Cancelled school trip

silvercar

sheramber wrote: »

Ignoring the terrorist attack, parents or teachers could have dropped out for any reason.

Does that make the trip non viable and everybody loses their deposit?

Normally a school wouldn't pay over a deposit until they had secured enough people who had signed up for the trip.

In this situation, enough people signed up, the school paid the deposit and only then did people pull out. Or more pointedly the school pulled out. they then came unstuck with the deposits so assumed that people would be happy with a substitute trip. Making the best of bad circumstances.

It is like you deciding you don't want the family to take a flight after paying a deposit and taking the family to the Lake district instead. You have made the decision on behalf of the family. They allow you to do this and therefore that is what happens.

In this case OP needs to verify that in paying the deposit to the school they were entitled to put on a substitute trip should the booked trip not go ahead for any reason.

jrtfan

sheramber wrote: »

Ignoring the terrorist attack, parents or teachers could have dropped out for any reason.

Does that make the trip non viable and everybody loses their deposit?

Technically, if there has to be a minimum group size but so many people have dropped out of their own accord that numbers now fall below the minimum, then I suppose it might be considered as a necessary cancellation. In that case, it might be covered under the Pre-Travel section of the insurance and the remaining members of the party might be entitled to a refund of their deposit and their interim payments. Under these circumstances, I would be seeking advice from and insurance or legal professional at this stage to find out exactly where I stood and then making my findings available to the school and saying that I expected them to follow it up with the Insurers (as it was the School's contract, not mine).


I wonder if there might be a compromise which, whilst it might not be the French cultural experience parents and guardians had signed up for, might still be an acceptable alternative to anybody being left out of pocket in this matter? What about if the UK option went ahead but the date was moved to the Easter- or Spring half-term recess? Might the UK be a more attractive option if the weather was that much better?

nwc389

The Paris trip was about cultural experiences in a beautiful city crammed with museums , galleries , beautiful buildings and gardens , rich in history - you just cannot compare an outdoor activities holiday with that , kids that signed up for Paris are not going to necessarily be kids that enjoy getting wet and muddy canoeing or gorge walking .
If the school cancelled Paris the alternative should have been a similar holiday.

silvercar

nwc389 wrote: »

The Paris trip was about cultural experiences in a beautiful city crammed with museums , galleries , beautiful buildings and gardens , rich in history - you just cannot compare an outdoor activities holiday with that , kids that signed up for Paris are not going to necessarily be kids that enjoy getting wet and muddy canoeing or gorge walking .
If the school cancelled Paris the alternative should have been a similar holiday.

There may be kids who would enjoy the wet and muddy option more than a cultural experience. Could the answer be to open up the trip to people who turned down the French trip and use their deposits to refund others.

jrtfan

nwc389 wrote: »

The Paris trip was about cultural experiences in a beautiful city crammed with museums , galleries , beautiful buildings and gardens , rich in history - you just cannot compare an outdoor activities holiday with that , kids that signed up for Paris are not going to necessarily be kids that enjoy getting wet and muddy canoeing or gorge walking .
If the school cancelled Paris the alternative should have been a similar holiday.

Yes, I agree with you. But should have cannot change the facts as they stand now and so isn't it better to go for damage limitation instead at this stage and look for some way of utilising the money that's already been handed over, on something concrete for the children?

They don't just offer outdoor activities (see their website, there are new activities being offered for 2016). The schools can combine any selection of modules which can include, if they so wish, film making or animation, or geography stuff about soils and plants or minibeasts, science modules like habitats and adaptations, as well as the outdoor activities like abseiling or canoeing or kayaking etc etc.

Nothing changes the school's appalling behaviour and I'm not suggesting that the parents/guardians should just put up and shut up. Far from it - at the very least, I think there should be a personal letter of apology sent from the Head to all parents concerned straight away, with an assurance that they, themselves are doing all they possibly can to find some resolution and that they will be keeping everyone informed with regular updates. Meanwhile I think a meeting should be arranged at the school for all parents to attend, so that other options can be presented and discussed to see if a suitable compromise can be found.




