DSA needs assessment on Monday

OP

Right, a question that I have been confuseed about since day 1 as some of you already know I have been fussing about it. I need to be able to buy the computer myself as they suppliers have said that the screen I want doesn't exist which in fact it does. So no good of going to any of the suppliers on my reports asking for an upgrade as it seems like they still live in the stone age. I have asked my needs assessor about it, he says they are OK with it but I would have to inform SFE myself. The DSA term has told me I would have to get my needs assessor to ask SFE on my behalf. Most weirdly, my own university's disability advisor says it's impossible for us to upgrade, add or buy anything other then what has been recommanded, well she is a F...ing loser anyway, and she is trying to convince to use a supplier that works with the our uni?

So anyway, just how does it work if I want to buy some equipment myself? jonnyiselectric, your claim for reimbursement of costs letter sounds like what I will need, if you don't mind me asking, did you ask for that? Or is that for claiming back allowances for books, printings etc etc?

Has anybody been able to get their equipment not throught any of the suppliers stated on your reports recently? As in with SFE not the old LEAs.

Cheers

PS: it kind of makes me feel important that my thread is popular... I know, I am stupid, ain't I?

Reply 144

25095514

Original post by diamonddust

I really don't think the computer will have the internet, so no.
Do you have slow writing or illegible writing or something?

My centre is making me send evidence and proof of entitlement.

all the computers in my faculty are on the internet, ive never used the internet, but ive never been told not to.
i am neither a slow writer or a really bad writer, the only thing i can think of is to write notes on it for my working out.

Reply 145

25095514

i was stupid when they asked me if i needed a laptop, i said no! btw i dont have a laptop, justa massive pc i cant lug round with me.

Reply 146

Original post by jonnyiselectric

I just got my "Claim for Reimbursement of Costs" letter from SFE, but I haven't got my quote confirmation yet . Did you get your confirmation the same time?

I haven't had the Claim for Reimbursement form. I suspect it's a good thing though.

Original post by ExTraP

Right, a question that I have been confuseed about since day 1 as some of you already know I have been fussing about it. I need to be able to buy the computer myself as they suppliers have said that the screen I want doesn't exist which in fact it does. So no good of going to any of the suppliers on my reports asking for an upgrade as it seems like they still live in the stone age. I have asked my needs assessor about it, he says they are OK with it but I would have to inform SFE myself. The DSA term has told me I would have to get my needs assessor to ask SFE on my behalf. Most weirdly, my own university's disability advisor says it's impossible for us to upgrade, add or buy anything other then what has been recommanded, well she is a F...ing loser anyway, and she is trying to convince to use a supplier that works with the our uni?

So anyway, just how does it work if I want to buy some equipment myself? jonnyiselectric, your claim for reimbursement of costs letter sounds like what I will need, if you don't mind me asking, did you ask for that? Or is that for claiming back allowances for books, printings etc etc?

Has anybody been able to get their equipment not throught any of the suppliers stated on your reports recently? As in with SFE not the old LEAs.

Cheers

PS: it kind of makes me feel important that my thread is popular... I know, I am stupid, ain't I?

Excuse the nonsense I'm about to babble and if I miss anything - it's early and I'm detoxing from caffeine (I've already bumped my head three times from wooziness). If you want something and it's been agreed by your assessor then you need them to contact SFE to confirm that you can have it (your assessor is paid a small fortune - make them work for it!). If SFE say yes then you can go out and buy that piece of equipment and then send them a receipt to be reimbursed. They could also ask you to order it from *your* chosen supplier and then have the supplier invoice SFE instead. Keep pestering student finance. It really helps.

And your thread is awesome! It makes me feel less alone in this whole stupidly complex system.

Original post by lozzyhickers

Ah ok! Pretty simple then :smile:

May I ask what you've ordered? And how long did it take you to get through that process?

I have a MacBook Pro, printer, scanner, voice recorder and the allowances. My assessment was on the 16th February, SFE said yes on Monday morning, my supplier emailed me back on Tuesday morning, I'm calling them today to add a few things and then it'll be here this time next week. The hardest bit was the waiting for SFE but once you have the go ahead they're pretty quick - my laptop is having its last bits of software installed today (I have a pretty complex setup (the joy of being a computer scientist) and it's only taken them a couple of days to have it ready for me.

