Help Needed: Students Waiting for Refunds from Aura Lyon Universi

General Discussion
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I am writing this post to connect with other students who are facing difficulties getting their refunds from Aura Lyon University, France.

I am from Nepal, and I have been waiting for my refund for more than one year. During this period, we have repeatedly contacted the university and received different explanations for why the refund has not been processed.

At first, we were told that the delay was because of the Christmas/New Year holiday period and that the refund would be processed within 60 working days. The 60-working-day refund period was also stated in the offer letter we received. However, the refund was not completed within that period.

After that, we received another explanation regarding bank limitations. More recently, we have reportedly been told that the university does not currently have enough money to process the refunds.

This situation has created serious financial and emotional difficulties for me and my family. My family had to take a bank loan to pay my tuition fees. Because I have still not received the refund, I am now having to pay the bank interest on that loan, even though the money was intended for my education.

The situation has also affected my future education plans. Because of this unresolved issue with the university, I am currently unable to obtain my NOC (No Objection Certificate) to continue my studies in another country. This means that I am not only waiting for my money, but my educational future is also being delayed because this matter has not been resolved.

The prolonged uncertainty has also had a serious impact on my mental well-being. I have been going through a very difficult period and have experienced depression and significant emotional stress because of this situation. For my family, this is not simply a matter of waiting for money—it is a financial burden that continues to grow every month.

This is extremely concerning and confusing for students. If students have paid money to the university and are entitled to a refund, we need a clear explanation of what has happened to those funds and when they will actually be returned.

There are currently more than 25 students from Nepal that I am aware of who may be affected. I have also connected with students from Pakistan, and there appear to be more than 20 Pakistani students facing similar concerns.If there are students from Sri Lanka or other countries who are experiencing the same issue, please message me so we can connect and share information.

We are not looking for arguments or unnecessary conflict. We simply want clear answers:

- Where is our refund?

- Why has the refund deadline stated in our documents not been followed?

- Why have we received different explanations for the delay?

- When will students actually receive their money?

- Why are students being prevented from moving forward with their education because of this unresolved matter?

- What legal or official channels can we use to recover our funds and resolve our situation?

If anyone has experience dealing with student refund disputes, French education authorities, consumer-protection organizations, lawyers, or obtaining an NOC in Nepal, please share your advice or contact us.There are students from multiple countries affected by this situation. We need to come together, document our cases properly, and pursue the appropriate legal and official channels to seek a resolution.

If you are an affected student from Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh or another country, please comment or message me so we can connect.

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Hi, welcome to SF.

You’ll have seen that a few people have posted here already and we’ve advised them to contact the French government consumer body. Has anyone done this and what was the result?

I think we’ve also advised to contact your country’s embassy in France.

Do my fellow SFers think there’s any advantage in posting on Aura’s social media about the problem? They’re active on LinkedIn and Facebook.

The president of Aura is called Darren Hunt from what I’ve read, he’s done promotional visits to countries that send students to France. Has anyone contacted him?

@Unknown Lastly, you could let all the other students who have posted here know that you’re trying to get people together to deal with this problem. Use the @ symbol like I have.

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Doubt anyone would take any notice to be honest. Most of us on SF had never heard of this outfit until a posting appeared and then more. We don’t really have any clout TBH and the complainants should contact the French authorities directly themselves.

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@Jennifer11 we have tried everything but we don’t get the help from the embassy we also contact campus France they clearly said that we are not responsible for the refund and your constantly or agent will be responsible but when I talked with my agent he said that we will complaint to campus france so we don’t know what to do my only option is SF or any social media to get my refund

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@Jennifer11 I also try to contact with Darren but he replied to anyone

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I have no experience of this problem but I think you should continue with social media.

I’m not clear if you or someone you’re in contact with has asked Signal Conso because on the face of it, this is what they deal with.

Fwiw, I think you’re doing the right thing by publicising this and need to get word out there as widely as possible. The best thing would be to find a journalist who would be interested but I don’t know who to suggest. Would the press in your own country be interested in this?

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For the record, here is the entry for the Aura school. I notice that an Indian man called Venkateswara Rao BIKKINA is also mentioned; he and Darren Hunt are associates of the company. The shareholders have protected their information from being seen publicly and you have to apply to ask for the details. I’ve never done this.

