AA Zone

I bought my daughter a load of hours worth of lessons with the AA when she wanted to learn to drive.

Her first instructor she found too snappy for a learner & raised his voice a lot when she made mistakes.

So she asked them to allocate her another.
I had paid via the web about £600 upfront & after that she paid the instructor in person block buying 12 hours each time, paying £276 every 5 weeks.

She started Oct 2007!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The second man was terrible, she did persist for months with him, but he was often late.

She booked 2 hour lessons, he was usually a bit late, then recently was 1/2 hour late & as she was going into work she could only take 1.5 hours.

The next booked one he didn't show for (7am), she eventually ran him at 7.20 & woke him up. He re-booked her in for a few days later & asked her to give him a wake up call to make sure he got up

Another lesson he made her drive to the bakery & pull up & wait outside while he went in & got a sausage roll

He strung her out for nearly a year with lessons, told her they couldn't practise her manoeuvres in the rain

Anyway, to cut a long story short she got fed up of his lateness & no-shows & messing her about & found herself a local independent man.

She texted the instructor to say she wouldn't be using him & to let him know she would be contacting the AA for a refund of £57.50 for the 2.5 hours he still owes her.
He left an answer-phone message saying that the money was with him NOT the AA & he would work it out.
She tried to call him numerous times since & he won't answer.
She called the AA who said its nothing to do with them, its between her & the instructor (BEWARE ANYONE WHO THINKS THEY ARE BUYING LESSONS FROM A REPUTABLE ESTABLISHED COMPANY!!!!!!!).

My husband called him (using his mobile, a number he didn't have) & he answered & said he would send a cheque for the money he owes her.

That was two weeks ago.

Just tried calling him again no answer.

Don't know where he lives, why should he take the mick out of youngsters with their hard earned cash & basically rip them off.

What can I do, where should I write to or complain to?

We apologise for the inconvenience this appears to have caused. If Mrs E would like to e-mail "drivings@theaa.com" with the full name and address of the pupil, and if possible their AA pupil number, and the names and phone numbers of the two instructors involved, we will investigate your concerns fully.

Please put the subject heading as “AA Zone complaint”.

AA Driving School has around 2,000 fully qualified driving instructors throughout the UK (we only use fully qualified instructors) who are professionally trained and they are expected to stand by the very high standards and reputation of the AA.

Complaints of this sort are rare and we treat them very seriously. We look forward to hearing from you.

Thank you,

Ian Crowder, AA Driving School