Distance Learning Course

DR007

Hi all, some advice needed please on a problem my daughter currently has.

She enrolled last year on a distance learning course provided by Oxford College however, due to personal circumstances, she cannot afford to complete the remainder of the course and wants to cancel. She pays a hefty £200 per month for this over 2 x years. She has not submitted any course work for it as of yet as there was only a 7 day cooling off period from when she first signed up for it by which time, she realized it was the wrong course for her abilities. Besides this, the course work being of a poor nature and no effort by the tutors to contact her to inquire as to why she has not done any of the course work yet has not helped.

She has contacted them numerous times explaining the circumstances of her wishing to quit the course but they are adamant she cannot cancel and must complete all payments or obtain other funds to pay the balance off in full - robbing Peter to pay Paul. They have threatened to send debt collectors if she fails to maintain payments and to have any non-payments registered on her credit file. She contacted them again today and offered to pay £100 per month until full payment of the balance - they are considering this and we are waiting on their response.

Can anybody shed any experience of this company to us and can they carry out their threats legally?

Many thanks guys for your time in reading and any advice gratefully received.

loubel

DR007 wrote: »

She has not submitted any course work for it as of yet as there was only a 7 day cooling off period from when she first signed up for it by which time, she realized it was the wrong course for her abilities.

You say she realised during the 7 day cooling off period that the course wasn't for her but that this was last year.. Did she notify the college during the cooling off period and follow whatever their cancellation procedure was?

paddyrg

Doesn't look like a particularly formal establishment, no campus, contact address is in a serviced offices building or at their head office in Gibraltar. Their homepage encourages 'Earn Money, become an Affiliate!', which I always find reassuring.

However, unless the course itself is not being delivered per contract, I think you'll be lucky to come to any arrangement.

DR007

Loubel - she realized after the seven days cooling off period it wasnt for her hence she is now stuck with it.

Just had confirmation back from them that they WILL accept a payment of £80 per month as oppose to £200 until the balance of the course fees is settled - a small victory I suppose but she still has to pay the full costs, just over a longer period. They also added they would refer her to a debt recovery agency should she default on this agreement.

gb12345

paddyrg wrote: »

Their homepage encourages 'Earn Money, become an Affiliate!', which I always find reassuring.

The use of a .ac domain should be a warning sign as well.

Made to look like a formal academic domain, but it is just the Ascension Islands cashing in on their luck in getting it as a TLD.

paddyrg

gb12345 wrote: »

The use of a .ac domain should be a warning sign as well.

Made to look like a formal academic domain, but it is just the Ascension Islands cashing in on their luck in getting it as a TLD.

Absolutely! Actually I thought it was rather clever of them - misleading, but clever.

eskimo26

Is there any way whatsoever she can get out of this? It sounds like simple extortion to me.

On_The_Ball

Being brutal, it sounds to me like a gym membership - you've signed up so you have to pay whether you go or not, for the remainder of the contract. Of course they could be decent about it, but it doesn't seem like they're decent.