Is this a con? - Free "industry standard" IT training then a job

Madge09

You must write to cancel with PPI learning ASAP. The earlier you cancel the better chances you have. Also, complain to trading standards, financial ombudsman and Barclays Partner Finance.

Send letters via recorded delivery.

Good luck.

Job_seeker

Sounds like career management but under an IT disguise, there are a few firms that still get away with scamming people like Morton Conolly and Wright Associates and If I were you I would steer clear. They usually beat the confidence out of you and leave you believing your skills are worthless before telling you to pay a few grand and then they garantee results on the job front. BIG SCAM

misssunflower

Hi,
I just wanted to confirm that this company is dodgy. They rang me up and told me that I could undergo a 12 day IT course for free with some home based learning as long as a signed up to work with them or one of their employment schemes.
I thought it sounded odd as I have no background in IT so I googled it and found a forum which states everything that is wrong with it.
I rang them back to query all of this, which they did not like at all. In a nutshell they confirmed to me that I would have to sign a loan agreement with Barclays (about £4,000) and that if I failed the course I would have to pay for it in full. I asked about the chances of failing and they informed that the only people who failed were those that didn't work for it failed and got very defensive about the whole thing.
They also confirmed that after completing the course they look for a job for you for 90 days and during this time you are NOT allowed to look for your own employment.
I asked about what else I read, which is that if you only get a job which pays £15,000 or less you have to pay back 75% of the course cost and if you get a job between £15,000-£25,000 you have to pay 50% of the cost. If you managed to get a job over £25,000 you didn't have to pay at all.
They said that this wasn't true but I guess you would have to read a contract.
The more questions I asked the more they didn't want to talk to me, I was passed over from the orginal women to another man when I started asking questions about the qualifications. At the end all they would say to me was 'If you are not interested why are you ringing us?'.
I cancelled the appointment which they had arranged without my consent and told them never to contact me again.
I have also reported them to trading standards, because they mis represented the course to me when they rang me.
So just be very very wary if someone from this company rings you up, it is not what it seem or make sure you read the contract very carefully as there are many loopholes that they will not point out to you.

iceblue24

im one of the many unlucky people who have been caught up in this scam. I signed up for the course in December 08. They told me the course is very easy and is aimed at beginners. I was also told that with my qualifications, i would be working by February, so i'd be studying at the same time. The job never came and hence i failed to get through the exams. I now have Barclays breathing down my neck for over £8000 not to mention the 100 telephone calls a day i get off them demanding payment. Ive advised the FOS of the situation now that Barclays have refused to cancel the loan. Barclays claim that the course has been delivered in full which indeed it has not. According to Microsoft it takes roughly 4 years to complete the MCSE with at least 1 years work experience. Frazer McKenzie claimed it would be complete in just 6 months and thats also for the MCSA, ITIL and A+. Were not superhuman for goodness sake. The sales consultant was very pushy. Encouraging me saying the exams are very easy, its for beginners and job prospects are high. There was something dodgy about the signup process and i feel the application to Barclays was doctored in some way.

piggeh

I looked into one of these courses several years ago, went for the interview etc. Maybe not with the same compan, but the same principles applied. I made sure I read through what was offered, where it stated you would be liable for full costs plus interest if you didn't pass, orr have a job within 3 months or whatever. Avoid at all costs. It costs maybe a few thousand to do the same courses independently, and with a career development loan it isnt beyond the reach of most people. A comptia A+ course only costs about £120 and would put you on the first rung in IT support for example. Don't fall for these scams.

alenax

People like these "employers" really make me think that humanity is doomed. I've refused to apply for outbound call centre jobs before because I don't agree with calling someone and pushing some pointless product down their throat, let alone lying to people to completely screw them over just to make them money. This is disgusting and I hope people don't fall for it.