My fault agreeing to T&C's

Lookingforhelp101

I have been dealing with a company ( A US soccer scholarship company based in the UK) and foolishly signed the T&C's after verbal assurances from the salesman that I would be offered a refund of the fees if I withdrew my application at a later date. Obviously, it has materialised that the salesman's info was nonsense and I am now out of pocket for nearly £3000. Legally I have no case as I signed the T&C's but what course of action can I take? Social media comments get deleted and blocked and this has left me powerless. Any advise greatly appreciated. Even leaving a poor review on Trust Pilot, it just becomes my word against theirs

Aylesbury_Duck

A few questions:

In what capacity did you purchase?  As an individual customer, or is this some sort of franchise or coaching club you're running?

What have you got in the way of written terms and conditions?  Anything in the correspondence that backs what you were told verbally?

Are they really based in the UK, or are they based in the US and just selling here?

How did you pay?

Lookingforhelp101

Aylesbury_Duck said:

A few questions:

In what capacity did you purchase?  As an individual customer, or is this some sort of franchise or coaching club you're running?

What have you got in the way of written terms and conditions?  Anything in the correspondence that backs what you were told verbally?

Are they really based in the UK, or are they based in the US and just selling here?

How did you pay?

As an individual customer. They arrange soccer scholarships for clients based in the UK. The company is UK based.
I signed the T&C's so I realise I have little to no legal recourse but I signed them based on misinformation

Aylesbury_Duck

Can you post the terms here?  Terms and conditions aren't allowed to be unfair.  Signing something doesn't automatically mean you're bound to it fully.  The details could be important.

Ergates

Assuming they are covered by UK laws (if they're not - no idea what US law says):

Companies can't just automatically keep all your money if you cancel.  They can keep *some* of it (possibly all) to cover any costs they've already incurred and losses - but this needs to be fair and represent *actual* costs/losses.

So, they can keep money to cover any work they've already done on your behalf (e.g. if they were arranging a visa for the US).  They can also keep money to cover losses - e.g. due to you taking up a slot that they don't have time to refill.  But they do have a duty to *try* to fill the slot - if it is possible/reasonable to do so in the time available.  This will depend a lot on when you signed vs when you were due to start.

Just because you've signed something doesn't make those terms legally binding.  Businesses cannot enforce unfair terms, and you cannot sign away your rights.

Lookingforhelp101

Thanks for this. He was 14 years old when he signed up ( he is 16 now) so there has been no work on his profile or promotion of him as a player or candidate yet as he is/was too young to apply or to be considered for any scholarships in the US. The fee I paid was £2950 so not a small sum. They are withholding the full amount as they say it is not refundable as per T&C's

Lookingforhelp101

1. Grant of Rights - The terms and conditions within this agreement are made between ACA Sports Group. (“The Company”) and the client (“Attachment II”) that completed registration at aca-scholarships.com registration platforms. The Company owns the ACA Scholarships College Marketing Services; including related copyrights, trademarks and business methods; The Company is in the business of connecting student athletes to various college coaches within the NCAA, NAIA, CCCAA and NJCAA and providing education and mentoring on college recruiting activities. The Client wishes to appoint the Company as its exclusive provider of the Services, as defined on the terms and conditions set out in this agreement. 2. Terms and Termination - The length of this agreement will depend on the level of service the client selects as seen in Attachment. The service will begin upon payment being made as selected in Attachment II. 3. Indemnity, Confidentiality, Non-Circumvention - The Client agrees that all Intellectual Property Rights in all Materials (whether created before or after the Commencement Date) shall belong to the Company. The Client undertakes that: (a) they shall not copy or make available to others any of the Materials without the prior written consent of the Company; and (b) immediately following termination of this Agreement the Client shall on demand return to the Company all Materials (and all copies thereof) in possession or under control of the Client. Except as required by law, both parties shall procure that all confidential information disclosed by one party to the other in accordance with this Agreement or which may at any time until termination of this Agreement come into the other party’s knowledge, possession or control shall not be used for any purposes other than those required or permitted by this Agreement and shall remain confidential and shall not be disclosed to any third party except insofar as this may be permitted hereunder or required for the proper operation of this Agreement. 4. Entire Agreement - This agreement is the entire agreement of the Parties related to the subject matter hereof, and supersedes any and all prior representations, negotiations, agreements and understandings, written and/or oral, between the Parties. 5. Action Based Refund Policy – By law you have a 14 day cooling off period which includes weekends on public holidays. To get a refund on the initial payment, the client must first complete their online recruiting profile with qualifying video footage, game planning & scheduling session, complete all necessary NCAA or NAIA registrations and take the SAT, ACT or TOEFL test if advised to by the company. The company will then have 6 months to generate interest from college coaches. If no interest is generated, the client will qualify for a refund. If the university/ college/ school pulls the scholarship offer and the company is not able to find a replacement within 6 months, a refund will be applied. If the client changes their mind after accepting an offer no refund will be applied. If the client decides to change their mind about going to an American university during program enrolment, no refund will be applied but any additional outstanding payments will not be required. If the client gets injured during the program, a full refund will be applied provided the injury is within 30 days from the signing date of this agreement. A partial refund of 50% will be given if the injury is before university/ college interest is generated. The injury must be an injury that means the client is deemed unable to compete as an athlete for the foreseeable future and is verified by a qualified medical doctor. 6. Notices - All notices shall be emailed to aca-scholarships.com 7. Amendment - This Agreement may not be amended, modified or changed, in whole or in part, except by a written agreement signed by the Parties. 8. Insurance - ACA Scholarships will not provide insurance plans. 9. Clients Obligations - The client agrees to respond to any communication sent by the Company to the client within 3-14 days. If the client fails to respond within 3-14 days the Company will send final communication notice via email or post. If the client does not respond to final communication notice, this will give the company permission to suspend this agreement. The client will then have 90 days to make contact to reactivate the agreement. If the client fails to communicate within the 90 days, the company holds the right to terminate this agreement. The client agrees to notify the Company of any communication between the client and NCAA, NAIA, CCCAA and NJCAA coaches. The client agrees to comply and follow instructions from the company to help them with the college recruiting process. The Client understands they should not be part of any other recruiting service while this agreement is active. The client understands to communicate with coaches within 24 - 48 hours from interest/proposals being passed to the client. If the client is paying monthly for the service, the client understands payments must be made on time. If a payment is missed, the company may pause or terminate marketing services until payment is made. The client must complete Attachment III of this agreement to highlight what the expected client requirements are. 9a. Payment Plans The Company will charge the clients billing card on the 5th of every month for the companies payment plan fee. If the client is late on payment the service will be put on hold until payment is made, with an additional late fee of £75. 10. Disclaimer - The Client is responsible for acquiring all necessary insurances needed to participate in collegiate sports or meet requirements for the U.S. - The Client is responsible to comply with all NCAA, NAIA, CCCAA and NJCAA compliances. The Company is not responsible for any decisions the NCAA, NAIA, CCCAA or NJCAA make. The Client must provide factual information to the Company. Any content the Client provides to the Company may be used for promotional activities to help the Company deliver the service to the Client. Content may appear offline and online. Breaching any terms or clauses 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 and 10 within this agreement gives the company permission to terminate this agreement without refund. The Company is not responsible for decisions made by any United States Embassy in relation to Visa decisions The client understands they may not require all phases or stages within the program they selected. Therefore the Company is not obligated to perform all activities if the client does not request 

