Citizensadvice Reviews 

I went to the Bury & Bolton Citizens advice centre, after a housing dispute in another Borough. They offered to assist only to misrepresent me and failed to assist at a later stage. They hindered my time as I had 21 days to apply to a tribunal court for a second housing appeal. The housing solicitor fobbed me off after making me fill out Legal aid forms knowing full well they were not going to assist me in my case. I then took the complaint of false misrepresentation to their CEO and took it to report the case to the Solicitors Regulation Authority or SRA then to the Legal Ombudsman. They want to defund this particular branch, as the staff are extremely unhelpful and it is not fit for purpose for public use.

SLOW, SLOW & SLOWEST!!! BUREAUCRATS WITH AN ALLERGY TO WORK.

WAITED TWO MONTHS BEFORE CONTACTED! THEN, WHEN AGREED WE'D DO THIS VIA PHONE, GET EMAIL ASKING ME TO PHYSICALLY ATTEND...VERY UNPROFESSIONAL.

CLOSE IT DOWN...WASTE OF TAXPAYER MONEY.

Impossible to use chat - no advisors available. 20 minutes on hold with horrible whistling music. I am autistic and it made me want to scream. Keeps telling you to try the website, with its simple and irrelevant advice. Frustrating and utterly useless.

Waste of time, just lied to me when I asked about parking easements and didn't want to help.... They just couldn't be bothered and bad attitude.

I think that unless you get a face to face meeting with one of their advisors, then trying to communicate by phone or email is a waste of time.

My experience is that they never return a call or reply to emails once the case is passed to a local office.

Once a case is passed on to an advisor it is forgotten about and that's the last you'll hear from them.

After a bad experience with a website I was looking for some advice and hoping it would get escalated to trading standards. I filled out the form and got a response saying they would reply within 5 days. It's now over two weeks later and I still haven't had a reply making them even worse at answering emails than the original company I wanted help with! Waste of time using them.

Update: still waiting for the reply five weeks later!

Update: May 2025 now, still waiting for a reply! Obviously no care for customers being effected by unlawful businesses.

Waste of time! Called 3 times( after waiting on line between 30 to 40 mins!) one day last week because of a serious situation with a PCP bought car. None of the 3 people were unable to give any actual, helpful advice. The first man just ended the conversation abruptly after 15 mins, the second man gave a phone number to book for a face to face app, phone number that did not have any option for such a thing, nor does the Taunton CA phone number have such an option. Literally going in circles.
The third staff was, a woman, was absolutely rude, passive aggressive, over speaking me, not letting me tell my story.

Totally useless. It's impossible to talk to anyone. Even today I was on hold for over an hour, listening to that music that makes you even more stressed and annoyed than you are, after over an hour they decided that they were closed and cut the call off. I waited all that time and didn't manage to talk to anyone, again. And it was only 13 00 when they said they were closed, but on Friday they supposed to close at 15 30.
I got section 21, I might end up in the street as I have nowhere to go, I m jobless and sick, but between the council and citizens advice I am not getting any help. I paid taxes for 30 years in this country and this is what I get back for once I need serious help.
Not impressed. Total disappointment!
If end up in the street, I ll camp in front of their offices and remind them every day that thanks to their "help" I m homeless now...
It's really a lonely world....nobody here to help the poor ones. If you can't help yourself, noonelse will...definitely no CA!!!

Just moved into a new property been hard of for cash as I had to pay weeks rent in advance after being homeless 8months in a tent only wanted advise to see what I can do to get financial help for heating as I'm on oil not gas and I couldn't get through to anyone period put me through to an operator and terminated the call on me tf is going on!!!!!:@

I phoned very early so i managed to speak to someone who couldn't advise so she told me to hold as she needs to consult whith a senior colleague, after an hour holding i gave up. It use to be ok be it on the phone or face to face but got much worse in the last couple of years or so.
Today was pretty desastrous and not even worth criticising or talking about. They should choose volonteers that are a bit more educated and train them better otherwise they'll sink into oblivion even though they're getting money from the government and no longer a charitable organisation.

Appalling service (or lack of)!! Waited 1.5 hours on the phone to then have the call terminated to say there is no one to answer my call. Not fit for purpose by the looks of things. Maybe the government could put some money into the UK services that really matter in this country!

Don’t use that crap. I paid donation and ask a question with full details. This is an answer I git from them:
„Hello! That information was on the Social Security website. I suggest you make the application and see what response you get”

Pathetic service, scam taking donations for nothing… Don’t even bother to contact them.

Nobody there to answer the call. This leaves people extremely anxious.

