My name’s Matthew, I’m 22, and from Manchester. I have just finished paying monthly installments for my Category C licence.
Unfortunatley, while i was flicking about the net looking for help on my theory test i saw a couple of posts on various websites slating the company “DirectLGV”. Apparently they are known to just be “middlemen” and either don’t really care about your overall ambition to gain your licence or give you minimal help and advice.
So far they have been spot-on with me, i told them i couldn’t pay up front so they let me pay the amount over whatever length of time i wanted. The same woman rang at the start of every month and sounds very genuine and keen to find out the progress i am making in regards to my theory revision and my Drivers medical. They sent me an information pack when i enquired and a full starter pack with medical forms, provisional forms, hazard perception DVD and Theory test book when i began my payments.
If anyone else has been through this company i would love to know of your experiences with them, good or bad. I’m normally a very skeptic person, and will do hours of research on something as big as this before i part with any money. I simply cannot explain why i was so quick to sign up to this company without checking out their background first!
Hi mate
I dont know the company but why have you gone through a middle man when you could have paid weekly direct to a trainer ? what attracted you to them and have you started any training yet and are they not helping you with the theory test …
regards Roy
Brokers and Middlemen are to be approached with a ten foot bargepole.
Put DirectLGV into the search box at the top right of this page and you will see how many posts there are about this company and the experiences that various members have had with them.
I hope you were sensible and paid with a Credit Card or Debit Card that is protected against non supply of goods or services. You might want to become familiar with the chargeback procedure for your funding source.
I truly hope you have not been ripped off, but just take a read of others experiences and you will see the pitfalls.
Good Luck.
Oh and by the way, Did you see the trucks or get an assessment drive with DirectLGV?
Zer0:
The same woman rang at the start of every month and sounds very genuine and keen to find out the progress i am making in regards to my theory revision and my Drivers medical.
Every month! How long has this been going on for? You could have booked a medical in say 2 weeks and took the theory a few weeks later after the licence came back with provisional Cat C on it. Cost to that point = £130 approx
You could then have had a few trial drives with local training providers to get the feel for them before deciding.
I truly hope everything works out for you. It’s about time we had a positive review of a broker. Let us know how many times the same woman rings now that you have finished paying.
Cheers for the responses. Unfortunately i approached the whole thing as a complete newbie and didnt know a thing about different schools and brokers. The website looked fine to me, they sent me the information pack which i was pleased with and i signed up.
I wanted to get the lot paid off before i booked my medical and started on my theory.
i did pay with a debit card, halifax ultimate reward to be precise. i will check the details of it but for now i reckon i might as well carry on. i cant explain how stupid i feel in front of you guys. like i said im normally the last person to be suckered in by fancy websites. i have an ambition of where i want to get too in the driving world and i guess i acted on that without doing any research beforehand
However, that’s not really good news, it’s just that you aren’t actually at any driving school yet and won’t know if the one you have is good, bad or somewhere in between until you start training.
Like others have said, a 10ft barge pole isn’t long enough. Also, just search them in the top right hand side of this forum and you’ll see what others think of them.
dar1976:
Brokers and Middlemen are to be approached with a ten foot bargepole.
Coffeeholic:
dar1976:
Brokers and Middlemen are not to be approached even with a ten foot bargepole.
FTFY. You’re welcome.
Well I suppose whether you should approach brokers with a bargepole or not approach them even with a bargepole sort of depends on what you intend to do with the bargepole when you meet them
However, that’s not really good news, it’s just that you aren’t actually at any driving school yet and won’t know if the one you have is good, bad or somewhere in between until you start training.
i think the best thing to do from here is to find out what school’s the use, and more importantly if i have a choice what school i wish to learn with, i doubt that but i can always try. If i get in a with a recommened school i’d be happy as Larry!
My guess is they will make lots of promises for training next week. And you will be lucky to get training before June. Try and narrow them down to a schedule and see if they stick to it.
Welcome onto the forum mate. Yeah, unfortunately you are not the first (and won’t be the last) to get taken in by these brokers, who do charge more for what you could get cheaper by going direct. If you do end up getting your training and you manage to pass without too many problems then I’m sure you won’t be too unhappy at the end of the day because you did get a chance to pay monthly which made it more affordable to you. (I had to pay for my C+E recently all in one go! And then bash the credit card a few more times again due to failing a few tests! ) So, don’t beat yourself up about it. Let’s wait and see what happens, as you haven’t had any problems to date.
I hope it works out well for you and you are soon the holder of a nice new LGV licence. All the best!
I had to get my money back from these back in 2009 so the good news is you paid by credit card so every phone call email etc that you have with them now save it and keep a diary of times and what was said , if they don’t come through and book your training within reasonable time ie give them a month seems reasonable then you get on to your credit card company and say you want a chargeback as they have not provided what they have promised within a reasonable time that’s your sentence to credit card company …not in reasonable time okay then the credit card company can issue them with a letter or phone call mine phoned them but may be different for yours and then you have to wait another month (that’s what mine took) to see if they provide the training which if you get this far they won’t and then the company can reclaim your money
I sincerely hope you don’t have to go through this but at least you know what to do from now on to protect yourself and hopefully get your money back if needs must
i actually paid by debit card not credit card so i don’t think i can even use that against them
But for now everything has been fine so i guess i will just carry on and hope everything turns out fine. I’m just hoping they’ve upped their game since 2009. They’re still brokers, but maybe they’ve fixed themselves up a bit, who knows.
tachograph:
Well I suppose whether you should approach brokers with a bargepole or not approach them even with a bargepole sort of depends on what you intend to do with the bargepole when you meet them
I believe it’s ok to approach a dishonest broker with a bargepole if it’s been sharpened to internationally agreed standards, but there’s also a dispensation that allows an approach to be made, provided that the bargepole has a bayonet fixed to it.
I would not worry until its time to worry Mate, I understand that you wanted to pay for it first and that this seemed like a good option but I would suggest next time opening up a savings account …
I think you also have to understand that some here see these brokers as just charging more for less so they are not particularly well thought of, but as they use other schools it would be them that actually run your course.
not being funny guys, but this is a negative thread, how about a bit of support…
As said before. I wish the OP the best of luck and hope it all works out.
Just think they should be made aware of the pitfalls of a broker, and that they should be au fait with the chargeback conditions of the payment method if and when needed
) So, don’t beat yourself up about it. Let’s wait and see what happens, as you haven’t had any problems to date. 
and then the company can reclaim your money
I believe it’s ok to approach a dishonest broker with a bargepole if it’s been sharpened to internationally agreed standards, but there’s also a dispensation that allows an approach to be made, provided that the bargepole has a bayonet fixed to it. 
