Driving instructor not giving me my money back!

adam_h

Hopefully I've got the right board for this!

I used to take driving lessons but after moving away from where my instructor was based, I stopped. At this point I had paid up front for my test and 6 lessons for the pass plus course, totalling about £250. After moving I asked my driving instructor for my money back but he talked me out of it, saying that we'd work something out.

It's been about a year now and I finally decided I want to take lessons with a more local insturctor. I asked my driving instructor for the money back and his response was: "I owe you the test fee but the pass plus has been declared as takings. You will have to take the lessons if you don't want to lose your money". Obviously I'm really annoyed because it's a lot of money to lose! :mad: Does anyone know if he can do this? What are my legal rights?

Thank you in advance for any advice!

pinkshoes

Just give him your new address, and suggested dates/times you'd like to take the 6 lessons, and say that you'd presumed he'd rather cancel, given it's a LONG way for him to drive to give a lesson. If he's not willing to drive out to your new address, OR cancel the lessons, then you can write a "letter before action", threatening him with court action if he doesn't pay up.

You have to give him a chance to give the lessons first.

Renya

pinkshoes wrote: »

Just give him your new address, and suggested dates/times you'd like to take the 6 lessons, and say that you'd presumed he'd rather cancel, given it's a LONG way for him to drive to give a lesson. If he's not willing to drive out to your new address, OR cancel the lessons, then you can write a "letter before action", threatening him with court action if he doesn't pay up.

You have to give him a chance to give the lessons first.

I assume the OP hasn't passed their driving test yet, and says the lessons are for pass plus, which is something you cannot do before you pass your test, unless I've got this completely wrong?

real1314

adam_h wrote: »

Hopefully I've got the right board for this!

I used to take driving lessons but after moving away from where my instructor was based, I stopped. At this point I had paid up front for my test and 6 lessons for the pass plus course, totalling about £250. After moving I asked my driving instructor for my money back but he talked me out of it, saying that we'd work something out.

It's been about a year now and I finally decided I want to take lessons with a more local insturctor. I asked my driving instructor for the money back and his response was: "I owe you the test fee but the pass plus has been declared as takings. You will have to take the lessons if you don't want to lose your money". Obviously I'm really annoyed because it's a lot of money to lose! :mad: Does anyone know if he can do this? What are my legal rights?

Thank you in advance for any advice!

You paid for lessons from your old address; presumably he'd be happy to give you the lessons from your old address, as per the payment / contract?

You then moved away, creating a problem for you in getting to the locality that you had booked the lessons at (what's the distance by the way?).

If you want any money back, you might have to sue him for it. He'd possibly be within his rights to keep a proportion of the fee, but unless you can come to an agreement, court is probably the only option.

HappyMJ

Just go back to the town and do all the oustanding lessons in a day. If you can put up with 6 lessons in a row....

adam_h

Just to confirm, I haven't passed my test. I went through my first attempt before I moved away. I was advised to start paying for the pass plus course early. That way I could pay a little extra each week and not have to fork out the £150 when the time came to take it. So it was rather pre-emptive.

I live about an hour away from my home town now, and that is by car. So not exactly a small afternoon trip by public transport. The bus/train fees to get there would come to around £15 each way, so it's not a cheap trip either.

Going back to the town to do the lessons isn't really an appealing option. I didn't want to take the lessons, I just want the money back.

Thanks for all the suggestions. I really do appreciate the help. Any other ideas are also appreciated.

popadom

ask him to come to your for the lessons. I had an issue when the driving instructor moved to london. Ill point this out-i live in south wales. and he didnt inform me. He had paid to be part of a fanchise, so i called the company and the lady refused a refund. So i finally got a number for him, and he was pushing me off-so i got a male friend to call,he said hed send a cheque but would take 2 weeks. I said no, id like my money, and he send a cheque.

The problem was, he said i hadnt paid for all the lessons-i had always paid in blocks. I had got a friend to pay via cheque-so he could prove i had paid-he then said i had take the lessons-i demanded half the money back . he then said i cancelled the lessons. i cancelled one, 48 hours in advance- more than his 24 hours required... but i was persistant. with the driving, ask him to come to you, or send the money back-minus a fee (dont tell him that, but a few pounds is resonable)

themull1

what do the terms and conditions say about refunds?

adam_h

Hi again people,

I just called my driving instructor. He was on holiday, hence the wait period. He has made a few things clearer about why he is refusing to give me the money back, but I'm not sure on the validity of his claims. He said I paid £166 for the extra lessons (I thought it was £184, but can't prove anything. So I'm not sure there's any point in arguing.). From this he said he's paid around £49 in tax, national insurance, etc and can't reclaim that as his taxes have been sent to the government. I wasn't sure about this bit, surely there is a way to get a refund. I thought this would be common practice?

On my thoughts on taking the lessons where I live now, he said it was possible. He gave me the option of doing them all in one day, which is unappealing and pretty much impossible for me. If I was to take the lessons seperatly, I would have to pay for the travel time to get here. So out of my 7 hours I've paid, I would get 2 of them driving, possibly 3. Not great really, more so because I don't actually want to do the lessons. I just want the money back.

So the idea of a refund came up. He agreed to pay me half back, totalling £83. The best option he has given me, but it still is a lot of money to lose.

My questions are, is it true what he said about not being able to claim back the money? Is he allowed to take money off the top like he's trying to? What options do I have?

Thanks for your assistance so far, and the any coming help. I really appreciate it.

Adam

P.S. I never saw any Terms and Conditions. So they said nothing.

pcombo

It is his business he does have to pay taxes like any other business. You learn't a costly mistake that you wont repeat again *hopefully*

Bean_Counter

adam_h wrote: »

From this he said he's paid around £49 in tax, national insurance, etc and can't reclaim that as his taxes have been sent to the government. I wasn't sure about this bit, surely there is a way to get a refund. I thought this would be common practice?

If he gives you your money back, then this would be deducted from this year's earnings and reduce his current period tax and NI, so I do not see this as a valid argument.