The Biggest Scam in Britain

Well, I've posted a good customer service story on this blog before, but now the other shoe drops. I just had a terrible experience with a company called UK Naric. I gave them the opportunity to make it better, but they wouldn't. So I'm going public.

I'm on the job hunt, and after a telephone interview with a prospective company, they asked me to provide proof that my education from high school in the US was comparable to what a student in the UK would get. They needed this because they would be sending me to college part-time. They suggested UK Naric.

UK Naric is "the national agency responsible for providing information and advice about how qualifications and skills from overseas compare to the UK's national qualification frameworks." It's managed on behalf of the UK government.

They said that they would be able to process my enquiry within 10-15 working days. With an asterisk to note that it couldn't be guaranteed and if there were any delays I would be notified.

They required faxed copies of my grades and diploma. Emailing a scan of the papers just wouldn't do. So I tracked down a faxing service and paid for faxing my documentation. Then the tracking page on their website informed me for three weeks that all of my documentation and payment (£46) had been received and was with an Information Officer. When I didn't receive the promised result within three weeks and had had no  communication from them, I emailed to ask about it. I was informed that a letter had been sent in the post (during postal strikes - hence no letter in the post, hello) to request clearer copies of my documentation. (A scan would be much clearer than a fax, hint hint.) When I immediately called to ask what was needed, I was informed after further investigation that the documents I had originally sent were indeed fine and nothing more was required from me. By the time I received the results, four weeks had passed. This was far beyond the promised period of time, and during that time the job and training for a wonderful career were given to someone else. To top it all off, the resulting assessment from UK Naric was so generic that they didn't need to see any of my documentation in order to make it. It's obvious that no research whatsoever went into their assessment, not even to look at the grades of which they so desperately needed a clearer copy. They said (after 4 weeks, mind you) that "A high school diploma is considered comparable to GCSE (grades A*-C) / Credit Standard Grade standard provided an average of at least C is obtained in subjects which have counterparts in the GCSE sylabus and have been studied to Grade 12 level." Dude, I'm so glad they cleared that up. Seriously, anybody with half a brain in their heads and internet access could do a bit of research and figure it out in half an hour or less. For free.

So I emailed them and asked for a refund, in light of the fact that their mistake had cost me the job. Ten days later they refused, saying, "The assessment fee is a non-refundable administration charge." Wow, what a good reason to refuse good customer service to an unhappy client. AND! "The work has been carried out in accordance with the general information and terms and conditions provided on our website." To which I cry, "Horsefeathers!" They unnecessarily delayed my results. And they didn't let me know about it. Well, they tried, but not in any sort of sensible fashion. Sending a letter in the post during postal strikes, my foot. [snort]

Thanks for listening to me rant. I hope you don't ever need to use UK Naric. They stink.