Instructor constantly cancelling scheduled lessons on me

Everlong1

I paid for a block of 12 lessons with a certain driving school some months ago and have had 7 lessons to date. On three different occasions now the instructor has cancelled scheduled lessons without any consultation with me. The first time I didn’t cause a fuss as I assumed it was a one off. The second time I had an angry exchange over the phone with him. His explanation/excuse is that he has a lot of clients at different levels and he needs to reschedule sometimes to suit everyone. This makes no sense to me and implies that he is cancelling my lessons in favour of someone else he deems more in need. He also blamed me and said that I wasn’t making myself available enough in terms of hours. I work office hours and need to be physically present in the office on Monday and Tuesday so those are out. From Wednesday to Friday I try to arrange lessons for lunch time when I can be off work. I can do all day Saturday if necessary.

I discussed my availability with him and have tried to be more flexible since which worked up until this week when he has again cancelled a lesson – this is the third time now. I haven’t contacted him about it yet.

I am totally sick of this guy now. As an instructor he’s ok, nice and calm which is what you want. However I’m so fed up with his antics around the scheduling that my first instinct is to demand a refund on the remaining lessons and find another school. However all the schools seem to have big waiting lists – I’ve had trouble previously getting instructors because of the demand and my lessons were disrupted several times during Covid. This guy is my third instructor. If I cancel with this guy I’ll be starting over with a new instructor who’ll have to assess me. Any obs or advice would be appreciated. 

Everlong1

bump

december2019

Here's my opinion on the matter.

If you get on with your instructor that's a positive.

Remember if you change you might find it difficult to get a new one or it might find one you don't get on with. Of course you might find one you get on great with.

I've heard of people having lessons cancelled by instructors because they were giving people proopraty to people who booked tests at the last minute.

Now this can be annoying but when you get to book your test they'll generally be accommodating to you also.

Everlong1

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119398663#Comment_119398663

Thanks for that. I did an online search and found a few similar obs on UK websites. Opinions seem to vary with some people saying it's totally unprofessional and shouldn't be tolerated and others being sympathetic to the reasoning behind it. This guy is also giving me grief about making returns to the RSA - my last lesson he wouldn't make a return as he thinks I need more experience in the area we were supposed to cover that day. I found a comment from a retired ADI on Boards who said that's nonsense and the ADI should be making a return for every lesson taken. I'll probably see out my remaining lessons with him but won't be taking lessons from him after that.

december2019

After reading that reply I'd consider switching.

Just make sure to see what he's logged online and everything is up to date.

If you find another instructor you can just see how it goes.

You don't need to tell your current one.