refund for driving instructor course

kerouhak

I very recently paid for the above. within last 8 days. i want to cancel but they are not willing to refund my monies. 
 they stated that i verbally accepted terms and conditions over the phone, which i did not. 
they claim its not covered by consumer rights ?
is there anything I can do??

CliveOfIndia

More details would be useful.  In particular, what do the T&Cs say about cancellation rights?

But on the face of it, this could well be classed as a business-to-business contract, and as such would be governed by different rules than consumer rights.

kerouhak

they state this for non refund. “ You are not likely to be contracting with us as a consumer because we are contracting with you as a business, or to pursue and develop your business. In the unlikely event that you are contracting with us as a consumer (meaning you are contracting for purposes which are wholly or mainly outside your trade, business, or profession), you must inform us of this before commencing the course. As a consumer, you have a right to cancel this agreement within 14 days without reason and receive a full refund of any payments you have made to us. You may inform us of your decision to cancel formally by email or post within 14 days from the day after the date stated on the letter enclosing these Terms which is dated when the package was purchased (“Cooling Off Period”).”

saajan_12

kerouhak said:

I very recently paid for the above. within last 8 days. i want to cancel but they are not willing to refund my monies. 
 they stated that i verbally accepted terms and conditions over the phone, which i did not. 
they claim its not covered by consumer rights ?
is there anything I can do??

Were you hoping to learn to be an instructor? If so, then you''re a business not a consumer and so there's no consumer rights to a refund. They would be correct, no refunds due. 

tacpot12

saajan_12 said:

Were you hoping to learn to be an instructor? If so, then you''re a business not a consumer and so there's no consumer rights to a refund. They would be correct, no refunds due. 

While saajan_12 is correct that there is no consumer rights to a refund, you are still entitled to your contractual rights to cancel. What do their Terms and Conditions say about cancellation?

Did they tell you what their terms and conditions were over the phone? If I was taking them to court, I would be asking what evidence they have that I accepted their T&Cs: e.g. what procedures do they have in place to ensure that terms and conditions are made available before business customers are bound by them?

One observation is that you are clearly not ready to run a business, but unfortunately this doesn't mean that the law is going to treat you more favourably. because you are a novice. There is an expectation that you take legal advice before agreeing to anything and paying the business' money to a supplier. 

silvercar

IANAL, it looks to me that you can inform them you are a consumer before you start the course. That then gives you more cancellation rights.

Nasqueron

silvercar said:

IANAL, it looks to me that you can inform them you are a consumer before you start the course. That then gives you more cancellation rights.

If you are wanting to become a driving instructor and training off a firm, it's not a consumer purchase, it's B2B - consumers learn to drive, they don't learn to be a driving instructor

Momogeew

They're Franchises, i know of 3 individuals who work like this and one of them seems to work with 2 different companies - didn't realise that was a thing but i guess it is !

crispy_duck

Can someone explain the legal reasoning behind "If you are learning to become a driving instructor you are a business"? Surely you aren't a business until you are charging people money to teach them to drive? You'd only set up as a business once you'd taken the course and were qualified to do so wouldn't you?

MyRealNameToo

crispy_duck said:

Can someone explain the legal reasoning behind "If you are learning to become a driving instructor you are a business"? Surely you aren't a business until you are charging people money to teach them to drive? You'd only set up as a business once you'd taken the course and were qualified to do so wouldn't you?

Its not that black and white, say someone has completed the course, they are spending £3,000 a month on advertising but havent yet managed to get a paying customer would you still argue they arent a business? 

Much of the law talks about intent, that you intend to sell services for a profit, doesnt mean you have to be successful in either sales or profitability. 

Ultimately it would be a judges decision if buying training to become a business does or doesnt fall within the definitions of the relevant legislation. CCR for example is “consumer” means an individual acting for purposes which are wholly or mainly outside that individual's trade, business, craft or profession

Maybe the OP has no intent of becoming a driving instructor and instead has 12 kids and intends to teach them all themselves and want to do a better job than the average parent. I dont think it's automatically that they are excluded but it depends why they are doing the course and if the intent is to be a professional driving instructor they are likely on thin ice. 

Nasqueron

crispy_duck said:

Can someone explain the legal reasoning behind "If you are learning to become a driving instructor you are a business"? Surely you aren't a business until you are charging people money to teach them to drive? You'd only set up as a business once you'd taken the course and were qualified to do so wouldn't you?

Why would anyone spend hundreds or thousands of pounds to learn to be an instructor, which is a job, without it being intended to work? Instructor training is not B2C, if you wanted to have advanced skills, the IAM and similar bodies do courses. Trying to claim it's a consumer purchase is not going to wash