Kilburn Jobcentre

They can improve by retraining staff in basic manners. They treat claimants with utter contempt and implement petty rules to frustrate, often leaving claimants waiting for up to an hour, yet if a claimant is one minute late they face economic sanction. What they fail to recognise is that without unemployed people, they themselves will become one of the people that they so obviously despise, unemployed. The murderous G4S aging guards are agressive and rude and act illegally and unlawfully. They are dealing with people who are stressed in a hostile manner that will only result in direct action!

I have been going to this centre for 6 months and always my advisors have seen me on time. The enthusiam they show for assisting me to find work varies, but they are positive and understanding of the current difficulties. On a few occasions the porters have been negative and one is bounced around sent in all sort of directions, but I have worked for top companies in the past, staying on Hotels like the Ritz and the same bouncing around takes place there.

One has to be aware that this is a job center and they are not going to find work for you. If you do wish this, then one has to go to recruitment agencies.

This is my first contact with this job centre for that matter any job centre. My experience, where do I start.
Let me start from the security guards and the receptionists,they like to grill you for no apparent reason.
Initially when I started signing on I gave a post office account and later I opened a bank account and I advised the centre and filled the form with my bank details and I received a letter confirming the change.This was just before Christmas 2010.I checked but no payment was made so I contacted job centre and I was told payment was made but still no money. Christmas eve I still have no money spent my day between job centre and my bank ,getting the bank to confirm no payment was received then back to the job centre and finally no help nothing can be done they don't know where the payment has gone, so passed Christmas cold and angry crying in my bed.
After the holidays I checked and found out that they had made the payment to my old post office account.No apologies nothing.
You are advised to come 10 minutes before you're due to sign-on so I always make a point to come early but made to wait even 20-30 minutes longer while the person who was supposed to see me was on a personal call, or chit chatting with colleagues and in general just wasting time.
I am new to all this job centre malarkey. I was recently asked by one of the advisers if I have a concessional travel card for buses I replied I don't, she told me I should have been given after the initial 4-5 month of signing on. How am I supposed to know if advisers are not prepared to help us ? At least this adviser apologised.
Now coming to contacting this job centre by phone I have to call an 0845 number. unbelievable!!!! Why? why not a local 0207 or 0208 number? I called this number and I was asked which job centre I needed then I was left with a busy signal.
No wonder there is so much negativity these days. If you can please avoid this place ,I'm doing all I can.

My recent experiences with Kilburn Job Centre has been extremely appalling. For 8 weeks or so, I have visited their offices on signing days and other times. Each time I've either been kept waiting unreasonable lengths of time, only to find the persons, I witnessed wasting time, making jokes and in 1 case, excessive nose picking, was the same person/s I was waiting for, they clearly abuse power.

Last Monday, I went to sign-on early, dress in Suit & Tie, with Rack-sack and Sleeping Bag attached as I had an overseas interview. I was refused 'Signing' because I didn't have my current job search sheet. When I explained that I attended the Job Centre numerous times for the week and was due back to see a manager, equally, to be going for a overseas interview, I clearly had been job hunting and would bring the details in the following day; still I was refused signing.

Subsequently, because of poor weather & flight delays I signed on 2 days late, resulting in being without benefits, food, etc for the last 2 days. It is now Saturday and I shall have to go without food for a further 2 days or commit some kind of crime because of proactive job hunting.

I have had to educate these people with regards to Low Value Procurement Training which should be offered by every Job-Centre Plus, yet no one I spoke to including managers knew what LVP was, still the first answer I received was NO! My view is that this office is nothing more than a drain on Taxes/NI paid for many years before becoming unemployed due to the economic downturn.

These people are Patronising, Power-Hungry, Time Wasters. The level of incompetence has resulted in many delays in receiving job seekers allowance and Housing benefit. They appear to take pleasure in inducing unnecessary suffering and should be brought to account for their malpractice, improper or negligent behaviour and/or treatment.

Computerising the Job Centre would save £millions..probably the most valid of all possible Publi

Are people aware that you can no longer call the jobcentre with a 0207- no. if you need to contact them you need to call the expensive no. 0845 which is very handy for people who are looking for work and are on benefits. Whoever came up with that idea is one hell of a bright spark!
The security guards at the kilburn centre are the worst, beware. They are nosey, abusive, underworked and over paid with huge chips on their shoulders, where the hell do they get them from.
You are better off using the freephone and talking to them you'll have a much better experience. Shame on you kilburn, jobcentre plus, shame :(

Going to this job centre was not only a waste of my time, but the level of incompetence I experienced was beyond my imagination... It was soul destroying.
To re-schedule a sign-in meeting due to having an interview, and then being penalised for not telling them on time due to the lack of customer service to help reschedule, was a slap in the face.
Oh, and I didn't even receive the full amount of benefit I was entitled to due to the staff being unable to match my termination date with their records...
What is a shame is that you have no choice where to claim your benefit from and unfortunately living in west hampstead meant I had no choice but to have to go here...

Same same. No change there then... the place was no better than useless years ago and my new experience is the same as the previous reviewer, if you want to get back into a positive state of mind, get a job, gain some personal satisfaction and well being and earn a crust to feed and clothe yourself, then AVOID THIS PLACE LIKE THE PLAGUE! PS.Don't let the Bas*&@ds grind you down!

I have been trying to re-arrange my initial sign-on meeting multiple times today; but no one seems to ever answer the phone. Why? Maybe an email address would help. I have had the option of having 2 interviews (2 different companies) tomorrow, but am failing badly to re-organise my sign-on interview with R.PATEL. i thought the idea was to get me back to work, not hinder me. Please answer the phone, have an email address or answerphone, anything / something to help.