As this is my second pregnancy we don't have as much to fork out for this time round (i.e. nursery furniture, buggy etc.), so I decided to treat myself and hubby to the NCT antenatal courses. We could never have afforded them last time. So I booked on to the course starting in November.
Unfortunately my father became ill and was hospitalised. As he cares for my daughter one day a week whilst I'm at work I needed to pay for an extra day at nursery which resulted in me not being able to afford the £39 monthly instalments to pay for my course. I emailed the NCT to explain this and to ask if I could have this months instalment refunded to ease my financial burden, and then should my situation improve closer to the course start date I would re-book and pay in full. The instalment was also £39, so this would have solved my problem of one weeks childcare financing. Unfortunately the NCT have refused to refund the money, they have simply offered to cancel my booking for a £30 administration fee.
Of course they are well within their rights to do this (and I will just have to accept their decision as there is little else I can do about it), but it clearly states on their booking forms that full refunds may be given in the instance of serious illness of a close family member provided it is at least 3 months before the course start date. However they are classing my cancellation as a result of financial reasons rather than illness therefore no refund will be given.
I'm just so annoyed because I was looking forward to undertaking the course but now I have been left with the opinion that the NCT are in fact just a bunch of money makers and have no charitable function whatsoever. I'm sure some people will disagree but I do hope my scenario will make others rethink if they are considering joining the NCT or booking one of their courses.