That sounds bordering on illegal. JMHO

Show up anyway

I am going to assume that the OP wasn't late 'just because that's who he/she is'. That would normally mean that a person is about 10 minutes late (I should know, I am that person), not an hour. I wouldn't even bother showing up halfway through. Maybe there was an accident on the road, or their pipes burst and they had to wait for a plumber or maybe their boss just had to add on that extra pile that day - something that the OP couldn't brush off and was too busy sorting out to remember to give them a call. It's also likely that the 'miss one class' was somewhere in fine print, and OP wasn't aware of this. Regardless if the OP was late for justifiable reasons or not - I understand them not letting you join an ongoing class halfway through as you know, cooking takes time, but I literally see no reason whatsoever why you couldn't attend the next one. I am curious to know what's their reasoning behind it. Like what on earth are you doing in a cooking class that is impossible to do if you missed the first class? In the end of the day the OP paid for a 'product' and it's their choice how much of that 'product' they want to consume.

I would contact Consumer Affairs for your state if they won't re-assign a series of classes or refund your money. We tend to have reasonably good laws throughout Australia to protect consumers from this sort of potential problem. Good luck OP.

I'll teach you m8

Well, assuming it was your fault you were late, then obviously it's a YDI.

If there was a good reason to be late (i.e. Emergency) try explaining it. If there wasn't, own up to the consequences and face the music.

Isn't that illegal?

As one of those people who's always five minutes early to everything, and who really gets tired of waiting for people like you to bother showing up, YOU DESERVED IT! Get your butt where it needs to be, when it needs to be there.

I NEED more detail!