Refund for baking class, HELP!

Blackbeard_of_Perranporth

Tomo277 wrote: »

HI, My first time posting so bear with me!

I recently booked a baking course as a birthday present for my mother. Only lasts a few hours but cost £50!

Anyway, It turns out there was an event on in my mothers hometown that prevented her from attending due to road closures so she informed the company and asked if she could re-arrange. She was informed she could and that she will be contacted with new dates. It's worth noting that it does state on their website that bookings are non-refundable but they did agree over the phone to reschedule.

After two weeks of nothing, my mother had emailed the company to ask if a date had been rescheduled and she received a reply that was frankly uncalled for. i have added it below.

"Good morning I have not forgotten, what you fail to realise I am booked out up into 2020 for classes, and my clients are coming from Switzerland, Norway, Brazil to train with me in setting up businesses. Not including wedding bookings, I’m also the food ambassador for Wales so I go to school on behalf of your government. I’m also in two global competitions, I also have a five year I pack a lot in my day. You chose to cancel a booking to watch an air show and think I should put you in front of all of my other bookings, wow Honestly do not believe that you think this is ok behaviour. Now please check the disclaimer about cancelling a booking, it states if the booking isn’t cancelled by me then you get no refund or a class, I’m doing you a favour in rescheduling you. Please remember that, thank you and have a great day"

On their website it still shows spaces available for courses on the 20th of July, 9th & 23rd of Aug so stating they're fully booked seems incorrect! I asked for a refund as the response frankly left a bad taste in my mouth (Pardon the pun) about the whole thing and was sent a very blunt reply of "I have forwarded this email to our lawyers!"

So my question is...... Am i entitled to a refund or have i lost my money as it stated on their website it was non-refundable?

Did your mother fail to attend? If so, no refund?

Otherwise it is goodwill.

hollydays

Blackbeard_of_Perranporth wrote: »

Did your mother fail to attend? If so, no refund?

Otherwise it is goodwill.

It's not quite that simple

unholyangel

Consumer contracts (Information, Cancellation & Additional Charges) Regulations 2014 would require them to provide certain information to you in a durable medium (website is not durable) before you would be bound by the contract.

Such as that you would have 14 days from booking to cancel. If they failed to inform you of this 14 day right then that 14 days is extended up to 1 year & 14 days.

There is an exemption to the right to cancel for catering/leisure activities provided on a certain day but I would say as its for a baking class rather than providing baking services, so that exemption wouldn't apply - even if it did they would still have to comply with providing the necessary information in a durable medium before you were bound (including that you would not benefit from the right to cancel).

[Deleted User]

How rude. I'd be pointing out they have misunderstood the reason for cancelling, explaining and requesting a new date. If you fail to get one in reply I'd be naming and shaming, leave a Facebook review or two etc.

IvanOpinion

I would like to have seen the email sent by the mother before making any judgement. People often respond to emails in the manner that they perceive they were sent, and it is very easy to misconstrue what an email says.

Pollycat

IvanOpinion wrote: »

I would like to have seen the email sent by the mother before making any judgement. People often respond to emails in the manner that they perceive they were sent, and it is very easy to misconstrue what an email says.

Actually, that's a very good point.

It's a point I make on a number of forums I post on - that the initial post often sets the tone for the replies.
However, in this instance I have no reason to think the OP's Mum was anything but polite.

Personally, after that email - parts of it don't even make sense - I would have no interest in being taught anything at all by this person and would class the £50 lost as a piece of luck.

Manxman_in_exile

I'd like to see the email from the mother as well. The reply from the person running,the course does say that the OP's mother cancelled "to attend an air show", so it might be interesting to see exactly how the mother expressed the reason for cancellation - ie did she say she couldn't physically attend because the roads were closed*?


Also the email from the person running the course says: "...I have not forgotten...I'm doing you a favour in rescheduling you..." I read that to mean that the course will be rescheduled - it just hasn't been done yet. I don't see a problem with that response.


(*Maybe it's because I'm from the Isle of Man - where public roads are often closed for motorsport and cycle racing events - but did no-one realise the roads would be closed for the air show? Surely it wasn't a surprise? Back home people plan around road closures so they can get to where they need to be. But maybe that's just my Manx personal experience)

zoob

I agree the reply the the op got needs to be read with the original email sent to get a better understanding of the contexts

Also what notice off not being able to attend the class was given