Thanks for everyones comments so far. Here are a few answers...
Was this school in south west Florida?
St Lucie County…
What is the stipulation in the contract the school is using?
I’ve done some reading into the legal system in Florida and it seems that I may be able to pursue the case through the small claims court. Only starting to get advice on what will be the best way forward this week.
Here are the terms as stated in my contract:
Termination of Contract
Termination by the Student:
The student may withdraw from the training programme at any time for any reason provided he notifies [school] in writing.
Refund Policy
Any unspent funds will be refunded 30 days following your departure to the card used to pay your deposit. Your deposit will be held until 30 working days following your departure in case of any additional fees from the bookstore or damage to housing or equipment.
The schools response to this was this:
“your contract is generic and refers so all other courses NOT the program you are on”…
Did you not show up for class? Cancelled lessons? Fail a check ride? Anything else to disqualify you from a refund?
I chose to disenroll.
Can you elaborate on why you made that decision? I have a sense it's relevant
I chose to disenrolled after spending 7 weeks at the school and having only flown 20 hours. My decision was also influenced by other students problems that where being handled terribly, additional charges being put on my account and being charged more per log book hour than advertised. This all added up to me loosing trust in the school.
To other students reading this: Do not pay for the whole program in one lump sum ahead of the training.
Pay as you go, month by month perhaps. Have a separate bank account with the majority of your money, don't let the school draw from the account, you cut them a check, or pay with Credit Card, Not Debit Card.
This is all good advice. Advice I had heard before enrolling with this flight school. In the end, I thought I’d be safe having a legal contract state my "rights" should I not choose to continue.
A good lesson for all other potential flight students out there, the contact won’t magically make everything okay if the school chooses do do the wrong thing by you.