Company refusing to pay an agreed refund

[rocket237]

Hi, My daughter enrolled in a 6 week overseas volunteering program run by GVI Programs (https://people.gvi.co.uk/) in Costa Rica. The course was booked in July 2022 and cost £1935. Shortly after it was booked GVI announced they were closing the venue in Costa Rica. After some chasing she was offered an alternative venue they were opening in Costa Rica but with different dates. She had already booked flights and had other date commitments so had to reduce her attendance from 6 weeks to 4 weeks given the dates they were able to offer. GVI refused to pay a refund and pointed us to their very unreasonable Terms of Service (https://people.gvi.co.uk/terms-of-service/) stating that they had 6 months to pay us. They emailed on 2nd November 2022 to say they would pay a refund of £888 but they have still not paid. They do not reply to most emails (my last 4 during June have gone unanswered) and if you call their phone number they say refunds are a different department and the only way to contact them is using the email address. The email address auto-replies and says they will respond within 7-14 days, which they don't. The program my daughter went on was OK so this is not a scam and they do pay refunds (she travelled with another girl who booked after her but did finally receive her refund several weeks ago). I would understand their refund policy if it was my daughter who had changed her plans but it cannot be right to refuse to promptly pay a refund where the company in question decides it will no longer offer the service that was paid for. Looking at Trustpilot it seems this company makes a regular habit of withholding refunds but as we approach the one year mark since original payment, how can I go about getting my daughter's hard earned £888 back for her without losing it all in legal fees? Thank you in advance for any help or advice you can give.

[tesla6518]

Wow . Those are some terms and conditions, to the extent that they can change the terms at any time and upon you entering the website you have accepted them. Also they state that you waive your rights to take them to court. I believe that these are covered by "unfair contract terms".

I notice the following clause:

No refunds will be offered for any fees paid. Where GVI has to cancel a course, alternative start dates will be offered.

Do you have written proof that they offered a refund and the amount? if you do I would be mindful to test the waters and send a "Letter before Claim" outlining that they offered you the refund, that the time stipulated has expired and you intend to sue them for breach of contract and will claim costs and interest.

When they offered you a refund and stipulated the time scale they entered into a contract.

I am sure there are others in this forum who may have better advice and I would await await their replies before making an informed decision