Stonebridge College / Stonebridge Associated Colleges
Reviews and Complaints

I bought my course before 2018 from Stonebridge College and was informed that the course does not have an expiration date. I later tried to log in but I could not; I then contacted the college and I was informed that the course has expired in 2020. I did not receive any warning that the course was expiring, I asked about a refund and was told no due to me cancelling my course is past 14 days. I believe that is wrong, no communication about a course I paid for with my hard earned money without any refund or nothing. This is disgusting and fraudulent behaviour!

The customer service here is shameful and I wish I had read the reviews before signing up as I wouldn't have enrolled if I had known. Disrespectful and dismissive behavior showing no compassion or skill. Constantly pushing me off the phone to send emails to what felt like trolls who just repeated themselves with the information I can find on the website and have done already. I complained about my tutoring and was met with an opinionated agent who left me feeling nothing but anger for trying to ask for help.

The fact that I had no access to my account through the months of July and August and still was told to pay for a service I couldn't (not wouldn't) use was atrocious. if you had no access to your phone service for a month because of the provider, you would not think it fair to be told to pay, let alone be forced to pay a late fee.

After going through hours on hold across the months of July, August, and now September, I requested to cancel and was told it was case by case... based on my case I believe it right to let me go. I was advised to escalate as it was a no.

I never asked for a refund as I was aware of the fact that I had seen the documents, just to be let go but this wasn't acknowledged, and the 14-day cooling period was repeated non-stop to me. I was then advised I could change my course to another and then told that I had to continue paying for the old course which was ten times more than the course I am on at present but would still have to pay for the admin to transfer me over?

Why would I swap courses to something smaller with a different certification and price and still pay for the value of the previous one?

Who would pay for the service of a full spa day when they are only getting a pedicure?

Their T&C is vague and so they interpret it how they wish;

The first quote found on the LearnDirect website "...Please note, there may be a £40.00 administration charge for changing courses outside of your 14-day cancellation period..." Nothing about continuing to pay for the previous course here.

Second quote found in the Mandate attached "... If we agree to the course transfer, the total fees paid towards the discontinued course will be offset against the cost of the new

course. However, we will require that if the new course fee is greater than that of the discontinued course, the balance should be paid in full along with a standard £40 transfer fee..." Again nothing about paying for the previous course.

I read the T&C Mandate top to bottom and back again and found nothing about paying for my old course when moving, but forcing someone to stay with a ridiculous excuse for a service and then on top of that forcing them to continue to pay for an older, more expensive course made it clear that you were thieves and trying to scam me. For that, ALL potential students should be made aware of your tendencies and small non-existent print.

After giving a review on trustpilot they told me to contact them on a specific email to help resolve and the attached screenshot is what I got.

My ID is kyliejo958 and I am already not very happy with the response. I have to resubmit which is fine but I wanted to ask my tutor a if I could send a draft to make sure it was ok before resubmitting. My tutor said I could contact her directly and so does handbook, but I don’t have the option I seem to have to go through support. I have raised 2 emails now, 1 over 24 hours ago. I am worried I am going to miss the resubmission deadline. I am not sure this is an issue with the tutor not replying but more of an issue with emails. I just want a reply please. Thankyou

I signed up for a "sports coach" online with them on April 27th 2022. I found out I did not need to do it from my school and cancelled on the same day.

They told me that it would take a month to process before reimbursing my credit card.

After a month or so (after checking the credit card statements)I found that they did not refund the money.

I contacted them again several times, finally getting an email saying that it was being processed.

during this time I contacted my credit card company and reported "Stonebridge" for possible fraudulent activity and gave email evidence. (still waiting on the credit card company's answer).

It is now August 13th 2022. no money has been refunded to my credit card.

I have sent one more email to them today and I am still hoping we can resolve this.

If they are playing the 3 wise monkeys on me. I hope the card companies stops the ability for them to take payments from credit.

If it's just a mistake, WTF type of business are you running? And would lead me to think that your staff are unable to do their jobs. which makes me think if your office staff is this bad what are your course material and tutors like?

