Driving lessons scam

Billy-no-Money

If you think that's bad, have you seen their cars? :eek:

Not only is it madness to alienate half your potential market, but this excessive girliness must alienate lots of women too.

gunn7009

embob74 wrote: »

Hoping somebody has some advice or info for me....
My DD found a company that do 10 hours of driving lessons for £99. I paid yesterday by debit card over the phone. They told me the lessons would have to be in 2 hour blocks which I was happy with.
DD had her first lesson today and was asked to sign a contract which stated 4 hours of the lessons are only to be used prior to her driving test so could be quite far into the future.
Additionally if she does not have a subsequent lesson within 2 weeks of the previous one she forfeits her 4 hours!
I'm furious - this was never mentioned when I paid or prior to the lesson. My daughter is 17 so I don't even think the contract will be legally valid.
I am going to phone the company (KanKan) tomorrow but wondered if this is standard practice and what I can do about it?

Im on the other side of the coin i was an instructor for Kan Kan and yes they are a dreadful company i have had to leave because i cannot pay my bills or for the rediculous car on 10 lessons for £99 they did not even continue my training so i was a trainee and just left to get on with it i have let lots of pupils down with lessons and am ashamed of that but i had to leave i was broke, now they are trying to get £8000 from me because i left before my contract finished a bunch of scammers.

give_them_FA

AA, BSM, or Kan Kan? They all have one thing in common- they are businesses, not driving schools. All they are concerned with is what profit they can make out of both instructors and pupils.

Yes BSM use trainees, as instructor training is a large part of their business; AA only use qualified.

But there is no attempt at selection or control of quality of instruction, so it's totally pot luck whether you get a good instructor or a poor one, and paying extra for the "name" guarantees nothing. My advice, pick a small local school or a one man band, that come recommended.

And remember that "special offers" are usually not, in the long run, cheaper. An instructor who is good enough to rely on recommends for new clients doesn't need gimmicks.

The_AA_Company_Representative

Sharon87 wrote: »

My driving instructor's fully qualified, has been teaching for over 10 years.

I had a lesson with an AA instructor before, 1 lesson that's how terrible she was. Didn't ask to see my driving licence once, and if she did she would have realised I forgot my glasses, which I only noticed halfway through my lesson! She was also very snappy, she told me to park up, so I did (had 8 hours up to that point) then snapped saying 'you shouldn't park in front of a drive way', I told her I hadn't driven for months before. She seemed to get very impatient when I stalled as well. So even if she was fully qualified she was rubbish.

That's why I decided not to use the AA after that!

Hello there, without knowing the detail, if you would like to discuss this further with the AA so we can address this issue, we would like to hear from you. The Driving School team can be contacted on 0800 60 70 80. Thank you.

DaveF327

Sharon87 wrote: »

I had a lesson with an AA instructor before, 1 lesson that's how terrible she was. Didn't ask to see my driving licence once, and if she did she would have realised I forgot my glasses, which I only noticed halfway through my lesson! She was also very snappy, she told me to park up, so I did (had 8 hours up to that point) then snapped saying 'you shouldn't park in front of a drive way', I told her I hadn't driven for months before. She seemed to get very impatient when I stalled as well. So even if she was fully qualified she was rubbish.

In the interests of balance, I'll respond both for and against the AA. The instructor you describe is indeed terrible. She doesn't bother with legal requirements such as licence checks or eyesight checks before driving her car. She is always "having a bad day" and is only turning up for the money, but doesn't earn it by analysing and remedying faults sympathetically. Those terrible instructors are everywhere and I estimate make up around 30% of the ADI register. They are franchised with the AA, BSM, RED, Bill Plant as well as working independently. They are all over the place.

In defence of the AA, this terrible instructor holds a franchise with them as they will supply her with work as she knows damn well that she isn't going to get any with her interpersonal skills or client recommendations. A bad experience with a bad instructor doesn't make the entire AA driving school bad. They will have some very good instructors, but (like everywhere you look) will take some finding.

