Refund refused by Gap Year operator despite the service not being provided

markyjo

Hey there,

I recently go back from a working holiday to Australia and before I went I paid for a package called "Ultimate Aussie Package" with RealGap which cost £550. The main reason I bought into the service was their job agency side (and the main role of the service) which offered help with finding work.

When I got there I had an orientation with them which outlined how the service worked etc and that we were required on our part to keep in regular contact with the agency, which was fine!

I was told I would be put on a priority list for work when I informed them I was first looking for work. After 2 weeks in Sydney I was moving on up to Brisbane and dropped into the company to ask to update my profile with a couple of friends who asked the same thing - that we were looking for work in the Brisbane/Queensland area.

A few days later e-mails happily started dropping into my friends inboxes with available job, however I received nothing. I rang the company regularly over the following weeks asking about jobs in the area and to request over and over to update my profile so that I got e-mails about jobs and never received a single one. As for this priority list which was to offer me a job within 3 months, I never heard anything from that either. I regularly heard from other friends in different parts of Australia that had been offered jobs by the company and who were also receiving emails about jobs in their area.

When I got back to the UK I took it up with RealGap and explained that I received no support in anyway shape or form when I was searching for a job, I was never offered one and I was never emailed about them despite my regular contact. They looked into the matter and came back to me describing it as a "misunderstanding" and that no refund would be offered. To me I was lost to see how "can I update my profile to searching for work in Brisbane" on several occasions can be a misunderstanding. I replied and informed them this was an unacceptable outcome and they readdressed it and came back to me again refusing any kind of refund saying I should have contacted RealGap from Australia and that I didn't maintain my online profile (which I did).

Quote from reply "WTC explain in the orientation and in the welcome email that you need to update your own profile and, had you found that you were having trouble with this, we would have been able to step in and help, had you been in touch". (WTC is the Work and Travel Company in Australia and the agency that RealGap forward us onto).

To me, the service I paid for was not provided, even down to a simple request like getting onto a mailing list. I kept my online profile (including CV) updated and I rang WTC regularly to ask about work and that I still wasn't receiving emails - I did my agreed part. Why should I need to waste time contacting the UK based agency to sort out such a simple request? Not that that idea occurred to me at the time anyway.

So I was just wondering where or who I can go to to take this further. They are clearly not going to help me after regular contact and patience on my part since I got home but I refuse to accept a clear violation of our agreement lying down.

Sorry for such a long post, I hope I posted it in the right section and thanks for any advice.

Cheers, Mark.