"I can see though that maybe they need to follow the american way and make you sign an agreement rather than discuss the deposit,that way both sides involved knows the policy and there are no grey areas"
I totally agree with you urkidnme! If both sides involved knew the policy and there were no grey areas the would be no problem at all. I think there was just mis-communication on the deposit being non-refundable. When I asked, I was told it
was refundable as long as I gave advance warning. Obviously this was the wrong information I was told, and not your company policy. But since I was told differently, I find it unfair for them to keep the deposit.
There has been a lot of great help from people on here, and I really appreciate it. I was told to do my MECIR there by many GA and airline pilots who spoke very highly of the FTO and it has a very good reputation, so in their defence I am sure they are not crooks but this is all just a misunderstanding.
I appreciate all the legal advice too, but I'd really rather not have to go there if I don't have to. To me it's something really simple to fix