Baby class moved online due to Covid. No refund offered. Rights?

[Cilento]

I signed up to a baby class that is now going online due to Covid. My baby is 8 weeks old so we would get nothing from online. The course cost £30. The organiser is refusing to offer a refund, discount or allow me to transfer to a course later in the year. She has offered to allow me to spend the £30 on some over-priced merchandise that I don't need or want. The T&Cs featured a page and a half of info about how to stay Covid safe on site and then tucked away at the bottom it says: "Your term booking is non refundable or transferrable. If we are placed in lockdown at any point sessions will take place online." I had read the non-transferable /refundable as relating to a situation where the course still went ahead as planned in the church hall and as described. I read the reference to online sessions as a separate point and would have assumed that refunds would have been offered in that case.
Does anyone know what my rights are in this case? Have I just completely wasted £30, not to mention the fact that once classes are back up and running I won't want to go to these ones if I don't get a refund.

I mean, its annoying and a gesture of goodwill would be to offer you a course later on in the year. Its in the terms and conditions that you agreed too though. I dont think you have a case to argue tbh. Equally, I can sort of understand why the organiser doesnt want to give you a refund. If this is how he/she makes pennies I can only assume its been a hard year financially.

YABU. Do the class online. Or take the alternative that's been offered. People have to make a living somehow. You had fair warning. It's only £30. There was always the risk of another lockdown. Everyone is in the same boat. Don't sweat the small stuff.

You should have read the terms I'm afraid. Lots of classes added this into their terms after the last lockdown.

You agreed to the terms and conditions.....

The class is still taking place, the organiser is still working and delivering the class. It's YOUR decision not to partake.

Would your lo have got much put of it f2f? Something like baby massage might be easier in your home than a chilly hall. Most classes for under 1s are for the parents' benefit rather than the babies.

The T&Cs seem quite clear to me to be honest, so I'm not really sure what your objection is sorry. To be honest an 8 week old will get very little out of a group anyway, so you may as well just do the online classes.

As a aside, whilst I appreciate you are disappointed the classes are online, spare a thought for the class organiser who has probably already struggled financially this year without having to refund people because of a situation totally out of her control.

I get why you're annoyed.

But I also have huge sympathy for the business owner. If she were to refund everyone, she possibly wouldn't have a business to offer when F2F is allowed again.

If I were you, I'd give the online a go. It's better than not doing anything at all.

How many sessions does £30 cover?

I’m comparing to the two others we signed up for with son, both offered a transfer to next term or 50 per cent off for online. Seems much more understanding of what works for early years - baby or toddler. Hd didn’t really engage with the online but we gave it a go. The baby class was deffo just for me to have some other human contact, hence it being more painful to have wasted £30 on nothing.
I would have been more than happy to defer even if for months down the line.
Of course I was stupid not to clock that clause in the t&cs but think the right thing to do would have been up front with that info not bury it at the end of a long list of hand-washing, social distancing instructions.
It’s not ONLY £30 quid though. I’ve used Xmas money he received to pay for it as I don’t have a job to return to after maternity leave.

You don’t have to accept an alternative such as an online class. If the service being provided is radically different from what was agreed, you are entitled to a refund. Due to lockdown laws the business is no longer able to offer what you signed up for, i.e. face to face classes, so therefore you can request a refund. Writing “no refunds” in the contract does not remove the consumer’s statutory right to a refund. You need to refuse to accept the alternative, request a refund and threaten with small claims court if you don’t get it. Unfortunately if they’re stubborn you may have to follow through with the small claims court.

Agree that online courses are completely pointless for babies.

She does NOT need to go to small claims court for 30 quid fgs.

OP it is crap when you're lonely as a new parent. Is there a chat at the end between the parents at this online class? You could suggest you all join a WhatsApp group as I'm sure lots if the other mums will be keen to connect

Any class at this stage is for you, DS used to fall asleep as he got overwhelmed by sensory etc so much better in your own home.

YABU. Considering we were in the midst of a pandemic when you signed up, it should have been something you confirmed.

Give the online classes a go. You might enjoy them. Your baby wouldn’t have got anything out of the class anyway and is likely to have slept throughout.

Going to a small claims court would cost more - and she knows it.

I’d write her an email saying h what you have here about not having £30 to waste and it was for you to also have some adult contact and to ask her to be placed on the next course for free.

If not I’d write a review about it on SM

Do they have a cancellation clause if you don't like it? I used to run baby classes and we always gave a refund if they decided they didn't like it after the first class. I assumed we had to (I was a franchisee and it was one of the rule) but it may simply have been good practice. Reviews are vital and an angry mum who feels ripped off is worse than losing 30 pounds.

@Eskarina1 thanks. that’s good advice. Will check.
Thank you everyone else too.

I’m doing an online music group with my baby. I can’t say he gets much out of it and I wasn’t going to bother, but if no one pays to do these classes, these groups won’t be able to survive and when the worlds half normal again there will be no baby groups to go to. I’m doing it to support them, which on statutory mat pay is financially hard, but I want to see them survive the other side.

@EagleFlight yep, I definitely should have confirmed that am kicking myself for assuming that there would be the option to defer to later but 5 weeks postpartum I was completely brain dead and just desperate to book something where I would meet other mums!

@Seasaltyhair - have tried appealing but no word. Will just have to right off as no point stressing more about it.

What kind of class is it? If it’s baby massage/yoga I found it worked well online esp if DS was kicking off I felt I wasn’t ruining anyone else’s zen! We had a good natter at the start and end too.

Yes it really depends on the type of class. Baby swimming or tumble tots - no good online (I do both of these and they thankfully have deferred our places until they can open again). But baby massage or baby music or something might be fine. At 8 weeks you can put them in front of the iPad and they’ll watch. My daughter was 1 when the first lockdown started and we had to cancel the music in the end as she just wandered off 😂 but now I think it would probably work again as she’s a bit older and will follow action songs on a screen etc.

That said, I would probably prefer to cancel most classes as I hate zoom calls. I have paid for a few because like others, I want these providers to survive, and I’m in a a position to be able to do so, even though I don’t use them as much as I could or enjoy them as much as proper classes. If money was really tight, I’d probably feel differently.

@lockdownmummy it’s a music class but the online classes will be Facebook live so no interaction with other participants and won’t see them. That’s what I’m most disappointed about. I guess it will give some sense of whether we like the classes for when life is back to normal though.

@modgepodge I might see whether we can at least join the mixed Facebook group so my 3 year old might get some benefit from the classes even if not great for baby.

This thread has been useful in terms of encouraging me to at least try the online. I do feel sorry for small businesses like this one. And It is slightly depressing that £30 is such a big deal for me at the moment. I’m just so surprised that deferring is simply not an option!