CDl - Paid off and course not finished

dawesf

Hi
I wonder if anyone would be able to advise me or point me in the right direction. My husband took out a CDL in year 2000 with Lloyds. This was to do a IT course through Computeach. When we moved house we paid the loan off in full. But due to unforeseen circumstances my husband has never finished the course with Computech and all we have to show for £3000 is a few books they sent in the beginning. Are we able to try and get the money back or a percentage of the course fees back from them???? This is a real bug bear to the both of us. Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks

FD

jonesMUFCforever

If your husband never completed the course why should he be refunded?
You say 'unforseen circumstances' and a change of address but surely he can continue the course.

IMO he would only be eligible for a refund if the course was withdrawn.
Personally I don't think he has a leg to stand on.

sirstephen

Dawesf,

I am in exactly the same position as yourself. I informed the same company in 2005 that I no longer wanted to continue my course with them, but would pay for any losses they incurred as a result of my not completing the course.

Conveniently, they say they have never received the letter. I am currently taking legal advice on the matter as Barclays have sent me a letter asking for £3500 to clear the Career Development Loan I took out with the IT Training company, which I presumed had been cancelled after I paid the IT company close to £1000.

When did your partner enrol on the course? Are you aware that in September 2005 the Office of Fair Trading investigated Computeach's Terms And Conditions, specifically in relation to their cancellation policy?

Just Google 'Computeach OFT' and have a look for yourself.

You will see also how many unsatisfied students this company has from a brief look around the internet.

Personally speaking, I would imagine the IT Training company are entitled to recoup reasonable losses if a student cancels, but I cannot see how they could legally justify charging for the entire course.

Hope this helps.

dawesf

Thankyou for your reply. We will look on the Internet for further info about the company. I really just do not understand how they take the money for doing nothing! My husband has one book on IT from them and a folder and some paperwork does this equate to £3000!? - to us no. I really hope you get somewhere with your case - keep us updated! Thanks again.

jonesMUFCforever

No but they would have had to employ somebody to supervise your husband's coursework or deny somebody else the chance of doing the course if they were over subscribed.
It is not just a matter of sending a book and a folder out.

dawesf

I understand that the company may have costs to recoup I would not expect them to give a full refund! But as for support or supervision this was almost non existant. It is unfortunate that we may have denied someone else a place but had they realeased us from the course and given partial refund they could have enrolled that person, and they would still get their fee.

jonesMUFCforever

I think we will have to agree to disagree.
I think it is similar to you buying a season ticket for your favourite team in August and wanting a refund by November because they're having a crap season.

sirstephen

ejones999 wrote:

I think we will have to agree to disagree.
I think it is similar to you buying a season ticket for your favourite team in August and wanting a refund by November because they're having a crap season.

I'm not sure how people come up with these analogies. The above is so contrived it is laughable.

Why do you feel the need to compare Dawesf's position to a Team Season Ticket? Why not just deal specifically with the situation they have asked for help with.

If you have a sensible addition to this thread or can help Dawesf in any way please do so.

This person, I feel, has a valid reason to ask for a partial refund. The company is trying to claim full payment for a service it has not provided. As far as I am aware, this type of course is not specifically tailored to the individual student and all the exams are carried out in-house therefor they couldn't be totally out of pocket.

If this went to court, I am sure the training company would have to mitigate their losses. I believe they would find this difficult to do.

Hope this helps

h4nym

Sorry for this, but I don't think there's a case here:

Contract exists between provider, customer and lender
Customer discharges contract with lender, but breaks contract with provider
Provider cannot be sued for a refund. Lender cannot be held responsible under the Consumer Credit Act because, again, the provider didn't breach the contract.

This is a case of not getting the value you expected from the contract, not a case of the provider repudiating it.

Sorry- but I think you'll find that the FACTS here favour the provider. The ethics, on the other hand are a whole different ball game, but, of course, outside the scope of contract law!

H

jonesMUFCforever

sirstephen wrote:

I'm not sure how people come up with these analogies. The above is so contrived it is laughable.

Why do you feel the need to compare Dawesf's position to a Team Season Ticket? Why not just deal specifically with the situation they have asked for help with.

If you have a sensible addition to this thread or can help Dawesf in any way please do so.

This person, I feel, has a valid reason to ask for a partial refund. The company is trying to claim full payment for a service it has not provided. As far as I am aware, this type of course is not specifically tailored to the individual student and all the exams are carried out in-house therefor they couldn't be totally out of pocket.

If this went to court, I am sure the training company would have to mitigate their losses. I believe they would find this difficult to do.

Hope this helps

Just read posts 2 and 5 and you will find the answers.
Just because you don't agree with them does not make them useless.
Why should the company have to mitigate their loss it is the OP who did not finish the course?
As far as we know he could continue the course at any time in the future.