getting DSA equipment

I have received my letter from the DSA and they have told me that will get apple mac laptop(mbp),book scanner, dictaphone

Do I have to use this supplier a specific supplier or I can buy the laptop from apple store and give the receipts to DSA/Student finance?

any idea if its possible to buy diffrent equipment from other stores which are not on the DSA list of suppliers? do they return the money if we buy it? :confused:

thank you

Reply 1

ExTraP

Yes you may, and I have. You can buy all or some of the items from 1 or many suppliers. It's entirely up to you. But I would strongly advise you to email them to request this and have a response from them in writing. Someone on here did something similar and is now in a dispute with them because s/he got a go ahead over the phone or sth. I have got everything in writing so if they deny it then I'd be shouting very loud at their doors. Also, I have been waiting for over a month for my claim to be processed and I am still waiting. It can take up to 6-8 weeks for them to pay you. So you have ask yourself this question, can you afford to wait that long? I don't have to pay my fees for next year till end of Sept, so I am lucky enough to I can wait.

One more thing you have to take into consideration that these DSA suppliers however useless they are, their extended warranties and insurances are very cheap. You won't be able to get the same deal anywhere else, so you'd have to work around the budget yourself. I sat down for a whole day to shop online to have worked out a way to buy everything myself with all the upgrade I wanted (I have upgraded the Mac and the scanner) and still within the agreed sum of money. Because If SFE will only pay up to the agreed amount, which is the total from the chosen supplier that should be clearly indicated on your letter.

So having gone down the route you want to go down myself, I'd say if there are upgrades you want but don't want to pay more then buy it yourself. But if you are happy with the specs and everything quoted from the chosen supplier then don't bother with it. Because looking back, it was a lot of time and troubles for me to placed over 10 orders from different places and having to wait for so many deliveries, but then I got all the upgrades I wanted without having to pay anymore money, I have even manged to save them about £150!!

Hi, thanks for the answer. So what do you suggest to email to the DSA team when asking if I can buy things from somewhere else?i defiantly would like to buy the computer from apple store ... what did you wrote to them?
Thank you

Reply 4

ExTraP

I told them the chosen supplier charges more than the retail price + VAT for the upgrades I want, so can I buy all the equipment directly from various retailers of my choice. Just make it simple, then if you are lucky enough to get a reply that makes sense (some don't, and in which case, reply and ask again until you get someone who knows what they are talking about.) They will probably send you a disclaimer stating they won't be responsible for any breakage or lost of your equipment, which is covered under the warranties not SFE anyway. And they will probably also tell you you have to ensure you buy all the necessary insurance and warranty, just reply to them to confirm you understand everything and you are good to go. Just keep in simple, I tried sending long complicated emails to them in the past and never really got any full response, coz I guess they must be very busy.

Reply 5

TedFred81

Original post by ExTraP

Does this still apply? I need to do this ? but its 2014 now not 2011 haha. Thankyou for this information

Reply 6

TedFred81

Original post by hanbok

Did it work for you Hanbok?

:redface:

Reply 7

TedFred81

Also if you are UNDER the "as stated" funding limit for a laptop and you saved yourself like £100 can you spend that on a hard drive or something or a mouse?

No!

No with an explanation mark is a bit aggressive. chill
I'm just asking a question.

This thread is old.

Original post by TedFred81

No with an explanation mark is a bit aggressive. chill
I'm just asking a question.

It was an idiotic question because as you've been told elsewhere you do not actually get any money, you get product.
Your posts annoy me because it is attitudes like yours that get DSA a bad name.