Computeach - took a direct debit after contract finished

mbds42

Hello All

In July 2013 I signed up for a 12 month course with computeach - first payment made on 29th July 2013 - they contacted me today on an unrelated matter and I happened to say - "isn't my contract with you finished"

They then said no - after the initial contract period (12 mths) it becomes a monthly rolling contract requiring 30 days notice to cancel.

So they have already taken an additional £150 from my account which I no longer want. and they say I am liable to pay until the 30 day notice (I sent a cancellation email immediately I found out they were going to do this)

So potentially am in the hole for another £150

One of the reasons I cancelled was because with a massive rent hike I couldn't really afford it anymore - was counting on that extra money this month which I will now have to borrow.

They say the terms are listed in the initial agreement - I asked them to send me this (they haven't yet although to be fair I only asked them to do this today). I have a copy at home though so will check.

I would at the least have expected an email saying I was approaching the end of my contract - but nothing - I also remember that this arrangement was definitely not made clear to me when I signed up.

My question is this - was this unfair - and will I be able to get my money back (the extra £150)?

Also my direct debiticon is currently still in place (as I naively assumed they wouldn't use it after the contract finished) - should I cancel it or is that going to make things worse when they try to take another payment?

JJ_Egan

End of many such contracts rolls over to a continuing 30 day contract .
You need to actually cancel the contract now and pay the final months then cancel your DD .

wealdroam

I couldn't find their T&Cs, so I've just had an online chat with Brian at Computeach.

Here is a transcript:

Me: Hi, please can you point me towards your terms and conditions which one agrees to when signing up for one of your courses.

Brian: These would be sent out when signing up for a course - once the T&Cs are agreed to then you are signed up

Me: Thanks for that. So quite simply, I cannot read and thoroughly understand your T&Cs before making a commitment?

Brian: There is a cooling off period after signing up so that you can view these. However I will see if it is possible to provide these please bear with me....

Me: That's great. Perhaps you could just post a link to them?

Brian: If possible I will send them to you via email?
OK I can email these to you now
Would that be xxxx@xxxxnail.com?
Hello?

Me: Hmmm... that's not really convenient. Surely by getting people to sign up to the courses, and thus agreeing to the T&Cs before having the opportunity to read them is against The Unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts Regulations 1999. Schedule 2, paragraph 1, states that terms may be unfair if they have the object or effect of: (i) irrevocably binding the consumer to terms with which he had no real opportunity of becoming acquainted before the conclusion of the contract..

Brian: There is a cooling off/cancellation period after signing up, so I don't think that you are binded to the contract

Me: OK Brian, so these T&Cs are not available at the point when one is deciding which supplier to choose. You see I really would not want to commit to more than one supplier, by signing an agreement, before seeing the T&Cs and deciding which course provider to choose..

Brian: Ok I understand that

Me: Thanks for your time Brian... I'll keep looking for the right supplier. Thanks again.

Brian: Do you want me to send you a copy of our T&Cs
?

Me: No thanks Brian.

Brian: OK

Looks like their T&Cs are not freely available.

mbds42

Thanks very much for replying - and thanks wealdroam for that transcript :-)

Have spoken to my bank and they have refunded the last months payment under the direct debit indemnity scheme.

Have now also cancelled the direct debit

wealdroam

Just to add to my earlier post...

I was told there is a cooling off period during which time I could cancel if, for example, I didn't want to agree to the T&Cs.

It appears that one couldn't know about the cancellation period, nor the terms of that cancellation, without signing an agreement.

Crazy.

tweedle1234

is that his "British" name or his "foreign" name?

might be worth asking them for a company report,
how many people work for them now,
how many people have gone in the last year/2 years/...
how many students are on their books,
how many of their trainers are certified,
why theres no forum anymore,
why they used to sell 3 year courses and now why its only a few months....

CoolHotCold

Little Late Mate?