


Disabled Student Allowance Barry Bennett - DSA and NMH Specialists
Based on authentic user experiences
alexa dugan
6735 reviews
N/A
6 months ago
Barry Bennett - DSA equipment provider is unprofessional and slow to process orders
DSA equipment insurance takes forever to be processed Seems like they are avoiding to pay the claim And they do not communicate with clients if you want to know how your order insurance claim is progressing you have to kee on chasing them yourself therefore to get anything done even then they put you on hold for a very long time so that you give up contacting them That is if you are lucky to have your phone call picked up at all DSA equipment insurance takes forever to be processed Seems like they are avoiding to pay the claim And they do not communicate with clients You kept on chasing them yourself to get anything done even then they put you on hold for a very long time so that you give up contacting them Basically I was awarded Student Finance England DSA laptop etc Which unfortunately was stolen from me some time later Once I filled an insurance claim it been over 2 months and im yet to receive the replacement laptop and this is because I kept calling them And I only found out that my claim was successful because Barry Bennett is the laptop replacement provider and I logged in to their student portal for another reason and to my surpise I was able to see that there was a new laptop order in progress totally by chance I never received any contact from Speciality Risk who manages the claim they simply never got back to me with their final decision nor did Barry Bennett contacted me about a delivery even though in the order details it showed as order date 1 12 2021 and delivery date as 8 12 2021 and i found out about this on 16 12 2021 so over 1 week passed their own set delivery date they did not contact me at all about it They did have my phone number and i got no missed calls from them in this period And after i contact them with the new order number they also kept on delaying the delivery Their scheduling team left me waiting on hold for over 40 minutes transfering the call to his collegue just to have my phone call terminated I took a sceenshot of the call and duration In my dealing with Barry Bennett I was treated unprofessionally by amateur people The different departments I contacted all were the same unfortunately Deliberatly ignore questions by email or if their phone is picked up after a long wait its terminated They urgently and desperately need customer care training
marie
6735 reviews
N/A
6 months ago
NOT RELIABLE OR TRUST WORTHY
Not a very good service I was told my Equipment was arriving Saturday just gone and it hasn t arrived I waited in all day for this delivery only for it not turn up If you can find a alternative company it would be better
Yulia
6735 reviews
N/A
6 months ago
Steer clear awful company
I have had the desktop computer for two years worst computer I have ever had Doesn t run smoothly software I was issued to be used in parallel but will not run together freeze crash or very slow Had a re assessment had to go through them again to get another piece of software Software has not been released past date they state it should be released in portal No return calls and couldn t speak to anyone
AisleFortySeven
6735 reviews
N/A
6 months ago
Faulty laptop Fail to deliver on their promises
I had extremely disappointing experience with Barry Bennett when I purchased a laptop that turned out to be defective Not only did it take an incredible long time for them to collect the faulty item but instead of providing me with a new product as requested they insisted on giving me a repaired version against my will The company totally ignored the Consumer Rights Act 2015 This leads me to believe that the company deliberately provides students with faulty or repaired products Such unethical business practices and lack of respect for customer preferences in unacceptable I strongly advise against purchasing from Barry Bennett and recommend seeking a more reputable and customer-centric retailer Furthermore Barry Bennett claims about their commitment to the environment and reducing carbon footprint Not only they fail to deliver on they promises but they also provide customers including myself with Chinese laptop bags that emit strong toxic odour This raises serious concerns about the company s lack of quality control and disregard for customers well-being I urge others to be cautious and consider alternative retailers that truly uphold their environmental values and offer products of higher quality
Jo jo
6735 reviews
N/A
6 months ago
Awful customer service
Awful customer service Have a computer in for repair Do not answer phone messages or emails Steer clear
James Kenney
6735 reviews
N/A
6 months ago
POOR SERVICE
They are supposed to support with disablity equipment the support and service is shocking computer not working software very poor and customer service very low standard
Sha
6735 reviews
N/A
6 months ago
Undisclosed policies no duty of care and accountability
This company s undisclosed policies and procedures have been a disappointment The first laptop arrived with missing software and licenses kept crashing causing me to lose university work Despite providing photo and video evidence of its ongoing issues their IT support team assured me that the laptop met DSA tech requirements They promised the next laptop would work flawlessly Upon returning the first laptop I discovered it was collection-only with no replacement After a reluctant agreement they sent a second laptop which also had compatibility problems This completely disrupted having any of my assistive technology sessions and forced me to use phone calls for specialist skills sessions After my last complaint they initially agreed to replace the laptop but today I was informed otherwise being offered a loan laptop instead which I did not agree to I was met with ignorance of taking responsibility a member of staff using persuasive language and a poor debate attempt When I realised their attitude I requested the refund for the laptop but was told I am not eligible for that either Given this situation and the time wasted I plan to seek assistance from my university and SFE From my experience they were more bothered about constantly pushing upgrades than solving existing issues I ve also reviewed their Google customer reviews and have strong doubts about their legitimacy
KH
6735 reviews
N/A
6 months ago
Unacceptable Delays and Poor Service from Barry Bennett Ltd
As a postgraduate student reliant on DSA provisions to support my academic journey I am deeply disappointed with the service provided by Barry Bennett Ltd Despite applying for my equipment back in July well ahead of the start of the term in September I am dismayed to report that it is now November and I am still without the necessary tools to assist me in my studies Moreover I personally invested in an upgrade to the standard laptop provision a cost that came out of my pocket with the expectation of a timely and upgraded service This has only added to my frustration as the justification of a busy period does not excuse two months of delay A company that specializes in providing essential equipment for students should indeed anticipate and be well-prepared for the increased demand around the start of the academic year This lack of foresight has a direct and negative impact on students like myself who rely on these tools In conclusion the service I have experienced from Barry Bennett Ltd has been far below acceptable standards Students considering using Barry Bennett for their DSA needs might want to look elsewhere or be prepared for potential delays that could impact their education
Carina Elabd
6735 reviews
N/A
6 months ago
Contacted them today
Contacted them today The laptop my daughter has been given won t even switch on Waited ages for a repair Still not working This is causing her severe anxiety as she s now behind They were no help at all
jenny jimpson
6735 reviews
N/A
6 months ago
Useless
Barry Bennett was supposed to supply me with software to assist me with written work because I am dyslexic They have been paid by SFE of course but they say the software is out of stock So they have been paid out of my DSA but as this is a Tory Goverment contract it does not matter if they actually provide the service they have been paid to provide Oh yes of course this comes after a phone call from someone at Barry Bennett who said all my software was ready for me to download But the adviser sounded like they had no idea what they were talking about with lots of long pauses and strange noises Well done to they shareholders for getting the contract Tory government contracts are the best all you have to do is get paid a vast amount of money to provide a half a sd service