Refund Sought - Skydiving Voucher

Juddermann

Hi,

At the end of November I purchased a Skydiving Voucher online from https://www.skydiveacademy.co.uk for £185.00. This was a Christmas gift. The voucher is valid for 9 months from date of purchase and entitles the recipient to a tandem skydive on any date prior to easter monday, reverting to a monetary value thereafter for the remainder of the valid duration.

During the purchase process, the maximum weight for a tandem jump is listed as 15st 7lbs, although they may accept participants up to 16st 7lbs (https://skydiveacademy.org.uk/vouchers/)

On purchase, the terms and conditions are not hyperlinked in the section where you agree to voucher terms (the voucher terms state non-refundable).

Post sale, you are provided with information that outlines BMI limits, significantly reducing in most cases, the maximum weight the individual could be. This information is contained within the FAQs, although you are not directed to these at any point during the purchase.
Additionally, the confirmation, nor their terms contain any information on right of cancellation.
In our email exchanges, they refer to 'the same cooling off period as any other online vendor' - which I believe acknowledges the existence of such a right, even though they do not have a specific policy to provide.

I believe the trader is in contravention of:

Consumer Contract Regulations 2013 Part 3 section 30/31 - The absence of any information on cancellation extending the period of such rights until the point these are provided, or a year later.

Consumer Protection From Unfair Trading Practices - omission of key information that materially impacts a purchaser's decision to purchase.

As a side issue, they have no privacy policy, do not request consent for the capture of data and during my email exchanges with them appear to be entirely ignorant of their obligations under GDPR. As a separate action, I filed a Subject Access Request, which they responded to along the lines of
- All data we hold is in this email trail you already have
- You are the source of the data
- It's held on secure servers with password protected logins.

I have requested a refund, which they have staunchly refused.

I am instigating a section 75 chargeback via my credit card provider, however, if this is not successful I intend to file a county court claim.

Am I correct in my interpretation of the legislation here?

I have read about no cooling off applying for services with a specific date/period of service, although I cannot see that is the case here. Moreso, their admittance of the existence of a cooling off period would suggest this is not the case.

lincroft1710

Sorry, I may have missed the reason, but why do you want a refund?

KatrinaWaves

lincroft1710 wrote: »

Sorry, I may have missed the reason, but why do you want a refund?

I'm guessing that although they are under the maximum weight, they exceed the BMI limit which they state was not communicated clearly before they booked.

Undervalued

lincroft1710 wrote: »

Sorry, I may have missed the reason, but why do you want a refund?

Quite!

All the stuff about GDPR etc is irrelevant. If they are in breach of GDPR etc then report them to the information commissioner and they will maybe get a warning or a fine but it has nothing to do with your right to cancel - or not.

Undervalued

KatrinaWaves wrote: »

I'm guessing that although they are under the maximum weight, they exceed the BMI limit which they state was not communicated clearly before they booked.

If that is the case then that may be a valid reason to cancel and get a refund.

As an aside, many years ago I was involved in another adventurous activity that relied on fulfilling these type of vouchers to subsidise its existence and keep members' costs down. People ended up paying nearly double what the same experience would have cost had they gone directly to a club. Plus the club would have benefited more as they often ended up getting well under half the cost for doing most of the work.

Juddermann

Undervalued wrote: »

Quite!

All the stuff about GDPR etc is irrelevant. If they are in breach of GDPR etc then report them to the information commissioner and they will maybe get a warning or a fine but it has nothing to do with your right to cancel - or not.

Agreed - it's intended to reference their poor website policies and lack of adherence to appropriate legislation. Has no bearing on the cancellation.

Juddermann

Undervalued wrote: »

If that is the case then that may be a valid reason to cancel and get a refund.

As an aside, many years ago I was involved in another adventurous activity that relied on fulfilling these type of vouchers to subsidise its existence and keep members' costs down. People ended up paying nearly double what the same experience would have cost had they gone directly to a club. Plus the club would have benefited more as they often ended up getting well under half the cost for doing most of the work.

