The LGV Double Category consists of the C & C+E (Class 2 & 1) training, this course lets you train simultaneously for both courses. The advantages are you will get to drive both classes of LGV vehicle.
What a wonderful quote from the newest broker on the block!! They are registered at the same address as the now defunct Blackwater.
Buyer beware!! Anyone thinking of training should deal direct with a trainer they have visited. The exception to the rule is booking with a reputable trainer on rock solid recommendation.
can’t see what they are trying to offer here, do you drag a trailer around some days and not others or do you train all the time with it on. Can’t see the advantage it’s bad enough learning to drive a LGV without having an unecessary trailer on the back, or am I missing something here
discoman:
Thanks for posting it Peter, hopefully people will see it.
I noticed they have no number on the site. only a Fax Machine
Correct me if i’m wrong but this doesn’t matter, afaik our training have a fax machine which has a landline number. The reason why I think this is because the phone sits on top of the fax machine and if it hasn’t been answered within 3 rings it goes on to fax.
discoman:
Thanks for posting it Peter, hopefully people will see it.
I noticed they have no number on the site. only a Fax Machine
It’s a pity they don’t have a phone number otherwise we could have called them to let them know last century called and wants it’s communication method back.
I was under the impression that you had to wait for your full C licence to come back from DVLA before you could take C+E though
Absolutely.
I just dread to think how many people will be suckered into this revamped scam.
Personally I’m sick to the back teeth of hearing the horror stories. Sooner the industry is properly regulated, the better.
We started doing tiny bits of work for a broker when the recession started but have now ceased due to their ridiculous trading methods. Typically, guy comes having first been ripped off, and passes Cat C. Brilliant. Naturally asks when CE training is available and he’s normally told it’s about 3 to 4 weeks which will give time for his licence to come back. So he rings broker with glad tidings and is promptly ignored. After all, they’ve already had his money for around 4 months at this point. After much nagging, he is then given dates about 2 months ahead and is told this is the earliest available. Clearly a lie as the candidate has already asked us. Indeed, one candidate was told he was being sent elsewhere for CE as we, apparently, don’t do it!!! Regardless of his protests, they insisted this was the case.
The broker I refer to is Advantage. I can substantiate all the above many times over should anyone wish to query this.
So, once again, will people please heed the stories and book direct. There is absolutely nothing to gain by using a broker. Any good trainer will metaphorically hold your hand through the entire process. The broker simply charges more to give the work to a trainer at a low rate. But the service, certainly at Advantage, is appallingly slow. In fact, nearly as slow as their payment to us!!
And, of course, there’s plenty of stories of brokers taking money and then shutting up shop.
Please don’t be sucked in by impressive websites that have no substance behind them. Always visit the trainer, see the vehicles and facilities, speak to the trainers and make sure you’re happy. Why not visit 2 or 3? You wouldn’t normally buy the first sofa you see - you look round a bit first before you decide. The only time you should book without a visit is on rock solid recommendation.
can’t see what they are trying to offer here, do you drag a trailer around some days and not others or do you train all the time with it on.
Don’t worry. They clearly don’t know the job and it’s regulations. It’s a typical flash website designed to relieve Joe Public of his hard earned as quickly as possible. And by implying it’s possible to complete the 2 courses at the same time, it could sound more attractive. And they collect twice as much cash as before.
It’s illegal to draw a trailer behind the vehicle without the required provisional. There are a few folk who held provisional licences before 1997 who have got the entitlement - - but they still cant take a test without a full Cat C licence.
discoman:
Thanks for posting it Peter, hopefully people will see it.
I noticed they have no number on the site. only a Fax Machine
Correct me if i’m wrong but this doesn’t matter, afaik our training have a fax machine which has a landline number. The reason why I think this is because the phone sits on top of the fax machine and if it hasn’t been answered within 3 rings it goes on to fax.
I am not sure if that is how a fax should work Sam, I have one here and it can be used for one or the other or both, if you get the noise like a dial up modem then it is on fax setting
The way I see it, these brokers are doing us all a favour. If a person is so silly that they give a complete stranger a few grand because they’ve got a fancy website and make unrealistic promises, then surely they are also too silly to be piloting forty-four tonnes of metal, rubber and plastic on the public highway.
It’s just natural selection. It’s not nice to be scammed and I can understand the frustration of reputable trainers like Mr Smythe that have potential income taken away by these borderline criminals, but anything that delays or prevents a silly person getting LGV entitlement is surely a good thing.
It’s like another test that you must pass before you’re allowed on the road, let’s call it Module Zero. You must pass Module Zero before you can do Modules 1,2,3 and 4.
Forgive me if this has been tried already, but isn’t it time we bombarded watchdog with all these horror stories. People who can Ill afford it are being told that there are hundreds of vacancies in the haulage industry, then told they are guaranteed a job by some and then ripped off for thousands of pounds. This has been going on for years and still is. There’s hardly a week goes by on here withut some poor soul being sucked in by flashy advertising or another new broker selling their dodgy wares. Imagine Rogue Traders going for the 2 in 1 course, would be quite interesting to see how it worked and if it was misleading.
