MyIntensiveCourse
Just over 1.5 million people learn to drive in the UK, every year, spending on average around £1300 for 45hrs of lessons before they’re ready to test.
But with COVID and the backlog of learner drivers that it created, any companies offering fast track driving courses are in pole position. But we've heard about a company which has left learner drivers out of pocket, and without a full licence to show for it.
IntensivesUK was set up in 2021 boasting a professional looking website claiming to help you ‘get your licence in just a few days’ and ‘almost doubling your chance of passing’ by taking one of their courses.
That same year hairdresser and mother of three Jade used £482 of her redundancy money to pay for an intensive driving course.
She told Watchdog why it was so important that she got her licence quickly -
“I wanted a career in mobile hairdressing. I wanted something quick and it was advertised as being intensive.”
Jade looked up IntensivesUK’s owner Mark Elliot online and was impressed by his business credentials. So, all paid up, she waited for the company to get in touch.
“I kept ringing and ringing and ringing. There was no emails, letters you're gonna have a driving instructor, there was nothing” added Jade.
Jade tried to get a refund but IntensivesUK’s T&C’s stated that this could only happen when ‘exceptional circumstances are agreed’. Two years on she has neither a full licence nor her money back.
IntensivesUk’s website went offline.
In March 2022 Mark Elliot started a new business called MyIntensivecourse.com, which also offered intensive driving courses.
Sarah contacted Watchdog after her partner’s 17yr old son Alfie paid for lessons with MyIntensivecourse.com to secure his new job. Lessons, which never materialised.
“Alfie booked 12hrs of lessons with a test at the end. He got an email confirmation that around 4 weeks he will be allocated a driving instructor, and his lessons would be underway. After a month or so went by he said he hadn't heard from them.
I spoke to one of the staff members there. He wasn't overly helpful. He just sort of said it's just an average the 4 weeks, and we still have to wait.”
And we’ve heard of more people having problems with both websites. The refund procedure, in particular, is driving people up the wall.
“I was told that the only time we could apply for a refund would be after 12 weeks and one day. So Alfie, still isn't able to get any lessons but he's got no available funds to be able to go and book anything else now.” added Sarah.
In a statement Mark Elliot Director of IntensivesUK and MyIntensiveCourse told Watchdog:
On the claims made on both of the companies websites:
Fast track driving course “is a term we use online to catch attention. It reflects the resources we use to essentially jump the queue with driving instructor and driving test waiting times.”
“With regards to the majority of bookings, these statements are accurate. It is also what we aim for on every booking. However, like any other service provider there are times when for any number of reasons the targets we set are missed. We could say, start dates from next week as we are often way quicker than the 4 weeks, “national average”.”
On the issue of delays Mark added:
“London for example, there are NO dates for driving tests. We shop through all cancellation tests and acquire them for our customers, thus helping the DVSA by reducing their, “missed tests” and therefore doing our bit to reduce the overall waiting times.”
“My Intensive Course use wording that represents what we achieve for the overwhelming number of customers we serve. As stated previously, we sometimes miss the target, and this can be for many reasons including customers interference. …to clarify, we do not book the test dates the DVSA have available. We book a placement test and transfer it through fast tracking systems we have in place with skilled individuals who can navigate test to earlier dates.”
“We have said repeatedly. It is our aim to ensure all bookings are fulfilled with the earliest possible dates and the vast majority are. We accept sometimes, like all service providers we miss the target, and this could be down to a range of reasons…As for the systems we use... We have a business booking system with the DVSA and our skilled staff work tirelessly to find earlier test dates and yes, this does include the use of approved software. One part of it is the DVSA’s own, “set and alert” for an earlier test date.”
On the issue of Refunds:
“All refund requests are reviewed. It is common that a customer whose refund is rejected goes on to submit them regularly. It is common that those who are rejected are very put out and take to social media, Trustpilot, 主播大秀, trading standards. It is very important you remember, not every customer is entitled to a refund and when they come to you to report us, they forget to mention some key facts.”
“As rare as this is, we have experienced customers who booked with Intensives UK and were somehow lost in the transition from an old manual system to a digital intensive course tracker system we now use. The developers explanation is the data did not match the new systems requirements leading to the new systems archiving a tiny handful of customers. For this we are extremely sorry and will obviously refund any historic customers who have been inadvertently archived out of the tracker.”
“The duration of the 18 weeks is always in review and will come down when the longest DVSA test waiting times in the UK also come down.”
“The customers of Intensives UK were the ones hardest hit by the imposed delays. There were times when a lockdown was lifted, we rescheduled the courses and the lockdown will go back on, forcing us to do the same repeatedly. This was an administrative nightmare and became impossible to manage efficiently and therefore the delays were substantial. We take accountability when we are in the wrong. We cannot accept any portion of the blame when the delays were forced upon us.”
“With regards to refund times, during the Intensives UK era, we had to manage refunds without the businesses cash flow hitting a critical position. Now, with My Intensive Course, we fairly assess all refund requests. We cannot prevent those who are denied from taking to social media etc to publicly hammer us. We just must roll with it and do the best we can…. Furthermore, the only way to claim a refund is with our online request. This sets into motion the refund tracking process and the result of our investigation is advised to the customer in a timely fashion. If a customer calls for a refund, we text them a link, so they don’t even have to go to the website and find it. If we mess something up, we acknowledge it and work with the customer to try and resolve anything.”
On the issue of Intensives UK Website being offline, Mark said:
“The domain name expired. I have now reactivated the site and the domain will be live within 48 hours. I have put a direct link for refunds on the home page with instructions and confirmation that, My Intensive Course are handling all refunds and business affairs on behalf of, Intensives UK.”
