Yes, I'm afraid the school are quite within their rights to pass on any increased costs associated with the trip, although I think you would have a good case to argue against losing your £100 if you decided to cancel because you could not afford the extra 50 Euros

That's quite worrying actually...  I get that its not the schools fault the exchange rate has fluctuated...  & I get that the school cannot afford to sub the difference to the tune of 50 euro's per kid... but:

would they have refunded the difference had the exchange rate gone the other way?   Has this ever happened in previous years?

also... they really do need to make this absolutely clear in the initial letters for trips... in big bold writing or something....

I am sitting here at the moment looking at a letter for a ski trip for my boy .... he has just told me he doesn't want to go!  (I could hug him so bloody hard!! )

But I think we have a French trip coming up...   thanks for the heads up Aimee...  I will ensure that we try to include any change in exchange rate in the budget xx

Daughters not even that bothered about going anyway  theres an adventure trip coming up and she'd prefer to go on that, but your right what if it had decreased would we have got some money back, also i'm going to ask about the deposit, i can't really afford another 50 quid as they are also stating in the letter that they will  need about £200 for food and other expenses, they are only going for 4 days  this is turning into a very expensive trip

Does sound a bit odd if there was no prior warning of this...the exchange rate hasn't shifted that much...when was this booked?

The payments for the trip started in Feb and ended in May

I imagine they can do this - if they didn't, and a change in the exchange rate meant the fee you paid didn't cover the cost, then they'd have to take the extra out of the overall school budget.
Which would, in effect, mean that kids who didn't go on the trip would end up subsidising the ones who did.

If money really is an issue, then all schools will have a small amount of money available which can be used to help out in cases of hardship.  I don't know of any school which would see a child miss out on a trip because their family could not afford the cost.  But if your daughter really doesn't want to go,then I would just say that you can't afford the extra and if you weren't warned that the cost could go up, they should refund you the whole amoutn you've paid.

Were you aware at any time that the cost could fluctuate? If it's £50, it seems like a hell of a short fall....50 euros, hmm possible.

okay 1 euro = 83p......still seems like quite a hike.

Our school has refunded in the past when the exchange rate has been more favourable than expected...so it does happen that way round too.

I'd take Growly's advice if it's a problem for you Aimee. As there was no warning of the extra cost in the original letter, the school should use the hardship fund, or if you prefer, refund you ALL your money. Do you have the original letter still?

That is so nice of your school Ducky

I think that they are out of order tbh Aimee. I mean if you had paid for it last year then maybe they could have a point but surely the rate hasn't changed that much in 3 months.
If you weren't advised that there might be this problem when you booked for you daughter then I don't think they should have the right to ask for it now.
And if the increased costs mean you can't afford it then they should refund ALL the money you've paid.

I'm fairly certain the school wont be ripping the parents off for a quick profit. Obviously the prices have gone up since the time of booking .......unfortunate yes but not a scam on the schools part ...........it's simply the world we live in. If you really cannot afford the extra - I would go to the school and explain the situation - as someone said earlier - they do have funds set by for exceptional circumstances.

In the schools defence costings for trips is difficult, however you should have been warned about possible increases as i was for my daughter's trip, we were given an "aproximate" amount but told that fluctuations in petrol prices could increase the final cost of the coach. (and it was!)

I've managed to get through to the school today and asked for the teacher to call me back next week, i'm more annoyed that the school can suddenly asked you for extra money at such a late time, surely they should have mentioned this in the original letter.


The person i spoke to today also mentioned that there is going to be a £25 behiovour bond (refundable) if your child isn't naughty or cheeky you will get your money back, daughter has been to France twice with school and they've never asked for this before


So in total they want £75 extra, i've asked for a full refund as the extra cost isn't something i have any control over

Behaviour bond?! Now that's something I haven't heard of.

Good luck Aimee

I like that 'Behaviour Bond' stuff....I may implement that at home 

I keep my eye on the exchange rates due to work, I check the Euro on a daily basis...in the last week it has dropped around 5p, but on the whole, the extra cost should only be around £18 or there abouts (just looked back at my records from Feb to May).....&£200 for spending money as well, blimey, i could get a week All Inclusive right now for that, lol...

I made it £19.04 DiDs....only joking  £50 does sound wrong...it's not like we are in hyper-inflation or anything.

I think this whole thing has the whiff of "administrative error" about it.   As in... someone has made a boo boo when doing either the cost calculations or the bookings...  & rather than just fess up..... has decided to put it all down as an exchange rate thing.

