E-Careers Course Issue

nippy1970

I purchased a Prince 2 training course package from e-careers.com which included access to the on-line training programme and both the foundation and practitioner exams. To make payment more affordable I agreed to pay via 3 monthly installments. Having paid my initial £142 I was given access to the on-line training course.

About a week later I asked to book my first exam to be told that I was unable to do so I had not paid enough money towards the final cost of the course.

There was no mention in the T&Cs of the course, neither was it stated prior to me purchasing the course that the part payment scheme has restrictions. In fact, the sales advisor stated that a lot of candidates completed the course and the exams in two weeks but this is clearly not possible.

Given the way I was misled I cancelled the course and the company are refusing to refund my initial £142 on the basis that I accessed the course material within my 14 day cooling off period.

My issue is these restrictions were not made clear at anytime before purchasing the course and my payment agreement makes no mention of this. In my mind my commitment to pay for the course should be sufficient to allow me access to the whole package. It's like buying a car on a 12 month credit agreement and not being allowed to drive it until full payment has been made.

They are unwilling to budge - I issued a final notice outlining my cause for complaint and still they refuse. I'm considering a court claim for the money. Do you believe I have a valid case?

Your thoughts appreciated.

p.s. don't use this company - they are so difficult to deal with and refuse to speak in person over the phone. You have to fill in an on-line form and wait 5-7 days for a response.

wealdroam

nippy1970 wrote: »

I purchased a Prince 2 training course package from e-careers.com which included access to the on-line training programme and both the foundation and practitioner exams. To make payment more affordable I agreed to pay via 3 monthly installments. Having paid my initial £142 I was given access to the on-line training course.

About a week later I asked to book my first exam to be told that I was unable to do so I had not paid enough money towards the final cost of the course.

There was no mention in the T&Cs of the course, neither was it stated prior to me purchasing the course that the part payment scheme has restrictions. In fact, the sales advisor stated that a lot of candidates completed the course and the exams in two weeks but this is clearly not possible.

Given the way I was misled I cancelled the course and the company are refusing to refund my initial £142 on the basis that I accessed the course material within my 14 day cooling off period.

My issue is these restrictions were not made clear at anytime before purchasing the course and my payment agreement makes no mention of this. In my mind my commitment to pay for the course should be sufficient to allow me access to the whole package. It's like buying a car on a 12 month credit agreement and not being allowed to drive it until full payment has been made.

They are unwilling to budge - I issued a final notice outlining my cause for complaint and still they refuse. I'm considering a court claim for the money. Do you believe I have a valid case?

Your thoughts appreciated.

p.s. don't use this company - they are so difficult to deal with and refuse to speak in person over the phone. You have to fill in an on-line form and wait 5-7 days for a response.

Are you saying that you tried to cancel within 14 days of ordering?

I guess you didn't read their cancellations policy before cancelling.

Here is a short extract:

CANCELLATIONS AND REFUND POLICY

Under this policy, you may cancel your purchase of the course within the period of 14 calendar days from the date on which the contract of purchase is concluded. This is called as a “Cancellation Period”.
Note that if you redeem your voucher during the Cancellation Period, you expressly request us to begin providing the course materials and you acknowledge that you lose your right to cancel the purchase of the course and get any refund for it.

The law does say that that a consumer can only waive their cancellation rights by 'expressly requesting' the start of provision of the service.

I really can't see how redeeming a voucher is 'expressly requesting' anything.

Have a look at the application form and anything else you have agreed to for something that says "I expressly agree to waive my cancellation rights by using the course materials" or something similar.

I can easily see the situation where you actually owe them the other monthly instalments even though you have cancelled.

nippy1970

Thanks for your reply. I would agree under normal circumstances that I have lost my right to cancel, however, my point is they have misled me by not telling that the full package would not be available until after I had completed the whole payment plan.

Nowhere in the T&Cs or the payment plan does it state that I would be unable to book the associated exams until full payment had been made.

After all I made a commitment to pay the full amount so why couldn't they allow me to book the exams when I wanted to?

If I took out a payment plan for a new sofa I would expect the enjoy the entire sofa and not only have one of the armchairs delivered from day one.

Does this make sense?

unholyangel

nippy1970 wrote: »

Thanks for your reply. I would agree under normal circumstances that I have lost my right to cancel, however, my point is they have misled me by not telling that the full package would not be available until after I had completed the whole payment plan.

Nowhere in the T&Cs or the payment plan does it state that I would be unable to book the associated exams until full payment had been made.

After all I made a commitment to pay the full amount so why couldn't they allow me to book the exams when I wanted to?

If I took out a payment plan for a new sofa I would expect the enjoy the entire sofa and not only have one of the armchairs delivered from day one.

Does this make sense?

Did they actually say you could book your exams at any time you wanted to? Or rather, what did they say that led you to the impression that you would be able to?

If they're breaching the terms, you're going to need to be able to show how they're breaching the terms.

nippy1970

So here is the sales blurb containing the package details....


I think the key statements are....

