franchiseing

driving_me_mad_2

I am currently being chassed for about £700 from the British school of motoring (B. S. M.), for whom I worked as a franchisee driving instructor. The reasons for this are that I had a honeymoon in July 2007 of two weeks. I did inform the office manager when I first joined B. S. M. (in February 2007) of this. Her initial reaction was how am I going to pay for the franchise whilst on honeymoon, of which I replied “if I earn enough money from this work then I will save up to pay for the franchise for the said period.” The manager was quite happy with this response. As the honeymoon got closer (about 6 weeks away) I stated to the manager that I hadn’t made enough money to pay for the two week franchise and she said she would cover it, she would discus it with her manager (the regional manager) but there would not be a problem. A few days prior to leaving for my honeymoon, I mentioned it again to my manager and she was happy all was in order. Upon return from my honeymoon the manager was herself on holiday and I was presented with a £700 bill. It was explained to me that I had one week holiday entitlement and then had to pay for the second week plus the working week after the honeymoon. Of course I did not follow this so I contacted by telephone the regional manager explaining the situation and threatening to leave on the spot. He basically advised me that he could not do anything until he had spoken to my manager when she returns from her holiday and advised me that there is a 4 week notice clause in the franchise agreement. He was prepared to except notice of three weeks from the telephone conversation we were having. I eventually left the company about six weeks later. But they are claiming I gave them three weeks notice.

My query is that I had £195 in an account held by B. S. M. for training I had received from them which was surplus to the cost of training (I didn’t know about this account) and they have used this money to offset the £700 debt they are claiming. Are they entitled to do this or should they return the £195 to me?

I am very prepared to go to court regarding the honeymoon franchise fee and notice fee but wondered if the offset complicates things
many thanks

Willman_Rodders

Hi Driving Me Mad,

It is usual for a company to offset 'credit' balances against a debt when they are 'calling up' or crystalysing the debt.

So, a bank will ask initially for repayment of an unauthorised overdraft. When the overdraft remains outstanding they have the right to merge all accounts together - including those with credit balances on. If, having done that exercise they remain potentially out of pocket they will then call up the debt for the net amount outstanding .... this is the position you are at with BSM.

Incidentally the banks will add all liabilities together when determining the amount you owe them; this can include your mortgage if your mortgage account is maintained with the bank or one of its subsiduaries e.g. Nat West, and Nat West Home Loans. This means your are not only forced to find alternative bankers for your current account, but also for your mortgage. So the hint is ... never maintain your home mortgage with your current account bankers.