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Forced to pay £150 for replacement certificates due to college negligence
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gvw121
Posts: 96 Forumite
Hello Money Saving Expert's,
I'm in need of some legal advice to see whether I have any grounds against my College who failed to inform me about official certificates that needed to be collected.
It all started when I landed a new job which was a dream come true but suddenly turned into a nightmare because I was missing the official certificates. I actually had to borrow the money off my Father as I sadly couldn't afford to front the cash myself. I was getting stressed out that I wasn't going to get the job because I was missing the official certificates but luckily my employers waited for me to receive my new replacement certificates.
But going back to my College days my Dad suffered from a brain tumour which as you can imagine was very traumatic for our family.
Unfortunately, the brain tumour could not be completely removed due to medical complications; hence my Father had to undergo a second operation (plus radiotherapy) when I was at University. Not only was this a major blow to our family emotionally but financially it left us in a very difficult situation.
As a result of his later operation my Father was forced to go part-time at work due to his ill-health (a situation that remains the same to this day). I would have lost out on my job had it not been for my Father giving me the money, which he could hardly afford.
But on to the main point, the College claims that they sent a letter via post to inform me that my original certificates were ready to be collected.
However, I think it’s unacceptable that the College can only use one method and still think it’s alright to do so.
I even asked that gentlemen over the phone why they couldn’t send out my official certificates via special post, but I was given a reply that certificates were lost hence they started sending letters to alert students that they can pick their certificates up. But what strikes me the most is that a letter can get lost in the post just like a certificate and with millions of letters going through the Royal Mail I think its fair to say that a few can go missing which may have unfortunately happened to me.
A phone call or even an email could have done the trick to inform me but it seems that the College couldn't be bothered. One of the examination boards who I spoke to also told me that this was a common problem for students whereby they are not informed by their Colleges about the certificates being available. Therefore students were left to pick up the bill when purchasing replacement certificates.
I would also like to point out that my girl friend that I've been with since College also hasn't got the official certificates and didn't receive a letter as well. Furthermore, a couple of my friends who are on my Facebook who did the same courses like the both of us didn't receive the certificates.
I made a desperate plea to the Vice Principal of my old College to show good faith in reimbursing me the full amount. I told him that I didn’t want to go down the legal/newspaper route and that I was keen to maintain a good relationship with my College.
Later on the Vice Principal emailed me to say that they could only offer me an ex-gratia payment of £75, but I replied by saying that this only solves half of my problem and that I borrowed the money off my Father. I even informed him about my Fathers health and told him that the College had flaws in their communications and were guilty of that.
I was then emailed back by the Vice Principal again and he said the following
“I am very sorry to hear of your father’s health issues and the problems that has caused your family.
I must just clarify that the ex gratia payment that was offered means that the College admits no liability to the cost of the replacement certificates. As I understand it some of your certificates were collected; also the College is under no obligation to contact students to tell them to collect their certificates, though we did do this. When students leave College they are adults and have a responsibility for their own lives, including collecting their examination certificates.
I do not accept that we have to show good faith by reimbursing the full amount and believe that the offer of half of the amount as an ex-gratia payment was more than generous. Please note that the ex gratia offer has now been withdrawn. I regret that this will leave you with a bad feeling about the College, which is never our intention with any of our students, however in these circumstances it would appear that our view on the events that happened will never be resolved to our mutual satisfaction.
I do not believe that you have any claim worth submitting to the Small Claims Court as the College has carried out all its legal obligations. I can assure you that the College will defend any such claim and move to have it struck out without a hearing.
I now consider this matter closed as I have considered your appeal of the original decision”
I believe it’s the principal what counts and I feel as a former student that I’ve been let down very badly. I feel the Vice Principals apology about my Father meant nothing as was a meaningless word to use.
However I’ve exhausted my attempts to put this matter to bed peacefully and have now decided to go down the legal route and possibly contact my local borough newspaper to vent my frustration.
Could somebody please advise me what steps to take legally before I start any legal proceedings.
I have all copies of all emails sent between the College and myself and I would appreciate any comments greatly!
I'm in need of some legal advice to see whether I have any grounds against my College who failed to inform me about official certificates that needed to be collected.
It all started when I landed a new job which was a dream come true but suddenly turned into a nightmare because I was missing the official certificates. I actually had to borrow the money off my Father as I sadly couldn't afford to front the cash myself. I was getting stressed out that I wasn't going to get the job because I was missing the official certificates but luckily my employers waited for me to receive my new replacement certificates.
But going back to my College days my Dad suffered from a brain tumour which as you can imagine was very traumatic for our family.
Unfortunately, the brain tumour could not be completely removed due to medical complications; hence my Father had to undergo a second operation (plus radiotherapy) when I was at University. Not only was this a major blow to our family emotionally but financially it left us in a very difficult situation.
As a result of his later operation my Father was forced to go part-time at work due to his ill-health (a situation that remains the same to this day). I would have lost out on my job had it not been for my Father giving me the money, which he could hardly afford.
