WA Entitled to Full Refund from Australian Institute of Fitness?

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RebeccaM

Member
24 August 2016
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Hi, I signed up to study with the Australian Institute of Fitness in May. I was due to commence in August and they cancelled the intake, moving me into a September intake. Prior to this, I quit my job to study with them full time.

Because of the change in commencement, financially I am not able to afford to support myself without employment and unable to commit to work full-time or even part-time because of a commitment made to the AIF.

I advised them of this and requested to be refunded the $3,000 I had deposited to them. They have since come back to me stating they won't be able to refund me. They then agreed because of other circumstances, they would refund me 25% of the course fees which is around $1200.

Am I entitled to my full refund? I also had not fully signed all of the paperwork as I had flown home to be with family for a few weeks.
 
S

Sophea

Guest
I am guessing you are no longer within the cooling off period?

Check out this post:
QLD - Australian Consumer Law - Continuation of Studies With Already Paid Fees? | LawAnswers.com.au

It appears many other people have had issues with the Australian Institute of Fitness. What your rights are depends entirely on the conditions contained in the documents that you have signed. Read through it and determine what clause they are relying on in refusing to refund you and see if you have signed that document. And - as noted in the post linked to above it may be that the clause is unconscionable adn you may have remedies under Australian Consumer Law.

I would send the institute a letter of demand - demanding a full refund of your money on the basis that they have without your consent changed the terms of what you had agreed to, and you do not wish to contract with them on the new terms (i.e. commencing later in the year). Give them a time period within which to repay you and include your bank details for them to EFT the money. Threaten that if they fail to repay the money within the specified time, then you will involve the ACCC.
 
26 October 2015
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Hi RebeccaM

We will always do our best to provide fair outcomes for our students in the case they need to withdraw from our courses, and as you have been discussing with Sarah at our Perth Campus, we will be issuing a full refund of your deposit for the Master Trainer Program.

It is unfortunate that you are not able to study with us in this instance, and we wish you all the best.