Access 2 Trade Careers Closing Down

[Dan]

I've heard through the grape vine that Access2 Trade Careers are closing down.

So please do try to get your money back if they have some of yours. And please do NOT book with them if you haven't done so already.

 

[rookeryu67]

I am also a student, thank you all for your advice and info, somehow has relieved me to know there may be some light at the end of the tunnel, the info from access2 is absolutely pathetic. I have dug out my loan paperwork, the Barclays Partner Finance customer service number is 0844 811 9000 My mother is a Union rep, and is seeking legal advice from that avenue for me. If I hear any more will post back here. A piece of advice that I keep getting is that you should contact your MP. Good luck people!

 

[Ossie]

My thoughts are do you think the Directors considering they have more than 10,000 students and a great Business wanted this shut down, they also had 200 employees and had spent years building it. Why don't you blame the banks for what they have done as it's them that have caused this mess and the recession - they have pulled the plug on the finance and murderd Businesses in this country just for their fat cat Bonuses - makes me sick..... You think the government would step in - think what this Business was doing for the work force of the country - they were improving the standards across the trade industry....... As I said I'm sorry for everyone stuck in this mess.

 

[WayneL]

I'm not blaming the directors for this - nor saying that they wanted it to happen.

What I am saying is that they must have known it was coming - yet they continued to sign up

un-suspecting people who just wanted to better themselves.

The exact same thing happened when Excel went bust - they were still booking flights and holidays the day before the announcement - it sucks.....and something should be done about it!!!!

 

[saveloy]

I'm not blaming the directors for this - nor saying that they wanted it to happen.

What I am saying is that they must have known it was coming - yet they continued to sign up

un-suspecting people who just wanted to better themselves.

The exact same thing happened when Excel went bust - they were still booking flights and holidays the day before the announcement - it sucks.....and something should be done about it!!!!

From a business perspective the directors only option would probably have been to try and trade their way out of the situation. Unfortunatley for those who have lost out, the worst course of action that the directors could have taken, would have been to announce solvency problems. This would have destroyed any possible chance, however slim, of recovery. I doubt that there was any deception intended, it's just business. Not fair at all on those who have lost money, but that "GREAT" Britain for you.

 

[Martin Gauci]

Spoke to Barclays this morning and have said that they are looking for a new training provider to carry on the course so those with a loan agreement dont panic. All payments and direct debits have been suspended until further notice where a letter will be sent out to those concerned. I asked what if I wasn't happy with the new provider and they said i'll have to call back to discuss when that happens. In the meantime there's not much more you can do until you hear from Barclays so i wouldn't bother trying to contact A2T because they wont answer. For those who have already paid outright i'm not sure what your position is in regards to trying to get any money back. I wouldn't be hopeful however I'm sure if there is a new provider they may honour the rest of the course for you to take as part of any agreement with Barclays, but dont quote me. The best and safest option would be for the courses to be converted over to a government scheme and allow Barclays to provide the funding for those that need it but it would mean taking a lot longer to complete. The pros would be that it would be trustworthy, closer to home and allow studying to be done at evening college which in my experience makes you more disciplined to study.
Hope this info has helped.

 

[colinhills]

also spoken to barclays this morning and have been told the same thing. but they also said that they will only provide one trainning group and that is what you must go with. have also been told to email customer relations at barclays partner finance.com and inform them as i have payed of my loan. they will be sending out letters next week to everyone that loans are with them.

add on connaught are offering the courses and have training centers all over the country. so take a look and see if a center is near you then ask barclays for then to continue there training. one center is in a 40 mins ddrive on west london so great for me. hope this helps. but up to barclays in the end.

 

[SparkMonkey]

Still don’t quite understand how its come to this. I didn’t pay on finance, was paying on instlaments on my card so don’t think ive got it as bad as some of you. Had only just started the course but so not too out of pocket hopefully. Nearly went with olci in Birmingham before I started with access so tempted to try agaion with them, liked the place when I had a look around. Not giving up that’s for sure!

 

[Shaggy]

I too received the same email on Wednesday, I only read it on Thursday and have been trying to contact someone all morning, I even spoke to the head office of Anglo Capital Limited, not that they was willing to say much, the person I spoke to claimed to have no knowledge of the situation, but said they would look into it and get back to me, so I don't have much hope.