Signed up for a TA course in April 2022 and paid the £9.99 deposit. Quickly decided the same week that I wanted to do the course at the local college instead because the tutor there said that the online certificates for TAs weren't worth the paper they were printed on.

Rang Stonebridge and they said the course was canceled and I would be contacted for a refund. What a joke.

Started getting attempts to take £50+ out of my bank account numerous times a day, so I had to put a block on the company through my bank. I contact them through email who confirmed, again, that the course was canceled and I could just log into my student account and request a refund. Nope.

They have the account listed as overdue and have harassed me via text and email for the last 2 months. I'm getting threats of debit collection from LearnDirect who will not do anything about this and keep telling me to ring them as my account is in arrears.

I've reported this on Twitter and Citizens Advice. I put comments on all ads I see on social media as well to warn people to stay away from this "college" and go to a local educational institution that is reputable.

I have had more than one concern and issue with this college. Not only are the staff incompetent but they are also liars. I currently live in the Netherlands and before vacating here I made sure it was possible for me to complete this course out here successfully including the practical aspect of the course. I was assured all I would need is up to 20 hours work experience in any animal care setting including zoos, shelters and charities. This information was a complete lie and still now after numerous emails I have not been successful finding an appropriate place to do my placements. They expect students to find places that treat tortoises, ferrets and hamsters within your timeframe which is completely unachievable. None of the staff have taken responsibility for their actions and none of them have tried supporting me to try and find a solution so I can pass this course. I am now stuck on my 2 final units with no help and no support. The college is a disgrace.

I reluctantly signed up to a course in February after being hounded by my sister. Nail technician complete I believe, since then I’ve had nothing but issues. Part of the course material was missing and no one would help me. My emails were being ignored and any reply I got told me I needed to speak to the tutor, I’ve never once spoke to a tutor even though it claims you have full tutor support. I’ve since found exactly the same course on their website for £90! They claim it’s not the same course as you don’t get tutor support but I’ve not had any to start with. And how are you supposed to become a nail technician with no practical? And to cancel would mean I’d have to pay £150 even after I’ve already paid over £100? Absolute scam of a company.

Good afternoon,

Today 13/12/2021

Enrolled into a course to further my education and advised I may need to cancel due to finances, I have not started the course or submitted anything or even made 1st payment yet, I called today to cancel as advised I could 2 weeks ago to be told no I'm outside the 14 days.

I've been hung up on, told to get off the phone as others are waiting while I was asking for help! I've asked 2 times about canceling this course was advised by Michael at customer service to call back which I did I've explained I cannot afford this course on a number of calls as I have a lower income on a new job, I have requested to speak to a member of management and been denied, awful customer service! I will take this to the financial ombudsmen if I need to I need to cancel this course to avoid going into debt.

Please call me ASAP on [protected] to resolve this matter!

Regards
Jackie barnett

Let me share my story with you. As I am still involved in an ongoing situation with Stonebridge and they are a nightmare to deal with and are extremely good at ignoring any communication with them and will keep transferring your case from one team to another. It appears no one there wants to take any responsibility and thus will keep forwarding your emails from one team to another. So far, I have been in contact with numerous Stonebridge representatives and will not name their last names for data protection reason's, but they include Simon, Tegan, Mark, Julie, Kieran, Nathan, Ian, Sian, Jose, Natalie and Alexandra, Matthew.

My story begins a follows…. We all remember the official first lockdown back in March 2020. Working from home and consequently having lots of spare time on your hands, I therefore decided to engage in some online courses. After doing some research online, I came across Stonebridge college, despite the fact that they had numerous poor and even suspect reviews. I found a course that I really liked and rang the customer service team and asked them for a free trial lesson. They told me that they did not currently offer this option, however if I did not like a particular course, I could always cancel my subscription within 14 days as per their cancellation policy. The agent also informed me that they were doing a special online offer at the moment, and I only had to pay £9.50 for the deposit to sign up for the course I wanted.

