Decision Report 201603557

Summary

Mr C complained that the college failed to provide him with the facilities advertised and about the time taken to deal with his complaint.

Mr C was unable to provide us with information about the specific facilities advertised and, as the college's website had changed since the time Mr C joined the course, the college were also unable to provide this information. Given that we had no advertising material against which to judge Mr C's complaint, we could not reach a finding on the matter and therefore we could not uphold this aspect of Mr C's complaint.

Mr C contacted the college's finance department, saying he was not paying fees because of his dissatisfaction with the course. The finance department failed to pass Mr C's complaint to the relevant complaints handling staff or tell him how to make a formal complaint. Although there were subsequent delays in Mr C pursing his complaint with the college, it was clear that he had submitted a complaint and that the college failed to deal with it appropriately at that time. On balance, we concluded that because of this failure there was an unreasonable delay in the college dealing with Mr C's complaint and we therefore upheld this aspect of his complaint. We did not make a recommendation as the college had already taken action to remedy their failing, by explaining to their finance department when to pass on complaints.