Why should you complain about a driving instructor?
Why should you complain to the DSA?
Answer: Because this is the ONLY way you have of contributing to a bad driving instructor being taken off the road. You won't get your money back necessarily but if you don't complain to an external authority then no-one will know and they get to continue to rip other people off. Its in the company's interest to keep complaints quiet, but by all means complain to them too in case they are a good company (unlike Nippers).
If all the people who had shit experiences with Steve Eggleton had complained then the DSA would have had to take action, but just one complaint doesnt do it, there needs to be more. So this man gets to continue giving his terrible driving lessons in a town that he doesnt really know (and wasnt bothered about knowing). So he got another £1000. Think of that. The terrible driving instructor profited from the silence of all those who had terrible experiences, who wrote it on their to-do list and forgot or who were too frightened to do it for whatever reason (believe me I was terrified too, Steve is scary and knew where I lived).
The DSA are useless at this, their methods of checking the quality and safety of driving instructors are poor, their check test is laughable when the instructor gets to choose, prep and prime the test subject/learner driver. Who might even be an experienced driver with many years experience.
And the non-nice part of me, the part that is hidden and hurting from all the damage Steve did, likes the idea of the extra effort and stress I put him through dealing with the DSA. I'd like to think he took it as a wakeup call but somehow I doubt that.
Anyway, mean bit over, here is a breakdown of what happened when I complained (you can see the email and replies below in previous posts).
1.Verbal Complaint to Nippers (fobbed off twice)
2. Emailed complaint to the DSA (told they wouldn't take it further unless I let Steve have the right of reply. I emailed back to agree)
3. Written complaint to Nippers (totally ignored, nice company eh? Really care about their customer's distress)
4. Reply from DSA stating Steve is a big fat liar and they believe him and are unconcerned about any possible danger he might present (ok, paraphrasing and reading between the lines).
In this business it is your word against the driving instructor and they are ALWAYS going to believe the driving instructor as it is their livelihood on the line. But they cannot ignore many many complaints as easily as a lone one (even though I know I am not alone, I cannot prove it). So the only power we have is in numbers, complain, complain even though its frightening and time consuming, this is one of the few times when a complaint REALLY makes a difference to the way things are run. Be honest, be fair but fuck it, COMPLAIN.
Lets get those terrible driving instructors off the roads, lets make sure that all driving instructors are like Pam Sinclair rather than Steve Eggleton.
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