I just ordered a pile of textbooks - I've been really unwell recently (and its self inflicted too which is worse - I came off meds cold turkey without my doctors knowledge) and my anxiety and OCD is so far off the roof that I can't even spend time with people I know and like. Going to the library is now not just incredibly difficult - it's impossible so getting books out and/or revising in there just won't happen. I hope SFE will email me back today about whether I can claim for the books :frown:

(hypomania ftl!)

Reply 147

OP

So basically, there is no point me asking SFE at the moment then? Coz I feel like I am being passed back and fore (surprise surprise!!).

Am I correct to think this:

I wait for SFE to get back to me on what they agree to fund, once I get the letter, I tell my needs assessor that I want this particular supplier recommended by my uni instead of the 3 stated on my report as they are London based and they work with our own uni, plus I want to buy the laptop myself, which the assessor has already agreed. And they will have to pass on the message to SFE on my behalf? And then I wait longer for SFE to agree on these? Or can I get the ball rolling as soon as my assessor has agreed with all the above? He does get back to me very quickly but SFE... well, we all know the rest,

And yes, I was feeling quite bad asking to many questions until I found out how much they get paid, mine was abour £650... I am going to make this £650 worth every penny. After all, some of it, however little it is, is the taxes I have been paid for the past years. I am such an evil person!

Reply 148

Original post by ExTraP

So basically, there is no point me asking SFE at the moment then? Coz I feel like I am being passed back and fore (surprise surprise!!).

Am I correct to think this:

I wait for SFE to get back to me on what they agree to fund, once I get the letter, I tell my needs assessor that I want this particular supplier recommended by my uni instead of the 3 stated on my report as they are London based and they work with our own uni, plus I want to buy the laptop myself, which the assessor has already agreed. And they will have to pass on the message to SFE on my behalf? And then I wait longer for SFE to agree on these? Or can I get the ball rolling as soon as my assessor has agreed with all the above? He does get back to me very quickly but SFE... well, we all know the rest,

And yes, I was feeling quite bad asking to many questions until I found out how much they get paid, mine was abour £650... I am going to make this £650 worth every penny. After all, some of it, however little it is, is the taxes I have been paid for the past years. I am such an evil person!

If your assessor gets back so quickly then ask them to add your uni's supplier as one of their quotes. Once SFE picks one of them you can either agree with them or agree to pay the difference between the two quotes. I had the option to switch to another supplier if I wanted their equipment instead of the recommended one but it'd cost me.

Luckily the one they have gone with is the fastest and easiest to change. They've helped me switch out my keyboard (they quoted for a standard wireless keyboard but I'm paying extra to have an Apple one - it'd upset me having a black keyboard when everything else is Apple) so I'm just paying the difference. I'm so glad it's almost over... the whole process is so stressful and confusing. SFE could do so much to make it less confusing!

Reply 149

lozzyhickers

17

Original post by snoogy

I have a MacBook Pro, printer, scanner, voice recorder and the allowances. My assessment was on the 16th February, SFE said yes on Monday morning, my supplier emailed me back on Tuesday morning, I'm calling them today to add a few things and then it'll be here this time next week. The hardest bit was the waiting for SFE but once you have the go ahead they're pretty quick - my laptop is having its last bits of software installed today (I have a pretty complex setup (the joy of being a computer scientist) and it's only taken them a couple of days to have it ready for me.

I just ordered a pile of textbooks - I've been really unwell recently (and its self inflicted too which is worse - I came off meds cold turkey without my doctors knowledge) and my anxiety and OCD is so far off the roof that I can't even spend time with people I know and like. Going to the library is now not just incredibly difficult - it's impossible so getting books out and/or revising in there just won't happen. I hope SFE will email me back today about whether I can claim for the books :frown:

(hypomania ftl!)

Ah ok, hopefully SFE will approve mine pretty quick, or I might not get it all until September at least!
Thank you and sorry for all the questions :colondollar:

It's just that i've found the whole process so confusing!

(edited 12 years ago)

Reply 150

Original post by lozzyhickers

Ah ok, hopefully SFE will approve mine pretty quick, or I might not get it all until September at least!
Thank you and sorry for all the question s :colondollar:

Questions are good! It helps to ask others - I know I've asked a fair few and I'm constantly emailing SFE, my LEA and my suppliers. My assessment report was with SFE for about 3 weeks before I heard back and that included bank holidays so it shouldn't take too long. Mine took longer because I transferred from my LEA to SFE half way through everything.

