How Do I Go About After Stopping a Cheque to a Private Educational Institute?
ruby
(Querist) 11 October 2008
This query is : Resolved
I had joined a private academy after paying registration fee of 30,000 and after 1 month and few days of the course found that they are cheating us right under our noses luckily i hadnt paid up the entire amount. and my second installment was due. the institute had claimed to give us a laptop and showed the expenditure for same in the bill issued to us as IT Rs 44,000 but gave an obsolete laptop costing just Rs 20,000 or less. and when the class tried to talk to the dean about it he said unprofessional things and said that you concentrate on studies you can buy a laptop on your own of 1 lakh then why you joined the course its for studies so dont bother about laptops and study and we are giving you laptop enough for your use and he got angry and said that we had better facilities and infrastructure, people from the class argued for little then kept quite as they have paid around 2 lakhs already and were scared about their placements and future jobs. I didnt like all this and stopped the cheque on 26th of sep which i had issued for the academy on 25th sep for the payment of 1.7 lakhs. but i didnt know if the check had passed, when i reached the institute on 3rd oct i was informed that the cheque had been cleared and I didnt know what to do so i continued class for 3 days and didnt question the bank as now the check had already been cleared. then after this on the 10th of oct the institute informed me that the cheque wasnt cleared and has been returned as it was stopped, the institute had issued me a laptop which they took back from me immediately, which i have no proof of as they didnt give it in writing that they took it back. so now how do i go about this situation? can they file a case against me? should i send them a letter saying why i stopped the payment and also give a some legal notice? can i be imprisoned or fined for non issue of check how do i present my case or protect myself ?
ARVIND JAIN
(Expert) 11 October 2008
NO. DONT WORRY.RATHER A COMPLAINT IN CONSUMER FOURM AGAINST THEM AND CLAIM DAMAGES.
ruby
(Querist) 11 October 2008
sir, but they have told me that if i dont give another cheque they will send a legal notice and represent the same check and also initiate legal action against me. what steps should i take now? how do i approach the consumer forum? but i would prefer avoiding any legal issues from either their side or mine as i dont have a good understanding of it and i'am scared of legal issues, but unfortunately have gotten stuck in an unpleasant situation.
Murali Krishna
(Expert) 11 October 2008
All what is said from your side is only about a laptop and its value and its cost shown in the bill. As they have enrolled you, they have to provide proper study material, faculty, facilities etc. and other such sorts. Without any other complaint against them, your approach may not be foolproof. I sugest you to get those things and approach Consumer forum for deficiency of service as rightly said by Arvind Jain.
As far as the stopping of cheque, it may be for your next instalment of fees, and the institute may ask you to pay the instalment lest remove your name from the course and also to return any returnables.
K.C.Suresh
(Expert) 12 October 2008
Who issued the cheque for 1.7. It is not a consumer realtion ship. You want a laptop for study purpose. Which is the manufacturing company. What is your course. Engg or MBA or MCA or any batchelor degree. Your action primafacie not suited for a student. However as this querry stands live you may give more details. How the cheque came into picture. Is it a post dated cheque. Did you ever complained of the defeciancy of service. What is the service conditions they agreed at the time of joining etc. Pl calrify and give full details.
ruby
(Querist) 12 October 2008
the institute told me on 3rd that cheque cleared and issued me a laptop and then on 10th they got to know that the check was not cleared as it was stopped.Its a private academy not affiliated to any university and is a venture of a pill packaging company. The course is pg diploma in clinical research a one year course, with classes from 9 to 1. I had issued check to them for 1.7 lakhs on 25th sep and stopped it on 26th sep after having a word with the dean who shook my confidence in the institute further. few of the days there are no classes and we waste time and come back considering that i pay 1,500 for a days class its a huge waste if there is no class. there is no comprehensive material or course material provided. they lecture with presentations and we have to download it from the website. they have a library for reference not many books but ok. they have a branch at pune and the students have not been placed well. there have been many dropouts from the branch in bangalore as well which they couldnt stop as the people hadnt paid up but mine is a different case as i gave a cheque and stopped it. it was because they again didnt measure up to their words. the seniors in our branch have good latest systems but still we the 2nd batch got outdated systems. they tell the management will decide which system to be given, then why did they charge us 44,000 fees for it when the management decides to give us 15-20,000 laptop. It creates a doubt about them and the whole business they are running. I joined the institute 20 days late but thought if it was good at teaching and placements its worth it. but they are not showing any initiative in the placement of the current senior batch. they placed 4 people out of 20 and are not bothered about the rest. they have mentioned 100% placement assistance but not assurance but they havent been able to get the rest of the current senior batch even interviews. they say we will give only three chances at the interview after that you are on your own. everything was not clearly mentioned to me when i joined, i got to know overtime what all new things they are saying.
ruby
(Querist) 12 October 2008
ruby
(Querist) 13 October 2008
please advise what has to be done? can i leave the institute and can they charge with some legal action?
ARVIND JAIN
(Expert) 18 October 2008
WHY DONT YOU FOLLOW THE ADVICE GIVEN ABOVE.
