Driving instructor refund

Ok ill try to make this short and simple

I recently changed driving instructor. I had one 2 hour lesson with him, which went well I liked him, then at the end he pretty much coerced me into paying for block lessons in advance. This was £520 in total for 10 2 hours lessons. (£26 an hour!!!)

I had my second 2 hour slot with him yesterday and... I don't like him. It pretty much seems like he was nice on the first lesson to get money out of me now he's become a real idiot.

Little things like making me pull up and talking about off-topic things. I counted in total that around 30mins of the whole 2hours was spent sitting and talking. Considering I've had approx 35hours of driving lessons before him, it's not needed and especially not about random topics that have nothing to do with driving.

Anyway, long story short. I want to cancel my remaining 8 lessons (16 hours) with him.

Before I text or call him and I ask, I just wanted to clarify something:

On the terms&conditions of the appointment card he gave me, it says "unless 48 hours notice is given, lessons must be paid for. If you suspend lessons within a block of pre-paid lessons for a period of 12 weeks or more, then any remaining lessons will be forfeited."

It's written in a bit of a confusing way to me. Because "suspend" means stopping something temporarily no? and I don't want to suspend my block lessons, I want to cancel entirely. So I can't tell if that means there's any chance of me getting a refund or not?

I just wanted to ask you all what you think before I go ahead and contact him. Don't want to make this into a big fuss or have to report him or anything, just want my money back really because I'm not happy with his teaching or at all convinced that I'm getting what I paid for. I've had better experiences with instructors that charge £20 an hour.

Reply 1

NickiC05

I managed to get my money back! He was pretty fine about it too. I think it's because he knows he isn't great and there's several faults in his teaching so didn't want me to take it any further. Either way I'm happy :smile:

Reply 2

Betelgeuse-

How did he "coerce" you into paying £520 for 20 hours worth of lessons? Did he threaten you with a knife? Put a gun to your head?

I suspect not. Let this be a valuable life lesson to you

As for he has allowed you to cancel your agreed lessons and refund you maybe because he "knows he's not great and his faults" .. maybe, just maybe its because he is a reasonable human being unlike what you appear to be?

I guess you will learn the lesson the hard way further down the line

I know this may seem harsh and i appreciate you are probably young but you need to take responsibility

(edited 7 years ago)

Reply 3

Kaneki

Original post by Betelgeuse-

No, he coerced OP by putting on an act for the first chunk of hours to make himself seem like a good instructor.

It easily could have happened to anyone, and when you're learning to drive the last think you need to think about is if your instructor is trying to trick you or not..

At least you got it sorted OP, good luck on the remaining hours, hope you pass soon!

Reply 4

WeirdLittleO

You should be able to cancel and get a refund. Just because he has a piece of paper saying you can't cancel doesn't mean it's valid. Is he an independent instructor? If so then I doubt he has anything legal in place. Before my test I had a few hours to use up from my block and I said "ah I may as well use them up" and my instructor was like "well they're your hours and if you didn't use them I would give you the money back". She also had the 48 hour cancellation notice thing but she said she can't actually enforce it

It's like if you're in an independent shop and they have a sign saying "we can't be held responsible for your personal belongings if they go missing" that sign alone isn't valid unless they have it on their insurance policy

So I would ask him for a refund and if he refuses then I would ask him about why he thinks it would be legal to keep your money

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Reply 5

Betelgeuse-

Original post by Kaneki

Coercion means persuading someone to do something through fear or threats or harm. She was not coerced lol

Am i being coerced every time i walk into PC world and they try and sell me something? I understand she feels he put on a front during the first lesson and let his standards slip afterwards and was dissapointed... I understand that, thats why you dont sign up to 20 lessons after just one lesson with the guy!

Reply 6

NickiC05

Original post by Betelgeuse-

Lol bloody hell why is this thread even still going on when I clearly said I've been refunded.

Anyway, in response to your argument, YES I was coerced and your definition of the word isn't entirely right. It doesn't just refer to threats or harm, it also could just mean force, hence the word is a synonym for "pressure" and that's exactly what the instructor did. He talked on and on about how much better it'd be if I paid in bulk, that he wouldn't be able to guarantee lessons for me if I didn't pre-book, that I'd run the risk of not having an instructor for test (already booked) so he PRESSURED me into paying by using some bullsh** "if you don't do X, Y will happen" scenarios. At the time I thought he was genuine and thought nothing of it so it seemed fine. Little did I know he's a useless instructor and probably does the same to other pupils (good first lesson, then crap for the rest) so they feel COERCED (pressured, obliged, whatever word you wanna use, all has the same meaning) into continue on with him. Let's just leave it be. I've got my money back and I couldn't care less about the situation any more :smile:

Also, no he didn't refund me because he's a genuine nice person. He refunded me to avoid the hassle of being reported. You weren't there during the situation so you can yap on as much as you like but you don't know what happened. He knew exactly what he was doing because when he came to my home after I texted him asking for a refund, I mentioned everything I've said here and he had little to say for himself in response, he simply gave me my money back and left. Let's not pretend all driving instructors are holy. Thanks.

Reply 7

Betelgeuse-

You are wrong nearly every advert and ever salesmen is guilty of coercing everyone then. (They're not)

He sold you the dream and you liked what you heard (The benefits without thinking of the downside/risks)

Your judgement and decision making are poor and you shift the responsibility onto him by demeaning his character and skills and using hyperbole to rationalise your mistakes to yourself