To be even more livid with student finance now than I was before

[FrenchRuby]

I am getting to breaking point now. (I had another thread about SF but I can't find it on my phone sorry!)
Basically being messed around by them so much. Accidentally had two account which needed to be merged before I get paid. On going 3 week battle with them.

So this is how today went:

Called SF to check my accounts are merged, told they were merged on 7th oct. got told to go tell me uni to confirm my place, should have money by Friday.

Uni emails me and tells me it won't let them, They have no info from SF for me, so they rang up SF and were told that I need to merge my accounts and reapply.

Uni phoned again (not even 20 mins later) and we're told I don't need to do anything and just wait for me to appear on their system (my accounts were merged 7days ago so I should be on there already right?)

I got home and phoned again and was told that my uni haven't confirmed my place, it's all on them now. I told them they had tried and I was then told that they need to phone their helpline and get me added manually, which I told them they had already done to which she replied 'well I'm not really sure what's going wrong'

I don't know what to do from here.

Yes I was lied to numerous times. Even when I refused to put the phone down and insisted on talking to a manager I was just given a load of flim flam to get rid of me! The only thing that worked was the threat of negative publicity (Guardian 'money') or try your MP, honestly, that's what they're for isn't it?
Hope you're coping OP.

Get yourself and a few journalists down to a food bank?

They are beyond awful. They are the reason I left my degree course- they then paid the outstanding fees in the August- I'd been forced to leave in the May. I now don't have a degree- thanks, student finance and your stupid helpline playing 'you've got to smile, 'cause that's all you have left' down the phone at me when I'm trying not to cry. Really makes me happy.

I've wasted hours on the phone to them. They once paid the loan in 3 days before Christmas- I'd started in the September. Couldn't get childcare, was missing so much of the course etc- they didn't care at all. I did a formal complaint- 4 years on, never had a response. Got my MP to write- fobbed off. I gave up because of other more pressing issues (dh was ill, but decided it wasn't worth it, too, before that).

We once rang up to have them say something like 'sorry, we can't come to the phone, there's a fire, building evacuated' Rang on another number- absolutely fine and normal and useless. They still have my dh's birth certificate too.

Go and see the dean of your college. If he agrees that sf are at fault and that the amount of payment is what you will get. He can authourise the uni to loan it to you until they pay.

Kick up merry hell with sf.
Complain complain complain, with ur stated outcome clearly and blindly obvious.

I went in to uni today and phoned again, was told to just be patient (yeah because I haven't been for two months) it'll be done by the 11th November. Uni said if it gets to 11th Nov and it's still not sorted they'll put a complaint in.
I've lost all motivation to fight it now. My days at uni are spent emailing and phoning SF and my finance office at uni, I should be worrying about my projects I have coming up. I've been told there's no point in complaining because they ignore it.
I know it won't be sorted by the 11th. I have a feeling they'll either turn around and tell me to apply again or it'll just keep getting pushed further and further back.
I've already cried on the phone to them, they don't care, I was just told 'well it's not my fault, there's nothing I can do'. I'm at giving up point now.

French, have you told your department? You should be able to apply for some sort of mitigating/extenuating circumstances consideration, should you need it

Bit of an update, not a good one though.
I put in a complaint, was assured by the guy taking my complaint that it would be done by today and I'd have my money by the middle of next week.
Phoned up to check if it was done today and told that my loan has gone from being approved to reassessing and it'll take a further 15 working days, originally they said till 5th of December but I think the girl on the phone felt sorry for me because I was crying and she called head office and got them to put it on high priority and she said that it'll take 15 working days. I highly doubt it will be done by then.
I've written to my mp also.
I can't afford to carry on studying after this month without getting a bank loan out.
I am just amazed at how much they can fuck up someone's life and not even care.

I shared a flat with a guy who worked there years ago and I'm saddened but not surprised by this.
OP I live about 15 minutes away from the Student Loans office, is there any thing I could do to help. I've got a couple of hours free on Monday morning if that's any good to you?

That's really sweet but I don't think there is anything else I can do. I'm going through my 2nd complaint process right now (been on hold for 15 mins) >:(

This is shocking! Send your story to newspapers, everything! Could just use the same email to make it quicker... surely could get someone to sort this. Has the MP responded?

I actually rang them again this evening to put in another complaint and by the end of the conversation the guy had sorted it so that my loan was assessed, approved and ready to be paid as soon as I get my uni to reconfirm my attendance. He said I'd still have to wait for my grant to be assessed in the 15 working days though. But the loan is enough to cover my nursery fees and material costs until the rest comes in.

Ive replied on your thread on a different site.

We need to get a collective together and get his raised.

Im up for a revolution? So glad you were paid something. I was today too.

It makes me wonder why they didn't do it before when all it took was the time of the phone call...

YADNBU. They are the hardest place to deal with ever.

Makes me so angry thinking about it!

If you go on the say no to 0870 and search for student finance, you'll get a number that's cheaper to ring and I found they answered much quicker.

I practically live in their office!

Oh sorry, replied to a post that was really far back by accident!

Well I wish I had a good thing to write now but I don't.
I still don't have my loan.
There's something in the system that's not letting it go through. My uni have done all they're meant to do, several times over, I have a print out as proof that they have confirmed my attendane and registration. The fees have gone through fine but my loan won't.
I spoke to the rudest woman on the the phone at SF who basically told me there's nothing I can do, then got annoyed at me when I got upset because she couldn't tell me what I was meant to do next.
I have written to my mp who is on the case, the complaints guy i spoke to yesterday at SF was brilliant. He remembers me from when I've phoned before (that's how much I've been on the phone to them). He said he can't believe it's still not sorted and since it's an extreme case he's going to go higher up to the big managers and see if they can override it and just manually confirm my attendance instead of my uni.
He said they might say no but since it's on the records that a mp has been in touch with them on my behalf that might help.
I don't hold out much hope though.
I'm just sick of it all now.

This is truly shameful.