Why is this woman making me beg for a refund?

[Thebreadsouth]

Before lockdown I had paid for a training course. It was given by a lady that has started her own fitness company and was training instructors. Then lockdown happened and the training was cancelled. My life has taken an unexpected turn due to Covid and long story short I'm now a full time carer to a family member.

I contacted the lady and asked for a refund on the training fee. She agreed and said it would be refunded to my bank within the week. 2 weeks passed and I text her asking if she could do the refund, she saw the message but didn't reply. Another week passed and I sent an email, again no reply. Today I called her and she didn't pick up, but then sent a text saying she had done the refund and it would be in my bank within the hour. Its now been 3 hours and the money is not in there

I'll wait until tomorrow to contact her again, but why is this so bloody difficult. It takes literally 2 minutes to do a bank transfer and im really getting annoyed having to constantly chase it up. When I was messaging her about paying for the training she was much more friendly and answered every message almost straight away.

What an awful person! How do you feel about broadcasting the lack of refund and frankly poor lies about your money and its whereabouts? On her SM pages and yours too.

It may be that she doesn’t actually have the money; either spent it on other business related expenses or used it to live on during Covid. Not saying that’s a good thing, but she probably didn’t expect to have to refund you.

Is it definitely a genuine thing rather than a scam?

It's a genuine thing. Her company is going from strength to strength and online classes have been a massive hit. I'm sad I can't be a part of it but it's just no longer possible.

If she didn't have the money, why didn't she just say that? I understand some businesses can be successful but cash poor at the same time. It might have to be a sm shaming but I really don't want to go that route.

I wouldn't wait til tomorrow to contact her again. If the window for bank transfers has passed and the money isn't there, I would contact her again today. Otherwise she will ask why you waited!

Thebreadsouth where are you from? This sounds familiar , I know someone batshit who causes no end of trouble with clients, teaching instructors but neither her or the instructors have an actual recognised qualification to do what they do

Sometimes it can take the bank a while to process a refund.I would leave it for 24 hours.

@Chachacha90 I'm in the south west.

It may be that if she’s cash poor in terms of cash flow she may not want to admit it. It never looks good to say ‘soz can’t afford the refund because I’m skint’. Maybe approach her one last time and say along the lines of ‘ I understand that business is tough, but due to circumstances out of my control I am no longer able to commit to classes. I would appreciate if you can arrange the return of my fees. If you are having financial difficulties and would prefer to arrange smaller payments please let me know. If I fail to receive a response in relation to this, I will have to look at either taking you to small claims court and ensuring that I leave reviews on SM regarding my experiences’