(1) General Principles

Program admission is not refundable if 30 days have passed since the client started the program, because they are considered to have been satisfied with all the services of the program. In addition, admission fees, homestay arrangement fees, visa arrangement fees, and other service fees are not refundable for any reason.

 

(2) Bank transfer fee

You will need to pay a transfer fee when Life Journey Education refunds you. 

If we refund you via credit card, the transfer fee will be about 3.25%. However, If the credit card is American Express, the transfer fee will be 3.5%, whereas JCB will be 3.95%.

If we refund you via bank transfer, the transfer fee will be 3%, however, you will need to pay any ATM or bank service fee.

You do not have to pay transfer fees if you utilize E-transfer inside Canada or Wise, which is an international money transferring service.

 

(3) Cancelation before the program starts 

If a client decides to cancel their program, Life Journey Education will refund the payment depending on the time, as below.

 

If the client cancels it:

• more than 50 days before the program starts, we will refund 80% of the total amount of the payment.
• more than 30 and less than 50 days before the program starts, we will refund 60% of the total amount of the payment.
• more than 14 and less than 30 days before the program starts, we will refund 70% of the total amount of the payment.
• less than 14 days before the program starts, we will refund 50% of the total amount of the payment.

 

In any of the cases above, the refund will not be calculated by percentage, but will be total payment minus non-refundable fee, if the refund is less than the amount which is calculated as (1) Basic Principle.

 

(4) Schools

Regarding schools such as language schools, colleges, and universities, Life Journey Education will follow the cancellation and refund policies of each school. You can see the policies with the application form. If the school decides to provide a refund, Life Journey Education will first receive the refund, then may refund up to 80% of the total refunds from the school.

 

(5) Homestays

The homestay arrangement fees are not refundable in any case. Homestay rent is 100% refundable only if the host family has not received it yet.

 

(6) Travel insurance

Travel insurance will be provided by a partnered insurance company. After you pay the insurance fee, it is not refundable.

 

(7) Amendment fee

Life Journey Education will accept the amendment of the admission date for free if the reason is unavoidable such as Covid-19 vaccination.

If a client wants to make a change for their own reasons, they will need to pay 15,000JPY as an amendment fee.

If a client obtains insurance from a Life Journey Education partnered insurance company, we will accept the first amendment for free.

 

• Amendment Insurance

Insurance for when the clients want to change the school, homestay, or the date to leave. If they decide to pay for the insurance on the first contract, they can change one of those once for free. This is only for amendments, not for cancels, also this will not be refundable even if the clients did not make any changes. Other agents set ￥10,000~15,000 (CAD$120~180).

 

• Cancel Insurance

Until 3 business days prior to the departure date, all fees are refundable if clients pay for this insurance except the minimum handling fee (other clients set this as ￥30,000/CAD$350).

  

• Amendment fee

If the clients want to make a change, we will charge them an amendment fee. The average of other agents is ￥15,000~￥20,000 (CAD$180~240). It must be higher than the insurance fee, also we have to be clear about the border between “cancel” and “amendment”. If the change that the client wishes is more than an amendment, we may need to cancel the first contract and then make a new contract. One of the agents has a discount on the handling fee for those clients.

 

• Create a refund policy only for ourselves such as homestay fees, permit fees, other fees that we execute for the clients. For school, use the refund policy of each school. 

By separating the refund policy, we can avoid or reduce the financial risks toward schools. Especially for us as a growing start-up company, we believe this is a good option, but the head office team members need to know each school’s refund policy, as it can be additional work for them.

 

• There is no refund when clients fail to get in the school or to get the permit by their fault.

e.g. 

Client stopped going to a pathway program at language school or skipped too many classes and was not able to graduate to enter the college on the date which was stated on the contract.

Client decided to apply for the permit by themselves, but they were not checking the email from immigration office regularly, and missed an important date to submit essential documents. etc

 

• Until 50 days prior to the departure date, 90% of the amount clients paid will be refunded.→10% is our cancellation fee.
• Until 40 days prior to the departure date, 80% of the amount clients paid will be refunded.→20% is our cancellation fee.
• Until 30 days prior to the departure date, 70% of the amount clients paid will be refunded.→30% is our cancellation fee.
• Until 14 days prior to the departure date, 50% of the amount clients paid will be refunded.→50% is our cancellation fee.

It is better to set the minimum amount of cancellation fee. For example, ￥30,000 (CAD$350) for any contracts less than ￥100,000 (CAD$1,150), ￥50,000 (CAD$600) for any contracts over ￥100,000 (CAD$1,150).

 

• It is not refundable when clients wish to cancel or shorten the homestay due to the race, age, family structure, religion or any other cultural reasons.

Building up a relationship with people who have different backgrounds is one of the biggest purposes of homestay.  

 

• All fees except the minimum handling fee will be refunded if the contract was cancelled by unavoidable reasons such as accidents, illness, immigration issues due to COVID.

• Must state about the bank handling fees and exchange rate.