But on to the main point, the College claims that they sent a letter via post to inform me that my original certificates were ready to be collected.
However, I think it’s unacceptable that the College can only use one method and still think it’s alright to do so.
I even asked that gentlemen over the phone why they couldn’t send out my official certificates via special post, but I was given a reply that certificates were lost hence they started sending letters to alert students that they can pick their certificates up. But what strikes me the most is that a letter can get lost in the post just like a certificate and with millions of letters going through the Royal Mail I think its fair to say that a few can go missing which may have unfortunately happened to me.
A phone call or even an email could have done the trick to inform me but it seems that the College couldn't be bothered. One of the examination boards who I spoke to also told me that this was a common problem for students whereby they are not informed by their Colleges about the certificates being available. Therefore students were left to pick up the bill when purchasing replacement certificates.
I would also like to point out that my girl friend that I've been with since College also hasn't got the official certificates and didn't receive a letter as well. Furthermore, a couple of my friends who are on my Facebook who did the same courses like the both of us didn't receive the certificates.
I made a desperate plea to the Vice Principal of my old College to show good faith in reimbursing me the full amount. I told him that I didn’t want to go down the legal/newspaper route and that I was keen to maintain a good relationship with my College.
Later on the Vice Principal emailed me to say that they could only offer me an ex-gratia payment of £75, but I replied by saying that this only solves half of my problem and that I borrowed the money off my Father. I even informed him about my Fathers health and told him that the College had flaws in their communications and were guilty of that.
I was then emailed back by the Vice Principal again and he said the following
“I am very sorry to hear of your father’s health issues and the problems that has caused your family.
I must just clarify that the ex gratia payment that was offered means that the College admits no liability to the cost of the replacement certificates. As I understand it some of your certificates were collected; also the College is under no obligation to contact students to tell them to collect their certificates, though we did do this. When students leave College they are adults and have a responsibility for their own lives, including collecting their examination certificates.
I do not accept that we have to show good faith by reimbursing the full amount and believe that the offer of half of the amount as an ex-gratia payment was more than generous. Please note that the ex gratia offer has now been withdrawn. I regret that this will leave you with a bad feeling about the College, which is never our intention with any of our students, however in these circumstances it would appear that our view on the events that happened will never be resolved to our mutual satisfaction.
I do not believe that you have any claim worth submitting to the Small Claims Court as the College has carried out all its legal obligations. I can assure you that the College will defend any such claim and move to have it struck out without a hearing.
I now consider this matter closed as I have considered your appeal of the original decision”
I believe it’s the principal what counts and I feel as a former student that I’ve been let down very badly. I feel the Vice Principals apology about my Father meant nothing as was a meaningless word to use.
However I’ve exhausted my attempts to put this matter to bed peacefully and have now decided to go down the legal route and possibly contact my local borough newspaper to vent my frustration.
Could somebody please advise me what steps to take legally before I start any legal proceedings.
I have all copies of all emails sent between the College and myself and I would appreciate any comments greatly!
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Comments
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So, you knew the Certs. were due and did nothing The College sent you a letter that went astray...did you not know your certs. were due? Why didn't you write, phone, email or send a carrier pigeon chasing it up?0
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It is mentioned there that you did collect some certificates.
Is this true?
Surely you knew that you were still due some further certificates.
Why did you not make enquiries at the time?0 -
I understand where you are coming from hut i cannot see how they can be held responsible. As far as i am aware there is no legislation of guidance on how long education institutes have to keep these certificate. Your only chance would be if you could prove that your contract with them specified how long they were to keep these certificates and that they did not keep them for this period (very unlikely). Otherwise they seem to be in the right and you will have to take the hit.Back by no demand whatsoever.0
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You have lost me, don't know how you could not have managed a workaround though.0
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So, you knew the Certs. were due and did nothing The College sent you a letter that went astray...did you not know your certs. were due? Why didn't you write, phone, email or send a carrier pigeon chasing it up?
When I went to University they accepted my provisional certificates as proof that I had completed my course. Furthermore when I got a job with Santander again they didn't want to see my original certificates. It was only when I got my new job (present one) which also happens to be a bank this time asked me for the original certificates. I did a GNVQ course for a year at College and collected the original certificate as I was given a letter to come in and collect them. I then took another 4 subjects in the next 2 years at the same College, once I completed them I was then given provisional certificates and told that I could collect the originals when a letter arrives through the post. You are right in the sense that I didn't chase it up as much as I should have but due to my Fathers health at the time my mind was all over the place.0 -
Harry_Flashman wrote: »Please tell me that none of your certificates were for English Language?
Please don't comment on this matter if you're not going to say anything productive. I find it sad that you have time to mock people who are only looking for support.0 -
If other students didn't receive their certificates doesn't that prove that the College was poor in the handling of such important documents. For all I know someone could have stolen my certificates with identity thieft being rife.0
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Edexcel also said to me that this is a common problem that Colleges are failing to notify students about the availability of their original certificates.0
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This discussion has been closed.
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