Long Wait for a Driving Test in Nottingham

The wait is so long it even made the news.

Some of my pupils are booking driving tests online and are getting dates for the lovely month of August. It is fast approaching the middle of April. A waiting time approaching four months. This is less time than it takes some people to learn to drive from scratch. It's a situation which brings many problems for a driving instructor.
   I encourage my pupils to get the theory test sorted from the very beginning of their training now. I explain the length of time it will take after passing the theory to get to the practical test so the earlier they can book and pass it the better. I suppose it adds some pressure to pass, as a fail would push the possible date for a practical test back by a further 3 to 4 weeks. If they do fail or wait until their driving is of a reasonable standard before taking the theory then some decisions have to be made.
  Many people understandably don't want to pay for months of lessons they don't believe they need. Who can blame them? Driving lessons are not cheap and a three month wait really adds to the cost of learning by a significant amount. We can argue that the extra training is never wasted but people only have so much money to spend. We then have to explore other options.
   They can pack in the lessons until nearer the time of the test. I don't book so far in advance as I find it causes problems with existing pupils if they suddenly can't have their usual time because someone booked it in advance. I tell the test person that I will do what I can nearer the test but I can't guarantee fitting them back in. The best solution would be to keep up the lessons and look online every day to see if a cancellation can be found. If they do find one they have to grab it straight away before someone else does. If they check with me first you can bet your bottom dollar it will have gone by the time they get back online.
   Some people keep up the practice with parents which can lead to some poor habits forming and a general drop in the driving standard. Others want to take a lesson every two weeks which I won't do because it leaves spaces which are hard to fill as most people want a weekly lesson. Others look to book tests in other towns which would take most of the day to get there and back as well as not having any knowledge of the test area.
   A fail on the driving test is now a much more serious drawback. Pupils know there is a long wait for a second attempt which only adds to the pressure on the day. If they need a driving licence for a job then the four months wait could seriously scupper their plans. If you know you can take another test in three weeks then the pressure is not so great.
   To overcome this I find people are looking for driving lessons after booking a test some time in advance. Problem is they try to start lessons with only a few weeks to go before the test date. The pupil is then full of false expectation that they will be ready. When they see it will take more time than they have left themselves they pressure the instructor to get them ready and work a few miracles. The whole situation is a sorry mess.
   Three weeks should be the maximum amount anyone should have to wait for a driving test. At the moment the waiting times are making life hard for everybody. Poor planning on behalf of the DVSA in allowing examiner numbers to fall is a major factor I would say. Hopefully things will improve soon.

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No More Web Woes for this Driving Instructor!

Taking control feels good.

2015 was a year of dealing with problems and overcoming them. Not a bad thing as I have learned a lot about how to complain properly and take positive action even if it means a lot of time and effort. Last piece of the puzzle was getting my website away from incompetent people who refuse to acknowledge phone calls, texts and emails.

   A couple of months ago I found that I just could not update my website. All kinds of errors popped up and as it's an important part of my business I simply couldn't let the situation carry on for too long. After about 6 texts, 3 emails and a bunch of ignored calls to my web designer and his imaginary team I decided it was time to migrate my site to another host. 

   I've read some nightmare stories about migrating websites. It can really mess things up but I had no choice but to take this route. I contacted the people at GoDaddy and bought a hosting package. I was told migrating would be easy and nothing to worry about. The problems started immediately when the website failed to migrate. Seems the old company had put blockers on it to prevent escape. I tried to back up the files myself and do it manually but to no avail. 

   I contacted the excellent customer services at GoDaddy and stayed on the line while they migrated it for me. A nice guy talked me through the whole process and it was done. I didn't realise my URL was still pointing to the old site which is what I was looking at through the browser. Took me a few days before I noticed actually. Another phone call got the URL pointing to the right place and no website. Just an error message. Back on the phone to disable the plugins so I could finally look at the migrated site.

  I've got to say my heart sank. Lots of bits missing and hyphenated text that didn't fit on the page and pictures all over the place. After a small time spent in contemplation I decided to do a redesign and make an even better website. A new header image and text for starters. Picking my way through each page and re-spacing things to fit took a fair few hours of laborious and tedious work. The end result is well worth it I think.

  So here I am with complete control of the website. No more phone calls when the hosting runs out and the website goes down. No more errors getting in the way. When a website is your main means of bringing in new business things have to be right. Driving Instructors are busy people so the less time spent worrying over things the better. Now all i have to do is suss out the website email so it goes straight to my phone and I can then deal with it in between lessons. That way it's one less job when I get home. Happy 2016

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Price Surge for Driving Lessons?

Driving Instructors charging more when they're busy. Hmmm...

I read a piece in the driving schools trade magazines putting forward the idea of price surges for lessons when demand is high and all our diaries are full. The taxi trade was used an example with higher prices at peak times. I suppose this happens a lot in transport. Train tickets are more expensive at peak times. Air flights are more expensive in the holiday season so should we be any different?