I decided to purchase a subscription to the course I liked with my company credit card on the 29th of April 2020. On the 1st of May 2020, I received a sad news from my company, that the business would not be able to survive the Covid 19 pandemic and they were closing down the business and therefore I would be made redundant. I rang Stonebridge college customer service team on the 4th of May 2020, only 6 days after I purchased the course, to tell them that I had to cancel the course booked, as I would be leaving the UK and wanted to let them know as soon as possible. The agent told me on the phone, "yes it's all fine" and that I only had to send them an email so that they would have confirmation of the cancellation in writing. The email was sent to them on the 5th May, 2020 which was in line, in good time and in adherence to their own cancellation policy. I duly informed them about my situation that I was leaving the UK and wanted to notify them straight away. Then the stressful and unwarranted harassment began with Stonebridge college phoning and emailing me and they have continued to this day, to ignore and disregard my consumer rights….

In November 2020, I started to receive the most threatening and aggressive text messages and emails telling me to pay for the course I cancelled (which was cancelled if you remember in line with their own cancellation policy). I immediately contacted the Customer Service Team at Stonebridge again and asked them politely to look into this, as this was an error on their part. I had to re-send them all the email correspondence between them and myself from May 2020, whereby I requested that they cancel my course as per their own agent's telephone instructions given to me. They then responded that I still had to pay for the course as I owed them money for the cost of the course. This was the only reply I have to date received from them via email. They completely disregarded my previous email to them and insisted that I pay for a course I never received etc.

I yet again sent them another email highlighting and indicating their own company policy, that the course could legally be cancelled within 14 days of purchase. I even sent them again all the supporting documentation showing that I have cancelled the course 6 days after it had been purchased, and their response was that they did not have any record of my cancellation email.

Having had enough of dealing with their customer agents, who were obviously badly in need of customer relationship training, I requested to speak to a manager, or someone in authority who could help. What a surprise! No one got back to me! To date I still have not had any response from them confirming my cancellation or indeed any productive dialogue whatsoever! Every month, I receive another harassing email from a new customer service agent, proceeding to simply copy and paste a standard email template, with the same threatening dialogue, accusing me of owing them money and threatening legal procedures citing that they had not heard from me despite the fact that I had contacted them several times! Stonebridge college have continued to ignore any of my emails sent to them and definitely have no concept of customer service as they never reply back to me. Instead, they continue to send me harassing and extremely upsetting emails threatening me with legal action unless I pay. I am extremely stringent in keeping every single email sent to me from Stonebridge and I always reply to their email's requesting a manger contact me urgently and as always I never hear back from them.

Based on my traumatic and upsetting experiences with them, and their extremely poor record of communications, I would advise if you are unfortunate enough to have any dealings with them, which I would strongly avoid at all costs! You MUST keep every single email or correspondence.

Since November 2020, I have continued to receive very aggressive text messages from numerous private mobile numbers such as 07984394860/ 07984395064 / 07984394964/ 07860021982 and their text messages are always the same. "Remember to contact us and make a payment. Stonebridge".

It has been more than a year, and as previously stated, even now I keep receiving the most unprofessional and threatening communications from them. To date I am still waiting for a manager from Stonebridge to have the decency to contact me. I have sent more than 17 emails to their customer service team, to request that they stop sending me threatening email and text messages. They are relentless and blindingly oblivious to any regard for customer service or legal procedures and the reply I keep getting is that you owe us a money, or you need to speak to the account team or speak to the customer services team or speak to the late payment team etc etc Basically going around in the same pointless circle!

The irony is that none of this situation needed to be as traumatic, stressful, and extremely upsetting. So, I would repeat and strongly advise that if you have the misfortune to encounter Stonebridge College or Learn Direct Courses, please avoid them ‘like the plague' and believe me there are much better online education establishments and companies. This company may appear to offer a good selection of courses, but their customer services are most definitely non-existent, and you will certainly regret any dealings with them!

If you also want to read about similar stories to mine, please visit [Resolved] Stonebridge College Review: Very poor tutor support | ComplaintsBoard.com, you will see many more victims such as myself whom are happy to share their stories when dealing with Stonebridge College.

