The cost of miscommunication

A complainant approached our Office about an issue with a VET Student Loan she had incurred. The complainant advised she was unable to complete the course and was seeking a re-credit of her debt.

We looked into this further, and it emerged that the education provider had enrolled the complainant into the course without an appropriate background check. As a result, she was ineligible to complete the placement component of the course, which prevented her from successfully completing the course. The provider suspended the complainant’s studies while it determined the next course of action. During this time, the complainant identified an alternative placement and presented it to the provider. The provider accepted this placement, and the student continued her studies.

However, the provider did not make clear to the complainant it had already unenrolled her and decided to give her a full re-credit when the alternative placement commenced. By continuing her studies, she was unknowingly agreeing to accept the entirety of the debt once more. The complainant was unable to complete the course at the alternative placement.

We decided to investigate the complaint and asked the provider to supply us information, including its correspondence with the complainant. The provider was unable to show that it had informed the student she had been unenrolled from the course. Nor was it able to demonstrate that the complainant was made aware she would re-incur the debt if she continued with

her placement or subsequent re-enrolment into the course. The provider had not given the complainant enough information to make an informed decision about continuing her

studies. The complainant advised that if she had known this was the case, she would not have continued studying and would have accepted the refund.

We provided our preliminary view to the provider that it should re-credit the complainant’s VET Student Loan debt. The provider accepted our analysis and findings, and re-credited the complainant’s debt in full. It also confirmed that since the complainant’s enrolment, it has implemented an enhanced Customer Service Relationship Management database which records all financial matters and communication with students. It also advised it would review enrolment policies in relation to debts students may incur when re-enrolling into a qualification.