I'm just awaiting one last email back and it'll all be done. My girlfriend can then call them up to arrange delivery/payment and all will be good :biggrin:

Reply 151

lozzyhickers

17

Original post by snoogy

Questions are good! It helps to ask others - I know I've asked a fair few and I'm constantly emailing SFE, my LEA and my suppliers. My assessment report was with SFE for about 3 weeks before I heard back and that included bank holidays so it shouldn't take too long. Mine took longer because I transferred from my LEA to SFE half way through everything.

I'm just awaiting one last email back and it'll all be done. My girlfriend can then call them up to arrange delivery/payment and all will be good :biggrin:

Ah ok then :smile:

Reply 152

OP

Original post by snoogy

If your assessor gets back so quickly then ask them to add your uni's supplier as one of their quotes. Once SFE picks one of them you can either agree with them or agree to pay the difference between the two quotes. I had the option to switch to another supplier if I wanted their equipment instead of the recommended one but it'd cost me.

Luckily the one they have gone with is the fastest and easiest to change. They've helped me switch out my keyboard (they quoted for a standard wireless keyboard but I'm paying extra to have an Apple one - it'd upset me having a black keyboard when everything else is Apple) so I'm just paying the difference. I'm so glad it's almost over... the whole process is so stressful and confusing. SFE could do so much to make it less confusing!

Right, I am afriad it might be too late, as my uni had only told me 10 days after the report was sent to SFE, I could get the assessor to send an updated report, but then with the simple minded SFE, I best not.

So if the quote from our uni supplier is cheaper then it should be no problem? I think they would be as I think there must be some dodgy deal between the uni and them. My disability advisor told me to ignore then suppliers and send their supplier my report and the rest will be taken care of, maybe they do a price match? :confused:

I guess I better stay put for now and see what happens. And to be honest, as long as I get the replace the anit-glare screen (funder by SFE or not, I don't mind) and ideally get it directly from Apple (for the apple care) instead of the horrible 3rd party technical support then the rest of the stuff can't really go wrong. Maybe I will give the uni supplier a call and see if they can explain further as they should have more experience than us.

I hope they don't pick the cheapest supplier on the report, not because I want expensive stuff (well, all 3 quotes are pretty much the same apart from prices) but i have found a few flaws on the quotes like I would get 3 keyboards and 2 mice? But no laptop stand. And they also want to prove 2 different tech support for the computer... and yet they are still chepaest. It's just not right.

I really need to learn not to write long wordy posts... :colondollar:

Reply 153

Original post by ExTraP

Right, I am afriad it might be too late, as my uni had only told me 10 days after the report was sent to SFE, I could get the assessor to send an updated report, but then with the simple minded SFE, I best not.

So if the quote from our uni supplier is cheaper then it should be no problem? I think they would be as I think there must be some dodgy deal between the uni and them. My disability advisor told me to ignore then suppliers and send their supplier my report and the rest will be taken care of, maybe they do a price match? :confused:

I guess I better stay put for now and see what happens. And to be honest, as long as I get the replace the anit-glare screen (funder by SFE or not, I don't mind) and ideally get it directly from Apple (for the apple care) instead of the horrible 3rd party technical support then the rest of the stuff can't really go wrong. Maybe I will give the uni supplier a call and see if they can explain further as they should have more experience than us.

I hope they don't pick the cheapest supplier on the report, not because I want expensive stuff (well, all 3 quotes are pretty much the same apart from prices) but i have found a few flaws on the quotes like I would get 3 keyboards and 2 mice? But no laptop stand. And they also want to prove 2 different tech support for the computer... and yet they are still chepaest. It's just not right.

I really need to learn not to write long wordy posts... :colondollar:

Okay, I'd wait for SFE to get back with you. If they choose somebody you're okay with, even if there's errors, email the supplier directly to correct the errors. The supplier should be able to advise you on the screen upgrade - even if they can't provide it they'll give you options. If you don't like their choice then get your uni supplier to create a quote and send that to SFE with a request to switch to them and a letter from your uni saying they're suggesting it. SFE don't care how you get the equipment as long as it's cheap and easy for them.

I've just heard back from my supplier... they want to charge me £20 + VAT for the Apple remote. It costs £15 directly from Apple!

Reply 154

OP

I have just had a reply from the DSA team saying they are happy for me to buy my stuff from whenever I like, as long as it doesn't go over what they agree to fund, fair and I knew it. And I take care of the warranty and insurance etc.