!I have sent emails to StoneBridge customer service around ten times only one reply. The certification team cannot tell me why they didn't send my both certificates to me since I completed the postal address 39 days ago(she said only need 2/4 weeks to receive). The Quality Assurance Officer told me she have my certificates re-ordered and will dispatch to me ASAP. But still no reason why they didn't send to me in the first time! I really don't want to wait another month! Now I have sent email again and again, still! No reply! And I called the customer service, the staff told me the certification team doesn't have a hotline! Only email! But who should I contact if nobody replies! Please contact me on [protected]@qq.com ASAP!

I have complained about this directly to your customer services but do not get an appropriate response so I am trying via this portal. I am enrolled on a functional skills maths level 2 course and the customer service has been awful. Plus I paid for functions skills maths levels 1 and 2 and level 1 access was taken away with my prior knowledge and no replacement given - I paid for this! The VLE is substandard and doesn't do as advertised and nobody has contacted me about my learning. Very very poor show.

I joined stonebridge college to complete a dog grooming course and after discussions with several providers, due to the information given to me, I enrolled with them. They assured me that as I was wanting to complete the course quickly, I could complete my course at my own pace, as quickly or slowly as I liked. I duly signed up and paid my £9.99 enrolment fee, signing up to pay £37+ a month for the course. I completed my course and the day that I got an email from them to say I had passed, I got a text message 'reminding' me to pay. I thought this was odd, but left it at that. On reading the email, it stated that I would not receive my certificate until all monies were paid. I looked at the terms and conditions (as nothing like this was mentioned to me at my initial conversation) and it did not mention this. All it said was that any debts owing, must be paid - however a direct debit is not a debt, it's a credit agreement, so I didn't feel this was relevant to me. I phoned up and spoke to the customer services team and was informed that this is correct, I wouldn't get my certificate until I had paid it all, as 'lots of people don't pay once they get their certificate, so that's the way we do it'. As you can imagine, I was very insulted. I asked about making a complaint and he said I could find the information on their website. When I looked where he told me, I couldn't locate any address, so I contacted david cox (manager), who had constantly emailed me, during my course, asking me to complete review surveys. I put all of the information in the email, that I have mentioned here, and sent it to him. After a couple of weeks, I got an email from him apologising that he had only just seen the email and asking if my issue was resolved. I responded to say it hadn't. Several days went by and I still didn't hear from him, so sent him several more emails, over the coming days and still no response. I eventually contacted the customer service team again and asked to speak to david. The girl I spoke to came back and said he was unavailable, but that he had received my email and would respond. I said that I was doubtful he would, as he hadn't responded to any of my previous messages, and she and I had the same discussion, as I had had the first time I called. I expressed my deep disgust at the way I was being treated, the lack of clarity at the beginning of my course and the blatant avoidance of me, by david cox. She said she had taken a note of all of my concerns, went off and spoke to david again and came back and said he would be in touch regarding my complaint. That was on the 24th november and as of today (1st december), I still have not heard from him. I believe that I have been discriminated against, as they are making the assumption that I will not pay, now I have completed - yet I have never missed a payment and continue to pay. (I must also stress, that I am still getting reminder texts, which I have only received since I finished my course, which I find completely disrespectful). I completely acknowledge that I need to uphold my end of the 'deal' and must pay the remaining payments, but if I fail to do this, they can obviously take legal recourse against me, but to assume I won't pay and withhold my certificate because of this, is shocking. I was not told of this when I had a lengthy conversation and even told them that I wanted to complete, so that my business could be started by the new year - but yet no mention of the withholding of the certificate. And finally, the lack of contact from david cox is scandalous. He emailed me to ask if my issue was resolved and has since blatantly ignored me. I feel that they have signed me up without being transparent, when they clearly knew what my goals and aims were, they are now completely ignoring me and I am now not able to start my business until I receive my certificate, so am being financially impacted.