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This is the process AI suggests. Have you written formally yet? And obtained and sent their specific claim form?

The best route

1. Send a formal “mise en demeure” first

Send it by registered letter with acknowledgement of receipt (LRAR), and also by email.

State:

  • what course/service you paid for;
  • how much you paid;
  • why you are entitled to a refund;
  • when you requested the refund;
  • any promises they made about paying it;
  • the exact amount still owed;
  • a firm deadline for payment, e.g. 8 or 15 days;
  • that failing payment you will refer the matter to SignalConso, the relevant consumer mediator and, if necessary, the courts.

The French government specifically recommends a formal mise en demeure when an initial attempt to resolve a consumer dispute has failed.

2. Report them to SignalConso

This is particularly useful because it is the DGCCRF’s official consumer-reporting platform. The business receives the report and is asked to respond; repeated reports can also contribute to a DGCCRF investigation.

SignalConso – official French consumer complaint service⁠

3. Use the company’s “Médiateur de la consommation”

A private education establishment should identify its consumer mediator in its contract, terms and conditions or website.

Importantly, the official 2026 list specifically includes “Établissements privés d’enseignement” as a sector covered by consumer mediation.

You normally need to have complained to the establishment in writing first. If they don’t resolve it, or don’t respond within two months, you can take it to the mediator. Mediation is free for the consumer.

If they still don’t pay

You can consider court proceedings. The government states that consumer disputes below €10,000 fall within the jurisdiction of the tribunal de proximité; larger claims go to the tribunal judiciaire.

There may also be a possibility of chargeback through your bank/card provider, depending on how you paid and the circumstances, although this isn’t an automatic legal right.

And have you sent Aura’s own form and returned it to them ?

AURA’s own refund policy

Their current student terms say:

  • tuition fees are generally “non-transferable and non-refundable after payment”, except in the case of visa refusal;
  • in a visa-refusal case, tuition (but not administration/processing fees) can be refunded;
  • a specific refund request form must be completed;
  • they say refunds will be processed approximately 90 days from the original programme intake date;
  • refunds are apparently paid in batches during the second and fourth weeks of each month.
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@Jennifer11 I did try to contact with venkatesh but he doesn’t reply to anyone and that Darren I don’t know where he is. I am also scared that the the University is going to be bankrupt and they will not pay the our money and thank you for your help by the I just want to share this experience of more than 25+ who have face mental and financial problem because of the s*ht University

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@JaneJones I tried everything I didn’t get any help now my last option is to hire French lawyer and there policy said 90 working days but in my offer letter it was written 60 working days I’m thinking of taking action with my lawyer.

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It’s not a big university by the looks of it, so it’s possible they have money problems.

But you’re ignoring what you can do within the French system with Signal Conso and it’s been mentioned several times. No one has reported trying that.

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So you have sent a LRAR letter using their claim form?

In France you tend to have to make complaints in EXACTLY the right way or they can be ignored. I wouldn’t spend money on a lawyer until I had a response from Signal Conso.

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This isn’t your last option, you have the French government’s SignalConso that’s free. I don’t know how long they take.

Hiring a lawyer could be expensive but you could ask them to spell out how they can help before you decide if it’s worth trying.

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Here’s Mr Hunt in Kathmandu last year. I wonder who the man with him is?

By the way, did you sign up directly or through a local agent in Nepal?

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@Jennifer11 when he comes to ktm he comes to promote his university and my agent was one of the first agent to join hand with him I don’t say that my agent did nothing he did everything to get my money back but this S*ht university is not even picking my agent calls, messager or email.

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@JaneJones I have every documents and their email of saying that they will do my refund and even voice recoding of telling me to do my refund

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@Jennifer11 so the thing is that most of the student have reported in Signal conso but they didn’t get any help

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How come, what happened?

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@Jennifer11 I asked some of the student but they said that we already know about this website and we also reported we got an email regarding our report to be submit but we didn’t get any results form them

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What does your agent in Nepal say about getting a refund?

Also, Jane asked how you paid for the course in case there’s a way of getting the money back that way.

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