  I don't think the price surge idea would work with driving lessons. A taxi journey is just a one off for a lot of people. The customer doesn't know the taxi driver personally most of the time. Compare this to a driving instructor who has got to know a pupil over time and has formed a good working relationship with them. I would not feel comfortable telling a pupil that their lessons were going up in price because I was getting more phone calls at the moment. I think they would feel they were being cheated. I know I wouldn't like it if it were done to me. Are we to reduce prices below our usual when times are not so busy, around Christmas for instance? I have no intention of lowering my prices at any time. I think it's negative business. Unless I get really desperate.

   I think we need to remember that we are in education as well as business. It's like charging extra for lessons because you'r in a fancy car. I just think it's gimmicky. A fair price for good quality lessons will always win the day over silly offers and price surges. Call me old fashioned if you like.

   I opened a mysterious envelope this week. It contained a certificate of excellence for my business based on online reviews, pricing and that sort of thing. It was from Best three rated dotcom. I looked at the site and in the listings there I was with a couple of other reputable driving schools. Not a bad bit of free advertising actually. Anyone else heard of this site?

   I think that there is a definite shortage of driving instructors at the moment. Every school in the land seems to be advertising for them. I suspect there will be a flood of new instructors soon as the driving instructor training organisations see a gap opening up and swing into action. This wave of extreme business can't go on forever so time to get your business established on the lines of quality training and sensible pricing. We'll never make it rich teaching people to drive but we can make a difference to our pupils and make a reasonable living. That's good enough for me.

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Music on Driving Lessons

Soothing or distracting? It seems nobody knows.

I love sounds in the car when I'm driving. I've spent many an hour recently ripping the CD collection to a USB stick so I can play them in the car. No CD payers in new cars which is not a great step forward in my opinion. All this has led me to read up a bit on the effect music has upon driving.

  Different studies have provided different answers to the question of distraction. Apparently classical music is the most distracting and I can see why. It's complex stuff which demands a certain amount of concentration from the listener. If the concentration effort is going on the music then it can't be going on the road. Classical can be just the thing in a traffic jam though. It can sooth the soul that would otherwise be getting frustrated about not getting anywhere.

   The tempo of the music is a factor. The faster the BPM the faster you want to drive which makes sense. A friend commented on this many years ago when my driving suddenly became more aggressive whilst listening to Korn. Nowadays I can listen to the most intense thrash and keep to a reasonable speed. Music on the motorway is absolutely essential. A few hours of driving in a straight line can be deadly boring without something to keep the mind occupied. In an urban traffic situation music can become annoying so I just turn it off.

   It would be interesting to do an experiment on a driving lesson. Three tracks played on the move. One slow, one medium and one fast paced track could be played and the pupil's driving monitored to see if there is any effect. This would be a good chance to get those coaching skills to work and get some feedback from the pupil. It would make them consider driving in a wider context and benefit them after passing the driving test. As well as discussing how it made the pupil feel it would also bring to light how many other sounds were masked by the music. Noise from other cars, siren from the ambulance etc. It feels a lot more like driving in isolation when there are sounds on the stereo.

 To be honest the biggest distraction is when actually selecting the tunes. The new touch screen interfaces take so much scrolling up and down and poking of buttons to get what you want. It's surprising how long I'm not paying attention to the road when I'm doing this. At least I'm aware of this and wait for an opportune moment to make my selection. The touch screen on my car decides not to work on some mornings and then the thing goes mad and scrolls through menus of it's own accord. I rang the garage and they say this isn't normal. No driving instructor can take a day off to sort out the sounds so I'll have to see if this is a temporary glitch. Happy motoring and choose your music wisely!

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Driving Lessons and Justice For All

It's all come up roses in the end.

I had written a few posts recently about being mis-sold a PCP by my local dealership. I informed then I was a driving instructor with a annual mileage of 35000. The PCP plan had a much lower mileage allowance of 20000 which would incur significant costs when it came to trade in time. After complaining to the dealership and the finance company I presented my case to the Financial Ombudsman which seems to have done the trick.

  I was contacted by the dealership and arranged to go in for a meeting to discuss the complaint. I expected to come away empty handed but was very surprised when I got there. The culprits were no longer at the dealership and had been replaced by some new guys. I spoke to the new branch and sales managers who were very nice. They began by apologising for the fact that I had to go through the hassle of sending the complaint around before reaching the Ombudsman which brought it to their attention. They admitted that the plan had been mis-sold and was not suitable for my needs.

  After some discussion it was agreed that after a couple of years the car would be valued for trade in as if it only had the allowed 40000 miles on it and the difference between that and it's value with the actual mileage would be covered by the dealership. I can now do as many miles as I like without penalty which is a huge weight off my mind. They also agreed to pay for the dual controls fitting to the next car which will save me a bit. I thought that was a good and proper deal.

   It appears that the other guys who mis-sold me the plan had been suspected of irregularities and had been removed. Now they have a proper case they can do something about it and find out what was really going on. I  now realise it was not the whole company that was to blame but just a few individuals. Makes me glad I didn't start anything on the internet which would have got them bad press. I did find their internal complaints a bit soft though. I expected more from the finance company but all's well that ends well.

