My College has taken it too far.

red_ice

Right to cut a long story short - due to medical reasons i was unable to sit my exams last jan. I had been issued a repeat exam statement to which i called up and said that i wasnt going to sit the exams, i simply want to repeat the term and leave it at that.

I recieved a bill for the exams to the sum of 250. On top of that i have been issued a bill for a repeat term in the college which mounts up to 2700.

I called up last week to sort out the details and was talking to accounting where the girl was giving it "alright love we will sort this out." My phone mannor is excellent, i was very calm, i was very reasonable in my conversation and i asked questions with no sense of conflict at all. Never the less i was being transfared left right and centre. I had to get back to work, so i decided to call them back yesterday. For other reasons i ended up calling them today to see if the matter could be sorted out with regards to the 250 that they are looking for off of me for the exams i said i wasnt going to sit.

The second i was put through to accounting we were on the subject and the girls tone was very offencive. I wasnt given a moment to speak on the phone, and any time i did she interrupted me with a "hang on, you blah blah blah" which was then followed by a very abrupt motion towards ending the conversation along the lines of "OK? GRAND, BYE". This infuriated me, never the less i kept my cool and tried to hang on to the conversation to try get more information as to how i can go about this but she wouldnt give me the time of day.

I am totally outraged with this. The girl on the phone was treating me like some child that she could just be a complete bitch to and expect to get away with it. I really am at my witts end and i cannot afford to miss any college this term, but the only guy i can speak to (the year head) is away for the first two weeks of the term.

I can get another note from my doctor saying i was unfit to sit these exams, but i fear it will bear no fruit. Im sick of this heap of a college pushing me around over and over and i want to take some sort of action against them. I dont want compensation, i just want fair treatment and my situation to be sorted out. I also would like some sort of apology for the phone mannor of the girls that i had to talk to to go through this, who really made this ordeal hell for me.

Can anyone offer some advice on the subject?

Thanks

Tom Dunne

red_ice wrote:

Can anyone offer some advice on the subject?

The advice I would give is direct all conversations through the school - to the accounts dept., you are just another number, they won't be familiar with your case, whereas the school should be.

Also, I can't believe the department head is away for the most chaotic two weeks of the year, that speaks volumes about the college.

Also, put things in writing. I've been in department meetings where a lecturer requests something and is told to put it in writing to the registrar, who is sitting two feet away from him. There is no escaping a paper trail.

I'm on the other end of the exams (setting/correcting them) and I know for a fact that lecturing staff are generally very sympathetic to repeats, especially when there are medical grounds. Is there a course coordinator? This person should be your first point of contact.

red_ice

tom dunne wrote:

The advice I would give is direct all conversations through the school - to the accounts dept., you are just another number, they won't be familiar with your case, whereas the school should be.

My college knows me on a first name basis. I was talking directly to the accounts department and my course secretary who effectivly played phone pingpong with me refusing to give any sympathy towards my problem and basicly put the whole blame on me for not getting back to them saying that i didnt want to sit the exams. When in all reality i did call her and say i didnt want to sit them, she then said 'your better off sitting them because it will go down as a no show' to which i replied 'ok, thats fair enough, i dont want to sit them tho'. How does that equal me sitting the exams?

tom dunne wrote:

Also, I can't believe the department head is away for the most chaotic two weeks of the year, that speaks volumes about the college.

every year without fail. I've heard it from multiple people, the college is a sham, but i dont really pay attention to what other people say i try to look on the better side of these matters. Im struggling at the moment.

tom dunne wrote:

Also, put things in writing. I've been in department meetings where a lecturer requests something and is told to put it in writing to the registrar, who is sitting two feet away from him. There is no escaping a paper trail.

So just keep a journal of the events that have happened? Who will i present these too?

tom dunne wrote:

I'm on the other end of the exams (setting/correcting them) and I know for a fact that lecturing staff are generally very sympathetic to repeats, especially when there are medical grounds. Is there a course coordinator? This person should be your first point of contact.

Well, im starting to believe people now when they say that my college is just a money grabbing organisation.

Tom Dunne

red_ice wrote:

My college knows me on a first name basis.

Well if that's the case, it's not acceptable the way they are treating you.

red_ice wrote:

So just keep a journal of the events that have happened? Who will i present these too?

What I meant was, put any more requests in writing. You want to appeal the fact that they are billing you €250 - put that in writing. You want to defer/repeat/whatever - put that in writing. Also keep a journal of times/events and who you spoke to.

red_ice wrote:

Well, im starting to believe people now when they say that my college is just a money grabbing organisation.

Oh, hang on a minute. Is this a private college? Did I recommend this college to you? Or am I confusing you with somebody else?

Private colleges are a different matter. They are money making machines, as you say and I can't say how sympathetic they would be.

red_ice

so i should bend over?

Tom Dunne

red_ice wrote:

so i should bend over?

I'm not sure what you mean.

Do you have some sort of a tutor, or as tom dunne said your course co-ordinator? Even the Students' Union in your college? From the reading of all this is seems that it's definitely causing you some distress, perhaps what you need is some sort of a representative advocating (and perhaps shouting) your case for you.

If nothing else, do the second thing tom said - send in a letter with a copy of the doctor's note detailing how you were unable to sit the exams and duly did not sit the exams due to medical reasons. They'll respond with a letter back which is 'evidence'.

As for an apology for the phone manner, I'd say that's just wishful thinking.