At the moment, nothing proactive seems to be taking place - the matter will be placed under investigation, but investigations often drag on for ages and at the end of it, somebody (either the school or the parents) stand to be left out of pocket.

jrtfan

silvercar wrote: »

There may be kids who would enjoy the wet and muddy option more than a cultural experience. Could the answer be to open up the trip to people who turned down the French trip and use their deposits to refund others.

:T
There was something on their site about it being possible to transfer one person's booking to another person, under certain circumstances. What a good idea! Surely worth the school investigating whether it is definitely possible and then offering parents the choice.

sheramber

jrtfan wrote: »

Technically, if there has to be a minimum group size but so many people have dropped out of their own accord that numbers now fall below the minimum, then I suppose it might be considered as a necessary cancellation. In that case, it might be covered under the Pre-Travel section of the insurance and the remaining members of the party might be entitled to a refund of their deposit and their interim payments. Under these circumstances, I would be seeking advice from and insurance or legal professional at this stage to find out exactly where I stood and then making my findings available to the school and saying that I expected them to follow it up with the Insurers (as it was the School's contract, not mine).


I wonder if there might be a compromise which, whilst it might not be the French cultural experience parents and guardians had signed up for, might still be an acceptable alternative to anybody being left out of pocket in this matter? What about if the UK option went ahead but the date was moved to the Easter- or Spring half-term recess? Might the UK be a more attractive option if the weather was that much better?

I do understand how the system works but what contingency is there for when people drop out after paying the deposit. Either there is a repayment for everybody or those who drop out still have to pay up for the trip they have signed up to.

I wonder if there might be a compromise which...................../I]

A better alternative would be for the Paris trip to be rescheduled to later in the year when the situation was clearer.

After all there could be a terrorist attack anywhere in the UK so no guarantee that anywhere is totally safe.

I expect PGL had an empty space and saw the chance to fill it.

And what if not enough people agree to going to Clayton Park? What happens then? Nobody goes and everybody loss their deposit?

The school haven't really thought this through.

jrtfan

sheramber wrote: »

I do understand how the system works but what contingency is there for when people drop out after paying the deposit. Either there is a repayment for everybody or those who drop out still have to pay up for the trip they have signed up to.

I wonder if there might be a compromise which...................../I]

A better alternative would be for the Paris trip to be rescheduled to later in the year when the situation was clearer.

After all there could be a terrorist attack anywhere in the UK so no guarantee that anywhere is totally safe.

I expect PGL had an empty space and saw the chance to fill it.

And what if not enough people agree to going to Clayton Park? What happens then? Nobody goes and everybody loss their deposit?

The school haven't really thought this through.

Ah, my apologies. Hadn't intended any offence, I didn't know it could work like that, myself, until I started reading through the website.




With my son's cancelled French trip 3 years ago, it was disincllnation to travel and so I was told that the insurance didn't cover me for refund of my deposit or interim payments. But I wasn't liable to pay up in full either because I cancelled before the final instalment was due to be paid (if I'd cancelled before the previous instalment was due, then I wouldn't have had to pay that either IFSWIM or if all I'd paid was the deposit and then I cancelled, it would have been just the deposit I would have lost).

A friend - whose daughter was booked to go on the same trip - cancelled a day or two after the final payment was due. She cancelled because she pulled her daughter out of the school and sent her elsewhere. But because of her unlucky timing, she was still obliged to make the last payment and I don't think she was able to get any of her money back.

Their rules might have changed meanwhile, but I'm pretty sure at the time in question the T&Cs did say that PGL would keep any deposits and interim payments in the event of a cancellation and any refunds would be made through their insurers, but certain circumstances were not covered.




Rescheduling for later in the year is a good idea, too. It's certainly worth the school asking the question isn't it, as you say things might have calmed down a great deal by then.



The school acted far too quickly, I agree. I'm surprised they didn't call a meeting with all parents first, lay their cards on the table and then invite opinions and suggestions before going ahead with any action. Even if it changed nothing, just having the courtesy to let people know beforehand would have been better than what actually happened.