Yes. Seeking a refund as whilst the recipient meets the weight limit specified, they do not meet the BMI limit and the prospect of them doing so within the voucher's valid period is questionable.

Additionally, non-provision of any cancellation terms throughout the process should extend the statutory 14 day period up to a year (or until the point they provide these terms to me), right?

Juddermann

lincroft1710 wrote: »

Sorry, I may have missed the reason, but why do you want a refund?

During the voucher purchase process they state:
Max weight for Tandem is 15st 7lbs/98kg but we may accept upto 16st 7 lbs/105kg after a personal assessment.


After sale, you are linkd to a BMI document found in their FAQs, which places further restrictions upon the intended recipient:
https://skydiveacademy.org.uk/files/bmi.pdf

Their terms and conditions (which are hidden away at the page footer on sale - https://app.gcskydiving.com/content/plee/content/file/terms_and_conditions.pdf) state:
f. Whilst we will accept participants up to 16st 7lbs/105kg we would wish to discuss their participation with any weighing over
14st/88kg – some may require larger parachutes or for Tandem a lighter Instructor - this can be done by telephoning 01915171234 during Office Hours 10am – 5pm Mon – Fri; and we will likely require some to come in for personal assessment. Those exceeding the weights above attending for training without consulting us risk not being allowed to commence the course and losing their fees.

I'm seeking a refund as the recipient meets the weight restrictions listed, but would have a task ahead to meet the BMI requirements.

Juddermann

Their most recent relevant reply states:

What you are sending me is purely opinion quoting relevant documentation as you see fit. I do not pretend to be any expert in the matters you quote - I endeavour to keep things nice and simple prior to the point of sale, drawing aspiring purchasers and bookers to our terms and conditions, clearly stating that what we are selling is transferable but not refundable, and requesting that aspiring purchasers acknowledge that prior to the point of purchase - indeed it is not possible to purchase from us on line without first acknowledging that.

I would suggest that should you wish to progress this matter further that you do so through the appropriate channels as we now appear to have exhausted any dialogue between us and I am no expert in the extensive matters you are quoting to me.

You appear to feel yourself far better versed in these matters than I am and perhaps you will be able to convince such as a Claims Court or other legislative body of your case

Undervalued

Juddermann wrote: »

Their most recent relevant reply states:

What you are sending me is purely opinion quoting relevant documentation as you see fit. I do not pretend to be any expert in the matters you quote - I endeavour to keep things nice and simple prior to the point of sale, drawing aspiring purchasers and bookers to our terms and conditions, clearly stating that what we are selling is transferable but not refundable, and requesting that aspiring purchasers acknowledge that prior to the point of purchase - indeed it is not possible to purchase from us on line without first acknowledging that.

I would suggest that should you wish to progress this matter further that you do so through the appropriate channels as we now appear to have exhausted any dialogue between us and I am no expert in the extensive matters you are quoting to me.

You appear to feel yourself far better versed in these matters than I am and perhaps you will be able to convince such as a Claims Court or other legislative body of your case

Well that is a perfectly reasonable response.

Either you are right or they are and it is beginning to look as if a district judge in the small claims court is going to have to decide.

Juddermann

Undervalued wrote: »

Well that is a perfectly reasonable response.

Either you are right or they are and it is beginning to look as if a district judge in the small claims court is going to have to decide.

Thanks. Somewhat frustrating that they have failed to acknowledge or respond to my points on not providing the BMI prior to sale, or providing details of any cancellation terms. All they've done is repeat that I agreed to the fact the voucher is non-refundable, when in prior emails they've confirmed a cancellation policy exists.

Anyhow, as they're not likely to satisfy my request, if I proceed to file a claim via the Small Claims Court, what do you think my chances are based on the legislation quoted? Am I fighting a losing battle?