I was hoping someone my have more luck than me contacting someone, if so can you please post any number or email address you have success on.

I paid the course in full out of my own pocket last summer when I started with redundancy money I received when been laid off from my last job so obviously like many others I am very unhappy, you would think they would at least have the decency to come up with some kind of response team to deal with the questions I'm sure all students of the centre must have right now.

For what its worth the training I received there was top notch I was just moving on to the final phase of the 4 stage course so at least got my 17th edition.

I was hoping also that someone may start a facebook group for ex-students to share information on any progress made in gaining information or refunds.

 

[KieranS]

Saw my email this morning. Pretty gutted but I had only been signed up for 3 months so not as bad as some on here. Is anyone else thinking of getting their money back and not letting Barclays find an alternative? If I remember correctly Acess2Trade was a lot more expensive than many courses. I think I may look for a cheaper one myself rather than still pay £6000 for an inferior course.

 

[Shaggy]

I just read a message on there website that states that Barclays customers will be offered to complete there training with other companies, and that anyone who paid direct before 14th Jan will be refunded.

What I want to know is where me and others like me stand

I paid in full last summer when I started the course, I never took out a bank loan or any type of finance agreement, the money was direct from my bank account. I'm guessing this puts me in the you got screwed category by the sound of things, everyone one else can contact the bank and there is a fund aside to continue the course.

I would love to know who I can contact and if there is a fund aside for me to complete my course, or just a single person I can contact who can explain where I stand even if it is to break the bad news to me that I have no grounds to claim my money back or even part of my money back or continue the course elsewhere.

the lack of communication and information for people in my situation is ****ing me off more than the financial loss occurred. Its sick that I have found out more from this forum topic than I have from Access2

 

[ceejay440]

Saw my email this morning. Pretty gutted but I had only been signed up for 3 months so not as bad as some on here. Is anyone else thinking of getting their money back and not letting Barclays find an alternative? If I remember correctly Acess2Trade was a lot more expensive than many courses. I think I may look for a cheaper one myself rather than still pay £6000 for an inferior course.

Only been signed up since 11th Jan '10 so not even made one payment yet. I have cancelled the direct debit following legal advice and written to Barclays informing of this and referring to S75 of the CCA which places them jointly liable. Sect 10.1.1 of the Access2T contract states the contract will be terminated if they go into liquidation (strange clause so maybe they were planning this) so if the contract is terminated I see no reason to keep paying. Obviously i am not out of pocket and not part way through training so not in the position where I would be looking for Barclays to assist with continuation training. Had a pleasant chat with Steve Baines from Newcareerskills who will offer similar training to access at a similar price but without the same finance deal. Thinking about it but will let the dust settle first. He aslo mentioned that the Skills Centre went bust last year so not sure how you pick one thats a guaranteed safe bet - I guess its the method of payment that needs careful selection to cater for situations such as this.

 

[rookeryu67]

It seems most likely that Access2 overreached themselves, gambling with our money. Their constant expansion on my visits there was reassuring to me considering the recession, now I feel like a complete fool. I agree the training was very good, and, yeah, the staff were great. It just the ******s up top who ruin everything in this country, yet I have a funny feeling they are sat on a beach laughing

 

[doddy]

i would like to know if i will get refunded as i paid in full this time last year. why does the access website say nothing about the access students it just only says about the advent students and why didnt they tell us earlier as they know before christmas.

 

[Hedgehog]

Hi there,

I am the 'Steve from New Career Skills' referred to by CeeJay in his post earlier.

We have been inundated by students from Access2 and are keen to help in any way we can, including recognising any previously completed training with them.

The important thing for any of you affected by this is to get advice (CAB/solicitor) and to make sure you are 'in the queue' if the receivers are able to pay out anything from the comapny assets.

Some students have been telling me that they have simply stopped their payments - if you do, make sure you also write to the loan company explaining why you have stopped (ie you are not receiving the services the agreement was made for) so that you don't get hit for any admin/non-payment charges...

If we can help in any way, feel free to contact me.

 

[rookeryu67]

Might I suggest it may be worth your company contacting Barclays Loan Partner Services Hedgehog, someone might as well get something out of this, why not you?!