admin“Agents of the college came to my workplace in April and advertised courses that I thought I might need to do in future to further my education. The agents said we should sign forms giving our contact and bank details so that they could contact us if new courses were introduced,” said Ms Sibongile Machawira, one of the complainants.
She said she was shocked at the end of the month, when $55 was deducted from her account by the college.
“I immediately contacted them and they said they would rectify the mistake. However, they have been taking $55 from my account every month since then. This month, the money totaled about $500,” said Ms Machawira.
She said on 30 October she travelled to Harare and stayed for four days trying to get assistance from the college.
“I asked to see Mr Hove, the director of studies and he said he would solve the issue. To my frustration, the deductions continued. He would not answer his phone whenever I called him and on 8 November he sent me a message which read ‘I am busy right now, will call you later,” said Ms Machawira showing this reporter the message.
She left a copy of a letter dated 30 October, which she said she delivered to the college, detailing her problem. Another student, Mr Bongani Dube, said the college had been taking $40 from his account since February.
“I just signed the forms so that they could update me when new courses came up. Suddenly, no one at CCIP wants anything to do with me. This is fraud. Two of my friends at work are in the same predicament and one of them is losing $60 every month,” said an angry Mr Dube.
He said he had heard other people complaining about the college.
Contacted for comment on 19 December, Mr Hove said he remembered Ms Machawira’s case and was surprised that she had not been assisted.
He said he would have to check with his office, regarding the other complainants.
“Anyway, these people have themselves to blame as they signed the forms without reading the contents. We do not deduct money from someone who has not authorised us to do so, through the forms. The forms specifically say we should deduct money for the courses the students would be doing. This means their material for study is there at the college and they should come and collect it,” said Mr Hove.
However, he could not explain what courses the “material” belonged to since the complainants had not enrolled for any course.
He asked this reporter to call the following day and has not been answering his phone ever since.
Online Reporter