RYA accreditation removed.....

[Blankton]

Hi. My wife booked me a powerboat 2 course before covid, in the form of a gift voucher. I've finally got around to booking it. I went on the website of the company concerned and couldn't see courses being offered.

I did a Google search and found an article on the RYA website stating that their accreditation had been removed

https://www.rya.org.uk/news/Cornish Cruising recognition withdrawn

I haven't been able to contact them yet. I'll try over the weekend. I was a bit surprised that the article states that I should claim on a credit card, or try small claims court if I can't get my refund. I'd have thought that by having an accrediting body, part of the business model would be to put things right in the rare occasions that one of their accredited suppliers didn't offer the correct service..... Maybe I am being naive in my imagination of the scope of the accreditation.

Any thoughts?

I'll update on how I get on with the refund.

 

[LittleSister]

How unfortunate for you.

I imagine the RYA accredit their training, not the financial standing of the company.

Good luck with your attempts at redress.

 

[Poecheng]

Cornish Cruising (Falmouth) - All You Need to Know BEFORE You Go

 

[superheat6k]

Your wife has purchased a service they are now unable to provide. As long as the voucher remans valid (has it an expiry date ?), she should be entitled to a full refund.

Although she has gifted the voucher to you, the sale contract is between her and the firm concerned, so if you do have to issue a Small Claim perhaps issue it in her name.

 

[Hacker]

But the company may have been liquidated. If you go to the Cornish Cruising website you’ll see they’ve rebranded as Cornish Sailing. From personal experience Nick was never swift on refunds. I had a PB2 booked 5 years ago that he cancelled the evening before; took weeks of badgering to get the refund.

 

[Poecheng]

CORNISH CRUISING (FALMOUTH) LIMITED Company number 04867451 is not in liquidation and Nick Jordan is its director; he is not the director of any other company.

The website of a limited company is required to state the identity of the company. The website www.cornishcruising.com doesn't identify any limited company that I can see - even in the terms and conditions.

The site mixes Cornish Cruising and Cornish Sailing. The terms claim "1.1 Cornish Sailing (hereby referred to as 'we', 'us', 'our', 'the company', 'CC') is a yacht charter company and has been operating since 1984." (my emphasis).

If the contract doesn't say that it is with a limited company, then I would expect any action against the operator personally with 'Cornish Sailing' simply being a 'trading as' moniker for the owner.

 

[srm]

Its very many years since I ran an RYA accredited sailing school but a that time they were only interested in my instructor skills/qualifications and the boats meeting minimum standards. No interest shown in how I ran the financial side of the business. Things may have changed since.

 

[Never Grumble]

Good luck with getting any contact with them, in that respect the trip advisor comments aren't favourable.

 

[petem]

I'd just write to the company and give them a deadline for the refund. If nothing received then request a Credit Card cashback. Job done.

 

[jrudge]

I agree the card is the simplest way to go , but I also agree that the RYA has a role here.

they accredited them to run courses. They took that away. I don’t doubt for s moment they had their reasons but you would expect them to sort it out as the only reason to use the company was It’s rya accreditation.

 

[rotrax]

Not so.

Thy RYA is the governing body for racing and training in the UK and some other countries. They have no control or influence as to how individual businesses are run and have no financial influence either.

The company were, perhaps, not up to scratch. Their accreditation was possibly removed because of this. How can the RYA let possible punters know this without the company threatening law?

You should take the sensible advice and get a CC refund and book elswhere.

IMHO, of course................................

 

[Bigplumbs]

Your wife has purchased a service they are now unable to provide. As long as the voucher remans valid (has it an expiry date ?), she should be entitled to a full refund.

Although she has gifted the voucher to you, the sale contract is between her and the firm concerned, so if you do have to issue a Small Claim perhaps issue it in her name.

Is that how it will work in the real world

 

[jrudge]

yes. If you issue proceedings in your name they would fail as there is no contract. It must be the contracting party in this case the op wife. Credit card is however simpler

 

[jrudge]

Not so.

Thy RYA is the governing body for racing and training in the UK and some other countries. They have no control or influence as to how individual businesses are run and have no financial influence either.

The company were, perhaps, not up to scratch. Their accreditation was possibly removed because of this. How can the RYA let possible punters know this without the company threatening law?

You should take the sensible advice and get a CC refund and book elswhere.

IMHO, of course................................

Emmmm

They have said they are able to deliver training to the syllabus. They are not. That must come with some degree of responsibility.
It is moot anyway as a credit card charge back will solve it faster than anything else

 

[Blankton]

Hi everyone, for some reason I stopped getting updates.

Unfortunately payment was by bank transfer.

I've spoken to the guy who I believe is the owner, he said he's having to sell boats to pay off the refunds. I asked if he was closing down - i. e. Is the company being liquidated / administration, but he said no.

I will do the small claims court (in missus name). But I am not too confident. Whatever the bloke has done, it sounds as if he's lost his livelihood because of the accreditation being pulled.

I did expect the body might offer some protection in these situations. I am sure they will have been taking some kind of licence fee from the training centre for many years, so it would seem fair to me that there was some kind of pot to cover when things go wrong. Especially as it is the loss of accreditation directly which seems to have led to the financial issues.

As an aside; A few years ago my brother did a powerboat 2 course in Majorca. The certificate turned out to be fake - the centre wasn't accredited. When he contacted them, they paid for him to do a course at an accredited centre. I think with this previous experience, I had higher hopes of the protection they offer to peiple buying their product.

 

[gordmac]

The person buying a RYA product is the centre, they will have a contract with the RYA. The centre customers will have a contract with the centre, not the RYA. I can't see any reason why the RYA would refund.

 

[Never Grumble]

There are lots of professionals and businesses that hold accreditation. None of those bodies would be responsible for the direct action of their members, they are really there to show they reached and maintain certain standards/qualification. Where member's don't uphold the standards they get taken off the list and can no longer claim to be thus affiliated. This is the situation in my industry with chartered surveyors and other trade bodies.

 

[rotrax]

Emmmm

They have said they are able to deliver training to the syllabus. They are not. That must come with some degree of responsibility.
It is moot anyway as a credit card charge back will solve it faster than anything else

As an ex pro Trainer in Industry and a fairly well RYA qualified sailor with forty years on the water, I could deliver training to the syllabus. That is not the issue. The accreditation is the issue, which has been withdrawn. Without that, and the acompanying ticket, the course has less value when completed.

The problen is easily resolved with a refund and booking with another company.

 

[LT3923]

Hi everyone, for some reason I stopped getting updates.

Unfortunately payment was by bank transfer.

I've spoken to the guy who I believe is the owner, he said he's having to sell boats to pay off the refunds. I asked if he was closing down - i. e. Is the company being liquidated / administration, but he said no.

I will do the small claims court (in missus name). But I am not too confident. Whatever the bloke has done, it sounds as if he's lost his livelihood because of the accreditation being pulled.

I did expect the body might offer some protection in these situations. I am sure they will have been taking some kind of licence fee from the training centre for many years, so it would seem fair to me that there was some kind of pot to cover when things go wrong. Especially as it is the loss of accreditation directly which seems to have led to the financial issues.

As an aside; A few years ago my brother did a powerboat 2 course in Majorca. The certificate turned out to be fake - the centre wasn't accredited. When he contacted them, they paid for him to do a course at an accredited centre. I think with this previous experience, I had higher hopes of the protection they offer to peiple buying their product.

Pretty late to this thread, but just wondering if you did go Small Claims Court regarding this and what the outcome was? I’m in a similar situation currently. Thanks!