I've been an idiot... intensive driving lessons

HopeAndDriftWood

I was medically cleared to learn to drive in October last year. I joined waiting lists with about 20 driving instructors near me. 

By April, I still wasn't getting to the top, and being able to drive would be life-changing for me, so I started looking at other options.

In early May, I saw an advertisement for a driving school. I entered my postcode and it gave me an estimated test date of late June, and lessons across one to three weeks with a local instructor. I paid them £800, with a further £900 due directly to the instructor.

The driving school booked my driving test for late November, nearly 200 miles from my house. They say that this was so that they could look for cancellations closer, but by the end of June, they hadn't found one.

They matched me to an instructor an hour away, and we had one lesson together. He said he could only manage one lesson a week and would not be able to take me on the test route, as it was too far from his home. 

I requested someone else, and they said they didn't think they had anyone. In the meantime, I moved my test to early September, and have found a local instructor.

I requested to cancel, stating both the misrepresented test date, and the unsuitability of the instructor. They said their T&Cs state that they will not refund once an instructor is allocated, and therefore they will not. They also have a term stating "If we cannot allocate you a local driving instructor 2 weeks before your estimated completion date, you would be entitled to a full refund.", which I believe could be valid as I didn't have an allocated local instructor at that point.

I started a chargeback with VISA, but VISA have contacted me this morning to say the merchant is still trying to sort it out with me and I should follow up with them before continuing with the chargeback... and surprise surprise, the school have now found me a local instructor who has asked me to call to talk about availability. He's still not very local, but closer and has experience of the test route, at least.

I don't want the new instructor, and I'd like the £800 admin fee back - or at least some of it. 

Any advice? I feel so stupid for booking like this now, but they literally say they charge an admin deposit to organise your lessons with a suitable local instructor and book your test, and they've not really done either of those things.

tacpot12

They seem to have booked you a test. Was there any suggestion that the test would be at a test centre local to you or local to the instructor? 

The instructor seems to fail the suitability test on:

• locality to the test centre (you could argue that an instructor that can't take you on a test route is not really suitable for an intensive course)
• locality to you (if lessons are to be once a week, you can't afford to travel a long distance)
• availability for an intensive course (You shoudl be driving at least twice a day every day on an intensive course when I was learning to fly at age 16 we used to do three flights a day and study for the exams between flights)

If you have home insurance (or live at home with your parents and they have home insurnace), check the insurance policy to see if you have Legal Expenses cover. If you do, you can call the Legal Helpline provided by the insurer for professional legal advice. If they think you have a good case, they might even take this to court for you. Speak to your insurers before you do anything else. 

If you don't have this cover, you are going to need to pay for some professional legal advice. It need not cost too much if you are prepared to learn how the courts system works and do as much of the work as you can yourself. There is a book called "Flying Solo - Representing Yourself in the County Courts of England & Wales" by Alex Wood that might help if you decide to represent yourself in court. He also has a website here: https://courtwingman.com/

Alderbank

I agree that the first instructor they found would fail @tacpot12's suitability tests.

However the company has been encouraged by their merchant bank to look again and apparently has now found an instructor who is local (although the OP says he's 'not very local') and is familiar with the booked test route.

@HopeAndDriftWood, do you have a link to the T&Cs of the Driving School?

You say you don't want the instructor they have found for you. Could you be a little more specific about the reason for that?

HopeAndDriftWood

Thanks both.

Yeah, it said it would be my local test centre, and the estimated pass date was my local test centre on 21st June. They then booked me the 29th November 200 miles away. My instructor was not able to take me to that test.

The new instructor is yet to confirm that he can offer any real lessons ahead of September... 

I've got four weeks until my test now, so I had to find my own instructor, and I'm doing pretty well with him. I think I'd rather stick with him than pay another grand to someone to start again. So far, between the two instructors I've had, they have very different methods. 

I'll have a look for legal cover, thank you! 

Alderbank

While you're looking for legal cover, have a look for the T&Cs you signed up for as well!

Aylesbury_Duck

HopeAndDriftWood said:

Thanks both.

Yeah, it said it would be my local test centre, and the estimated pass date was my local test centre on 21st June. They then booked me the 29th November 200 miles away. My instructor was not able to take me to that test.

The new instructor is yet to confirm that he can offer any real lessons ahead of September... 

I've got four weeks until my test now, so I had to find my own instructor, and I'm doing pretty well with him. I think I'd rather stick with him than pay another grand to someone to start again. So far, between the two instructors I've had, they have very different methods. 

I'll have a look for legal cover, thank you! 

That's an understandable tactic.  I think it's become reasonably common for people to book a test anywhere, and then get a late change to a more local centre.  It's supposedly faster than holding out for a local date.

born_again

HopeAndDriftWood said:

Thanks both.

Yeah, it said it would be my local test centre, and the estimated pass date was my local test centre on 21st June. They then booked me the 29th November 200 miles away. My instructor was not able to take me to that test.

The new instructor is yet to confirm that he can offer any real lessons ahead of September... 

I've got four weeks until my test now, so I had to find my own instructor, and I'm doing pretty well with him. I think I'd rather stick with him than pay another grand to someone to start again. So far, between the two instructors I've had, they have very different methods. 

I'll have a look for legal cover, thank you! 

Can we take it that you have passed the theory test within the last 2 years?

Or is this the test you are talking about.

HopeAndDriftWood

No, I've got a valid theory test - it was the practical test that they booked. I do understand the logic of booking somewhere else to look for cancellations, although I'm 20 minutes from Birmingham so I'd probably have booked there - at least I'd have been able to get there if it couldn't be moved! 

