I Feel I have been conned into online training with 'New Horizons' computer training.

JimmyLove

Hi all,

Let me start the thread by stating some of the basics. Five or six years ago I saw and advert in the paper for a job in I.T with online training provided by 'New Horizons' and a Guaranteed job upon completion of the course. Great I though right up my street as I was in a dead end job in an office and fancied I.T as a career move but couldn't afford to just quit my job so learning at home sounded good (everyone was telling me the industry was crying out for I.T professionals) and with a guaranteed job at the end how could I possibly lose?
I rang the number of the advert and got an interview with what I thought was an I.T professional (salesman) . I treated our meeting like an interview and tried to impress him on my ambitions in I.T and where I would like it to take me but also make him aware that I had a limited knowledge in I.T and would like to start at the bottom and work my way up. He explained the cost of the course and how it would 'PAY FOR ITSELF' as there is a job at the end of the course just waiting for me.
I was sold to the tune of £4000 for the course and even recommended them to friends (who are no longer friends!) The sales pitch from the 'I.T professional' had really impressed me and as he said he would have to go away and discuss my application with his colleagues, I was genuinely still under the impression it had still been an interview!

After this meeting I got a phone call saying I had passed the interview stage and we got together again to put the financial package together.
He arranged a loan with Barclay's for around £4000 for the course (thinking back that is an incredible amount!).

I started the course and plodded on with it and all was going well until I got to a part I did not understand. "I know Ill email my dedicated online tutor with my question". No response!" Ill give them a call". No answer!
"I'll call them again". No answer! This went on for weeks and I was continually being told my tutor was on holiday and he'll call you when he gets back. Eventually I went in to the training center and spent a few hours in one of their class rooms explaining my troubles to a tutor (not my dedicated tutor) who was a genuinely nice guy and new what he was talking about but couldn't teach for toffee!

After three years of trying my hardest I got nowhere with the training as the tutors where useless.In truth I felt that the tutors had put me onto a course I had no chance of passing and I didn't have the prerequisite knowledge needed to be able to complete the course. All I got from the course was a £4000 bill! (and natuarally they didnt have to give me a job).

Sell the course with the promise of a job at the end.
Make sure the student is on a course thats above their knowledge base.
Collect £4000 from student knowing full well they don't have to offer a job!


Sorry for ranting on about this but I wanted to paint the picture of how I feel I have been duped.

My question to all you experts out there are the following;

Has anyone else had problems with New Horizons?
As I feel I have been ripped off, where can I take my complaint to?
If I borrowed money from Barclay's to pay for the loan can I claim through them to get my money back?
If anyone can point me in the right direction on how to make a claim against this devious company please please contact me as it has left me in a state of depression at times about how much money I have lost.

Thanks for reading guys.

Buzby

If Barclays only provided the funding, then I doubt they can be held liable for any failure of the firm to provide lessons. If you used a credit card, Section 75 would have made them jointly liable, and you would have a great chance in extending responsibility for any shortfall.

If all the loan did was provide the school with cash, the arrangement is between you and the bank alone. However, stranger things have been known to happen. What does your paperwork actually state? This will be key to any successful pursuit.

JimmyLove

In truth I'm finding it hard to find much of the paperwork from New Horizons as I may have lost my temper with them and tried to ignore the fact it all happened by throwing it all out! But I'm sure if I contacted Barclay's they might be able to provide me with further information about the loan.
I'll phone them tomorrow.
Thanks.

Mara69

So you signed up for a course, took finance to pay for it, discovered you are unable to complete the course due to a lack of ability and now want all your money back as the course was 'mis sold'

Good luck with that.

Elbee

JimmyLove wrote: »

In truth I'm finding it hard to find much of the paperwork from New Horizons as I may have lost my temper with them and tried to ignore the fact it all happened by throwing it all out! But I'm sure if I contacted Barclay's they might be able to provide me with further information about the loan.
I'll phone them tomorrow.
Thanks.

It's not S75 you need to look at, it's S56 of the Consumer Credit Act. It's a section regarding connected liability between the provider of the finance and the person who sold you the course. They are linked together so you may be able to argue that Barclays are responsible for representations made to you by New Horizons. if you had found the course and then gone to the bank independently, that would be different. There would be no link, but New Horizons introduced you to the source of finance so you can argue there is a link there. If you feel you want to take it further, then ask your local Trading Standards to explain how S56 works. It's a while since I did any credit law, but I don't think anything has changed in this respect, but it's worth checking.

pvt

Mara69 wrote: »

So you signed up for a course, took finance to pay for it, discovered you are unable to complete the course due to a lack of ability and now want all your money back as the course was 'mis sold'

Good luck with that.

The OP describes a situation where their questions and requests for help from tutors were ignored. To me that sounds more like a lack of ability of the provider than of the OP. Unless you feel courses are only suitable for people who can already competent in the subject being taught?

I would suggest any course offering a guaranteed job at the end of it was being mis-sold. How can anyone realistically offer that?

poppasmurf_bewdley

Two things spring to mind.

You say 'five or six years ago'. Was it five or was it six, or how long ago was it? If it's longer than six years, then I think you would be statute barred from bringing a claim.

Secondly, how long was the course suppose to take? If it was, say, two years, did it not occur to you that no company would keep a job open for that length of time on the assumption that you would pass the course and qualify?

Mara69

pvt wrote: »

The OP describes a situation where their questions and requests for help from tutors were ignored

Then the OP describes actually having a one to one with a tutor - who was apparently rubbish at teaching. I think the OP needs to take a long, hard look at himself. It's easy to blame others.

DCFC79

I dont think you were duped, maybe you had blinkers on. I was tempted with 1 of these courses at 1 point but decided not to proceed due to the cost of it and the fact there was no definite time I would get a job.

JimmyLove

I have just got off the phone to Barclay's who were incredibly helpful.
They have agreed to send me all the information about the loan.
I'm also going to chase them up to see if they have had any more complaints from New Horizons Customers.

forgotmyname

As you have now realised its a course and there was no job attached to it.

If you do complete the course and i imagine the actual completion rate is fairly low. They would probably have given you the paper and said apply for those.
Unless they had contacts. Probably unlikely. Unless data inputting is classed as IT.

I worked for a similar company many years ago. Handful of tutors and a group of staff to mark papers and enter the programming code to see if it worked. Most of these people couldnt program. Just had to enter what the student had written and see if it threw any faults or gave the desired output.

They are still going though.