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Unable to get a refund

BP2YVR

Member
Sep 16, 2012
17
0
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

VIP Member
Jun 8, 2010
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05-10-2010
LANDED..........
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Unlikely anyone can help you without knowing the name of the school.
 

dbss

Champion Member
Jun 22, 2012
1,088
43
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

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Jun 8, 2010
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dbss said:
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

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Oct 6, 2013
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BP2YVR said:
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.
 

dbss

Champion Member
Jun 22, 2012
1,088
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you can file a complaint with directions from the following link:

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

OrcaBayVan

Star Member
Feb 4, 2015
60
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Vancouver
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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

VIP Member
Jun 8, 2010
95,845
22,110
Toronto
Category........
Visa Office......
Buffalo
Job Offer........
Pre-Assessed..
App. Filed.......
28-05-2010
AOR Received.
19-08-2010
File Transfer...
28-06-2010
Passport Req..
01-10-2010
VISA ISSUED...
05-10-2010
LANDED..........
05-10-2010
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

Member
Sep 16, 2012
17
0
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

Member
Sep 16, 2012
17
0
dbss said:
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

Star Member
Feb 4, 2015
60
1
Vancouver
Job Offer........
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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

Champion Member
Jun 22, 2012
1,088
43
if you paid by credit card, you can always try to dispute the charge with the credit card company
 

BP2YVR

Member
Sep 16, 2012
17
0
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

Champion Member
Jun 22, 2012
1,088
43
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.