Course refund

Annabirc

I paid £670 for a beauty course in July , which I was expecting to attend in July , due to the company having a back log of other people who had booked course was offered a date for the 11th October .
since then I have been offered a full time post within the nhs which I have excepted .
My 90 year old mother loaned me the cash for the course , as due to a risk assesment in my then nhs job didn’t allow me to work due to an underlying health issue which would put me at greater risk with covid .So the course was a way to eventually boost my income .
cut a long story short , I am not pursuing a career in beauty and would like a refund .
the company has as good Will they will offer me a credit note or I can sell the course .
i haven’t signed any contract and feel dubed out of a lot of money .
Not only that I wouldn’t of been able to attend the course as I now have to isolate due to a college testing positive for covid .
I just want my mums money back .
please help  

[Deleted User]

What documents were provided when you paid for the course ?

Annabirc

No documents at all only information on their web page .

Annabirc

This is the last response I got from them , they haven’t replied to my last email .so upset that someone can be so cruel especially when everyone is struggling at the moment .
*Whilst we sympathise with your situation, several businesses across the high street operate a credit note only system. 

As an alternative you may 'sell' your credit note on to another person that wishes to train in any course. 

I trust this will not please you however we cannot offer anymore at this time.

Kind Regards,
BTBA

Aylesbury_Duck

Try and put the emotion aside and deal with the facts.  They're not being cruel, they're operating a business.  Your rights aren't enhanced because your mother is elderly or because you work for the NHS.  Your task is to understand whether they are acting lawfully in what they're suggesting.  If you answer the following questions, more people may be able to help:

What terms and conditions did you agree to when you paid the money?
Did you pay in cash, or did you accept your mother's cash and pay by other means, e.g. credit card?
What's the college and course?  We may be able to find the Ts and Cs online.  Is it the BTBA Beauty Academy in Nottingham?
Did you initially accept the rescheduled October date?  If so, on what date?
On what date did you ask for a refund?

Aylesbury_Duck

If it is the BTBA place in Nottingham, this is what it says about refunds on their website:

Firstly, if you have only paid a deposit you will not receive a refund since these are non-refundable. Secondly, if you have already paid in full, any alteration to course details (including cancellations) will be subject to a £50 administration fee. Finally, you must also give us at least 10 working days notice to cancel or at least 5 working days notice to re-arrange course dates. Refunds are given in the form of a credit note. Please read our full terms and conditions found bottom left hand side of the website for further information.

Have you read the full terms and conditions?  Have you complied with them to obtain your refund?  

More legally-knowledgeable minds than mine may look at the Ts and Cs to determine if they're lawful or not, but answering the questions in my post above will help people determine your rights.

Annabirc

I haven’t signed a contract I haven’t even had an invoice for payment , but have had acknowledgement from them on Facebook instant message saying they received payment and there is a delay sending out invoices due to covid .
I paid by credit card in full, it was a needle free filler course 1 day .It is Btba in Nottingham 
I paid on the 4 th July had to message over several days to get a response that they had received payment this was in the 6th july
On the 7 th they said they were waiting for the government to say when they were allowed to start training sessions again 
sent several messages asking if any updates replied on the 15th saying they were closed due to the on going corona virus and would respond when they coukd .

Messaged again on the 23rd july  for an update , message saying they were closed got a reply on the 25th to say they would respond shortly regarding dates 
I messaged on the 27th and said I was a little annoyed as paid a lot of money for the course and not even had documentation for my payment and not been kept updated regarding course dates etc 

They replied that they would send formal invoices out on the 3rd of August as they were currently closed 
29th they messaged to ask if I could train on the 1st sept I was unable to they then offered me end sept / Oct I asked about sept dates to which they replied they were rammed with students who Vida booked previously and it would have to be Oct 
mon the 1st sept I said I could do the 1st Oct , the trainer wasn’t available , the only date they could offer was the 11th Oct which on the 5 th sept I said I was able to do it .
on the 29th sept I sent them a message regarding being offered a full time job and wouldn’t be pursuing a career in the beauty industry and would it be possible to have a refund had a reply on the 1st if Oct saying I had to send this request to bookings via email all these pre ious messages were by Facebook inbox on there business page .
sent an email that day and finally got a reply yesterday saying I could have a credit note or sell the course on which I stated as I wasn’t pursuing a career in beauty a credit note was pointless .
I then sent an email to the complaints department which is the response I got which I added above .

Aylesbury_Duck

Annabirc said:

I haven’t signed a contract I haven’t even had an invoice for payment , but have had acknowledgement from them on Facebook instant message saying they received payment and there is a delay sending out invoices due to covid .
I paid by credit card in full, it was a needle free filler course 1 day .It is Btba in Nottingham 
I paid on the 4 th July had to message over several days to get a response that they had received payment this was in the 6th july
On the 7 th they said they were waiting for the government to say when they were allowed to start training sessions again 
sent several messages asking if any updates replied on the 15th saying they were closed due to the on going corona virus and would respond when they coukd .

Messaged again on the 23rd july  for an update , message saying they were closed got a reply on the 25th to say they would respond shortly regarding dates 
I messaged on the 27th and said I was a little annoyed as paid a lot of money for the course and not even had documentation for my payment and not been kept updated regarding course dates etc 

They replied that they would send formal invoices out on the 3rd of August as they were currently closed 
29th they messaged to ask if I could train on the 1st sept I was unable to they then offered me end sept / Oct I asked about sept dates to which they replied they were rammed with students who Vida booked previously and it would have to be Oct 
mon the 1st sept I said I could do the 1st Oct , the trainer wasn’t available , the only date they could offer was the 11th Oct which on the 5 th sept I said I was able to do it .
on the 29th sept I sent them a message regarding being offered a full time job and wouldn’t be pursuing a career in the beauty industry and would it be possible to have a refund had a reply on the 1st if Oct saying I had to send this request to bookings via email all these pre ious messages were by Facebook inbox on there business page .
sent an email that day and finally got a reply yesterday saying I could have a credit note or sell the course on which I stated as I wasn’t pursuing a career in beauty a credit note was pointless .
I then sent an email to the complaints department which is the response I got which I added above .

Thanks, that's helpful.
1. You don't need to have signed a contract for a contract to be formed.  You've paid, they've acknowledged so a contract is in place.
2. Credit card payment is potentially helpful.
3. Where I think you may come unstuck is the highlighted part.  You agreed to the 11th October start date on the 5th September but then notified them of cancellation on 29th September.  That's less than 10 working days' notice needed for a refund.

Annabirc

I am also isolating at the moment to due to a staff member testing positive so unable to leave the house till next Thursday ,don’t know if that would make any difference .

Annabirc

Had these messages to regarding dates 

Annabirc

As above