"The course can be started anytime, and exams can be booked anytime"

"although I have had a lot of clients complete within a 2 weeks"

When i attempted to book the exams I was told I would need to pay all my instalments first. This restriction is not stated in the T&Cs or my credit agreement.

Firstly it says I can book them at anytime (which I couldn't) and also says a lot of clients complete it within 2 weeks (which I wouldn't have been able to)

Therefore I believe I had a right to cancel the contract as they breached the terms of the sale.

Do i just write off the £142 and put it down to experience or risk the £25 court fee for using the Money Claim Online service and potentially losing the case and being awarded costs against me? I'm tempted to go for it.





***********
Hi

Hope you are well, I have tried to give you a call in reference to the PRINCE2® Foundation & Practitioner course you requested online for £98.00 online.. I would usually drop an email however the reason why I was giving call today is because I wanted to find out if you would also be interested in the exams.

The exams are £220 for the Foundation and £350 for the Practitioner which you would pay in addition to the £98.00 usually, however I have the PRINCE2 Complete Training and Exam package for just £442.00.

I can pretty much guarantee that is the cheapest price you will find anywhere for both Foundation & Practitioner Inc. Both Official Exams.

It is only available for that price as one of our corporate clients placed a large deposit on the course as they was going to put one of their operation managers through the training who unfortunately is no longer with the company.

My manager has said whoever will clear the remaining balance can take the full package, it is a great opportunity to gain the PRINCE2® accreditations for a great price.

Included in the package for £442:

· 1 Official PRINCE2® Foundation Exam Included (RRP £220 +VAT)
· 1 Official PRINCE2® Practitioner exam included (RRP £420 + VAT)
· 12 Full courses with interactive lessons & videos
· Entire PRINCE® syllabus covered
· PRINCE2® Foundation and Practitioner exam simulations with feedback.
· Interactive exercises to consolidate the learning
· Extensive Exam Approaches module to support the "Objective Testing" Practitioner exam
· Progress reporting facility.
· PRINCE2® Foundation and Practitioner exam simulations with feedback.

Qualifications:

· PRINCE2® Foundation Certification (Axelos)
· PRINCE2® Practitioner Certification (Axelos)


Our training is online based and all expert instructor led and you also receive access support 24/7 via phone or email.

The course can be started anytime, and exams can be booked anytime.

Exams can be given online (using Webcam, microphone & valid ID) or using remote proctor (for those who may not have web cams) this allows you to take the exam in the comfort of your own home at a convenient time without the need for a physical invigilator. It is Ideal for candidates who may not have access to exam centres or those who may not be able to get to an exam centre. Please note that your exam must be taken while your training package is active we also require a minimum of 4 hours’ notice to organise your online exam.

You course can be completed at your convenience over 6 months, it is roughly 20 hours training for Foundation & 40 hours for Practitioner although I have had a lot of clients complete within a 2 weeks.

People who study PRINCE2® with us online achieve a higher scores in the Foundation & Practitioner exams.

PRINCE2® is achieving higher pass rates in the Practitioner exam compared to classroom training.


Certified PRINCE2® Complete Training & Exam Package:



If you would be interested in this please get back to me ASAP as there is just the one at this price at the moment.

nippy1970

And here is the response to my complaint and cancellation... this conflicts to what they say in the sales email blurb... the only time this was explained was when I complained.

*****

Thank you for the response.

We do understand your concern.

However, when the customer chooses a part payment plan the vouchers get released according to the deposit they have made so that they will not be losing the discounted price of the package.

Hence, against the first deposit made of 142 GBP we released the course voucher for you and once the other respective payments are done the exam vouchers then accordingly get released.

I am afraid to inform you that refund cannot be done for the first payment as the course voucher is redeemed.

takman

Why don't you just pay the rest of the money you owe so you can complete the course?. It seems a waste to just throw away £142 just because their wording isn't very clear. You don't stand any chance at all in getting any money back because you started the course.

rossybearr2016

Hi,

I totally sympathise with you on e-careers. I applied to do this same course and was not told that there was only a 6 month time limit. I had the same payment plan where I paid for 3 months before I could apply for any exams so essentially had 3 months to get this course done and dusted.

They were unable to provide me with anything that said the course was limited to 6 months and just directed me to their website even though this sale was done over the phone.

I'm down £500 now and have no idea how to start going about getting my money back.

unholyangel

rossybearr2016 wrote: »

Hi,

I totally sympathise with you on e-careers. I applied to do this same course and was not told that there was only a 6 month time limit. I had the same payment plan where I paid for 3 months before I could apply for any exams so essentially had 3 months to get this course done and dusted.

They were unable to provide me with anything that said the course was limited to 6 months and just directed me to their website even though this sale was done over the phone.

I'm down £500 now and have no idea how to start going about getting my money back.

If you took out a credit agreement for finance offered by the supplier but provided by a third party or paid on credit card, contact your card issuer.

If not, look and see if they have any regulatory bodies listed on their website. If not, then I'm afraid its good old fashioned letter before action followed by small claims if you want your money back.