A few years ago I signed up to do an online course with Skillstrain. It sounded very promising at the time as I was looking to further my studies and this had a very clear and defined route to how I was getting it. I wanted to go for Microsoft’s MCSE as that is a much sought after qualification. After looking around for various companies who offered such training, I found Skillstrain. They seemed very helpful and within a week of me enquiring about the course I had two representatives come round and chat to me. Being young and naive, what they were offering was really exciting and I could really feel that I could take this new career somewhere so I was itching to get on board.

They talked me out of doing the MCSA/MCSE route which is what I wanted claiming that not every prospective company uses Microsoft and that I should do the Cisco CCNA course. Having no previous IT experience I didn’t think anything of it so I just went along with their advice as I had nothing to go by. I signed up to the CompTIA A+, N+ and then CCNA. For me my new career was shaping up nicely and I couldn’t wait to get on with it.

It took about a month before all my study guides and materials came through, a briefcase and a study book for the first part of the course. Being eager to press on with the course I raced through the first module after dedicating so much of my free time to study. Being an online course you need to log in online to submit right? Exactly. Problem was that Skillstrain didn’t actually send me any information of how to do that. All I had was a link to a web portal where you register. Fine this must be the way to do it I thought. So I registered. But this just sends you in an infinte loop of chaos and I didn’t see any form of registration completion. So I tried to ring up on their number, which just rang and rang and eventually no answer. I did however manage to retain the rep’s number so I phoned him to ask what was going on. He informed me that they would sent me confirmation and login details in due course. A whole THREE weeks later I got my login got to properly register with the online “classroom”. You had to send an introduction to announce your presence and a personal tutor would be assigned to you. A further 3 months later and 3 assessments later, I still hadn’t heard from a tutor. I actually got stuck on one of the modules and because I didn’t actually have any support of which I was paying for, I had to resort to using the generic tutor@skillstrain.com email address. This obviously is only part of their process to receive assessments because I never got a reply, despite me sending numerous emails.

After about a year of null replies, and trying to find time while getting a new job, I had to resort to phoning up for help, but again, I never got a phone number which I could call anyone for help if I got stuck. Again after numerous emails from their website of which I quoted my name and student number, I got no reply. I soldiered on unsupported and submitted the assessment. Now the way the assessments work is that every time you complete one, they send you the activation code so that you can submit the next one. But the problem was I was never sent results and never sent the activation code for the fourth assessment. I physically could not continue the course. So I emailed and phoned up for help but every time the emails must have been ignored and the phone was never answered.

After several more months of no correspondance whatsoever I decided to cancel the direct debit as since I wasn’t receiving any kind of service for over a year. Now this is where Skillstrain/Scheidegger or whatever the hell they’re called sting you. You’re actually signed up with a finance company so that they actually get the full fee up front and it’s the finance company who you pay back each month through direct debit. Clearly once they’ve taken the whole wedge for the course, they don’t actually give a shit anymore. This is was totally the case here. After cancelling the direct debit, my login for Skillstrain had ceased to work, this then I thought was the case resolved, they had read my email regarding my intention to quit and terminated my service, and since the first time the representative came to my house and said that if I didn’t finish the course, I was entitled to a full refund. They could not have told a bigger lie if they tried.

I don’t know what is more frustrating, not getting a service you have paid for or the sheer ambivalence showed to me by Skillstrain but one thing is certain, I have paid the best part of £3,000 for help and essentially, just received a briefcase. I tried complaining through the finance company, Barclays Partner Finance, about my situation but every single time I tried to explain my situation and how I didn’t feel I should be paying for a course which was providing me with absolutely zilch, I was told to carry on the course. Again, like the sheer lack of service, Barclays Partner Finance must have been in league with Skillstrain as they just reiterated that I should carry on the course…yes a course I could not physically continue anyways.

I wrote a letter to Skillstrain telling them of my complete dissatisfaction with their service and how I wanted a refund. I even quoted their representative when he told me that “if I did not finish the course, I could get a full refund”. This was one of the main caveats of me signing up with them and they completely went back on themselves by telling me that this was not the case. The letter did also state that while they cannot refund me the money, they can send me the course material as I had paid for it. This was in September. I am still waiting.

Signing up with Skillstrain is quite possibly the biggest financial mistake I have ever made as I am now £3,000 out of pocket because of their well orchestrated scam. I have no idea how I could possibly claim it back legally as the paperwork which I do have I don’t have any kind of contract or legal obligation from them. So I’m fucked. The only obligation I got was from Barclays Partner Finance, Skillstrain’s cohort and their very cunning way of cheating me out of my money. Both companies in my eyes have nothing but comtempt from me for their clandestine tactics. Reading back the only thing which is legally binding is that I agreed to pay £3,000 to them, nothing about their terms of service. I’ve tried going to the Citizens Advice Bureau but they can’t see anything whereby I actually have any rights.

The last time I looked taking someone’s money was theft, but the law’s on their side it seems. And I know there is nothing I can do.

I have seen so many sites complain about their experience with Skillstrain and I noticed that these sites get shut down quickly claiming that it’s just defamatory and lies, well this is my account and I can safely affirm that all the above is true and exactly happened and I can back all of this up with paperwork and proof of the way they have cheated me out of money.