Course attendee wants refund due to absence

Tim_B_2

I run a course that that runs for a few months, and one person attended for the first few weeks but then messaged to say they were unable to attend due to illness, and would update me on when and if they would be back but didn't. The course was fully booked and I was unable to offer the spot to anyone else. And now after the course has finished, they are demanding a refund for the period that they were away. The course registration page does explain there are no refunds, however this person says that this is an unfair term for their circumstances and will use section 75 or will go to a small claims court.

Any advice on this? Surely I can't be expected to refund anyone who claims they were unwell, and if that's a valid reason to be obliged to refund a customer by law then everyone could use this excuse?

elsien

This is not a legal  point of view, but you can’t mitigate your losses by fitting someone new into a course partway through when they’ve already missed the first few sessions. 

On that basis, I would suggest they are trying it on. 

How did they pay?

sammyjammy

Absolutely not, he started the course and didn't finish it, illness or not its not your problem.

Tim_B_2

elsien said:

This is not a legal  point of view, but you can’t mitigate your losses by fitting someone new into a course partway through when they’ve already missed the first few sessions. 

On that basis, I would suggest they are trying it on. 

How did they pay?

They paid by bank card.

Brie

keep repeating "our T&Cs state no refunds".

Westin

A try on. Your T&C’s cover this eventuality.

You could perhaps offer a small discount off a future course as a good-will gesture.

or you could ask if they know how to Whistle Dixie.

born_again

Tim_B_2 said:

elsien said:

This is not a legal  point of view, but you can’t mitigate your losses by fitting someone new into a course partway through when they’ve already missed the first few sessions. 

On that basis, I would suggest they are trying it on. 

How did they pay?

They paid by bank card.

Guessing you mean Debit card.
As it was their choice not to attend there is no cover for them to recover funds.

Even if it was a Credit Card then S75 would not cover their lack of attendance due to illness.

elsien

Section 75 only applies to credit cards.
He could try a charge back if he paid by debit card, but you can dispute that if he does. 

MyRealNameToo

A credit card S75 claim is paid for by their bank so no issue for you. 

Ultimately stick to your guns and allow them to take whatever action they want. Is your next course fully booked? Could you offer them a repeat of the classes they missed? 

Tim_B_2

I can only see on my website that they paid using a card. I'll need to check later if it was a debit card or credit card. 

I expect the next course to get fully booked, so don't want to give them a free place as it would amount to a refund.

sammyjammy

Tim_B_2 said:

I can only see on my website that they paid using a card. I'll need to check later if it was a debit card or credit card. 

I expect the next course to get fully booked, so don't want to give them a free place as it would amount to a refund.

And absolutely no reason why you should.  Just ignore is my advice.