Unfair penalty charge?

fatality88

I recently signed up for a course with a training provider which I have since cancelled. According to their terms and conditions -

At any time up to 14 days prior to the commencement date of the Course for which a Student is registered the Student shall be entitled to cancel that registration subject only to the Company’s right to charge a maximum of £250 in respect of administration costs and the cost of any materials already supplied by the Company to the Student.

I cancelled approx. 18 days prior to the commencement of the course.
The total cost of the course was just over £5k.
Is this fair/reasonable under the 'Unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts Regulations 1999'?
No materials were supplied, so this would be purely an 'administration' cost.
£250 seems a bit steep.. especially when I only paid 2 days prior to cancellation.
Also, there was no signed(signature) contract, I had 'agreed' to their terms and conditions by submitting the registration form on their website...

Any help/advice/suggestions? or should I just take it on the chin?
Thanks in advance!

bod1467

Signing up online will be deemed that a contract has been entered into. There doesn't need to be a physical signature - merely evidence of the contract being agreed. (Emails and server logs would likely provide this).

But you're right ... their T&Cs say "a maximum charge of £250" (per what you wrote); to arbitrarily apply £250 in any case, regardless of situation, may be unfair.

You can always ask them to advise where the cost is allocated and how they reach that value (in your situation). Ultimately though you may need to threaten (and follow up with) small claims court action to achieve a lesser figure - is it worth it?

Hintza

What are the chances of them getting another attendee in 18 days? So £250 could be seen as cheap.

somethingcorporate

Hintza wrote: »

What are the chances of them getting another attendee in 18 days? So £250 could be seen as cheap.

Irrelevant.

The T&Cs clearly state what the charge is for and £250 is ridiculous if they have not provided any materials yet, their charge probably relates to a weeks worth of administration and they'd need to prove this was reasonable (which I doubt they could!).

I'd challenge it and follow it up with court action.

OP: have a look at this FAQ post here: http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showpost.php?p=42873192&postcount=16

fatality88

Wow! Many thanks all for the swift replies and advice!
Will follow up with them and see what they say re:how they can break down their administration costs... that's the angle i was looking at...
am no stranger to small claims court proceedings etc (bank charge claimant from the glory days before court rulings) so will see how it goes...
Thank you all again!

agrinnall

The OP hasn't actually said that they have been charged £250, just that the contract allows for a charge of up to that amaount. So have you actually been told by the training provider that they are intending to charge you £250? And if so have you asked them for a breakdown of their admin costs to show how they have arrived at that figure? Talking of court action this early seems a bit excessive.

Cross posted with OP - but we still don't know if they have actually levied the full charge.

fatality88

agrinnall wrote: »

The OP hasn't actually said that they have been charged £250, just that the contract allows for a charge of up to that amaount. So have you actually been told by the training provider that they are intending to charge you £250? And if so have you asked them for a breakdown of their admin costs to show how they have arrived at that figure? Talking of court action this early seems a bit excessive.

Cross posted with OP - but we still don't know if they have actually levied the full charge.

They have actually refunded course cost minus £300!! :mad:
I'm chasing the £50 discrepancy first and foremost (emailed them this morning) but will drop them another email shortly with regards to a breakdown of their admin costs...
Just wanted to get some feedback from here first before diving in...

somethingcorporate

Cross-posted with the OP so changed my post.

£250 is indefensible, if they point to the contract I'd write a LBA and then pursue with court action.

zoob

I would have thought 5% of the course charge was fair/reasonable charge for cancelling.

vuvuzela

zoob wrote: »

I would have thought 5% of the course charge was fair/reasonable charge for cancelling.

Why would you have thought that ? Seems grossly unfair if they have not had to do anything and have no actual losses.

somethingcorporate

zoob wrote: »

I would have thought 5% of the course charge was fair/reasonable charge for cancelling.

A % is completely arbitrary and would not fly. Why would cancelling a £100 course incur a fee of £5 but a £10,000 course incur a fee of £500?

Wouldn't stand up in court.