Course cancelled 18 hours before it started = lost day off work

NewDaddyHerts

Hi,

I was due to attend a course run by a charity which in our area is only run once a month and only on Saturdays. It was booked 3 months ago and was due to start at 10am today. As I work every single Saturday I had to take annual leave to attend.

However at 4pm yesterday I received an email (not even a telephone call) to say it had been cancelled due to unforeseen circumstances. The email stated that I had been booked onto a place next Saturday at the same venue (which didn't exist when I was booking it so must have been created as a result of the cancellation). That Saturday however is not suitable for me due to attending a totally different course. The next available date in our area isn't until January now, far too late to be beneficial to me.

When I received the email I called the customer service centre and asked if there were any alternative venues for the same date. The only option was Edinburgh, an 8 hour drive away for us! I asked if there was any possibility to squeeze one extra person in to a fully booked session more locally, which they said there wasn't.

My only option now is to book one for a Saturday in November (which would mean taking another day off work and extra travel expenses to get to) or getting a refund, which would still leave me out of a day's leave and not having taken the course which may in the future be of benefit to me.

What are my options for compensation for the day off? Can I claim as a consequential loss under the consumer act? I'm conscious that this is a charity but on the other hand 18 hours notice (and at 4pm on a Friday) was too late to tell work to cancel my leave, or to find alternatives. Perhaps with 48 or 72 hours notice there may have been places left elsewhere today which I would have happily travelled to.

pinkshoes

You can claim your actual losses e.g. Any travel tickets already bought.

I assume you still took the day of holiday, and it was paid leave rather than unpaid?

NewDaddyHerts

pinkshoes wrote: »

You can claim your actual losses e.g. Any travel tickets already bought.

I assume you still took the day of holiday, and it was paid leave rather than unpaid?

I was just going to drive (it's 15 minutes from me) so no travel tickets etc purchased.

Yes it was taken as paid annual leave, but if I want to attend another course (which I do if I can find availability before Christmas, otherwise it's pointless for me) I will need to take another day of annual leave as they are only run on Saturdays, and I work every Saturday.

The terms and conditions of the course state that if I were the one cancelling it, I would have to do so within 14 days of booking (regardless of how far in advance it was booked) otherwise no refund is given. This doesn't really square with their cancellation 18 hours before the course starts!

JJ_Egan

You have no loss .
Your supposed loss in the future may not actually happen .

You can ask for compensation but they may well say NO .