Consortium Education Reviews 

Awful service!! Buy from elsewhere!!
Two months ago we ordered chairs and four tables for our nursery. Only the chairs arrived when stated.
We had to chase the order. We did not receive a call back.
A new delivery date was set. (2weeks later)
Only two tables arrived.
We had to chase the order. We did not receive a call back....
We had to chase the order again and again. We did not receive calls back.
A new date a month later was given (our children eating lunch off a mat on the floor) fun for them. Not for our backs!
Again the tables did not arrive on that date or the weeks after.
We had to chase the order. We did not receive a call back.
Multiple times we asked to speak to a manger or someone with authority but noone called back. After two months we got fed up and stated we wanted a refund their customer service was poor and pointless they obviously had no idea where are tables were and couldn't look for them. Ridiculous!!

Awful service does not send order confirmations or updates on out-of-stock items, impossible to get through on the customer service phone number, just puts you on a constant loop until you give up! Poor response to emails with no resolution on queries or issues raised and even though we cancelled all our orders & sourced elsewhere they still sent them 3 weeks later and now cannot arrange a return. We will never use again. AVOID AVOID AVOID!

This company used to be great - fair prices, next day delivery but now they have completely fallen to pieces. Been told today that and order I placed 2 weeks for items IN STOCK might not be delivered for 'several more weeks' and that no delivery date could be even estimated.
I now urge you to AVOID at all costs.

If I could have given zero stars, I would have. I've been struggling with this company for months, we ordered school exercise books in June and they had still not been delivered well into the new term. We decided to return what we had and buy from another supplier which arrived the very next day. Still trying to get credit notes to sort out the mess. Even their statements have the incorrect figures, but trying to get someone to talk to about it is like getting blood out of a stone. They promise you a call back within 24 hour, this never happens. They encourage you to email your enquiries to hello@consortium, but again they do not reply. I am sorry I ever heard the name Consortium and urge anyone thinking of using them to think again and read the reviews before you end up tearing your hair out.

I have been using Consortium for years for school and have found that ordering online, paying by credit card and being able to see delivery dates straight away to be really good. However, all this changed at the beginning of 2022. Orders can no longer be placed online, card payments are not accepted, emailed orders don't get actioned and communication is virtually impossible. I am still waiting for items ordered in June 22. Their promise is that emails will be answered within 24 hours but in reality, they have such a backlog of emails that this doesn't happen. It appears that the company is in real chaos. I will not be using Consortium again unless their customer services improves dramatically. There are so many alternative suppliers that offer far superior service.

I can only agree with the majority of reviews here. Awful service since the beginning of 2022.

We placed a huge school order on 1 July and are still waiting for half of it. No communication at all.

More frustrating is the lack of information on your account/orders placed.

We will not be using again.

Wish I had seen these reviews before placing an order in June for school purchases.
After e-mailing, calling, leaving my number for a return call and holding for an hour I have still not had any communication from customer services.
By far the worst company I have ever dealt with
Late delivery, short on stock, no invoice received, still waiting as of today.

Service went to the dogs 6 months ago after a botched website 'upgrade'. I'd be concerned they are about to go bankrupt so don't pay anything until you actually have the goods.
IT systems are in a mess. They merged my account with a local school so they see me as the organisation but send them all my invoices and statements. Their new system is now creating random orders - we have received 27 boxes of goods that weren't ordered by me or the school. That's over £600 they are invoicing me, when they are fairly sure that nobody actually placed this order.
Delivery timings have been a mess for ages - took nearly 3 months for a box of blu-tack to arrive so its not difficult to find things they are messing up on.

We've only managed to get through on the phone twice since May. If you want them to answer an email, send it then take to Twitter and post something negative. Seems to get a response within a few days.

Update: They have now admitted that their systems are placing orders at random. We have over £600 of stock we never ordered cluttering the place up. As far as they are concerned, if its damaged or disposed of I will be liable even though their system is placing fake orders.

** DO NOT USE THIS COMPANY*** The Consortium education website and service used to be wonderful. The service is now non existent, no order confirmation notes, no dispatch notices, no names for departments on the boxes delivered to try and get to the correct department, orders placed in May 2022 still not delivered in August 2022. Customer services try and help but the system that they have been given sounds like it is shocking for them to try and give details out too! For a company that should be supplying schools, they should understand the logistics of school ordering. Orders placed at the beginning of September (especially large ones) are made to restock the school site for the September term - to be told that you might not have these resources until Christmas is an absolute farce! The service doesn't even deserve one star!!!!!!

DO NOT USE THIS COMPANY. As a charitable organization the business I work for have been using this company for years with no issues until the last year or so. Unable to check orders/view any account history. Customer service is awful. On top of all that orders placed months ago never arrived and now we are recieving huge orders that we never even placed!! I would say 10 large, heavy boxes in total so far. We are now turning away boxes that are arriving. Apparently it is a system error on their side... what a joke!

Terrible!
My patience ran out after over 3 months of very poor customer service. I have cancelled my order and will not be using this company again.

Without a doubt, the worst service I have ever received.
Take my advice - go elsewhere!

Simply the worst. Cancelling our school account.

Unfortunately over the last few years the customer service has dropped to being non existent. This company is truly truly awful, late deliveries, wrong items sent, damaged items. You also cannot call and speak to anyone now, you get a call centre who every time apologise and 'guarantee' you a call back either same day r within 48 hours, well in all 6 months or so they've been doing it like this I must have called on maybe 12 occasions and have NEVER received a call back! Also basic items like pens and paper are consistently out of stock but they often don't advise this until you've been waiting weeks.

took £500 from our dept budget, sent the wrong items and won't correspond to sort it out, appalling

Poor customer service, high prices and lack of availability! Deliveries never arrive and online orders sit in the system.

I’m giving one star but they actually deserve zero. What a hopeless company for customer service and communication. Phones never answered. Like NEVER answered. Emails not read or responded to. Orders don’t arrive. But you can guarantee you’ll still be invoiced. Lately they’ve also started leaking data breaking GDPR rules. Hopeless. Totally hopeless. We still have unresolved issues with them but our Trust with 4 schools, who used to spend quite a lot of money with them, have now given up and now use a much better, reliable supplier who knows what good customer service means. Oh and they’re now known as RM Resources. Same people. Same rubbish.

We have experienced very poor service. Wrong items delivered or not delivered at all. Unable to get a response from emails or telephone calls. At a loss to know how to contact this company to sort out their errors. Have now cancelled our direct debit with them & will not be using them again.

I have tried to be patient with this company but 'enough is enough'!!! Waiting up to an hour on the telephone to speak to anyone, repeated promises to get issues sorted, waiting months for orders.
Moving lock, stock & barrel to another company!!!!

Absolutely appalling! Ordered books in January and have had multiple promises for delivery.
It is impossible to contact them on the phone - on hold for an hour; 40 minutes.
We are now looking for alternative suppliers as schools cannot run on this service.