Maybe they had forgotten to factor in the costs of the staff travel & accommodation

You know Ditty, when my boys were at seniors and they had the trips to France, Germany Spain etc you couldn't move for teachers wanting to go to pick up the duty frees. It was a standing joke amongst them that the boat didn't sink on the way back from all the extra weight.
But when it came to supervising trips to the Lake District etc (no duty frees) the school always had trouble getting the required number of teachers!!
Not that I blame them btw - if I had to go away with a bunch of hormonal teens the least I'd expect is cut price booze as a perk!

Twas the same when I was at school... there was the French trip - and there were always stories of teachers supping the duty free whiskey etc.

When we were getting picked up from the coach when we returned... one of my friends went running towards her parents & knocked into a teacher clutching his bottles of whiskey... he dropped them and called her an effing stupid bitch!  within earshot of the parents!

Dunno quite what happened about that..   but when my brother went on the same trip three years later, the same teacher was getting narky for the kids jostling near his baggage cos of his boooze!

Spoke to the school today and the refund of the trip has gone from losing the deposit of  £100 to losing £200  so i'm in a no  win situation, pay the extra £75 or lose £200  the teacher says it's all the hotels fault and daughter isn't that bothered about going but her mate is so she's going wether she likes it or not

They seem to be taking the piss now

 I quite agree Saz! Shocking.

The original letter states if you pull out of the trip you lose £100 now they are saying it's too late and its £200, i just don't know where i stand on this  the teacher says the trip wasn't paid for until 2 weeks ago, so where has my money been sitting  i'm so f-cking annoyed

Aimee, I really think there is something untoward about the schools behaviour. I had a quick look on the internet but couldn't find anything specific but the Citizens Advice Bureau are involved in a campaign with other groups about costs within free education so I would think that your best bet would be to give them a ring or email them tomorrow and ask if the school can:
a) ask you for extra money and
b) suddenly double the amount that you cannot be refunded.
If you have to get shirty with the school then do it. Isn't your daughter about finished with school now anyway?

Aimee...

If you really do want your money back I am sure you can get it back.  But you need to throw the book at them.   First of all request a copy of the school complaints procedure immediately.   Then write a letter to the Head, sending copies (and stating on all the letters who the other copies have gone to) to the Chair of the Governors & the County Council Education Office.

This alone is usually enough to sort things out.  It initiates a laid down procedure...

They can't keep your £200...  especially as its  because of a further demand for money out of the blue!

We've only had to play hardball like this once with a school... .& that was because of the serious bullying my boy had to go through...     But from banging our heads on a brick wall when trying to deal with just the teachers & the Head...  to suddenly things actually getting sorted... and sorted quickly once we involved County Hall & the Governors.

Aimee, I'd ring CAB like Veggie suggested... last minute costs, suddenly doubling the amount you lose if you pull out? hmmmmm

Thanks everyone for your advice  must admit i got that angry i had to hang up   veggie she is 16 in sept so has to do another year, i'll be glad when she's left


The teacher pi-ssed me off so much saying it's only another £75.00 it's a good job she wasn't standing next to me


i'm going to have another try tomorrow

she actually said "its only another £75"?

omg... I'm all  now too!

They are seriously having a laugh now Aimee
I've had a really good look on the web but can't find much out.
I did find some stuff on a couple of teachers and governors sites about costs. Apparently, if you are in receipt of certain benefits and the trip is an essential part of the curriculum then you shouldn't be charged - I think! Are you still signing on?
Also if little Aimee is entitled to free school meals then apparently the school have to deduct the cost of bed and board when charging for the trip - again I think!
It doesn't seem to be really laid out in a 'one size fits all' way but I'm sure that CAB can help you out - if not try Gingerbread or one of the other one parent family group.  They helped me (a long time ago) when I had problems with my sons school relating to trip costs - although the rules were different then.
Mainly coz it was at the time that this was all fields lol

So the extra cost is not just down to the exchange rate? It sounds even more wrong than it did initially...I'm no legal expert but I'm sure the law of Contract is being undermined here. If you consented to the original deal of a non-refundable deposit of £100, they can not suddenly change it to £200. Unless, of course there was some small print in the original letter warning you that all these costs were liable to change.

Threaten them with a Facebook group...


Seriously though I would imagine that if you pull out then the costs to everyone else go up...not that that is your problem of course...but it may be why they're trying it on over the £200.

Croc


How did you get on today Aimee? Hope it's good news hun

The Teachers ringing me this afternoon

Good, don't let them bully you hun

Come on Aimee...what was the upshot??