   On a lighter note I drove through central London last weekend and it nearly made my brain explode. I'd hate to be in a rush and have to get through that lot. Lights went red then green then red again and nothing was moving except aggressive taxis and mad cyclists. I felt so proud when I got to Brixton and saw the Trailer Park Boys doing their thing live. Had to drive back through near midnight and the city did look spectacular from the insane traffic jam we were in. It's an interesting life innit?

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Driving Outside My Comfort Zone

Easy peasy for a driving instructor who knows the roads.

I am out there on the road all day every day during the week. Like we all are. I have come to know the roads of Nottingham like the back of my hand. I don't know many street names so I could never be a taxi driver. Drop me off anywhere in this fair city and I'll always find my way straight back home.

   It's not often I drive outside Nottingham to be honest. Come the weekend I have had enough of sitting in the car and can't wait to be out in the open air, or on an bus. I took the kids to Newquay for a holiday a couple of weeks back and it brought into focus the shortcomings in my hazard awareness and planning. I am used to knowing what comes next and what the speed limits are on any given stretch of road. Surprising how difficult things can be when the familiarity is taken away.

 My sat nav is really old now. It costs £100 or something to update the maps so there's no chance. Sometimes I will drive onto a road that doesn't exist and the thing will recalculate. No big deal. The problem is that many of the speed limits have been lowered since the maps were done and the device is telling me it's a 60 when really it's a 50mph road. I got that unsure feeling learners get when they aren't sure what the speed limit is. I started to pay much more attention to signs as the week progressed and was back on form after a few days.

  A couple of times I took the wrong turning at roundabouts. Easy to follow the lane changes when you know exactly where the lanes are going in advance. A bit tougher on unfamiliar ground. I had to  struggle with my temper and keep it cool as I drove off in the wrong direction. It brought it home to me how much of my driving is done by memory. Plenty of country lanes in lovely Cornwall. As a city driver they aren't something I practice regularly. Tight turns straight after a hill which can't be seen until the last second kept me on my toes. Hard to be slow when the locals are 2 feet off your rear bumper and looking impatient.

  The caravan site got a bit muddy towards the end of the week. Trying to make it up the hill in a front wheel drive car with the wheels skidding left and right gave me some much needed practice in clutch control. On the way home it was a game of dodging the aggressive idiots on the motorway and trying not to be a centre lane driver. It is so much more convenient and safe to stay in the middle lane as opposed to bobbing in and out of the left hand lane I think.

  So it was good to realise my skills needed some work and to put the work in. When you stop thinking you're a good driver you start being one I've heard it said. It's true as well. None of us can afford to be complacent.

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Bad Companies

Pupils can really give a Driving Instructor food for thought.

On my last blog post I told the world about how I had been mis-sold a PCP by my local dealership. I was chatting to a pupil about how I think companies in general have become more sinister and underhand in the way they deal with the public. My pupil who has worked in the financial sector for various companies has told me this is undoubtedly the case. He reckons it's a trickle down from the banking crisis where no one was ever prosecuted for wrongdoing and just seemed to get away with it.

  I complained to Skoda UK about the mis-selling and found they were practically powerless to do anything at all. The people on the phone seemed to sympathise with me but told me there is only so much they are allowed to do and pointed me in the direction of the financial ombudsman. I have put in my complaint with them. Today they informed me that they cannot raise a complaint against the dealership but can against the finance company. They've collected all the info and now it's time for me to sit back and see what they come up with.
  Last week a really nice bloke ran into the back of my car at a roundabout during a lesson. Less than six thousand miles on the clock and it's already going in for repair. Ha. The guy admitted liability so everything should be straight forward. I informed my insurance company of the accident and they set the wheels in motion to get my car repaired. Later the other guy's insurance company called and offered to sort everything out. I informed them the process had already started and then they started to tell me that if my insurance company asked too much for the hire vehicle etc. then they would contest it and I may have to pay the charges out of my own pocket.
  I informed my insurance company what had happened and they said that the other company were using scare tactics to get me to go with them so they could keep their costs down. I would receive the cheapest repairs and hire car possible if I let them handle the claim according to my company. The other guys told me that my insurer was simply looking to make as much money as possible. I felt a bit like piggy in the middle. I've never come across this before on previous non fault claims. I was told that they shouldn't have approached me at all. A few days after the calls I received letters from the other company telling me of the risk I have of being liable for vehicle hire charges if they contest them. This was totally brand new to me. During previous non fault claims I have simply informed my company and let them handle it.
  The other company farce I'm dealing with is the tree in my garden. I called the letting agent about 6 weeks ago to tell them it's overgrown and touching various wires. The telephone lines and power lines I think. First they ignored it, then they lost the notes on the request. 3 times I emailed photos of the tree. A guy came round from the contractors and had a look and took more photos. Nothing happened. I chased it a bit. Another guy came round from another contractor and took some more photos. As I write this the tree has still not been cut back. Ha! I'd do it myself if it wasn't so high up. Anyway, there's me getting it off my chest about modern companies. I'm not going to mention the stuff I've heard from new pupils about Drive Dynamics cos this would go on too long. Have a nice day.

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