at the time.
When I see adverts for Computeach and other businesses that provide training to provide a way into IT for technical illiterates like I was I am sickened. The City and Guilds in COBOL that I studied for is one thing, but courses like MCAD and MCSD are not intended for people who have no development experience. It seems to me that they offer unrealistic promises to people who are seeking to better themselves.
Private education providers should be handled with care.

 

Admin Edit(J): Repeat content - removed

 

so computeach didn't ask you for any retainers or extra tuition fees or anything else on top donnylad?

even when it took you 2 years?

i cant really imagine they didn't as you must've went over you're "time barrier" for the 2 courses. i was told i could do a+,n+, security+ and all the exams up to mcse
as well as all the in-house study time, career dev. time etc.... in one year?

 

It's been my experience with training companies, and almost every company that I've ever done business with in the past few years, that most don't give a rip about their customers. They have one thing in mind, and that one thing is money.

Any training company that will knowingly take a complete newbie to IT, and promise the things I've seen promised on these forums, ought to prosecuted for fraud. Telling a complete newbie that they could work through "a+,n+, security+ and all the exams up to mcse" is a flat out lie. They know without a doubt that only a very small percentage of the population of any country is capable of learning that much that fast. For someone to actually learn that much information with the tools and materials supplied by the trainers a person would have to be midrange in the 98th percentile or above on the Bell curve for IQ. It's nothing less than fraud to advertise it as possible to the general public. I'm just under the 98th percentile and I know if I was brand new to all things IT related there is no way I could have a working knowledge of everything that was promised to moominboy in a years time unless I did nothing but study 8 to 10 hours a day, 7 days a week. Just how many people can afford to do that? Plus, that is not how these companies advertise their training regimens.

The same thing goes for any training devoted to programming as it is far more difficult to learn for the vast majority of the public at large. And to do programming correctly so that memory is managed efficiently and coding is done in a secure fashion is far more time consuming than just learning how to knock a simple program together, which is all that most of these training programs are designed to do. The real world requires programs to run efficiently and securely, and that isn't even begun to taken into account by these training providers.

I consider these training programs advertising and sales tactics to be fraudulent.

 

As do we all, Freddy - Member has been banned and all repeat content will be treated as spam and removed. We have clear guidelines in place for representatives of training providers - in fact we would actively encourage them, but such flagrant abuse of our Boards and Community will not be tolerated.

 

The problem with this is that what has been asked for was not a continuation for a year, but basically a discontinuation of services for a year to accomodate a change of personal circumstances.

If you were going to Oxford would they charge you fees if you dropped out of school for a couple of semesters? I very much doubt it. In effect that's what these companies are doing to the people they are "training".

 

Way to go, Gav.

 

Oh training provider, or not training provider.
I guess they have their uses.
The important thing is - do they get you to where you want to be? If they do, then sure, you pay for it.
What I don't understand is training providers who put obstacles in your way, then start charging you for the delay!
That's not providing training, that's accountancy...

 

hi Cannae

I'm probably going to annoy you with this post but here goes...

first off, I sympathise with your plight. It's a lot of money but....

Whilst computeach undoubtedly have a legal obligation not to break any laws and arguably a moral obligation to act ethically, ethics and legality are two seperate issues.

As a consumer, you have an obligation to yourself as an adult to beware. Caveat emptor as they say...

You are looking to break into IT as a career I assume. This is a life changing decision requiring much thought and planning and soul searching etc.

How much time and energy did you put into researching this choice?

Did you get quotes from competing firms ? Did you look online first, look in the papers, talk to people ?

Or was it an impulse buy ?

It seems you paid for something that, with hindsight, you are unable to utilise fully. Not compuserves fault.

That said, I do firmly believe that companies of this nature work on the assumption (quite successfully) that a lot of folks will do just what you did, and then, drop out eventually, meaning the company gets money for nothing. Students drop out when they underestimate the financial burden, workload or their level of interest in the subject usually.

I generally say that if you are brand new to IT go on some college night classes first to get up to speed, research online, and then approach training companies - and don't use distance learning for a hands on subject like IT

just my 2 cents...

 

Always check out any companies cancellation period, you want at least 14 days. in that 14 days phone for support at various times of the day to check support is good. Go onto there chat rooms and ask opinions. (answers may be removed)
Check out there recruitment dept. If not happy cancel.
If they wont give 14 days cancellation period, look elsewhere, as some training providers dont sent out materail for approx 7 days. Hope this helps