Hi all I went to Addlestone CAB for some advice on a point of law regarding a ESA appeal. I had a appointment with a advisor named Rachel. From the moment I met her I found her manner to be quite aggressive. She was toatally unemphatic and spoke over me continuously. I left with another appointment for 2 weeks later (today) so she could fill in a DLA form for me which I have already applied for and failed and the point of law that I went to them about was not even addressed! I have had to cancel my appointment today due to the fact that I am disabled and the transport that I was relying on let me down. On the 5th attempt (kept going on answer phone saying ...  Read the complete review

I have a mixture of good and bad experience of CAB. And most notably I worked as trainee volunteer advisor. As user experience: My first experience of CAB is nearly 15 years ago. They gave me invaluable advice and helped me to equip how to sort out my problem. I spent only one visit for this. I didn't have to wait so long. But time has changed. Last year, I tried to use CAB service again. Firstly, phone line was almost always engaged and couldn't get through at all. I attempted several times a week, but in the end gave up and visited local office. There were large number of people already waiting outside. And I waited another good one hour after ...  Read the complete review

The Citizens Advice Bureau is the ideal place to go if you need to get advice on a wide range of both legal and financial matters especially when it comes to establishing just what you rights are. They can provide advice on benefits and the like and can also help people complete application forms for benefits or other complicated forms that Governments like to design. CAB offices are often located in the centres of town or attached to other local government buildings however they are not government controlled rather they are staffed by a mixture of volunteers and paid professionals and usually operate on a drop in policy with appointments possible after an ...  Read the complete review

** Updated 1st June to add my personal experience of CAB ** BRIEF HISTORY: CAB has been established since 1939, by 1942 there was 1074 bureaux opened, all run by volunteers. By the 1960's the number of bureaux had dropped to 416. In 1999 www.adviceguide.org.uk was launched and by 2003 the website was available in 6 different languages. Citizens Advice is 70 years old this year. (2009) ** This information is from http://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/index/aboutus/factsheets/ourhistory.htm WHAT CAB OFFER: CAB offers FREE, IMPARTIAL, INDEPENDENT and CONFIDENTIAL advice to anybody that needs it, regardless ...  Read the complete review

The Citizens Advice Bureau are an organisation (in fact a charity, I think) that members of the public can go to when they have a query about something that they cannot find the information for, or, as suggested in the name, when they need some advice. They can help with all sorts of queries, including money matters, legal advice, consumer problems, and more. There seem to be bureaux in most towns and cities and they keep good opneing hours such that people who work from Monday to Friday 9-5 can still visit them. Some of the bureaux also have a telephone number which you can call to ask for some advice. When you go in, they ask you to ...  Read the complete review