Next Step Beauty Academy Complaints Thread

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  • ChrissyTurley
    ChrissyTurley Posts: 2 Newbie
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    Have you had much luck? I've been trying to get my money back for a month now!
  • Christinalazic
    Christinalazic Posts: 1 Newbie
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    I am in this situation right now, wish I read this before I booked a course with next step beauty!!

    The course did not run, they had phoned me a week before asking me to change the day of my booking but I was on holiday on that day, when I asked if the course was still going to run on the day I was booked in for they replied with 'I don't know'

    GREAT!!

    The course did not run! And now I have asked for a refund for the £234 I'd paid to them, they told me I was entitled to £50 of my money!!

    They have taken my money and not delivered the course to me (also taken the day of work for the course, and wasn't even told in advance the course wouldn't be running!) and now won't refund me my money!

    This is disgusting of Next Step Beauty and I will be taking this to trading standards, I won't be parting with £234 of my money for nothing!
  • Danielle-C82
    Danielle-C82 Posts: 1 Newbie
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    Ok so I am joining all of you that were ripped off by Next Step Beauty. I have just had yet another email through cancelling the nail technician course. I initially booked in May to do the course in June this year and this was cancelled. They wouldn't refund the money (only offered £99 out of the £474 I paid) as I had accessed the online content. I note that the same videos are available on YouTube along with the same lady teaching it!! and as for the content of the written bit, I didn't get as far as starting it before they had cancelled the course. I couldn't do the next couple of courses due to childcare and looking for a new job but booked onto the October one. I then got another email from them cancelling this course. I called to complain again and was offered a free pedicure course by way of apology and booked onto the November course and once again today I have an email cancelling the course along with the pedicure one. When I called to complain last time, they assured me that the July, August and September courses in Lincoln did go ahead. My question is, can anyone confirm this or were they lying? If so, I plan to take legal action because this has completely screwed me over. I planned to train for a new job after leaving my job of 15 years and have now had to accept a different job which is not at all what I wanted to do and probably a lot less money. It is a joke. Please could anyone in the Lincoln area confirm if they did attend any of the 3 sessions that apparently ran or let me know, if like all of the other courses, it was cancelled?


    Thanks in advance.
  • D18
    D18 Posts: 1 Newbie
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    Thank goodness for this thread.
    After having researched various courses over the last couple of months, we decided that this company would be the best one for the Nail Technician course my partner has been looking for.
    I tried to book online yesterday but the site didn't seem to work very well so I gave up and thought I'd give them a call today. In the meantime, I thought I'd check where the attended part of the course would be, a hotel in Southampton, ok I thought, thats fine, I'll just check which hotel. Turns out it was the Southampton Park Hotel which shut down in April this year and is due to be turned into a block of flats!! Then I did more digging and found this thread. Thank you to all of the contributors for saving us from losing our money.
  • pmduk
    pmduk Posts: 10,655 Forumite
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    edited 22 November 2015 at 2:38PM
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    D18 wrote: »
    I thought I'd check where the attended part of the course would be, a hotel in Southampton, ok I thought, thats fine, I'll just check which hotel. Turns out it was the Southampton Park Hotel which shut down in April this year and is due to be turned into a block of flats!! Then I did more digging and found this thread. Thank you to all of the contributors for saving us from losing our money.

