Should I politely complain?

[scoobydooby]

My daughter was given an interview time at a Uni, on Monday, which is a 30 minute drive to our nearest train station and then a 2 hour train journey away. Originally, the date she was given was during this week just gone but she couldn't attend due to a school ski trip. She explained this to the Uni and they re-scheduled. Confirmation was sent in the post, along with directions etc. and I booked (and paid for) train tickets. This was all several weeks ago. Daughter has returned from ski-ing today to find an email from the Uni saying that her appointment has been changed from 1300 hours to 0900 hours (half day assessments).

The Uni made no attempt to contact her at home (I have been off work decorating all week) and they haven't sent anything through the post. She will not be able to contact the Uni over the weekend as their office is closed.

The tickets I have are non-refundable. I simply purchased them through the National Rail website without looking to see if they were refundable (why would I?)

We will now have to travel tomorrow evening and stay overnight - at even more cost!

Should I politely complain?.........I'm beginning to think this may be a sign of incompetence!!!

[Petal~flower]

scooby, yes I would contact them and explain the situation as you have written here.

They confirmed to you via email of the interview time, so you booked rail tickets accordingly.

[tiggerblue10]

Politely!!!

I'd be screaming at them. How dare they do this without notifying your daughter. They must be aware that she lives far away due to the application form. I would definitely complain.

[scoobydooby]

The thing is.....we are going to get there for 9am on Monday. As I've said, we'll stay somewhere overnight. If we were to not attend but ring them and explain the circumstances, I'll have to take another day off work somewhen else !! I've also thought about just arriving at the original time and pleading ignorance but if the assessments for the afternoon have been cancelled completely, then we're stuck! I also have to consider the feelings of my typical teenage daughter 'oh please don't do that, you might ruin my chances of an offer'.

I think I'll attend and write a letter after. This is so annoying and also from the only Uni (on my daughter's list) who want money for CRB checks etc. upfront (before offers have been made or accepted). All in all, Monday is going to cost me in the region of �100 - that's just for her assessment! Grrrrrrrrr

[wiggal]

I would be pretty peed off!
they let her know by email!?
what if there was a problem with the internet when she had got home? Or a power cut? Or she just hadnt had time to read her emails?
I dont think they should rely on email at all to communicate with possible students, (I know its the hole technology these days and that) but it can not be relied on at all.
A simple phone call, and passing the message on to a family member would be so much better, and could confirm that they had got the message!

I definitely would complain! :)

Wiggal x

[funnygirl]

SOmething similar happened to my son,

He was invited to attend an interview at Bristol University.
Took the day off and off we go, only to get there and they had cancelled with out any warning!!!
They did refund us, but my son had had enough and refused a second interview.

[Westwoodho]

Most Uni's are keen to attract students and should be doing everything possible to ensure that prospective students can attend for interview. Part of my job is to deal with student applications and if a student is unable to attend the intitial date set for them I'll only rearrange after contacting the student and agreeing a date. They are prospective fee paying customers and should receive a good standard of service.

[Jugglering]

I would be thinking, hmmmmm, if this is the standard of their competence, will my gal really benefit from studying there..... I suspect your outlay on the tickets will be lost but I do hope you can reclaim the costs involved due to their incompetence.

Complain like mad mate but also get your daughter to look into other universities - there are lots of them around ! What is she hoping to study and where are you based ?