Training Course Provider Problems

bexs2247

I signed up with a company called Lifetime Training in January 2020 for a Personal Trainer Advanced Diploma. This included L2 and L3 personal training plus 5 other courses, total cost was £3299 of which £2882 was via a student loan and I paid the rest. When I signed up it was to do the practical aspect of the L2 and L3 face to face in a gym (a week per level), the closest venue to me was Cambridge and they were offering this over weekends too (I needed this as I work full time Monday to Friday) therefore I signed up on this basis.

Due to COVID things were delayed which I understood, however, when gyms reopened last year, I kept getting told Cambridge wasn’t available yet and I could go to another venue (which would cost me more) and it would have to be weekdays as there were no weekends or I could wait until Cambridge and weekends opened up, therefore I waited. Nothing became available, second lockdown came and the this years lockdown. They eventually did an online via Teams course for the practical aspects of the course which I felt I had no choice but to do this otherwise I wouldn’t have gotten anywhere, so I did these. I have had to book in to go to London for the L2 assessment so that’s the cost of the train and the cost to get the person I have to take as a client with me.

They then completely messed up my student loan and I was having to repay it when I hadn’t even completed the course. I have eventually got this sorted after putting in a formal complaint. As part of the conversations around this I found out they will no longer be running the course after 31st December which means I have to get everything in and done by then including the 5 additional courses. I cannot book L3 in until I have passed L2 and I can’t book the other courses in before I have completed L2/3 either. Cambridge gym won’t be opening so I will have to do my L3 remotely via Teams as I can’t afford for me and my client to go to London again.

The other 5 courses are also in London.I did know this part when I signed up but at the time there wasn’t a time frame on doing them so I had planned to spread them out where as I am now looking at having to cram them all into the space of 4/5 months and I can’t even plan these in with work etc as I can’t book them!

I feel I am not getting what I paid for, I don’t feel confident in anything and they don’t really seem interested in helping me be able to plan things. 

Whilst I appreciate COVID had some impact I don’t agree that it has this much impact. If they can no longer offer the full service I paid for (some theoretical learning was always meant to be online and I have done this part) I feel they have an obligation to do something. If I had wanted a fully online course I could have paid less for one. I’m just not sure what to do/where to go for further advice. I did outline all this in my complaint but they didn’t address any of this, just the student loan part (which took 2 months).

Sorry for the long post buy and advice or suggestions would be great 😊 

tacpot12

I think you should crack on to get L2 passed, and try to earn some more money so you can physically attend the L3 course in London. You will get more out of it if you can attend in person. How about selling some possessions on eBay/Facebook/Gumtree?