SmashedCrabFace:
The way I see it, these brokers are doing us all a favour. If a person is so silly that they give a complete stranger a few grand because they’ve got a fancy website and make unrealistic promises, then surely they are also too silly to be piloting forty-four tonnes of metal, rubber and plastic on the public highway.
It’s just natural selection. It’s not nice to be scammed and I can understand the frustration of reputable trainers like Mr Smythe that have potential income taken away by these borderline criminals, but anything that delays or prevents a silly person getting LGV entitlement is surely a good thing.
It’s like another test that you must pass before you’re allowed on the road, let’s call it Module Zero. You must pass Module Zero before you can do Modules 1,2,3 and 4.
Hindsight is a wonderful thing, but the first place someone looks for training is on the web, and if the firm looks reputable and has a flashy web site you would feel you were doing the right thing, peolpe just don’t know the pitfalls and don’t come on to a forum till it’s too late.
Foxstein:
Hindsight is a wonderful thing, but the first place someone looks for training is on the web, and if the firm looks reputable and has a flashy web site you would feel you were doing the right thing, peolpe just don’t know the pitfalls and don’t come on to a forum till it’s too late.
Foresight is also a wonderful thing. Having the basic intelligence to actually think about what might happen if you give a large amount of money to someone you know absolutely nothing about. It might just be me, but I’d rather not have people with such little common sense coming towards me in a what is basically a huge weapon.
Maybe we all hoped we lived in a country where trading standards worked and would hope that a seemingly large national company would be above board. More often than not if we generally deal with large companies than small ones and that mindset would follow when booking driving lessons, and also cost does come into it as well. If a large firm/ broker is offering a deal cheaper than others you’d go with them.
Foxstein:
If a large firm/ broker is offering a deal cheaper than others you’d go with them.
Speak for yourself Foxy. Personally, if I was going to spend thousands of pounds on something, I’d research it first. I’d make absolutely sure my hard earned money was being spent wisely. It’s common sense at it’s most basic.
It’s like buying DVDs or pirate DVDs. You could go to Tesco* and pay the retail price for the real deal. You know exactly what you’re going to get, you know it’s going to work and you know if it doesn’t work you can take it back.
Or you could by a dodgy copy of the same DVD from you’re local petty criminal. You know the picture might be rubbish, you know it might not have any sound and you know it might not work at all.
It’s a risk, a gamble. Do you pay a bit extra for the quality product or do you try and save a few pounds by taking your chances on the black market?
The difference is DVDs cost a few quid, LGV training costs a few thousand quid. Anybody silly enough to gamble that amount of money when they can’t afford to is silly enough not to be in command of a huge missile on the roads. A career in stock replenishment at Tesco* or another career where they aren’t such a risk to society would be more appropriate.
Mikey D:
surely theres a very simple way of putting these parasite’s out of business … If the training companys didnt work for them ,they would be no brokers
Exactly !!
Those wanting to train would then be forced to call around local schools … I seem to remember that happening not too long ago and I never heard of anyone being ripped off in those days
I actually think you completely missed my point, the large firm/broker would be Tescos or any other nationwide company, because that is what they claim to be
SmashedCrabFace:
Foxstein:
If a large firm/ broker is offering a deal cheaper than others you’d go with them.
Speak for yourself Foxy. Personally, if I was going to spend thousands of pounds on something, I’d research it first. I’d make absolutely sure my hard earned money was being spent wisely. It’s common sense at it’s most basic. millions buy insurance from compare sites and never bat an eyelid and they are only brokers, you could get it off the local insurance broker with all it’s benefits of having a personal touch, but those meerkats are cheaper, and have fancy internet sites and are the first ones in a web search!!!
It’s like buying DVDs or pirate DVDs. You could go to Tesco* (not tesco, in this case your local dvd/music shop) and pay the retail price for the real deal. You know exactly what you’re going to get, you know it’s going to work and you know if it doesn’t work you can take it back.
Or you could by a dodgy copy of the same DVD from you’re local petty criminal. You know the picture might be rubbish, you know it might not have any sound and you know it might not work at all. not a petty criminal you are buying off a large national company with branches throughout the uk which offer money back guarantees, and not only help you with all the payment issues but give you guidance on how to insert the DVD and all the legal issues arising from playing it.
It’s a risk, a gamble. Do you pay a bit extra for the quality product or do you try and save a few pounds by taking your chances on the black market? you dont know it’s a gamble as far as you know it’s a national company with great reviews on its fancy web site.
all I’m, saying is that it’s easily done, as it happened to me, but it all worked out in the end, I got my class 2 (7minors),national CPC, class1(2 minors), all for around £1300, but obviously I shouldn’t be let behind the wheel of a 44ton truck
millions buy insurance from compare sites and never bat an eyelid and they are only brokers, you could get it off the local insurance broker with all it’s benefits of having a personal touch, but those meerkats are cheaper, and have fancy internet sites and are the first ones in a web search!!! 
