company taking advantage of my disability

McKneff

I really think youre on a hiding to nothing and you should be concentrating on your health, the stress of all this cant be helping you and could indeed be harming you.

As for not being able to afford to lose the £1500, had you been well and finished the course, you would be in exactly the same financial situation that you are in now.

I do wish you well but dont hold your breath about getting a refund.

bexibex

Hi thanks again for ur replies, the thing is if I had been well and done the course I would have been privately teaching pilates, earning the money back, as I can't maintain regular hours or do anything in fitness (which I've spent years qualifying in) i can't work and earn the money back even if they offered me another course that was less physical.

I don't disagree with their policies, theyre just has to be exceptions as one policy does not fit every single customers circumstance. The fact I physically cannot do the course, which has been given in a statement by my doctor and Occupational therapist as it would be detrimental to my health, seems enough thats why I feel so upset about it.

Anyway as u rightly said, it is no good to me stressing, I just wanted to know I did everything I could at least.
Thanku to u all again x

Laz123

I'd try Watchdog or one of the Sunday newspaper financial 'help' columists.

cubelips

This is ridiculous. You think they would have some compassion. I would keep at it, they might not legally have to give you a refund but hopfeully you'll come across someone who is HUMAN. Have you explained you are making no money and about the bankruptcy to them? That might sway them a bit more. How have you worded it? If you have been rude then you probably won't get a refund (but I doubt you have from the way you write your posts on here.) If you explain the full thing to them - you can't make money, you have no money, you deserve your money back, your bf has filed for bankruptcy, why should they get £1500 for doing nothing, etc etc,; they might consider it more if they know all the facts. It's HIGHLY unfair to not give you your money back. I am angry for you reading this! And all the people telling you it's not good for your health to bother with it...I'm sure it's not good for your health to be gutted about losing this much money unfairly and thinking about it all the time!
Keep at it.
Don't warn them you are gonna, but I think you should go to the media too. They might be shocked into doing something when they see their name in the papers. But don't word it the way you worded the title of this thread.
Good luck.

halibut2209

McKneff wrote: »

As for not being able to afford to lose the £1500, had you been well and finished the course, you would be in exactly the same financial situation that you are in now.

No she wouldn't. She has had to leave work due to the illness

paddedjohn

Rather than the company taking advantage of your disability, it appears that you are trying to use you disability to gain an advantage over the company.
You paid for a place on a course which would probably have proceeded without you, the company concerned has wages/equipment/rent etc to pay so why should they be out of pocket just because you couldnt attend? If you booked to go on holiday you wouldnt get a refund unless you had insurance so why expect one now.

tersus_slate

spugzbunny wrote: »

I'm afraid all you can do (probably - I'm obviously not familiar with the contract you signed or the law) is keep contacting them by letter and telephone and keep pushing it higher up their management level. You may strike lucky with a compassionate CEO who wants to keep there reputation. You could also contact the media.

What is this?

bexibex

paddedjohn wrote: »

You paid for a place on a course which would probably have proceeded without you, the company concerned has wages/equipment/rent etc to pay so why should they be out of pocket just because you couldnt attend? If you booked to go on holiday you wouldnt get a refund unless you had insurance so why expect one now.

Hi again, thanks again for everyones comments, very much appreciated. Although the qoute above doesn't seem entirely fair because the company wouldn't necesserily be out of pocket because they have gained that amount of money from nothing. That course has continued without having to give me teaching, exam papers and coursework. I too have rent to pay and living to pay for, the illness is not my fault just as it isn't theirs, but you would expect out of any kind of decency and customer care that they would offer something at least, the company could cope with £1500 loss because they can make it back, I can't. I understand that it's not their obligation, but out of any hope of human decency they would have more compassion in this case.

wealdroam

bexibex wrote: »

Hi again, thanks again for everyones comments, very much appreciated. Although the qoute above doesn't seem entirely fair because the company wouldn't necesserily be out of pocket because they have gained that amount of money from nothing. That course has continued without having to give me teaching, exam papers and coursework. I too have rent to pay and living to pay for, the illness is not my fault just as it isn't theirs, but you would expect out of any kind of decency and customer care that they would offer something at least, the company could cope with £1500 loss because they can make it back, I can't. I understand that it's not their obligation, but out of any hope of human decency they would have more compassion in this case.

Not too sure that this post is entirely fair either.

Let's assume for the sake of arguement that there were planned to be four people on this course, each paying £1500.
Therefore total income for the course provider is £6000.
Their staff costs remain the same. Just because there are only three people attending, that does not mean they can provide three quarters of a tutor, does it?

Similarly, they may well have rented rooms and equipment, as mentioned earlier. These are fixed costs that remain the same whether one student is missing or not.

Yes, they only have to provide three sets of notes instead of four, but the cost of that type of thing is likely to be small compared to their people costs.

Let's now assume that they expected to make £1000 profit on that £6000 income.
If they were now to refund you your £1500 fee, then you can see that they instantly make a loss of £500.

Those numbers may be wildly out.
It doesn't matter. The principle will be the same however many people were planned to attend.

Hope that helps you to see things from their perspective.

:beer:

mountainofdebt

I'm sorry but I do have to admit I'm another one for the camp that says the company isn't technically doing anything wrong if it states in its t&c that a refund isn't allowed regardless of the reason.

Yes it may have been compassionate of them to give you a refund but they aren't obligied to and as has been said before, it may be better for you mentally and health wise to put this one to bed. Some arguments you can win but this sounds like it isn't one of those.