Having to continue paying for Chrysalis Course

lolzc

Hi, I joined Chrysalis courses last year on their 3 year diploma in psychotherapy (lured in as the cheapest option rather than just doing each year as a stand alone course!) I made sure at the time of interview that classes were run as face to face, not online as I’ve got a disabled child at home and unable to commit to hours of zoom calls at home due to her needs. I was assured that things had returned to face to face learning since covid. The terms state they are able to change how the course is taught and go online with zoom if needed. I was happy to sign those terms as I could just defer a year if a pandemic happened again.

next years classes have just been emailed & they now do blended learning with 3-4 classes being 7 hour zoom calls from home! There is no way I can defer as that is now their training model. I would never have signed the contract had I known about this new learning model, which was sprung on us a month before year 2 starts! 

I have asked to withdraw & given my reasons being that I can’t do the online classes, not just that I don’t want to! I thought I’d be allowed to leave without continuing to pay. They’ve told me however my contract still stands and I have to pay until 2025!!

how do I get out of this? It’s wholly unfair imo, especially as someone else on my course just told them she couldn’t afford it anymore and they let her out of her contract! I’ve been truthful and left with this! 

Also, I moved course venue since I started the course and the contract they keep sending through to me shows that I am signed up for the old venue. Does this make the contract void at all? (Fingers crossed!) 

thanks for reading if you’ve got this far! 

born_again

If they had it in the T/C then I can see a way out as you agreed to them.

Why can you not manage zoom meetings, when you can manage face to face?
End of the day, at home will mean less time for someone to look after your child.

screech_78

lolzc said:

Hi, I joined Chrysalis courses last year on their 3 year diploma in psychotherapy (lured in as the cheapest option rather than just doing each year as a stand alone course!) I made sure at the time of interview that classes were run as face to face, not online as I’ve got a disabled child at home and unable to commit to hours of zoom calls at home due to her needs. I was assured that things had returned to face to face learning since covid. The terms state they are able to change how the course is taught and go online with zoom if needed. I was happy to sign those terms as I could just defer a year if a pandemic happened again.

next years classes have just been emailed & they now do blended learning with 3-4 classes being 7 hour zoom calls from home! There is no way I can defer as that is now their training model. I would never have signed the contract had I known about this new learning model, which was sprung on us a month before year 2 starts! 

I have asked to withdraw & given my reasons being that I can’t do the online classes, not just that I don’t want to! I thought I’d be allowed to leave without continuing to pay. They’ve told me however my contract still stands and I have to pay until 2025!!

how do I get out of this? It’s wholly unfair imo, especially as someone else on my course just told them she couldn’t afford it anymore and they let her out of her contract! I’ve been truthful and left with this! 

Also, I moved course venue since I started the course and the contract they keep sending through to me shows that I am signed up for the old venue. Does this make the contract void at all? (Fingers crossed!) 

thanks for reading if you’ve got this far! 

I can’t see how you have any comeback when their terms state this may be the case.

I’m also confused though. Who would be looking after your child whilst you attended face to face classes? Surely they can still do this whilst you’re in another room. Or, you could go somewhere else (another house, library, etc.)

tacpot12

The error with the venue doesn't invalidate the contract.

You need to study the term that allows them to vary how the course is delivered. You can post that term here for others to see it to help interpret it. You seem to be saying that the term included a provision that they could only change the way the course was delivered if they needed to do so. I would need to see this term to decide whether this was the case. 

Do you own your own home? This might seem an odd question, but people that own their homes often find that they have Legal Expeneses cover as part of their home insurance. If you have this, you can get a solicitor to study the contract the  Chrysalis actions' to see if there is a way to cancel the contract. 

mark_cycling00

please tell me if I'm wrong, but my understanding is that "legal expenses" only apply if there is a >50% chance of winning.

It's not like they pay any time you want to speak to a lawyer.

lolzc

born_again said:

If they had it in the T/C then I can see a way out as you agreed to them.

Why can you not manage zoom meetings, when you can manage face to face?
End of the day, at home will mean less time for someone to look after your child.

My child is autistic so if I’m in the house she’ll be constantly trying to disturb me & not understanding why she can’t, which usually causes a meltdown. I can cope with this for a few hours, but not all day! If I’m not there she just accepts I’m not there. I don’t live near family so can’t go there & it’s a bit much asking a friend to use their house regularly. It’s also concerning that these courses are supposed to be highly confidential due to what is discussed in classes, but yet I could go to a friends house and have them know what is going on at classes. They make a big thing out of the confidentiality of everything, yet we now have to practise therapy sessions with no knowledge of whether they are confidential or not! 

tightauldgit

If you can go to the facility to take a class, then is it possible to go to the facility and find a space to take the online class? 

There's no requirement that you do online classes at home so I don't think you could claim that you are unable to do them because your home isn't suitable. 

lolzc

tacpot12 said:

The error with the venue doesn't invalidate the contract.

You need to study the term that allows them to vary how the course is delivered. You can post that term here for others to see it to help interpret it. You seem to be saying that the term included a provision that they could only change the way the course was delivered if they needed to do so. I would need to see this term to decide whether this was the case. 

The terms state they can move to online learning for health & safety reasons, covid type restrictions & then it says “for any reason they see fit” the way it was sold to me was that they could possibly have the need to go to online classes as a temporary fix, they mentioned if a tutor was ill for example. They also mentioned it covered them for if another pandemic hit, but said I could defer the year if that was the case. I agreed to this as how it was sold was that any online working would be temporary. I made a point at interview of asking if the classes were face to face & was told yes! 

lolzc

tightauldgit said:

If you can go to the facility to take a class, then is it possible to go to the facility and find a space to take the online class? 

There's no requirement that you do online classes at home so I don't think you could claim that you are unable to do them because your home isn't suitable. 

The classes are run from a conference room in a hotel so not really as the room won’t be booked anymore. Going anywhere public invalidates the confidentiality of the course. (We’re practicing counselling & psychotherapy, not just receiving teaching on the subject) 

Aylesbury_Duck

The trouble you have is that your circumstances are very unusual, and almost anyone else could easily work with the revised method of delivery, so I think it would be difficult to win if you 'go legal'.

You mentioned a student who'd been honest about her reasons for not being able to continue, which were accepted.  Have you told them precisely why you can't, or just told them you can't?  They sound a reasonable company based on the other student's experience, so they might be understanding of your relatively unique circumstances.

lolzc

Aylesbury_Duck said:

The trouble you have is that your circumstances are very unusual, and almost anyone else could easily work with the revised method of delivery, so I think it would be difficult to win if you 'go legal'.

You mentioned a student who'd been honest about her reasons for not being able to continue, which were accepted.  Have you told them precisely why you can't, or just told them you can't?  They sound a reasonable company based on the other student's experience, so they might be understanding of your relatively unique circumstances.

I have explained the exact reasons why I cannot do the learning at home. I have been responded to similarly to anyone else that has said they don’t want to do blended learning! ie, letting me know why they want to move to a blended learning model, why they aren’t refunding anyone for the classes not running face to face, why they think blended learning works for counselling courses in particular. It’s like they’ve not actually taken in to account my reasons at all. I have no issue with courses running online, I can see the benefits! I just can’t do them so wouldn’t have joined if I’d known this as the case. 

The other lady in my class had had enough of the course, the blended learning aspect was the final straw for her, but she just said she couldn’t afford it anymore as it’s an easy way to get out of the contract (I wish I’d known that!! But I just told the truth & can’t get out of it)

there is a complaints/appeal process I can go through, but I honestly don’t know what else I can say that I haven’t already that will get them to see things from my point of view