    I'd be reporting this to Trading Standards.
  • Wizardina
    Wizardina Posts: 6 Forumite
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    I wish I'd seen this site before I booked with Next Step Beauty. They seem so unreliable. I'm not sure if it bothers them whether they hold courses or not because they refuse refunds. Does anyone know whether the April 2016 course (19-21 April) took place? The company moved my daughter's course twice so she was booked on the April course though I'd paid in February. She had to cancel the April course because the wait for a course was so long she found a job in the meantime, but the company refused any refund, even though the price of the course had gone down in April from what was paid in February. The reason given for refusing the refund was that they incurred costs of setting up the April course.
  • superms
    superms Posts: 2 Newbie
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    Unfortunately I have had exactly the same problem with this company. They failed to provide courses on several dates and in the end I went to another training provider and asked Next Step Beauty for a refund. I got nothing. I took them to court (via money claim online), won by default but still no money. I have issued a couple of warrants but bailiffs have been unable to get any money and recently I received notice that Totally Beauty Limited (the company behind NSB) has gone into liquidation/receivership. It is a blatant attempt to avoid debts as NSB still trades in exactly the same way it always has but now under Beauty Education Limited rather than Totally Beauty Limited. The lady at the receivers says that she has seen it before unfortunately (changing name to avoid paying debts). I am now going to try and get some money back through Section 75 as I paid by credit card unless anyone else can suggest any alternatives?
  • hollydays
    hollydays Posts: 19,812 Forumite
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    edited 31 August 2016 at 12:43AM
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    Featured in the daily express a few years ago
    http://www.express.co.uk/finance/crusader/355000/Sue-sees-ugly-side-of-beauty-training
  • hollydays
    hollydays Posts: 19,812 Forumite
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    edited 30 August 2016 at 9:13PM
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    Some quotes from The daily express" crusader" consumer rights article above a:

    "A MUM paid out hundreds of pounds on a nail and manicure course in a bid to improve her work chances but it did not come up to scratch. Instead of reaping the rewards and boosting her income after taking the £474 training, Sue Heinke is now saddled with a hefty debt and fighting to get a refund from the company Next Step Beauty after it cancelled part of the practical tuition.

    “It’s all the worse because my sister Fiona paid to help me out and now I can’t repay her, ” explained the mother-of-two from Nottinghamshire.

    Sue, 44, works in the travel trade but with the new skills she hoped to gain she planned to set up a mobile manicure business in the evenings and at weekends.

    The Next Step Beauty course offered a mix of online study underpinned by four days of skills training at a choice of centres around the country, leading to a professional qualification endorsed by reputable industry body the British Association of Beauty Therapy & Cosmetology (Babtac).

    Before deciding to sign up Sue sensibly checked the practical tuition dates and whether there was a training centre near her.

    She then booked a week off in September and was set to do the training in Derby.

    Next Step Beauty is the trading name of Totally Beauty Ltd based in Great Ellingham, Norfolk. Daniel Arpels is the founder of the business which claims to be a leading supplier of beauty courses."
    ..Course cancelled..

    "When Crusader asked him why Sue’s money had not been returned Mr Arpels spoke of the firm’s need to protect its

    information. He was unable to say how much, if any, sensitive data Sue had accessed as she had searched the site for details about the practical training.

    Mr Arpels insisted the practical element was essential but did not explain why Sue was only offered a £15 refund to cover that part of the course.

    When we called to ask him to reconsider we were told: “He has gone on holiday.”
  • hollydays
    hollydays Posts: 19,812 Forumite
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    edited 23 July 2017 at 8:03PM
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    The gentleman named above also has a company called
    Gandi Limited

    Gandi.digital
    A digital marketing company.
    They understand
    "By targeting specific key-phrases, we can make your website appear at the top of search engine results " ;) ( how true)

    Their , ahem , " impressive " client list includes
    " next step beauty " now ( beauty education limited registered office Brandon, Suffolk)

    Integrity?

    "Next Step Beauty are the UK's leading nail and beauty course provider with over 30 locations nationwide. Having been approached we created a website which is responsive working across all devices and allows students to book and pay for courses online.



    Quote from gandi digitals website impartial " client " recommendation ......:rotfl:
    (Now gandi.digital)


    "GANDi Created A Remarkable Website For My Beauty Business Which Has Helped Me To Grow To Over 30 Locations Across The UK"
    Victoria Arpels – Next Step Beauty"
★ ★ ★ Meet your Ambassadors

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