Student Finance Wales Reviews 

Absolute joke of a company!!!
Under educated staff that are not capable of theyre job.
Lacking in common sense
Maanagement team do not care
This company needs to be looked intyo ASAP

This is in regards to the DSA team, I’m absolutely appalled. Considering my current circumstances and the multiple emails I sent with the relevant evidence, they still kept prying for more. Sent an email stating how upset and stressed I was about the situation, the response I got was a copied and pasted email they sent to me a week before asking for the same information which I had already provided, no apology or anything. Considering they claim to want to help people, they do everything but that. They are just a shameful organisation.

Shocking website - Parents are not able to upload data in support of student claims. The helpline's advice is to keep trying as they hope the problem will be fixed - but they have no idea when the problem will be fixed.

Shocking, words can't express how frustrating this organisation is to deal with. I'm trying to pay off my child's student debt and I have conflicting amounts, I'm being passed from one department to another who have no idea what they're doing. After my phone call I had a panic attack, all I can say is when you ring make sure you have plenty of time spare as even when you get through your put on hold for long periods of time. The time I finished my call I still have no idea if my query has been resolved when I go on line to check my daughters account no action has been taken. Whoever is in charge or this organisation should stand down.

Horrendous.
They speak to you like you are absolute trash. They all give conflicting information and if you make a complaint, they tell you it is your own fault. Repeat every year for 4 years. This company shouldn't exist, they are a joke, their employees are a joke and they have made my life a misery for the duration of the time I have been at university.

Disaster, my mental health has been suffering this semester because of the uncertainty of being able to pay the bills, food, train tickets etc. Every time I call there, they tell me a different excuse for this error, it goes on for ages, university amends things 3 times as they wanted but it's NEVER enough for them. Because I was paying the rent a bit later, the landlord decided that I must move out... So thank you a lot SFW for a ruined semester (at least). Shame on you. We are bringing this to a trial if they don't give me the money I am entitled to already. It's Christmas and I haven't seen anything from them but excuses and rising interest rates for overdrafts etc.

I run a small taxi company and was getting very frustrated with the way this company actions payments to small business like mine. But there is a reason why i gave 5 stars because a young lady named Catherine manged to sort the problem in one phone call after numerous e mails not answered !!!!! Then Catherine stepped in, absolutely amazing service... I don't, as a rule leave a review, but i feel i had too given the service i was given... on a whole this company is difficult to deal with but people like Catherine make up for the shortfall.

Two months into my grant application.
No one knows what is going on, everyone I speak to tells me something different. I have submitted countless different forms of evidence to prove who I am, countless pages printed and posted (thanks to their website not working correctly) staff sending forms that are a year out of date. TWICE.
Honestly, I'd have been better off getting a credit card to pay my uni fees.
At this point the ONLY thing I haven't sent them is my full medical history and my firstborn child but I'm guessing that's what they'll ask for next.
Website is impossible, call times are abysmal, staff are friendly but really not much help (because they don't have the information)
If you like jumping through hoops, providing pointless information, wasting reams of paper and stamps and questioning your own sanity then this is the company for you! Regretfully I find all of those things stressful.

Currently awaiting a call back from a supervisor.
Not holding my breath.

I previously had no issues, but this year is awful. Late payments and when I ring, it's a 45 minute phone call with a crackly line, so I cant hear them. Each excuse is different and no actual help at all. My daughter's payment is also late and now I'm being asked for £1900 to cover her accommodation. Unite Student accommodation said it's a big problem this year. Sort it out SFW!
Update - payment now received 9 days late and updated summary now says I'm entitled to less money. Double check your entitlements in case they've made changes but not notified you.

If I could give this organisation no stars I would. Absolutely dreadful and have been for the last 4 years we have had the misfortune of having to deal with them. Have held on the line for over 45 minutes 3 times and been cut off every time. This company need to be investigated as it seems to be non accountable.

RUBBISH.
7 phone calls of over 45 mins each time and no human to talk too. NO EMAILS - it's the 21st century guys. Are these people real.
Lazy good for nothing

Terrible took me endless amount of calls to sort with half hour waiting times. At the end of University I had back-payments for the year as the forms did not go through as they should of until end of term and then I had phone calls saying that my back payments were overpayments and I had to repay which was over £2000. Got told something different by each person what a waste of time

I would give no stars if possible!
They are a nightmare, four years in uni and they managed to help sort one year of finance!
Over 100 calls and they still have not sorted it- I think they think I like calling for a chat!
Left hand doesn’t know what the right hand is doing!

100% would not recommend to anyone!

the woman put the phone down when enquiring about a change in circumstance. passed from pillar to post. feeling like i want to quit my course and this useless service seems to be run like an dodgy insurance broker. once they have you signed up they dont care enough. I am sure some of the phone people are nice and helpful but some should be unemployed unless this is company policy.

I would rate it zero if I could. I am trying to find out basic info about if my payments are set up correctly and cannot as they have not updated as per usual. Several long calls, I select for SFW and end up speaking to someone from Scotland who cannot help and puts me back in the Q to get through to someone from wales, finally speak to possibly the least intelligent advisor I have ever spoken to. Weeks later I am still none the wiser and given up. They have also page after page of links on their webpages that lead to random places and not where they should as well as their secure email and normal contact mail options not working, both pointing to each other and leading you in loops around the website. Appalling. This needs sorting asap.

BE AWARE! SFW told me one thing, recorded it correctly on my file, but now the University has pressed the buttons everything is being rejected. Basically I was lied to by SFW, and as a result the whole course I have started is in total jeopardy of being lost due to the incompetence of SFW. It has been escalated to a formal complaint, but that itself will take so long to be completed that it will be too late for this year to continue. SFW is not fit for purpose, but nothing will be done about it as per usual. No consideration at all for students, and run by a bunch of incompetents. Be aware everyone, they don't care.

Moving out of home as i have family problems. Wanted the finance process to be easy but theyre playing around with me. Bro i just want some money. Is that too much to ask for? Im just a poor and deaf student who wants to go uni so i can have a future for myself and socialise with other people.

If I could give 0 stars I would. Had nothing but trouble. Absolute nightmare of a company!!!

From different agents telling me different things to being sent incorrect forms and then being penalised for returning the wrong forms. Payments being suspended because of their error yet they wouldn’t rectify it.

And to add, Ive been waiting over a month for a complaints handler to ring me back as I’m furious with the service! All you have to do is look on google at the endless amount of bad reviews about them.

Literally just one thing after another and no one knows what they’re talking about there!!

I swear they think I like ringing them on a weekly basis!!!