I have just spoken to the uni supplier and they said they will price match whatever SFE agrees to fund... business is hard these days, huh? They said all they need is the list of items and prices SFE agree to fund, and they will take care of the rest. And they also said it'd be no problem to get the anti glare screen for me. Finally, a supplier is kept up to date with what is actually going on in the real world. I guess based on this, I am likely to go with them. In case anything goes wrong, I have my uni DA to get on the case however useless she is.

These DSA suppliers are very expensive, like I have said before, they are already VAT exempted and yet still be more expensive than most high street store. So I am not surprised that they wanna charge you £20+ for a remote. So you gonna go for it or you just gonna buy it from the Apple Store?

Reply 155

Original post by ExTraP

I have just had a reply from the DSA team saying they are happy for me to buy my stuff from whenever I like, as long as it doesn't go over what they agree to fund, fair and I knew it. And I take care of the warranty and insurance etc.

I have just spoken to the uni supplier and they said they will price match whatever SFE agrees to fund... business is hard these days, huh? They said all they need is the list of items and prices SFE agree to fund, and they will take care of the rest. And they also said it'd be no problem to get the anti glare screen for me. Finally, a supplier is kept up to date with what is actually going on in the real world. I guess based on this, I am likely to go with them. In case anything goes wrong, I have my uni DA to get on the case however useless she is.

These DSA suppliers are very expensive, like I have said before, they are already VAT exempted and yet still be more expensive than most high street store. So I am not surprised that they wanna charge you £20+ for a remote. So you gonna go for it or you just gonna buy it from the Apple Store?

That's pretty awesome :biggrin:

Congrats on getting it all worked out!

I'm gonna get it from the Apple store I think. Definitely not getting it from them. Everything about my order is all over the place.. my training is coming to my mum's house, my equipment coming to mine but they've said I'm not allowed to touch it until somebody comes to open it for me. My computer randomly bursts into flames (and I wish I was joking!) and I have work due in on Thursday... I don't have the time to be waiting around :mad:

Reply 156

OP

I will believe in everything is sorted once everything is actually sorted. They can say whatever they like but I have a feeling once it gets to actually getting things done, it's not gonna be smooth.

Why can't you open the stuff? Coz they think you don't know how to use a knife to cut open the boxes? You might break the scanner just taking it out? Yout hurt yourself if you plug in the printer without a technician? They are stupid. Hahaha... if they told me the same thing, I would jus laugh and ignore them, I am probably better at setting up tech things than them anyway. Oh, maybe I should set SFE a quote about setting up things by myself for myself, this way, I could earn a few quids by just following instruction on the screen!!! I think my suppliers all charge £100+ for doing this, tax money going down the toilet.

Reply 157

Original post by ExTraP

I will believe in everything is sorted once everything is actually sorted. They can say whatever they like but I have a feeling once it gets to actually getting things done, it's not gonna be smooth.

Why can't you open the stuff? Coz they think you don't know how to use a knife to cut open the boxes? You might break the scanner just taking it out? Yout hurt yourself if you plug in the printer without a technician? They are stupid. Hahaha... if they told me the same thing, I would jus laugh and ignore them, I am probably better at setting up tech things than them anyway. Oh, maybe I should set SFE a quote about setting up things by myself for myself, this way, I could earn a few quids by just following instruction on the screen!!! I think my suppliers all charge £100+ for doing this, tax money going down the toilet.

It's even more ironic as I'm a computer scientist. I can build computers ffs but nope, I can't open that box. It'll invalidate my insurance. I think it's another excuse to make £150 for "installation" fees. It's a laptop! There's no installation involved! :rolleyes:

So now I'll lose a day of proper revision because I have to have my tech installed.

Reply 158

OP

hahaha... sorry I know it's not funny... well, it is, but at least we are on the same boat. I have just got the funding letter this evening and they are telling me the same nonsense... I am quite annoyed SFE did pick the suuplier I know have problems, they have qouted a Mac model that doesn't exist anymore hence they are cheap. Now I am either stuck with a glossy screen of a backlog computer (nothing wrong with the spce, just the can't be changed anymore), or make up the difference for a new model than an anti glare screen can be fitted... And the thing I don't understand the most is, why did they recommand a top spec computer anyway? I barely need half the speed with a bit of photoshop and video editing.

I am gonna have such fun when the guys come round to install my tech stuff, I am very good at many people's lives hell. When are they going roudn to yours?

Reply 159