These are the T&Cs, which I presume have me stitched up, really. I was a fool - when you pay, it gives you the estimated date and a load of FAQs, including that they'll refund you in full if they can't match you to a local instructor, and then has a tickbox to confirm you agree. The tickbox does not have a link to these terms, so I'd presumed they related to the FAQs, but found these after digging around on their website. 

Alderbank

Thanks for the T&Cs.
You didn't have to dig for them, there is a link to 'Terms & Conditions' on every page including the landing page.

I wouldn't call them a driving school.
They are an agency. For their admin fee they will (1) book a test date with the DVSA and (2) introduce you to a self-employed driving instructor. Not bad for £800!

Their T&Cs seem quite clear. They include:

The prices quoted on the course guide include the test fees required for your course, which we book and organise for you.
National Intensive ltd acts solely as a booking and administrative agent for driving instructors and schools registered with us, who teach intensive and semi-intensive driving courses in the UK. They are subcontracted with our driving school to provide an intensive driving course, with National Intensive ltd providing the administration required for the subcontracted driving instructors. This means that we do not provide any driving courses ourselves and we undertake all our activities on behalf of the individual driving schools or driving instructors. We are paid commission off the customer who books the course for successful bookings.

They do seem to have booked a test for you, even though you later refused it and managed to bag a cancellation yourself. They don't guarantee to get the earliest possible date.

Any claim you have would be around whether they conformed with contract about finding an instructor. 

The T&Cs are:

If an instructor makes contact with you and you agree on a schedule for any following week, the deposit would become non-refundable as the course is successfully booked in.

You say,' ...the school have now found me a local instructor who has asked me to call to talk about availability.'

So the 'local' instructor has made contact with you and you are more than 2 weeks from your completion date (early September).

Have you called that instructor? Did you agree on a schedule?

HopeAndDriftWood

Thanks @Alderbank. 

My house insurance had suggested the T&Cs should be linked.

No, I haven't managed to make contact with the new instructor. He's called me twice, at 5:45am both times, but is unavailable to speak at any other time so far. We haven't agreed a schedule yet. 

Was my completion date not the 21st June; as initially advertised?

I suspect not, but I paid for an intensive driving test to learn to drive in 1 - 2 weeks in May, with an estimated test date of June. I appreciate the T&Cs say this isn't a guarantee, but I booked because it said they could get tests at my test centre in June, and I hadn't managed to find any myself. 

If you look now, and put my test centre, it says you'll have a test in mid August. Surely it becomes misselling, if they're promoting a date that they cannot fulfil?

The FAQs page also says; "

Are deposits fully refundable?

In the small chance we cannot fulfil your booking by allocating you to a local driving instructor or if you haven’t been allocated previously then deposits are 100% refundable."

Given that I asked to cancel before they allocated me a second instructor, as they hadn't managed to do this before and my test was getting close, can they really choose to just find me someone local who may or may not have any availability instead of refunding?

I do appreciate your time reading through them. I feel like a mug.

Alderbank

HopeAndDriftWood said:

Thanks @Alderbank. 

My house insurance had suggested the T&Cs should be linked.

They are linked. The link is on every page

No, I haven't managed to make contact with the new instructor. He's called me twice, at 5:45am both times, but is unavailable to speak at any other time so far. We haven't agreed a schedule yet. 

I think this is important. See below

Was my completion date not the 21st June; as initially advertised?

The completion date is the date when you have completed training and take (and hopefully pass) your test. At first it is only an estimated date until they find a vacant slot and actually make a booking.
You seemed to have agreed to the November date when you met the first instructor.
Your completion date surely is now the date of your test booked for early September

I suspect not, but I paid for an intensive driving test to learn to drive in 1 - 2 weeks in May, with an estimated test date of June. I appreciate the T&Cs say this isn't a guarantee, but I booked because it said they could get tests at my test centre in June, and I hadn't managed to find any myself. 

If you look now, and put my test centre, it says you'll have a test in mid August. Surely it becomes misselling, if they're promoting a date that they cannot fulfil?

The FAQs page also says; "

Are deposits fully refundable?

In the small chance we cannot fulfil your booking by allocating you to a local driving instructor or if you haven’t been allocated previously then deposits are 100% refundable."

Given that I asked to cancel before they allocated me a second instructor, as they hadn't managed to do this before and my test was getting close, can they really choose to just find me someone local who may or may not have any availability instead of refunding?

They found you an instructor who you met. The only requirement seems to be that the instructor can provide sufficient lessons in the time between now and your test (the completion date). That seems reasonable. Also that time must be a minimum of two weeks. The T&Cs don't say they have just one chance, it is implied (and sounds fair) that if you and the instructor can't agree they have to provide someone else, if they have not managed to offer anyone suitable by two weeks before completion date then they will refund you.

I do appreciate your time reading through them. I feel like a mug.

I don't think you are a mug. I think you expected better service than you got for £800. However you need evidence that they have actually breached the contract in some way.

Phoning you at 5:45am is a joke and way out of order. He should call in normal working hours. He has time to do that between each of his lessons.
If you and he both agree that he can deliver the lessons you need in time for your test then the admin company have fulfilled their contract and although it might have been a bumpy road you are getting what you wanted, ie your driving licence in as short a time as possible. It's very hard to find instructors free during the summer when so many school and uni kids want to learn to drive.

However if you can't come to an agreement, and they can't find another suitable instructor within the time frame, then I think the company or their merchant bank with equal liability will have to refund you.