Intensive driving course

GoldenGirl960

Looking for some advice...

I booked a 25 hour intensive course with a driving school. As far as i'm aware I've been dealing with the man that actually owns it. I got a phone call of the guy who said that the dates I wanted were available and everything was good to go. I had to go online and complete an enrolment form, pay deposit (£175) and then leave a review on both facebook and google just stating that I was looking forward to my course. I recieved an email asking me to confirm my attendence within 24 hours and after I had done all this I would be sent links to watch prior to driving, and I would then be contacted my start time etc. It also gave me my driving test information which has been booked. That was over a week ago and I've heard nothing from him. I text him yesterday just asking for everything to be confirmed but Its been ignored. Obvioulsy I'm really worried he's ran off wit hthis.

According to the website the cancellation policy is:

Intensive Driving Courses - In the event of any driving lesson or an intensive driving course (or part thereof) being cancelled, no penalty will be incurred providing that company name can source alternative work for the instructor in question during the same training period, however a £25 administration charge will be levied. If this is not possible, the full training fee for the said training period will be charged in full unless agreed otherwise by Cancellation of a short notice intensive driving course (i.e. where start date is less than 7 days from date of booking), will NOT be possible and full payment of the booked intensive driving course fees will be required. If payment is not paid in full, legal assistance may be sought in order to recover the said intensive driving course fees.
company name reserve the right to cancel or reschedule a pupils intensive driving course if operational circumstances dictate it necessary to do so. If a pupil cancels a booked driving course before it has been completed it is agreed that company name are not obliged to pay for that pupils practical driving test and that any test booked will be cancelled unless the pupil reimburses company name the said test fee amount.

however it also states under the intensive driving course information that the deposit is non refundable. I'm really confused by this. Surely they cant get away with taking my money and just ignoring me? Any advice would be great.

unholyangel

I can't think of any reason this would be exempt from CCRs (there are some exceptions from the right to cancel but I dont think it would extend to services such as these). There is one way you can lose the right to cancel if you request the service start before the 14 day cooling period is over and acknowledge by doing so, you lose the right to cancel - but it doesnt sound like thats definitely happened in this case.

What dates were discussed? If you paid via website, how did you make the payment? By credit or debit card?

I wouldnt worry about their terms too much - many of them would potentially be unfair terms - especially when they do not make a distinction between wrongful cancellation and cancellation when they are at fault (by not providing the service on the agreed date for example).

NotRichAtAll

leaving a review prior to actually going on the course is rather strange, are you not able to link us the actual driving school page to look at?
did you have an assessment lesson to judge your current driving skills? also if it was me i would keep updating the review to say that you have not heard anything back, keep it polite and curteous

unholyangel

NotRichAtAll wrote: »

leaving a review prior to actually going on the course is rather strange, are you not able to link us the actual driving school page to look at?
did you have an assessment lesson to judge your current driving skills? also if it was me i would keep updating the review to say that you have not heard anything back, keep it polite and curteous

A quick google suggests it's likely to be these guys:
http://www.allpassdriving.co.uk/terms-conditions/

frugal_mike

unholyangel wrote: »

There is one way you can lose the right to cancel if you request the service start before the 14 day cooling period is over and acknowledge by doing so, you lose the right to cancel - but it doesnt sound like thats definitely happened in this case.

Agreeing to the service starting within the 14 day cooling off period does not remove the right to cancel. The service can be cancelled within the cooling off period at any point before the service is completed, although if it has started then part payment is owed for the parts of the service received.

Given no service has been supplied yet at all then the OP should get a full refund if they cancel within the cancellation period.

pendragon_arther

A company can't take money under false pretenses, it's called fraud. If they keep ignoring you take them to the small claims court and inform the police.

unholyangel

frugal_mike wrote: »

Agreeing to the service starting within the 14 day cooling off period does not remove the right to cancel. The service can be cancelled within the cooling off period at any point before the service is completed, although if it has started then part payment is owed for the parts of the service received.

Given no service has been supplied yet at all then the OP should get a full refund if they cancel within the cancellation period.

Thats why I said "if you request the service starts"

I originally thought that the service hadnt started too - until I noticed they have provided OP links to watch prior to driving. They could possibly constitute part of the service.

And all of the above is why I also made the distinction that theres a difference between wrongful cancellation and cancelling where the supplier is in breach - like they potentially are now. Even if OP was outside cancellation period etc.....if the supplier has failed to supplied what was agreed when was agreed, OP should still be able to cancel and get a full refund for non-performance.

frugal_mike

Yes, but they can cancel even if they requested that the service starts. They could cancel even if they had received some of the lessons. I guess the link could constitute part of the service, but it would be worth next to nothing relative to the course of lessons so they would not be able to charge much for it.

And yes I agree that if the company fails to provide the lessons at all then a refund is owed whether or not the cancellation period has passed.

paddyrg

Could be that the owner is ill or something, and that everything is actually fine - give it a chance to resolve before going back to those same facebook and Google pages he cherishes so highly asking if anyone else has had their money taken and left in the lurch...

hollydays

Have you tried ringing the landline number?