The_AA_Company_Representative wrote: »

Hello there, without knowing the detail, if you would like to discuss this further with the AA so we can address this issue, we would like to hear from you. The Driving School team can be contacted on 0800 60 70 80. Thank you.

Very kind of you to fly the company flag, but let's face it, will you turn away this person's £200 (or whatever it is now) a week even if you discovered who it was? Are you aware of how many (and exactly which) of your franchisees are completely bone idle and useless? Are you even informed which of your franchisees have recently been graded as substandard on their last DSA check test? (For those who don't know, a check test is a bit like an OFSTED inspection for driving instructors)

If you (and any other driving school) want to sort out the wheat from the chaff, you really need to use "mystery shoppers" and enforce regular supervision of your instructors, on their good, mediochre and bad days.

xxangellxx

i am glad i found this post. my mum was going to get me lessons with this company mentiones 10 lessonns for £99. i phoned them and asked a few questions but very short answers, they asked me if i wnated to book then and there on the phone, i explained i had not recieved my previsional yet so cant, ever since they have been calling me maybe 2-3 times a week asking when i am going to book. driving me mad lol. since reding the main post i will be looking for a better deal with another company that is trusted. also found that the lessons cost £23 ph after the deal had finished. was told will have 2hr session before lessons started to see how many lessons i will need and to check how well/bad i drive lol. so no doubt that would have been taken out of the ten pretend lessons. so prob would end up with 6 lessons if i had to keep a few for just before test. it does say in their terms and conditions that lessons will be 2hr blocks so thought oh thats good 10 lessons at 2hrs which will give me 20hrs of driving but maybe not. thank you poster for this post as now defo not going with this company xxxx

scotsbob

hollie.weimeraner wrote: »

What they don't realise is that the national average number of lessons needed to pass the test at the moment is in the region of 45 to 50 lessons therefore needing a massive outlay.

Where has this figure come from?

I have a relative in late teens and he and most of his classmates, being of the same age, have taken their tests in the last year. None of them took more than 25 lessons and all but one passed first time.

Please give a link to the statistic you quote how many "needed" (as opposed to how many people have been talked into buying)

LandyAndy

xxangellxx wrote: »

i am glad i found this post. my mum was going to get me lessons with this company mentiones 10 lessonns for £99. i phoned them and asked a few questions but very short answers, they asked me if i wnated to book then and there on the phone, i explained i had not recieved my previsional yet so cant, ever since they have been calling me maybe 2-3 times a week asking when i am going to book. driving me mad lol. since reding the main post i will be looking for a better deal with another company that is trusted. also found that the lessons cost £23 ph after the deal had finished. was told will have 2hr session before lessons started to see how many lessons i will need and to check how well/bad i drive lol. so no doubt that would have been taken out of the ten pretend lessons. so prob would end up with 6 lessons if i had to keep a few for just before test. it does say in their terms and conditions that lessons will be 2hr blocks so thought oh thats good 10 lessons at 2hrs which will give me 20hrs of driving but maybe not. thank you poster for this post as now defo not going with this company xxxx

You thought you'd get driving lessons for less than £5 an hour?

Gordon_Hose

scotsbob wrote: »

Where has this figure come from?

I have a relative in late teens and he and most of his classmates, being of the same age, have taken their tests in the last year. None of them took more than 25 lessons and all but one passed first time.

Please give a link to the statistic you quote how many "needed" (as opposed to how many people have been talked into buying)

Why don't you try Google?

The top result after Googling "what is the national average driving lessons" is 47 hours - http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Motoring/LearnerAndNewDrivers/LearningToDriveOrRide/DG_4022483

That's the thing with averages... in some parts of the country you might pass with 25 hours of lesson, in other you may pass with 70 hours of lessons.

forgotmyname

Depends how useless you are also.

Didnt that maureen on TV fail something like 20 tests and have thousands of lessons?