Consortium Education Reviews 

If I could give zero stars I would. Terrible company to deal with, 3 wks after placing my order heard nothing about it being despatched or when it would be delivered. When I message via email & website it took almost a week for a response where I was told the items had been attempted to be delivered & had been returned to the depot, saying a card should have been left. No card & as they wouldn't tell me the delivery company they used I believe they were lying. Took several weeks to get the refund I requested, with no communication or anything. A terrible company, avoid at all costs!!!!

Ordered, money taken nothing arrived and now told to wait another 8 weeks, one wonders if site is a scam to be honest

I placed an order on Monday 17th July, it showered the delivery ll be on Monday 24th, fair enough for a week! Then I was waiting in the house for whole day, at that night I checked my account, they changed delivery to Friday 28th, so I had to ask my dad to come to wait for the delivery, as I have to work! At 3pm, there still nothing, then I send an email to them around 3 pm on Friday. I still haven’t heard anything yet, I haven’t received any goods, no email and no communication at all, I ll phone them this Monday 31st July and cancel the order. It’s not worth it to wait more than 2 weeks, I could get the same goods on eBay’s or Amazon with free delivery…….I will never use this company again ☹️☹️

Ordered and knew there would be a wait. However the order was cancelled after the date it was meant to be delivered due to no stock. I said I didn't mind waiting. However the item is still stating available online but the price has more than doubled.

To the reply: I asked for the order not to be cancelled as I didn't need it urgently and knew there would be a wait and made it clear I was happy to wait however long. Early August would have been absolutely acceptable.

Total scammers. I paid for goods...no any confirmation no nothing...nor by who, when how...can not check anything...after week it shows on account as "Received" - i not even seen any goods.

Contacted them via Send a Message...enquiry for delivery...after 2 days get respond...there was problem with payment and not even sent...I go to my bank statement and payment is done and left account more than a week ago and them state i have not paid, them not received payment and I need BUY AGAIN!!! ???

Scammers!

I've placed an order last year and had some issues with them. I decided to give them a second chance this year and I had a lot better experience than last time.

what a shocking company! Strangely they seem to no longer take reviews on their actual website, how very odd...I left one but was removed. Come to Trustpilot and I find out why!! Have messaged the company managing director via LinkedIn and Twitter but no
surprise there, like trying to get hold of them on the phone or email, nobody answers or responds. Something very suspicious here, no more reviews on their site since last year but pretty much all one star on here, something not quite right. Will make a claim on my credit card. And please don't reply to this with your apologies, if you can answer on here why don't you answer your email or phone and why is everybody leaving 1 star?!?

UPDATE: We get a reply! why don't you reply to your emails as quick as you reply to all of these review? Why don't you answer your phones? Why, since I've reported you to Trading Standards do you suddenly get your first EVER 4 star review on here?? Coincidental......

Ordered an item. They took payment from card. Item still not received a month later. Couldn't get through on phone although they did phone me back. I have cancelled item

I would give them no stars if it was an option!
This is quite possibly the worst company I have ever dealt with.
I placed an order in June which I have never received. I have emailed them 7 times and received a response saying the order has been carded and with the post office. I have been to the post office twice and my order is not there. I have requested the tracking number but all emails are being ignored.
Pointless ringing as they don’t answer.
How companies like this stay in business is beyond me. They should be shut down!!
It appears from all the other reviews everyone who orders from them has the same issue.
I think this company are scammers.
Order SO-10202485

Had horrific problem with Consortium a year or so ago and so stopped using them at my large secondary school in Berkshire. Tentatively ordered a few bits in May and things seemed ok so when we it came to doing the September back to school orders in June July we told department heads Consortium was ok to order from again. Fast forward to now and it is a disaster, we have thousands of pounds of stick not arrived, deliveries with no department name on (despite clearly stating that on each order), invoices for things we haven’t received and no one responding to all of our queries. We close on Thursday. No idea whether things will arrive or not and no idea how to account for it all at the financial year end either - absolutely terrible. Emails to our “dedicated account manager” Angela Vaughn remain unanswered. We need someone to go through every order for us to sort it out but they won’t do anything. AVOID AVOID AVOID

Acc C10022152 many orders with many issues and outstanding items. Thousands of pounds of items that haven’t been delivered

Edit - reply to response - I know what is outstanding, my point to you was that at the time I placed many large orders, these items were listed as in stock on your website. You then showed anticipated delivery dates for these items in early July all of which did not materialise. We have been invoiced for items that have not arrived and therefore can’t pay the invoices and when we have emailed to cancel items / orders no one has acknowledged the email or confirmed the cancellations. Sending me a list of out of stock items is unhelpful at best!

I have tried to contact via email and account as 2 folders were damaged. I want to order more but cannot find a telephone number so I can talk to someone about the previous order and my follow up order. No response is putting me off sadly
Account C20053831

I refer to my previous review which prompted a response from this company.
They told me that the item had been delivered and signed for!

