Refund from SurePass

mycleverbunnies

Hi

I am hoping someone might be able to help. Christmas 2020 I bought my daughter an intensive driving course including Theory and practical test.
It was valid for two years. In December 2021 my daughter wanted to use the course so I called the company for her. They said they didn't have a driver available in her are until May 2022 but before her lessons she had to pass her theory test. So she booked it herself and passed. This was Feb 2022. In March 2022 she met her instructor for an assessment but didn't actually have a lesson. He said he needed proof of the voucher for 30 lessons so she sent him a screenshot of it via email. It had 30 codes, one per lesson. He told her to call SurePass to get them to book her practical test. SurePass said that was her responsibility which is confusing because I didn't buy the course under that impression so we didn't do that at that point.
Then she moved house which took up all her time and effort.
Then last week she thought she could do the lessons to pass her test before it expires. So she called SurePass who said the driver has left the company and as they don't have another driver in her area, they would refund her ( me).
Today I got a phonecall to say that before he left, the instructor had reported to the company that the vouchers were all used and cashed the money to himself. They are waiting to hear back from him because they say he is responsible for refunding her as in their eyes the lessons have been taken.
SurePass said he hasn't responded to their messages yet so I am wondering if he will.
Who is responsible for the refund here? Luckily my daughter hi as all correspondence from the instructor detailing him asking for the voucher( but not saying he was going to cash it). Losing the refund of one lesson where she met to discuss with him is ok but the rest of the money was almost £1000 . Could anyone help as to who the legal contract is with? I don't really know what to do. Obviously we'll give them more time and hope it's sorted amicably but it would be good to know what to do next if we need to. 
Thanks.

eskbanker

mycleverbunnies said:

Could anyone help as to who the legal contract is with?

Presumably SurePass if that's who you paid and received the vouchers (and any Ts & Cs?) from?  The issue between them and their subcontractor shouldn't be anything to do with the customer....

mycleverbunnies

That's what I thought thanks. I paid Surepass. I will check the terms and conditions as well.

Aylesbury_Duck

Thankfully, it's clear.  Your contract is with Surepass, and their liability is to you.  

Let us know how they respond.  If they're difficult, you should send them a letter before action with the intent to reclaim your money in small claims court if they don't refund you within 14 days of writing to them.

Be aware that their immediate resolution might be to refund the vouchers, and that would leave your daughter with just two months in which to use them.  They seem to have offered a cash refund, so hopefully they'll honour that, but if they don't, then it'll be a question of spending the vouchers as quickly as she can.  They may have mucked up in recent matters with their ex-instructor, but the delay of almost two years to use the vouchers isn't their fault.