born_again

Lookingforhelp101 said:

I have been dealing with a company ( A US soccer scholarship company based in the UK) and foolishly signed the T&C's after verbal assurances from the salesman that I would be offered a refund of the fees if I withdrew my application at a later date. Obviously, it has materialised that the salesman's info was nonsense and I am now out of pocket for nearly £3000. Legally I have no case as I signed the T&C's but what course of action can I take? Social media comments get deleted and blocked and this has left me powerless. Any advise greatly appreciated. Even leaving a poor review on Trust Pilot, it just becomes my word against theirs

So how long after signing did you withdraw the application?

Action Based Refund Policy – By law you have a 14 day cooling off period which includes weekends on public holidays. To get a refund on the initial payment, the client must first complete their online recruiting profile with qualifying video footage, game planning & scheduling session, complete all necessary NCAA or NAIA registrations and take the SAT, ACT or TOEFL test if advised to by the company.

So did you comply with the bold?
Which seem excessive given the right to cancel in 14 days. 

Okell

@lookingforhelp101 -  sorry but ICBA looking through a wall of text of T&Cs.

Who is this company you've paid?  Give us a link to their site.

What did you sign up for?

What country's laws do their T&Cs say govern any contracts with them?

Lookingforhelp101

When we signed the agreement 2 years ago a basic profile was set up for him with a couple of photos and a written blarb about his football so far.. He was only 14 so all the above conditions couldn't apply to him as he was too young to register with these organisations and we were never instructed to do so. As it happens, his DOB was incorrect on his profile and is still incorrect to this day. We were asked to send videos and photos to build up his profile which we have done for 2 years. We have submitted dozens of photos and videos. Not one has been added to his profile and his profile is exactly as it was in the beginning, Meaning that not one single hour of work has been carried out on his file/profile/promotion to Colleges. The fee of £2950 is the full fee payable to ACA even if we saw the application through to enrollment. Can they then justify withholding the full fee if they have carried no work?

saajan_12

Lookingforhelp101 said:

When we signed the agreement 2 years ago a basic profile was set up for him with a couple of photos and a written blarb about his football so far.. He was only 14 so all the above conditions couldn't apply to him as he was too young to register with these organisations and we were never instructed to do so. As it happens, his DOB was incorrect on his profile and is still incorrect to this day. We were asked to send videos and photos to build up his profile which we have done for 2 years. We have submitted dozens of photos and videos. Not one has been added to his profile and his profile is exactly as it was in the beginning, Meaning that not one single hour of work has been carried out on his file/profile/promotion to Colleges. The fee of £2950 is the full fee payable to ACA even if we saw the application through to enrollment. Can they then justify withholding the full fee if they have carried no work?

So are you withdrawing because you're changing your mind, or because of their lack of performance? Would you be happy to continue if they had been uploading and engaging?