Does anyone know if we have a leg to stand on here?
Yesterday my husband and i had a rather interesting experience at the riding school where our daughter used to ride, we called in to ask for her certificate for her Galop 3 exam that she passed last September.
We ended up with the owner shouting and bawling at us when she realized that she had made a mistake in not doing her paperwork properly last year and that the only way for her to print out Sophie's certificate would be for her to pay the 25euro's fee for the French Riding Association for this year. Our point was that Sophie took the exam last September while a member at that stables and with French Riding Association membership for 2011, we also paid 140euro's for her to do the course. The stables were at fault for not doing the certificate last year while she had the membership, We even went back in December to ask for it, so if she had done it then instead of fobbing us off, there wouldn't of been a problem. Her answer to the problem was to shout at us that she wasn't paying the 25euro's and we should come back with a solicitor!! we walked out at that point.
I know in the grand scheme of things it's not the end of the world but our daughter studied hard to take that exam, the 2 day course cost a lot of money & we now have a disappointed 12 year old who wanted her certificate.
The reason we stopped going to lessons there was because of the none existent care they gave to my daughters friend when she fell off and broke her wrist during a lesson, if i hadn't of been sat watching the class they would of had her straight back on the horse. They left it to me to look after her & phone her parents, a group of us left as a result of that incident. I can't help but think that they originally didn't give us the certificate in December when we asked for it just to be awkward because we had left.
Thanks for the advice guys. We have decided to first find out if she actually needs the certificate in order to take her gallop 4 exam, if not then problem solved, if she does then we will try the recorded delivery letter copied to the French riding association and see what happens.
You are right Catherine the riding schools over here are not great and attention to detail is very lacking, the one she rides at now is much better than the last which i have since found out has a terrible reputation. We are so glad she learnt the basics correctly in England which gave her a good foundation. You are very lucky to not need to use them.
I would go with Terry's suggestion viz a recorded delivery letter. They do tend to put the frighteners on people.
The only consolation is that your daughter is better out of there. We ride and I have to say, most French riding schools are pants - hence my kids don't go as we are lucky enough to have horses at home and horsey friends who can teach. x
We ordered a dishwasher and fridge-freezerf at the same time, both actually fron Cdiscount. The micro-wave came from one of their other suppliers and the problems have been awful. I don't hold out much hope of getting it.
Sorry to hear that Jane, I've never had a problem with cdiscount, bought computers, cameras, printer and various other things from them over the years without a hitch. I hope you get some joy, or your microwave, or both, soon ;-)
I know she shouldn't get away with this but if you paid the €25 euros would she give you the certificate? If yes, I would pay up, make your daughter happy and save yourself a lot of stress.
You can go the legal route but it's almost certain to cost you more than €25 unless your insurance will take it up for free and without any negative effect on your premium.
You can try this link https://www.demanderjustice.com/mentions_legales.php which I posted yesterday. But I understand they charge €29.90 to send her the sort of official letter that would probably bring results.
Or as a first step you could try to send her a written demand for the certificate, setting out why she should provide it and threatening unspecified further action if she doesn't comply, letter copied to the French Riding Association and any other organisation with which she is registered/licensed. To be sent "en recommandé avec accusé de réception".