charged with surprise fees from hk company.

[helpneedsomeadvise101]

Hello there,

So I recently went on a student internship placement program to Hong Kong and the program placement from what I believe the cost "$500" (or so I believed). Not until I arrived in hong kong, and began the internship placement, am I slapped with basically another ("$1500") fee which I was completely unaware about beforehand. Nowhere was it mentioned on the website, or on the documents that I filled into apply. I was completely taken by surprise and did not budget for these fees. I arrived back in Australia, but they are constantly calling me and trying to get me to pay over the remaining fees. I've recently lost my part-time job due to the COVID situation, and I'm worried about what type of legal consequences I get into by this company (they are based in hong kong but this part of the business works only with Australian students). will this damage my credit score (is that even possible?) I was wondering how should I reply to them and do any of consumer protections in Australia apply? I'm not sure what to do as I don't have the income to pay the fees they are asking for and I feel like I've been deceived about the upfront cost of the fees. Does anyone have any suggestions?

 

[JazKaz]

Hi,
I am not a legal expert in this area and I suggest you seek real legal advice, but it would help to know what the ‘extra’ $1500 fee was for? Did the company make mention of additional costs such as accomodation or food expense? Was this an implied term in your agreement to be an intern?

I would suggest writing to the company to explain your financial situation and inquire about why those costs were placed.
If these costs were not agreed to expressly they may not apply because it is a general rule that A contract is valid only when acceptance is communicated to the offeror, and if the extra was not an implied obligation on your part, it shouldn’t be considered a term of the original agreement, but as a new term.
However, as I understand it you continued with the internship despite knowing about the additional costs being imposed, meaning you may have implicitly agreed to accept those costs, that is, unless you stated your intentions otherwise to the company before continuing to be an intern.
Like I said, I am not an expert, do not take my analysis as fact or actual advice, it is just an observation of your situation.
I hope your issue is resolved and that I somewhat helped