Unable to get a refund

[BP2YVR]

I have family in Canada so my wife has a visitor visa to Canada.

Last year she decided to study english and applied for study permit for a 1 year study work program in a english centre.

The permit was rejected and we have requested a refund from the school.

The school responded that my wife will not be able to get her refund because she has a visitor visa and she can take a shorter course instead of the 1 that she have registered for.

Anyone able to help advise how can I get my wife tuition fee refund?

 

[scylla]

Unlikely anyone can help you without knowing the name of the school.

 

[dbss]

yes, the name of the college and it's location will help to guide you further.

Normally, colleges cannot force you to take courses with them and they will refund you the fee minus some charges which are pre-defined in Ontario for most of the public colleges.

 

[scylla]

yes, the name of the college and it's location will help to guide you further.

Normally, colleges cannot force you to take courses with them and they will refund you the fee minus some charges which are pre-defined in Ontario for most of the public colleges.

I'm pretty sure this is a private college. So the same refund rules may not apply.

 

[tipsy]

I have family in Canada so my wife has a visitor visa to Canada.

Last year she decided to study english and applied for study permit for a 1 year study work program in a english centre.

The permit was rejected and we have requested a refund from the school.

The school responded that my wife will not be able to get her refund because she has a visitor visa and she can take a shorter course instead of the 1 that she have registered for.

Anyone able to help advise how can I get my wife tuition fee refund?

if the school is located in ontario, contact ontariocolleges.ca and inquire from them.

 

[BP2YVR]

its Vancouver English Centre in vancouver

 

[dbss]

you can file a complaint with directions from the following link:

http://www.pctia.bc.ca/students/file-a-complaint

 

[OrcaBayVan]

In BC there are strict guidelines by PCTIA (the Regulatory Authority an arm of the BC Government, it's being folded back into the Ministry of Education).

However for ESL English there is usually no Study permit required and same for Courses less than 6 months.

Perhaps if you can show that your Tourist Visa got rejected that may help, also there is a time limit for refunds.

Have you looked at your Student Application to see what the Refund part says?

What Country are you applying from?

 

[scylla]

Their refund policies are listed here:

http://vec.ca/policies/

How soon before the start of classes did she notify them that she would not be attending?

 

[BP2YVR]

Class starts in sept.

I have sent the rejection letter to the school in april. which is 5 mths before school starts

Refund policies says refund if study permit gets rejected.

and the refund is 75% or max. of $200

I have called them many times and they keep telling me they will get back to me.

But til date nothing has happen.

 

[BP2YVR]

you can file a complaint with directions from the following link:

http://www.pctia.bc.ca/students/file-a-complaint

email sent but received a reply saying that they dont regulate VEC.

after months if calling. still no refund. anyone in canada able to advise if i can file a police report or something?

 

[OrcaBayVan]

Hi,

Your best option at this point is to take it to the TV Media, try cbc.ca or globaltv (bc).

Police reports in Canada for these types of issues do nothing the Canadian Legal System is well not very strict that's putting it nicely.

You may as well try Languages Canada they are the Association of English Language Schools in Canada but if the school has to be a member of them to be reviewed by them.

I don't know if that English School is or not but you can easily check.

Lastly if you paid via Credit Card from your Country just ask your Bank to issue a Charge back that way you get your money back

Best of luck.

 

[dbss]

if you paid by credit card, you can always try to dispute the charge with the credit card company

 

[BP2YVR]

payment was made by bank transfer to the agent. guess my wife money is gone forever.

to think that a first world country could actually have such fraud to be allowed to happen and there is nothing i can do about it.

 

[dbss]

you can try the Ombudsperson for BC if the college falls under "College and Institute Act"

https://www.bcombudsperson.ca/home/who-and-what-can-the-ombudsperson-investigate

Another option is to try the consumer court but I don't know if you are considered a consumer for colleges. Technically speaking you are because you are paying for services and are not getting the service but you may need to check up on it.

Try a pro-bono lawyer.

On the other side you also said the following:

Refund policies says refund if study permit gets rejected.

and the refund is 75% or max. of $200

Max you are going to get is anyways $200 + legal costs if you go to court. In the end it may not be worth enough for your time unless you have free time on your hand to work on it.