Bunch of crooks. I paid in full for one course and was working through it whilst I registered for another two courses. I lost my job and asked the college not even for a refund but to just put my other two courses on hold and hold the credits. Stonebridge were not interested and blocked access to all my courses including the one I have paid in full for. Several emails later they dont care they want all the money and that is that. On top of that I am still waiting for a certificate for a course i completed a year ago. Stay away from this organisation, total scam.

I am a Stonebridge student, studying the Foot Health Practitioner course. I have spent the last 3 years studying and trying to get this course completed. I should have completed this by now, but my ‘tutor' has refused to sign off a unit as according to her, I do not have enough video evidence (collected on the 2 week practical training). Now I have repeatedly asked the college for assistance with this matter. I have asked if I can even attend college for one day to obtain more footage. Do you think I have had a response? No. Nothing. I have contacted so many people, I have expressed my disappointment at the fact no one is helping. Still NOTHING. It seems once they have received all the money for the course, they are not interested.
Don't waste your time. Course content is laughable, spelling errors galore!

I completed my nvq3 in adult social care last November 2018, there were complications with my online student account. Technical problems which could not be resolved, my first tutor was Katrina Queree she was very unhelpful and hardly made contact and second tutor Yvette cox was sending my course work via email and sent an assessor to my place of work, Watford road, St Albans Hertfordshire.since my completion I have had very light communication from either Yvette Cox, she passed my information over to her manager Debbie Searle who has been very unhelpful, she had told me my certificate had been ordered, that was on the 10/06/2019 and I'm still waiting.
I can't start working for social services until I have my certificate, this has a big financial strain on my family a loss of earnings for the past 4 months as a independent self employed end of life / palliative carer which would have totalled £ 10, 400, and every week I wait that another £650 loss of earning.
Debbie Searle is not responding to my emails, I am at the point of involving the ombudsman, as I feel I have no choice.
Please respond to my complaint by Monday the 14 October, because Tuesday I will be contacting the ombudsman and even applying to reclaim my loss of earnings
Hilary diffley

I started my ILM Level 3 Diploma in Leadership and Management course at the end of September 2018 and completed in February 2019.

At first, my tutor I was allocated was fantastic. Supportive and positive comments and very helpful when I referred on assignments. I completed 8 units out of 22 when my tutor was no longer on my contact list and I had a new name there. Nobody had told me this would happen. I messaged to ask if she was now my new tutor or if my original tutor would return. All i was told is that they can change them due to workload or holidays and she never returned.

I received feedback from the new tutor and WOW, what a difference. Her attitude and wording on my feedback was shocking! Despite being a 50 yr old woman, she made me feel like I was a naughty child being told off. Some examples include her telling me I couldn't use bullet points...I had used them frequently in the first 8 units and my initial tutor had not mentioned once I couldn't use them! She also had a go at me for my word count. I sent her a message I had received from my previous tutor that stated the word count is only a guide and not set in stone and now she was telling me I had to adhere to them. I replied to tell her I had got ahead of myself and had completed up to and including unit 12 and I would NOT be rewriting them now. Surely every tutor has a list of criteria for marking and they should all be marked the same way?

To cut a long story short, I emailed and spoke to the IQA twice to complain about her (the second time being due to her "threatening" to go the the IQA about me regarding me not using my own wording). I responded that I was referencing where I got the info from so in my mind there should not have been a problem. Not once did she take the time to fully explain herself and as I hadnt studied since the 80s, my idea of referencing was not correct. She could have explained this to me but instead chose to continue berating me assignment after assignment and even went so far as to put several exclamation marks after her comments. Yes, really. I felt like I was back at school. Quite frankly, I couldn't wait to finish the course.

Regarding the actual course, even if I had no issues with the tutor assigned to me, there needs to be much more interaction. Otherwise, you literally read through a unit then answer the assignment all on your own.

Once finished, I was told I would receive my diploma certificate in 8 to 12 weeks. I sent numerous emails chasing up and emailed a third complaint and have now finally heard I should have my diploma in approx 10 days. So, approx 17 weeks after completion.

