Refunds - service paid for but not used

[lamboluke]

Hello, i recently paid via credit card £300 for some motorbike lessons which included CBT and module 1 training/test.
The cbt stand alone is £97, the training for the further stuff is by the hour and is a bit more than if it was all paid separately.

I've done the CBT, but due to circumstances i wont be able to do the rest of the training for anytime soon. So i phoned them up and requested a refund of the £203. The guy on the phone said they dont normally do this as it was paid in bulk, and will have to phone me back later this week with an answer.

Why question is, do i have a legal leg to stand on? Their website doesnt have any terms or conditions re payment/refunds of services not used, nor when i paid was i told this.

Surely it makes sense that i can get the £203 refunded seen as i'm not using the service and no formal contract was made?

Thanks.

 

[weetsie]

legally i dont know, i doubt it.

but unless your canceling ment they wont be able to fill that time slot they should really refund you most if not all of the £203.

 

[DPinBucks]

Unfortunately, I would say legally you don't have a leg to stand on. They can prove you wanted the lessons, because you paid for them, and are now asking for a refund. That constitutes a legally binding contract for them to supply and you to take the service. Contracts do not have to be written down to be binding; once the transaction is complete a contract exists (despite Sam Goldwyn's "A verbal contract ain't worth the paper it's written on").

Don't forget that they have incurred costs in offering the service, have had to reserve resources to supply the lessons, and are now faced with the prospect of losing income because of your default. Why should they refund you?

Nonetheless, if the service were in high demand so that they would have no problem in finding replacements, then if I were them I would out of goodwill be prepared to refund your money. I'd still be inclined to retain say 10% in admin costs, though.

 

[Jenn]

I don't know if this is applicable to you but here is what Consumer Direct say:

When you can't cancel

Please note that there are circumstances when you cannot cancel unless the trader has given you a specific contractual right to do so.

These are if:

The trader has already started to provide the service within the cancellation period and you have agreed to this. You must have been told in writing - before the supplier agreed to carry out the service - that you would then lose your right to cancel.

 

[captainarchive]

OP might get a definitive answer by emailing:

Consumer Direct

 

[lamboluke]

Thanks for the replies everyone.
I'll see what happens when they ring me either tomorrow or Saturday with a response. If its a no, ill contact consumer direct as suggested by captainarchive and see if there is anything they can suggest.

Just to clarify however relating to the booking, i didnt actually book lessons per say as in on such and such date at such and such time i will have lessons..... in effect i had paid for them but not actually booked if that makes sense?

Thanks.

 

[Deleted member 27989]

Also keep in mind that usually you get a better price for one part when you book/pay together with another part...So the training you have had has the potential that it should have been more expensive....If that makes sense...