Open Uni and OUSBA

Becles

I registered on an Open Uni course costing £650 and I paid with OUSBA.

The course has just started and due to personal reasons, I'm no longer able to complete the module, so I withdrew from the course.

I've just found out today, that because OUSBA pass on all of the fees to the OU, I am still liable to pay the full fee to OUSBA and there is no way I can get any money back from them or the OU. Including interest I owe OUSBA £662.69.

I do have a credit of £360 with the OU to use on future courses, but I can't have that back as cash. I have no intention of starting any further courses in the near future so that money will be wasted.

Do I just have to take it on the chin and pay £662.69 for nothing?

welshmoneylover

Becles wrote: »

I registered on an Open Uni course costing £650 and I paid with OUSBA.

The course has just started and due to personal reasons, I'm no longer able to complete the module, so I withdrew from the course.

I've just found out today, that because OUSBA pass on all of the fees to the OU, I am still liable to pay the full fee to OUSBA and there is no way I can get any money back from them or the OU. Including interest I owe OUSBA £662.69.

I do have a credit of £360 with the OU to use on future courses, but I can't have that back as cash. I have no intention of starting any further courses in the near future so that money will be wasted.

Do I just have to take it on the chin and pay £662.69 for nothing?

IIRC if you notify them straight away that you wish to withdraw then you will be liable for a refund minus any time with the OU. They use a sliding scale for refunds and I'm sorry but I cannot recollect any details of it right now.

Please contact them asap, they really are helpful and good luck in getting it sorted out

Becles

Thanks.

I've called them again and the information I was given before is correct.

I owe OUSBA the full amount for the course which is £662.69, less £83 as they've just taken the first payment, so £579.92 outstanding.

I have a credit of £360 which is a refund of part of the course fee to take into account the portion of the course I've had already.

I can use the credit against any future OU course I start within the next 18 months. However:

a) due to a change in personal circumstances I no longer have enough time to study

b) There is no course that costs less than £360 that I want to do, and I can't afford the extra money to do a more expensive course.

If I don't pay OUSBA the monthly payments, I will eventually end up with a CCJ.

The lady was very apologetic and agreed it is unfair but there was nothing she could do to help.

So basically I have to pay £662.69 for nothing

mariajose

This happened to me a few years ago. I cancelled the course two days after it started, having not studied any of it, but two days was two days too late and I was liable for the full amount. You get 100% of the course cost refunded if you cancel before the start date, and 0% after this. I didn't pay at the time and they ended up freezing my OU account and my previous studies. Eventually, because I wanted the qualifications I had worked towards, I paid the balance. I don't think I had a CCJ over it, but that's probably true too.

Harsh lesson well learnt, sadly.