Refund for accommodation

marquez

Hi! I just wanted to share my experience with international students, so that they could be more careful with the Accommodation Services. They are really terrible when it comes to paying the refund. I, as an international student, paid the deposit and the first rental fee for my room, and when it became certain that I would not attend the course, I demanded a refund. It has been three months now, and they have still not returned my money! There is a person there called Deirdre Ryan, who does not really answer the e-mails, and slides over the issues. I was never expecting such treatment! I needed that refund to register for a course, and now it is too late.

I don't know what I can do, as I am not in Ireland, and cannot speak to them face to face. Is there an authority that I can complain to about this?

geoffrie1

In the event where a room is cancelled prior to 01 August, the booking deposit will be refunded minus €50.00 administration fee. Booking deposits are non refundable after that date unless there are extenuating circumstances.

Was it before or after 01 August that you cancelled?

marquez

geoffrie1 wrote: »

Was it before or after 01 August that you cancelled?

They said I would get a full-refund, as my visa had been refused. I am not complaining because they did not return the full amount, but because they did not return anything.

marquez

Apparently, there is no one to complain to. And I cannot get answers from the Accommodation Services, so I can kiss my 2100 euros good-bye.

(This is some kind of "legal" fraud, I suppose.)

ImDave

Don't give up on not getting your money back. Keep at them, calling rather than emailing. Mention that you are willing to engage a solicitor if that is what it takes. Give it a week or two, and if there is still nothing, find a local solicitor in Limerick, and ask him to write a letter demanding the refund as a first response.

Engaging a solicitor might cost you a couple of hundred euro, but if its the difference between getting some money back and not, then why not.

YFlyer

I second what ImDave says.

http://www.visitorservices.ul.ie/cat_contact.jsp?p=291&n=401&ci=11

Maybe contact Linda Stevens or John O'Rourke with your details.

testicle

Have you tried +353-61-202433

YFlyer

testicle wrote: »

Have you tried +353-61-202433

Linda Stevens, Director

marquez

Thank you all for your comments. I sent an e-mail to Linda Stevens. I hope I can get a real answer.

If I were in Ireland, I would definitely take legal action against them. They don't even bother to answer questions when they are "fed up". Maybe they ignore me just because they know I can't come and speak to them vis-à-vis. I contacted the International Education Division, and they said there is nothing they could do. A bank transfer lasts only seconds, but I've been waiting for 3 months! What's the meaning of this, really? Having spent all the money, they are trying to save up or what? The situation is so outrageous, and tragicomical at the same time.

mid

If you don't get a reply to the email, then resend and copy all of these:
http://www.visitorservices.ul.ie/cat_contact.jsp?p=291&n=401&ci=11

and also the SU welfare officers email from this:
http://www.ulsu.ie/contact-us

When I was in UL I also had problems with Campus Life Services making deductions from student deposits..

marquez wrote: »

Thank you all for your comments. I sent an e-mail to Linda Stevens. I hope I can get a real answer.

If I were in Ireland, I would definitely take legal action against them. They don't even bother to answer questions when they are "fed up". Maybe they ignore me just because they know I can't come and speak to them vis-à-vis. I contacted the International Education Division, and they said there is nothing they could do. A bank transfer lasts only seconds, but I've been waiting for 3 months! What's the meaning of this, really? Having spent all the money, they are trying to save up or what? The situation is so outrageous, and tragicomical at the same time.

marquez

mid wrote: »

If you don't get a reply to the email, then resend and copy all of these:
http://www.visitorservices.ul.ie/cat_contact.jsp?p=291&n=401&ci=11

and also the SU welfare officers email from this:
http://www.ulsu.ie/contact-us

When I was in UL I also had problems with Campus Life Services making deductions from student deposits..

Yours is an excellent post. I am now certain that these people really take advantage of students' lack of knowledge about the procedures, and what is legally appropriate.

By the way, the Accommodation Services first sent me a draft, which none of the banks in my country accepted. When I told CL about this, they wanted the draft back, and I immediately sent it to them. Why in the world did they not check in the first place whether their draft is acceptable? When I went to the bank written on that draft, they had no idea what it was about.

Now, I got a reply from Linda Stevens, who claims that it is not their fault. Well, whose is it, then? Apparently, mine and my country's! I told her that they should have called the banks to check whether they are accepting such drafts. That is what professionalism requires, at least.

I gave them my bank account details at the beginning of November in the hope that they will make bank transfer (and Deirdre Ryan said they will), but they didn't make any transfers. And now Linda Stevens talks about a new draft in her reply, saying that they will inform me when they are sending the new draft to me. I suppose this means I will wait for another 3 months, or even more.

What is funny is that when I tell her I want to file a complaint, she says the fault is not theirs, the subtext of which is "No, you cannot!"

Anyway, in short, I still don't have my money, and no excuse can change the fact that I have been waiting for months. There must be some legal period in which the refund has to be returned to the student, but I don't know about this.

My advice is please DO NOT let this kind of thing happen to you - I mean, arbitrary deductions from your deposits, late return of your money, etc. As far as I understand, they are really used to proving themselves right and dropping the subject. But don't let them treat you as if you are their clients. If that complex of buildings is called "campus", it is because "you" are there as students. Their job depends on your existence, so each of you deserves proper and just treatment.

Wish all of you good luck! (I'll let you know if I can get my money back.)

marquez

They made a bank transfer, and I finally got my money back.

I congratulate them on being this fast (!)