Animal Courses Direct Reviews 

Fabulous service! Dealt with Sigute on several occasions and each time she has been lovely, courteous and efficient.

I cannot express how much stress this company has caused me. I completed a course in June. My tutor told me that it could take 3-4 months for the certificate. Now 8 months down the line and I have received nothing. My course tutor was changed without letting me know so I'd been emailing the wrong person to ask for an update. Once I finally got the right person to talk to they said that the issue was not there's but with the exam board but offered no further information.
The customer service is appalling, they take days/weeks to reply (specifically someone called Ryan) and when they do reply they ignore half of the questions you've asked.
The last email I received simply told me to fill out a feedback form rather than answering any of the questions I'd asked. I asked if I could speak to someone higher up as this is getting ridiculous now - that was 3 days ago and it's been ignored.
I need that certificate and so will have to try and do another course somewhere else and when asking about a refund they said it's not their problem. I tried to look at the refund section on the website it just links back to the ts and cs with no mention of actual refunds. I am honestly beginning to think the website is a con and it's sending my mental health through the roof.

Ryan was super dooper helpful, very professional & responded quickly when I was having a panic. Give the boy a pay rise, he was bloody brilliant!!

Course itself was well laid out, enjoyed the learning material and the assignments, tutor, marking and feedback was very satisfactory. My issue is with the fact that I completed my Level 3 course back in July 2023 and despite chasing for my certificate over the phone and via email on multiple occasions I have heard absolutely zero response. I have been on hold for over 15 minutes on multiple occasions with nobody answering the phone, despite them stating on the hold music that they will answer on average within 5 minutes. I have also sent 2 emails to student success in December and January (a month apart) and still no answer. Me and my partner were opening a Dog Day Care and we can't obtain our license without this. Really poor customer service and still no sign of my certificate. Don't think the company fully appreciates or understands the impact these issues have on people's personal lives/business'/ finances. Very disappointing. Would not recommend or use again. Hopefully will obtain my certificate soon otherwise I think I'll have to approach their regulator to make a formal complaint for them to investigate. They shouldn't be allowed to work as a regulated course provider with such poor customer service/certificate timescales.

**Update** It is now May 24. Coming up to 11 months after course completion and still NO certificate. DO NOT PURCHASE A COURSE FROM THIS COMPANY. Customer service have no responded for 5 months straight. After opening complaint with their regulator I have finally received a response which states they’re having problems with their certification process and are unsure when i will receive my certificate. AVOID AT ALL COSTS.

i brought a course with animal courses direct back in august 2023 to complete my training for L3 award in aquatic treadmill for canine hydrotherapy.
after signing up and confirming with my tutor it was clear to see there was no theory element for this course which is very worrying! there was 1 practical day i needed to get booked in on and i was repeatedly told courses will be out next week etc. then i was told they'd be out in January, January has come and they wont have the dates till spring. you get the idea lots of false promises.
i have regularly been trying to get through to there complaints line who ignore your emails and don't address your points and have regularly tried to ask for a refund and get ignored
it has been so worrying and stressful that i have lost over £400 for a course i thought i could trust. i would NEVER recommend animal courses direct!

Would not recommend this company. The man I spoke to was very quick to get the deposit off me WHICH I STILL HAVE NOT RECEIVED AS A REFUND after calling multiple times to request my money back, was not given guidance on what to expect from the course he was just interested in getting the payment. I did not receive any replies to emails I sent after I applied. They only seem to care about the money, not you.

Good course content, and felt I learnt a lot from doing the course I did not know previously. The assessments were manageable, and again covered the essential things I would need to know to run a dog training business. My tutor, Karen was supportive throughout and marked things quickly and in detail. Some of the course content felt slightly too in depth for what I would require (in terms of anatomy and physiology, however appreciate some others going into slightly different career paths may benefit from this more).

Tutor feedback from Karen Marsh was informative and positive with an impressively quick turnaround. The learning platform is functional with no apparent bugs. Assignments were clear with support where needed.

Jake called me after I made an enquiry about an online course, he was extremely helpful and went into detail about everything and made sure I understood how it all works. Nice to know that they want you to understand everything before you enrol.

I completed a two hour webinar course. The content is simple to follow and portal is simple although not very user friendly. However I still have not received my e-certificate which is needed for insurance and business purposes. Efforts to contact customer service have so far been met with either no response or rude staff. DO NOT USE.

Generally a good course but do feel like the course material could be written a little better/put in a better order, all just seems a bit random sometimes and jumps from subject to subject and back again and also a bit disappointed when course material is just links/PDF files off Fitzpatrick website for an example.
Easy way to complete a course though when you're working with it being all distance learning, a lot of subjects covered and all modules have been marked and returned very quickly by Ariane.

Would not recommend, took over 2 months to get money owed to me refunded, very poor customer service and only got a resolution when I posted a review here.

I have been extremely impressed with the level of customer service I have received from learn direct and wouldn't hesitate to recommend them for anyone wishing to study.

My persona tutor, Claire Cummings was absolutely amazing with her support and kindness. I had some personal problems whilst doing the course, which meant it took me longer than expected to complete. But Claire encouraged and supported me and I was able to finish. I am looking forward to receiving my certificate and will then be looking for my next course with Learn Direct. Thank you!!

I finished my course in July and still waiting for my certificate. I finally received an email to say my name wasn't even on the awarding list. I did chase regularly and got no response.
Shocking.
Please refund me in full s I can do the course with a professional company and get my award. I need this for my license.

A mistake I made with uploading files for my course. Was emailed quickly about me asking how to go about ratifying it. Within a few days of my mistake it was quickly and easily sorted.

DO NOT USE

Terrible customer service, took money even after cancelling. Down A LOT of money because of them. DO NOT USE.

Response after their reply:
Animal Courses Direct do not reply to emails in a timely manner. They only replied to me once I left a negative review on this website. I tried to contact them multiple times via website, email and phone - but never had a reply and spent too long on hold.
My cancellation and refund was required due to mental health and financial difficulties. The modules I 'completed' were not credited ones, because they make you do irrelevant exercises before you can access proper content. Due to ill health I am not able to complete course and therefore have exceptional circumstances in which a refund should be given.
Again, I stress, do not use their services they are just money grabbing and not values led nor do they care about 'student' welfare.

You made me feel so comfortable and that on the phone ! You was so lovely !

It was great experience to learn and work on this course with the great help of my tutor Miss. Karen Marsh. I really enjoyed it. Thank you!

Despite my 30 years of experience with canines and being a second-generation canine professional, I successfully completed the course alongside obtaining my Dog Breeding License. This educational experience provided me with several surprising and valuable insights, making it a truly intriguing journey. The flexibility of self-paced learning accommodated my hectic daily schedule, making it a great asset. I'm delighted I chose to take this course and eagerly anticipate receiving my final grades and certificate. I higly recommend the course.

Great course and I felt that I learnt a lot. Tutors marked the work quickly giving great feedback and what I needed to do to resubmit any work.