Driving instructor is refusing to refund

inuit

I wonder if anyone can help.
At the beginning of February this year I contacted a driving school to commence lessons. I paid £151.75 which included my first 10 hour lessons and a theory test. The driving school out me in contact with one of their driving instructors.
Two lessons in, my instructor advised me of a discount he would be prepared to get me passed. He advised a price of £650 which would include unlimited driving lessons until I pass and one attempt at a practical test. He assured me I would be passed within 5 weeks. I promptly made this payment.
For the first week he kept to the agreed lessons. On the second week he had the car off the road so I missed lessons. The third week we could only have two lessons. Then the fourth week he was taken ill and we only had one lessons. After that lessons became less frequent.
At the end of March I contacted my instructor to advise I would like a refund as he was not delivering the service I had paid for. I took this stance as he had cancelled every lesson that was planned for the past two weeks. He was very apologetic and persuaded me to give him a further chance. He assured me that further cancellation would see a full refund given.
A week passed with three successful lessons. And then the cancellations began again. I kept being patient and understanding as each cancellation was due to a health problem or a family illness.
It then came to the point when my test was booked. I was at this point only having one lesson each week due to further cancellations. Then on the week of my test all lessons were cancelled and then on the morning of my test he cancelled.
Even with this I said we would have another go. But again, my next lesson was cancelled and when I asked him to confirm when my next test date would be he ignore me, several times.
I contacted him on Saturday to advise I would like a refund. He agreed to this and advised it could take up to 10 days to come through. I asked him to confirm the amount he would be refunding before I confirmed my bank details. He is now ignoring my messages.

I have sought advice from a cousin who is a driving instructor. She has agreed how I have been treated is appalling and very unprofessional. I have only had 18 lessons yet paid for a substantial amount more.
I just wanted some advice on what channels to take next. I believe I have been nothing but patient and reasonable.

bod1467

Looks like you may have to sue him for frustration of contract.

First step would be to send him a Letter Before Action detailing how much you want back from him, and by when (give at least 14 days), else you'll proceed with action against him in the small claims court.

agrinnall

inuit wrote: »

He assured me I would be passed within 5 weeks.

This must surely have been a huge clue to you that the whole prospect was dodgy, nobody could guarantee that you'd pass your test within 5 weeks - in fact, I'm quite doubtful that you could even get a first test date within 5 weeks.

pinkshoes

So you paid £151.75 for 10 lessons and a theory test, then an additional £650 for unlimited lessons and a driving test.

In total, you have had 18 lessons.

Based on the cost of the first lessons, work out the cost per lesson (so £151.75 - theory test cost then divide by 10), and deduct the cost of 8 lessons from the £650.

Then send a "letter before action" with a clear list of all cancelled lessons, asking for a refund of what you calculated above (show the basis of your calculation) within 14 days. State that you will take court action if no payment is made.

DCFC79

Could you not have got lessons form your cousin ?

Could have asked your cousin if you were getting value for money. That's alot of money to have paid.

inuit

Yes with hindsight I should not have paid up front. I couldn't get lessons from my cousin as she lives at the other end of the country. As naive as I may be I wanted to get the money paid whilst I had it. I do not have an address to send a letter before action can this be done by text message and how should I go about wording it?

DCFC79

inuit wrote: »

Yes with hindsight I should not have paid up front. I couldn't get lessons from my cousin as she lives at the other end of the country. As naive as I may be I wanted to get the money paid whilst I had it. I do not have an address to send a letter before action can this be done by text message and how should I go about wording it?

Whats his name ?

Is he just working for himself or does he own a driving school ?

inuit

He works on behalf of a driving school but also takes learners outside of the driving school

timbstoke

I'd be surprised if his contract with the driving school allows him to moonlight as a freelance instructor. Not that it's relevant to your case.

The advice given is about right - you can't expect to claim the full £650 back, you have to accept a deduction for lessons which were provided. Since the £650 was for unlimited lessons, the only per-lesson yardstick you have is the £151.75 you paid. That included the theory test, which presumably you passed, so that's £25 you can't claim back, but it's also £25 which doesn't count towards the lesson cost. Without the theory test the lessons were £12.68 each.

The £650 included your practical test, which is reclaimable since he cancelled, so in your shoes I'd be asking for £650 minus 8 lessons at £12.68, which is £548.60. That's assuming you paid £650 on top of the £151.75 you'd already paid. If you just gave him £500 to make the £151.75 up to £650 total, then you'd be asking for £650 minus a theory test at £25 and 18 lessons at £12.68, which would be £396.76.

That's your starting point. £12.68 is extremely cheap for driving lessons, and when you're considering court the key is to be seen to be reasonable at all times. Show how you arrived at the figures you're asking for, and if he disagrees, be prepared to negotiate - what do YOU think the tuition you've had has been worth?

I'd try and keep things informal for now for the sake of getting things in writing - email or text messages are easy to keep casual, but printouts and screenshots are admissible as evidence if you need to go that far. If you can agree a refund amount in writing, then you can start going for a letter before action etc if you need to, because your case has already been made for you.

RuthnJasper

Get on to your local trading standards office as well. Sadly, I've seen situations like this before.

Good luck OP.