ADUK Archive

At lunchtime today I had an enquiry from a lady who was looking to change instructors. The reason for the change was that the instructor on several occasions failed to turn up for the lesson without notification, and on others would cut the lesson short, sometimes by 50%, saying that to continue would make him late for his next pupil . There were other issues as well, like texting during the lesson whilst she was driving, and asking too many personal questions. I could not help but to make my feelings about his conduct very clear, suggesting that his conduct fell way below the conduct expected of a professional instructor, and that in my opinion an instructor who behaved in such a manner should be reported to the Registrar of the DSA.

fungus wrote:texting during the lesson whilst she was driving

Surely this is illegal? Just like making/taking a call on a mobile phone while supervising a learner ...

Yes it is illegal but even ignoring that, I would still be tempted to report the ADI to the DSA for their poor conduct. I'm not sure what they would do though.

Unfortunately it's all hear say , the only person who could complain would be the client and dout very much the dsa would do anything, if its true ? There are always 2 sides to every story and we have all heard stories about what pupils are like cancelling last min not turning up, so do not be so quick to condemn.

Nigel wrote:Unfortunately it's all hear say , the only person who could complain would be the client and dout very much the dsa would do anything, if its true ? There are always 2 sides to every story and we have all heard stories about what pupils are like cancelling last min not turning up, so do not be so quick to condemn.

That's true, it is just hearsay, and it may be true, or not. The point is though, that any instructor that behaves in such a manner is behaving in an unprofessional way. Of course the customer is the only person who could complain, and if there were no other complaints against this instructor, then your doubts as to whether the DSA would take action, are possibly true.

Yes, there are two sides to every story, and all ADIs have had pupils cancel last minute, or not turn up, or worse still, turn up but reek of drink. This still does not excuse an ADI from behaving in a professional manner. After all, this sort of behaviour gives ADIs a bad name. And by the way, I am not being quick to condemn, just stating a personal opinion.

I had this too. I should have said something to her. I had one instructor who I had 5 lessons with and it was a waste of money. She had a offer for lessons so I took it as I didn't know who to go with.

She would turn up late and blame it on personal situations and say what happened. It sounded confused to be honest, so I didn't know whether to believe her or not. Nevertheless, as long as I get my hour, I can take it. But personal and business should be kept separate.

To make it worse, she didn't give the full hour. Whatever was left from when she came late was what I got. It did upset me.

People used to call and text her so she would answer for a minute or reply. Distracting.

She also never took me far despite driving her car properly. We hardly went past a few roads.

So it is true, it does happen.

Based on my experience of working for DSA for many years, I'd suggest that a letter to the Registrar would be appropriate. Such a letter would normally be kept on file, and the ADI might be invited to discuss the complaint.

However, it is unlikely that much will happen. Issues such as incomplete lessons and lateness are likely to be dismissed as contractual matters: contacting trading standards might be a good idea.

When complaints of improper behaviour are made, DSA will expect the matter to be reported to the police, but few learners are willing to press ahead with the process. I know of several ADIs in my area who were removed from the register after being convicted. These are in the public domain, so a search for "driving instructor" and "carrot" should produce some hits.

Russ_H wrote:so a search for "driving instructor" and "carrot" should produce some hits.

If the learner wishes to report this instructor I would consider 2 letters, one to Trading Standards for not delivering the promised product (cfi to the DSA) and one to the Police for illegal use of phone during lessons (also cfi to the DSA).

It depends on how personal the questions are and how young the pupils is (under 18?) as to whether they warrant a third letter addressed to the DSA to raise this issue.