Finally, on the website it states "the course fee includes the awarding body registration and certification fee (valued at upto £96)" it also states "on completion of this course you will be eligible to join the ILM". Upon completion, I called the ILM to ask for login details to do this. They want a further £75. Really? Oh and the ILM told me that Stonebridge should have given me an enrolment number last September when I enrolled on the course which would have enabled me to join the ILM for free for 12 months as a student to assist with my studies. I would have had access to online materials etc. Nobody told me about this so I completed the course on my own. Shocking. What is worse is that since finishing and chasing up what I thought was membership for 12 months, I was emailed student login details for the ILM by Stonebridge. How the hell can that help me now I have finished the course? This should have been given to me when I enrolled last year.

It also states you can opt to study via the paper based method for £10 more but when I called and said I wanted this, they told me it is no longer available. The website STILL states this is an option...

I have since enrolled on the CIPD Level 5 Diploma in HR Management course with another provider and what a difference. The facilitators (tutors) contacted me before I started and have continued to be very proactive and encouraging as I go through the course. Even the moderators who mark the assignments manage to give positive comments and are extremely helpful. I have already passed 2 units and have 6 more to go. Oh and this course is mapped to the ILM Level 5 Diploma in Leadership and Management so once completed, I will get two diploma certificates for one. I would also like to point out that we have to use Harvard referencing with bibliography for each assignment as this is an undergraduate level of study and I have had no problems doing so AS IT WAS CLEARLY EXPLAINED with the introduction to the course. So it seems I am not stupid after all.

Thanks to Stonebridge, I lost a huge amount of confidence and felt quite useless at times. Now, with my new course, my confidence has been reinstated and I am thoroughly enjoying it.

Edit - the tone of my correspondence DID indicate an issue, hence 3 complaints, for which I am still awaiting a response I might add. I am expecting to receive my certificate in the next week not weeks. Tutors should be supportive and approachable.

Still waiting for a response to my 3rd email complaint...oh and login for 12 months subscription to the ILM website as you omitted to give this to me when I enrolled last September. Looking forward to an email response ASAP.

Edit 12 July 2019
Despite having in writing my course had been passed by the EQA in ILM and my cert was released, now I find out the EQA has left and a new EQA is in place so I have to wait whilst the new EQA goes through my portfolio AGAIN so STILL no Diploma 20 weeks on. Looks like it's going to be several more weeks of waiting. Sort it out. Absolutely disgraceful service.

Edit 19 July 2019
Now have to wait whilst IQA meets with new EQA 31 July to go through my portfolio.
Was told I would get refund for ILM fees I was led to believe were included but STILL WAITING to hear how much, when and how I will receive this because clearly NOBODY believes in contacting students and ZERO customer service. Ignored emails for a month now don't have the decency to call me. DIABOLICAL

Update 23 July 2019
Yes, still waiting for a response. Emailed for the 71st time to chase up only to find person is on annual leave all week and got the out of office response! Absolutely fuming!

Update - 27 July- STILL NO RESPONSE!

BEWARE: SWINDLERS! I was charged almost double the advertised, promotional cost advertised for a course. My requests for Stonebridge to address this false advertising and gross overcharge were at first fobbed off, and then I was subjected to an aggressive, condescending verbal assault by Stonebridge employee, James, when I again requested a copy of my original contract yesterday. Needless to say, my requests to close my account without me ever having had the opportunity to complete even one unit of the course I was enrolled for was swiftly processed this morning without any response to my claim of an overcharge, a copy of the contract I requested, or an apology for the appalling, aggressive and intimidating response from James. Daylight robbery - a loss of £780 with absolutely nothing to show for my money.

I have completed the course in July 2018 and until now (27.02.2019) did not received my certyfikate! Stonebrige college doesn't reply to my emails. Every weekend I ring them they say that there is an issue with awarding body (?!) I have contacted awarding body and I was told that they never received my course documents grom Stonebridge so they can not produce the certyfikate. Stonebridge doesnt answers the phone calls. They Ask to leave the message. Over the last 2 weeks I left a numerous of voice messages and they never rang me back. I AM waiting for my certyfikate 8 months Now.