I was a bit confused as to whom I was supposed to be dealt with. The CAB in Cupar, Fife cancelled the telephone call I was going to be getting on Thursday but still wanted documents etc as they are challenging the ADS for cutting my benefit. I went to the place today and was rather shocked and disgusted there was no disabled access. I guess we are second class citizens. Luckily there was a staff member smoking outside the door so I gave them to him. As one other person said that was a place which should have disabled access, crazy. Maybe it’s Fife council who are at fault. Wouldn’t surprise me. Also I don’t think the decision will be reversed but at least the CAB are trying. I suppose I am cured of all my ills.Oh, and was advised you can wait an hour easy to get through.

Never give them your real adress be prepared for snail slow wait times and for the call getting through and being told by a recorded message that you can't leave a message . To get a call back. Only a simple mind would believe that it's all due to government cut backs . The logistical management of such bell end charities or the quality of managers is never questioned as parliament is stuffed full of the same profiteering parasites . Who once Friday comes get to go shopping in Waitrose and put their feet up in the comfort of their own .
Left right and centre Britain is a corrupt nation and our economy a milking cow for the generational middle and upper classes

I have been having trouble reaching the Citizen's Advice office. I used to go to the Birmingham branch and would arrive early to ensure I received the best assistance from their experienced staff. However, the Birmingham branch has since closed, and now I have to rely on phone consultations. Unfortunately, trying to reach them by phone often results in long wait times, sometimes up to an hour then the phone cut out, especially when dealing with housing issues. On top of that, I recently received incorrect advice from a staff member who seemed unsure of their information. This led to a lot of back and forth with their colleagues, causing further frustration. It seems that the lack of staff and resources has made it difficult to get the same level of support as before. I am not sure why the Birmingham branch closed, but I have heard that the staff at the Chelsea Wood and Solihull branches are more knowledgeable and helpful. I have visited the Chelsea Wood branch once, but unfortunately, they were unable to assist me as I was outside of their service area. This has left me feeling frustrated and unsure of where to turn for reliable advice.

I rang fife citizens advice phone line yesterday & although the phone lines were very busy when I got through to a lovely woman called Hayley & I was very pleased with her assistance and she helped me with what I needed.
(Will call back another time at an earlier time as Monday morning very busy).

40 minutes waiting and the male person cut off not bothered before I could explain my serious problem
Not very good or helpful at all

Beccles CAB
I trained to be an adviser and received no training.
I found the other staff judgemental.
I do not recommend anyone to work there.
I was treated unfairly by management.

Ruthin C.A.B. Useless, without getting too deep have been battling agoraphobia around 20years, I used to get help from women's aid, (until covid shut down caused such a huge increase in the number of women needing their help and they were overwhelmed. So after my husband left, I was rightly no longer in immediate danger so they needed to concentrate on those that were.) So I've plodded along trying to get by and force myself to start getting back out there. I'm very tech-lexic, no matter how much I try or others try to teach me technology stuff, I can't seem to do it and it re triggers my anxiety and ptsd, ( the world is a completely different set up to when I was last out there - back in the days of paper forms etc!) 4years later after struggling and forcing myself back outside now a little more at ease around people, and found myself a job (albeit thats pleasantries, not all this computer and phone calls type things which I don't understand and standstill struggle and panic with) Hence, i needed help to change to working tax credits as I've been living off child tax credits . I explained all this to the woman, who didn't have a clue about anything-even less than me and I'm pretty useless myself! So she spent around half an hour huffing and puffing without much interaction. faffing with her computer , then left the room for 15 mins to chat with a manager, finally came back told me to phone tax credits myself and apply for universal credit....Which id already told her I can't do that, I'm not eligible for it (another back story why) and cant do the phoning without having a panic attack.That's why I came to get help from them ,who used to help me along with women's aid to do these kind of confusing things. And as I'm not entitled to 'U C' and I can't cover my bills, I needed advice what can I do, just nothing. No advice no help just passed me a phone number to 'U C' helpline. So what are the citizens advice there for if they don't help or advise just fob you off, leaving you more confused and terrified, than you were before seeking their zero help, not having a clue where to turn next. Oh but they do get all your personal and private detail as the cost of seeking their apparent help. Apologies for long rant I'm so gob smacked and frustrated. I really can't believe how clueless the woman was. Why not hire people who know what they're doing. My gosh, haven't a clue what to do now lest be made homeless with my kids because I can only work 16 hrs a week can't get benefits and don't earn enough to pay the bills. Don't know where to turn for help and advice now. Just wow, I'm flabbergasted. Thanks for wasted time, reignited ptsd ,for zero help, now just confusion and panic. Ruthin Citizens No Advice Bureau.....just wow