Services offered are not delivered, what can I do?

Questioner

Dear reader, We would like your advice regarding a payment dispute with home study provider NTI due to early termination of the course. I formally registered for the study on 2-11-2020 and terminated the study in writing on 15-12-2020. The chosen study duration was 18 months. On 2-11-2020 I contacted NTI by phone about the home study 'MBO Verzorgende IG' before registering, explicitly asking if the training could start immediately. The lady on the phone told me that this was possible and that the practical days would also be scheduled normally for this training (despite COVID-19). I would also receive the complete course package that same week after signing the education agreement. After this phone call I immediately registered, sent diplomas and signed all documents. To my surprise and disappointment, I have only received the general subjects Dutch and Arithmetic until 8-12-2020. I have had telephone contact about this on 10 and 20 November and 3 December, during which I was always promised that the next content modules would follow. Unfortunately, this is not the case in practice. in the meantime, a monthly installment has already been debited twice on 6-11-2020 and on 3-12-2020. The next debit must be received no later than 15-1-2020. NTI states that the reason for sending the content subjects later is that the course materials are being rewritten. Something that in my opinion is plannable and clear at the moment someone registers for a course. If something like this is determined by the government, it does not come out of the blue ad hoc. NTI should have mentioned this to me as a consumer during the first contact or at least after registration. But all forms of communication about this were lacking and I was kept on the line with the answer "this will follow soon". To date, 14-1-2020, no complete course package has been received. Studying at your own pace (their motto) is therefore not possible. On 8-12-2020 I filed an official complaint regarding the lack of study materials and therefore could not do anything substantive. Because I already felt that this would be an unpleasant situation without answers, I requested in writing on 15-12-2020 to end my education. NTI's response to this came on 28-12-2020, answer; you can extend your study free of charge by 18 months, so there is no problem at all ?!. I do not agree with this, there is a reason why the shortened training period was chosen from my side. The financial settlement is now a battle; NTI claims that I have to pay another 6 monthly installments from the date of termination on top of the 2 payments I have already made. They refer to the general terms and conditions upon registration, which state that with such a study duration and early termination 6 months are due. My position is that this is not reasonable for a study of 18 months, where I have not been able to do anything substantive and have also been registered for at most 1.5 months. In addition, no substantive study materials have been provided, entirely at the responsibility of NTI and not with me as a consumer/purchaser. I can well imagine that a reasonable amount is due given the planning and time investment of an organization. That is why I have proposed to NTI to leave the current 3 terms of November, December and January for what they are (already paid). But not to charge any further costs to me. NTI does not agree with this, I have filed my objection with them following their ruling of 28-12-2020 on my complaint. On 12-1-2020, NTI makes a counter-proposal to no longer charge the exam costs on the 6 months that they maintain in the conditions. This means an amount of 300 euros deducted from my 'early termination penalty'. That still means 6 x 150 euros that I owe according to NTI on top of the 2 monthly installments of 175 euros that I have already paid. In my opinion, it creates a very high threshold for the student to terminate a home study course, which in my opinion is also not legally permitted. Considering the negligence of NTI to inform me in time that the training could not start yet, I want this misery to stop here and I do not have to face any negative financial consequences. NTI cannot deliver the services it offers, but no one seems to be looking into that. It should be clear that if NTI had mentioned this at the start, I would never have registered for this course. Or if NTI had at least notified me of this within the 14-day reflection period. Please help me with how I can settle this with this organization as soon as possible. Kind regards, the questioner

Lawyer

Long story short, what you should have done, and still can, is to put the course provider in default of their obligations and also immediately in default (breach of contract) on a date in the past. The guiding principle should be whether the course provider can rely on delay due to the argument they mention, which should be stated in the terms and conditions. In themselves, these types of terms and conditions would be voidable, Next comes the question of whether you should have stopped the course on that date. You understand that simply stopping is not possible immediately, the course provider must be in default leading to breach of contract. Then the amount of the damage is discussed: you can contradict this by stating that unused study material and any refreshments at meetings are not used. I have a lot of experience with study providers: perhaps I can help you further so that you will have to pay even less in the end.