What they didn't say was that the item sent was NOT the item I had ordered!!
On receipt of the incorrect order I emailed them, included a photo of the wrong item, and asked for a refund.
I continue to wait for an apology for exceptionally POOR service and my money.
I stand by my previous review.
I have since received an email from this company offering apologies, a refund and the item I originally ordered.
Time will tell!!!

My complaint has now been dealt with.
Thank you

Horrible service and experience.
They took the order and the money on June 27 and they clearly slept over my order, because on it arrived 13 days later when it should have arrived within 3-5 days. I phoned the customer service several times: they were prompt at replying but e eroga e me a different answer. We got the order in the end, but very late and with a lot of hassle to get it. They seem very confused on how to handle things, and I honestly would use a different company.

The Problem

I was surprised to see a continuation of the same problems at this company - false promises; poor customer services; apathy; incompetence etc - and so I can assume that the issues that were prevalent in 2021 still exist today.

At the time, the company was using an antiquated computer system that obscured any communication, meaning that disgruntled customers were basically faced with a blind representative who had to start the conversation from scratch - often infuriating the customer even further.

The company appears to be stagnated by staff who are thwarted by a system of KPI (key performance indicator) whereby the 'best performers' hold the accolade of fobbing as many customers off as possible.

The company suggests building a rapport with its customers but also wants calls finished within 3 minutes...(!). You can't even extend pleasantries within 3 minutes let alone resolve a problem.

As with many companies these days, false empathy is encouraged and diligence to resolve the issue is dissuaded.

Staff are unable to contact suppliers to determine real-time issues with delayed products, and must 'escalate' with middle-management who are so overworked that they don't even know what day it is, let alone able to prioritise anything. I witnessed 'escalated' cases being unresolved days, even weeks later, with no apparent resolution to the issue.

Also, likewise, the courier company also has its own system of enforcement whereby the drivers are only allowed about 3 minutes to offload the goods, putting pressure on the drivers to just dump the goods at the earliest convenience; ship fast and move on to the next.

When you discuss the succession of complaints with middle-management, as sympathetic and as understanding as they may be, they are unable to scratch the surface of the problem because the management level of hierarchy above them just ain't bothered.

When I requested to bypass middle-management and confront the managers who were actually running the circus, I was told that it wasn't possible; ineffectual; falling on deaf ears; pointless; an apathetic bunch who are content with the customer abuse and teachers in tears etc, etc.

Sadly, it appears as if the people who actually have the power and acumen to resolve the mess aren't bothered as long as the money keeps rolling in - which I'm surprised to hear that it still is and, as someone else asked on here, 'how are they still in business?'.

I then have to asked myself, 'Is it just a front for another organisation? Surely, a company that is this bad cannot continue to trade with such poor customer service - the worst I have ever witnessed - but, just like many other faceless entities without customer care beyond profit, they seem to be thriving with a new, Amazon-esk warehouse that is so big you can see it from space.

However, I do believe every expletive and poor experience on here is wholly justified, and if the problem has existed beyond the two years of my knowledge, this company's reputation is only going one way.

I made a small sports order and was charged. They have since sent credit notes asking for payment, have not replied to my communication about this, and have not posted the items. I may need to open a payment dispute.

Absolutely shocking service. I placed a small order at the beginning of June with the assurance of delivery in 3-5 working days. I was aware from their answerphone message that they were 'working through a backlog' so was patient for a while (despite receiving no updates). I rang back on the 21st June and was told that my item was packed and ready to go and would be with me in 3 working days. After further silence, I rang back a third time and was told there was a problem with my account (which was suspiciously immediately fixed) and then assured again my item would be with me in 3 working days. Rang a few days later and they said exactly the same thing at which point I got really concerned that I'd been scammed. They said it still said 3-5 working days but hadn't been dispatched and they had no information on when it would actually arrive. I rang later on to cancel and was told that there was no stock assigned to my order and was potentially out of stock. Incredibly confusing and frustrating communication. Luckily for me, mine was was a small private order and not a school but I am writing this review for the benefit of any schools thinking of ordering as I can only imagine the kind of stress that would be caused from this company if school targets and deadlines were at stake!

Having ordered and paid for an item online i was lead to believe that it would be delivered on 07/07/23. Reading the email confirming my purchase it said it would be dispatched (not delivered) on 18/07.23
No need to look into it thanks as I ordered what I wanted and received it days ago. Logically, to my way of thinking, you could have just used more courier companies so as not to give prospective customers misleading information.

Really bad service on all fronts. Order placed on 26 June, delivery said 29th.nothing. Received a statement showing payment, contacted them and replied by giving the acc Number and order number and so far haven't even got an answer. I would avoid this lot like the plague

Terrible service, took me money and did not deliver product. Contacted them twice before they told me it's out of stock. I have demanded a refund yet they send me an account statement with a credit. I will be doing a payment diabute on this. Absolutely shocking experience. Avoid this company at all costs. I regret not looking at reviews before purchasing!