bright sparks welding

[herworld]

Hi

My son really wanted to be a welder and this company seem to exploit people who want to develop. They were not honest with him about the costs involved and he struggled to pay. I assume this is why he was told he wasn't enrolled on the course anymore last month. He is 28 but is dyslexic and doesn't always comprehend what he reads especially if he is stressed therefore I don't know how much correspondence he had with them. Today they have taken 165 out of his bank. He has spoken to them on the phone and they won't resolve things. I am worried this is going to continue or get worse. He is on a zero hours contract hence wanting to better himself so he has no money and works so it is hard to complain or know who to complain too.

Any help or ideas?
Thanks

[nemesis45]

Re: bright sparks welding

Hi welcome to LB,

This seems to be a one man band little detail known.

What was this £165 for part of payment for a course?
If this transaction was not authorised by your son perhaps he should contact his bank as a matter of urgency and require an urgent payment reversal, given your sons dyslexia and his obvious vulnerability the bank should do this.

Was this a charge via his debit card or a DD or standing order.
It may be that making contact with Trading Standard might help they could have had other reports.

I expect others may be able to assist.

nem

[Amethyst]

Re: bright sparks welding

Nem, Bright Sparks Welding is part of Marlborough Information Services ( also trading as train2game, trades gateway, so on and so forth )

It will be a finance agreement - possibly for £4k to £7k ? £165 a month over 2 years ? with someone like Career Finance 4 Trade Skills / Carnegie / Barclays Partner Finance.


Do you know how long ago he signed up with Bright Sparks ?

And how much of the course he managed to do ? any of the practical elements at all ?

Did he understand he was signing up for a loan ?

[herworld]

Re: bright sparks welding

Hi Thank you both for answering
Yes I gathered they were part of Trade Gateway - I don't know if he knew but he said he thought he had to pay £4 a month. He is too emotional to get any sense out of at the moment. He did contact the bank but there is nothing they can do. I assume it was a standing order. He signed up last year September. I am not sure how much of the course he did but I think there were problems with accessing some of it. Thanks
Trading standards is a good idea too!
Once he is calmer I can get some more info out of him.

[Amethyst]

Re: bright sparks welding

Bloody hell, the poor thing. If it was a standing order he can cancel it. Priority is to make sure he doesn't have money going out that he cannot afford. Then sort out the stuff with BrightSparks and the finance company. He'll have been paying that £165 a month for the last year too so you might want to ask him if you can have a look at his bank statements just to check how much and how often he has paid them. Also ask him what reason they have given him for stopping him doing the course.... and if he has any documents still from when the Sales Rep visited - should be a course contract and a finance agreement. And any letters he's had - emails etc.

Once you have cancelled the Standing Order / DD ( or continuous card payment authority) we should write a letter to Bright Sparks spelling out the situation and list all the problems he has had and also write to the finance company.

Don't hold your breath with Trading Standards, but it does help to make a complaint to them via the Consumer Helpline as it then gets added to a list ( and if enough complaints are made they might look into it). Also Consumer Helpline will be able to advise on letters etc and action to take.

[herworld]

Re: bright sparks welding

Apparently he didn't realize how much it was until they sent a letter - he says he then (december) tried to cancel and has phoned them several times to get this done. It hasn't. He went to the bank as he phoned them in December to cancel the standing order and there is no proof so they won't get the money back. Bright sparks are saying the money has gone to the finance company so they can't give it back.

[Amethyst]

Re: bright sparks welding

The sales rep sells the course, and alongside that sells a credit agreement. It's described as 'funding' and that the 'funding' will cost about £40 a week. The credit agreement is with a third party company ( although closely linked with Marlborough)

That company sends the money to Bright Sparks, who then provide the course.

If the course is cancelled or stopped or anything, the finance agreement still stands, unless Bright Sparks agree to refund the course fees.

[herworld]

Re: bright sparks welding

Amethyst you are a star! Thank you. He is still really upset and feels the world is against him but once he calms a bit I will try to take change. Thank you and yes I agree - it needs to be stopped at the bank.

[EXC]

Re: bright sparks welding

Apparently he didn't realize how much it was until they sent a letter - he says he then (december) tried to cancel and has phoned them several times to get this done. It hasn't.

Has he at any point told them that he is dyslexic and if so have they acknowledged it?

Presumably his doctor could confirm it?

[herworld]

Re: bright sparks welding

Hi Exc
Thanks for you question. He has a Education Psychologists report from an assessment whilst at college, 10 years ago and not sure if he told them about it but he usually does as it does hinder him a bit.

[EXC]

Re: bright sparks welding

Thank you and yes I agree - it needs to be stopped at the bank.

I'm not sure that's what Amethyst is saying. Just stopping the payments may make the situation worse. You'd need to try and get Bright Sparks to refund the course, maybe on the basis that due to his condition your son didn't make an informed decision to take out the loan.

[Amethyst]

Re: bright sparks welding

The first meeting is about 2 hours long.

They come back for a second meeting to sign the finance and agreements.

They don't leave you anything to read between meetings.

They say the following ( currently - they seem to have improved lately by all accounts)

"Generally 10-15% of what you can earn in the industry."

"We get funders that fund your course upfront and you then pay it back on a weekly / monthly basis."

"There's no interest and no charges."

"You're looking about £40 a week "( then compares that to a bottle of whisky or a takeaway ) over 3 years.

"We've got a number of funders that will fund you. They get tax breaks from the Government."

Lots of stuff about making sure you're the right person and they wouldn't put just anyone on the course, their job is to make sure you want to do the course and will finish it.

"Different funders, so if your credit record is clean you'll have 8 funders saying we'll do it, as your credit rating goes down it narrows..."

"They're industry funders"

( you get the idea anyway - and they are finance companies, not industry funders)

[Sparkie1723]

Re: bright sparks welding

If These cowboys were aware of your sons disability then it could be argued that they took advantage of this disability ................specialist assessment should have been made and extra specialist training should have been in place and given to offset his disability...................Just Sparkies view .............then again everyone knows I talk rubbish.

Sparkie

[Amethyst]

Re: bright sparks welding

No I am saying stop the payments (sorry). On a low income £165 a month going out is a LOT - the priority is to ensure he has enough day to day to live on. This credit is not a priority. He can then make the complaint and negotiate a lower monthly payment with the finance company if he can't get a refund. If he checks his credit file he'll probably find it's not on there. It may be reported to the credit reference agencies if he defaults though but by that point he'll have made his complaint and sorted out something else with the finance company. First job is to draw a line in the sand IMO.

(I wouldn't say stop the payments and ignore it btw as yes that could cause problems, but stopping to get things sorted - otherwise there is simply no impetus for them to bother)

[nemesis45]

Re: bright sparks welding

Nem, Bright Sparks Welding is part of Marlborough Information Services ( also trading as train2game, trades gateway, so on and so forth )

It will be a finance agreement - possibly for £4k to £7k ? £165 a month over 2 years ? with someone like Career Finance 4 Trade Skills / Carnegie / Barclays Partner Finance.


Do you know how long ago he signed up with Bright Sparks ?

And how much of the course he managed to do ? any of the practical elements at all ?

Did he understand he was signing up for a loan ?

Thank You [MENTION=6]Amethyst[/MENTION] I will leave this to you.

nem