Student Support Centre

lcsheppard

i have had a uphill struggle with them for three years now and still fighting to get my money back. i am a one parent family and cant afford to take them to a small claims court. heres my story

i was made to feel guilty about my daughters education and purchased these in jan 2011 on deirect debit. from feb that year to june this year i have been trying to cancel these. once the headmaster from the school got involved and threatened to pull there advertising with the school, the company decided it was ok to cancel the dirct debit.

when i informed them that my daughter had been diagnosed frontal temporal dysfunction they did not have much to say.

i have tried all aspects of complaining including throwing legislations to them, however to no avail.

i have no been told that i need to start legal action in a small claims court

any advice

Archie13

I used to work for this company as a course advisor (sales rep) and I would recommend you to avoid them.

It is a few years ago now that I was with them but at that time the materials were very poor and there were huge gaps in the curriculum. And for what you got the price was outrageous. When I used to deliver the materials I would turn up and knock on the door with a big box but when I opened it up there was so little inside. It was embarrassing!

Since then they have revamped and improved the materials but it remains poor value for money in my opinion.

They use a clever sales technique which is quite hard sell but is done in such a way that it doesn't feel as if you are being given a hard sell. They tell you that it is £20 per month or whatever and compare it to the cost of using a private tutor which would probably cost £20 per week, but what they are actually signing you up to is a personal loan through a separate loan company, and this is payable over 3 years. So once you have received the materials your contract is with the loan company and the money needs repaying.

There is no doubt that if used correctly and consistently it can provide good support for children's education. However we all know how difficult it is to keep up with things. I'm sure we've all decided to learn a language or musical instrument or something like that and begun with the best intentions but then let it slip. Unless you are very self disciplined this is a very expensive commitment. A tutor may cost more but at least it's on a pay as you go basis and you can stop at any time.

I quit the company because I felt really guilty selling something that a lot of people couldn't really afford, yet they desperately wanted to help their children and were prepared to make sacrifices to buy it. But what I was selling them wasn't really all that good and I knew full well that most of them would either complete all the materials in just a few months because there were so few of them, or just wouldn't keep up the momentum to see it through.

The bread and butter for this company is the poorer areas, the council estates, where the schools don't get such good results and the kids struggle the most, yet the parents can least afford it. They go and give a hard sell to the headteacher and convince them that they are doing the best thing for their kids and offer them a donation to school funds if they give out the leaflets.

Nowadays there are a lot of alternative options. I don't know much about the English side of things, but most secondary schools subscribe to Mymaths which is an excellent website. You can go through online lessons and then do practice exercises which are marked instantly. If your school subscribes it won't cost you a penny. There's also a very good online company called IXL who charge a very modest fee. I'm sure there will be plenty of others if you look around. Alternatively use a private tutor, but at least you're not committing yourself for 3 years.

podgy

He says on one hand that he feels their service "..may be of interest to you and of benefit to your children" then goes on to add (in bold!) "...neither the school nor I actively endorse the service" - which is it?

We are prone to lose objectivity over our kids' education but I strongly believe this type of pressure on parents, taken with the letter from the Headmaster, is just plain wrong.

I've looked at what others have said, including the Telegraph who would normally support private sector investment in the state sector - but its not for me. I feel for the parents who blindly sign up for this having thought the Headmaster supports it, to find it is a DVD home learning system which they will have to supervise and, given the means of financing, they wont be able to pull out of it if it is either unsuitable for their kids or not up to scratch:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/personalfinance/money-saving-tips/9018047/The-2700-tuition-hard-sell.html

Emma_Woods_ITV_News

Hello I'm a journalist working for ITV Central News and I am looking into some of the ways these tutoring schemes are marketed ie through a headed letter via schools. I would be interested in speaking to anyone based in the Midlands who feels they have been pressured into buying into one of these schemes. Please post me a message or email me at emma.woods@itv.com.

I have the permission of Money Saving Expert to post this message.

Former_MSE_Andrea

Hi folks

Emma has spoken to us before posting

jimbo13

Emma_Woods_ITV_News wrote: »

I would be interested in speaking to anyone based in the Midlands who feels they have been pressured into buying into one of these schemes. Please post me a message or email me at emma.woods@itv.com.

Here's a thought.

Why don't you phone the company and make an enquiry about 'your children' and let us know how much intense pressure you were put under to make an appointment, be in, buy the product, use finance, take delivery and not cancel within 14 days as required by law.

The answer is probably none whatsoever.

Being a top notch journo you have done the obvious haven't you?

sm13

I am in London and I have been let down by 'The student Support Centre Ltd'arrrggggghhhhh

sm13

I am in London and I have been let down by 'The student Support Centre Ltd'arrrggggghhhhh[

They refuse to talk to me and fail to acknowledge the course was cancelled.

Please help and advise how I can stop this company from taking my money.....: anyone got any advice

sm13

re-
Hello I'm a journalist working for ITV Central News and I am looking into some of the ways these tutoring schemes are marketed ie through a headed letter via schools. I would be interested in speaking to anyone based in the Midlands who feels they have been pressured into buying into one of these schemes. Please post me a message or email me at emma.woods@itv.com.

I have the permission of Money Saving Expert to post this message.

I have contact' 'Emma Woods' and have heard nothing from her..........
Is this a Scam as I seriously need help regarding this company, who are exploiting innocent people.............

Please kindly advise me....
Kind regards

S Morar

M 07977441167

sm13

i wish i had read this earlier..
They are absolutely outrageous and you cannot even get a response from them when you call them..........
told them we cancelled this and they continue to take money out of our account and now are sending threatening letters and threatening with debt collectors collectors............ help me if you have any advise or any little bit of information that may help.....
arrrggggh