Complaints

This profile includes complaints for Churchill Northern Studies Centre's headquarters and its corporate-owned locations. To view all corporate locations, see Find Local Branches.

close

Find a Location

Churchill Northern Studies Centre has 2 locations, listed below.

*This company may be headquartered in or have additional locations in another country. Please click on the country abbreviation in the search box below to change to a different country location.

BBB accredited

Near

Country

USUnited States

Please enter a valid location.

Filter

• 

  Churchill Northern Studies Centre

  Winnipeg, MB R3B 2B4

• 

  Churchill Northern Studies Centre

  P.O. Box 610 Churchill, MB R0B 0E0

The complaint text that is displayed might not represent all complaints filed with BBB. Some consumers may elect to not publish the details of their complaints, some complaints may not meet BBB's standards for publication, or BBB may display a portion of complaints when a high volume is received for a particular business.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:22/11/2022

  Type:Product Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  I am writing to you as I have been in touch with a business that is in your area, it being in Churchill, Manitoba, and I believe I was miss-sold a holiday and deserve a refund on my deposit which is $881.80CDN.
  
  *** ******* *** ********* ******** ******* ****** ** *** *** ********** ******** ******* *** *** 
  On the 15th of November I went on the website of ‘Churchill Science’ ******* and read down the page about a holiday that seemed interesting to me.
  
  I read the sample itinerary, about the learning holiday, and came to the ‘Book Now’ button. It looked interesting to me and therefore booked and paid a deposit of 20% of the price of the vacation which was $881.80CDN. The vacation was to take place the week starting October 31st, 2023 which is a full year from now and at this time I was not even sure that the accommodation for the holiday was included in the price so I did not research further. I could always find my own accommodation as it was a full year away. The location of the Churchill Northern Studies Centre was never described as being far away from other businesses and Churchill has numerous hotels.
  I posted my plans online on my travel club’s page and immediately got a response from a woman telling me that the accommodation was not adequate for me (being somebody who knows me well), and that I must cancel as I can’t sleep in a room with others. The accommodation consists of four to a room bunkbeds.
  
  I immediately got in touch with the holiday provider (ten minutes after booking) and told them I could not stay in a room with others for numerous reasons and asked if I could pay for separate accommodation.
  My mail was ignored, and on the 16th I received the below:
  
  
  Hi Dr Deborah ******  Thank you for registering for Lords of the Arctic Learning Vacation Oct 31- Nov 5, 2023! Here are the details for your records:
  • Registration Date: 11/16/2022
  • Registration Type: Non-refundable Deposit
  • Total Tickets: 1
  • Total Purchase: $881.80
  • Tax-Deductible Amount: $0.00
  For more details, contact us at ************************* 
  Thank You!
  Churchill Northern Studies Centre
  
  I quickly wrote back to that mail with the below:
  
  Hello,
  Just getting in touch as I have asked for a refund if I cannot have a room to myself but I was thinking that I am happy to continue on and book for the beluga week also if I can book in to a hotel for the days nearby just to sleep in. Is there a hotel very near by?
  Thanks
  Deborah
  
  Nobody responded, so on the 17th I wrote:
  
  Hello,
  I would really appreciate you getting back to me as I need to book something and these things really fill up quickly and I cannot go on anything for a week that requires that I share accommodation. It was not indicated that the accommodation was shared until you went into the separate area of the website that describes the accommodation, and therefore, I did not see that this was how it was done. As I have already said, I am happy to pay more for private accommodation, but I need to know what is happening as I need to make my plans. Please get back to me as soon as you can.
  Thank you
  Dr Deborah ****** 
  I got the response:
  
  Hello Deborah,
  
  My name is Alex ****, our Program Coordinator.
  
  Thank you for registering for our Lords of the Arctic course in 2023. ******** ** **** ******* ******* *** ******* ***** 
  
  The Churchill Northern Studies Centre is located 23km out of town. Therefore, there are no hotels near the Centre. I can let our field station coordinator know you would prefer your own room; however, it is not guaranteed. We hope that the information in our welcome package will get you excited to join us this summer.
  
  Please see our cancellation policy, to help you decide how you would like to proceed.
  
  Talk soon,
  
  Alex **** 
  Program Coordinator
  
  Churchill Northern Studies Centre

  Business Response

  Date: 05/12/2022

  To Whom it may concern,

  The Churchill Northern Studies Centre (CNSC) is a non
  profit, independent research centre that facilitates research and education in
  the North. In order to assist researchers and academic groups on site, we offer
  subsidized rates to stay with us. These subsidized rates include on site
  accommodations, meals and use of classrooms, laboratories, and common use
  spaces.
  In an effort to continue supporting research and education
  in the North, the CNSC hosts Learning Vacations throughout the year, providing
  opportunities to the general public to learn about the Centre, the town of Churchill
  and our rich culture. Throughout the year, any person can register for our
  Learning Vacations through our website or by contacting us directly. The CNSC
  provides ample information on what to expect travelling to Churchill, staying
  with us at the Centre, and what types of educational programming you will be
  able to experience. When a participant registers for our Learning Vacations, we
  encourage all potential guests to read the material provided to have the best
  understanding before clicking the “Book Now” button, leading to another page
  that boldly states that your down deposit is non-refundable.

  The non-refundable down deposit is considered part of your
  Learning Vacation tuition and will be credited towards the final balance of
  your tuition. As a remote, non-profit, independent research centre, we have
  these practices in place as a form of security and act as additional incentive
  to complete your plans to experience our Learning Vacations. Once a down
  deposit is received, we are able to book and hold a position in our Learning
  Vacations. When we plan to host participants, it may be challenging to replace
  that position, which could lead to a financial deficit of the CNSC. We continue
  to encourage potential guests to read the detailed information on our website,
  and if there are any inquiries of what or why we have a non-refundable down
  deposit, to please reach out for further information.

  We do understand that in some cases, the information we
  provide is not thoroughly read or understood. If a Learning Vacation is booked,
  and the non-refundable deposit is provided to the CNSC, we will allow a full
  refund (less applicable transaction fees) to the participant if they are able
  to contact the CNSC within 24 hours of booking.