That Welsh documentary also had another segment (the very first one) about an instructor taking money and disappearing.
Surepass Logo
This time, the driving school having the dirt dug on it was Surepass.
Apparently, what had happened was that this guy had booked lessons for his son with Surepass. They’d passed him on to a local instructor, who took a cheque for around £600. The instructor gave one lesson, then cancelled and refused to do any more until the boy had done his theory test. After that he became unobtainable, having effectively done a runner with the money.
It turns out that the “instructor” – Gareth Arnold – was a failed trainee who should not have been taking money for tuition in the first place (it is illegal to take payment for teaching people to drive unless you are registered as either an ADI or a trainee (PDI) on a trainee licence). So he can add that to embezzlement and theft on his list of skills. He sounds a class act.
The upshot (watch the TV segment) is that Surepass made a mistake and had been having problems with this failed instructor themselves (trying to get the car back and claim for unpaid franchise payments). They refunded the pupil’s father the money and apologised.
The moral is as follows: there are some dishonest people out there, and just because a driving school makes a mistake or has a complaint made against it doesn’t mean it is in league with Satan.
Another thing worth noting is that Gareth Arnold is a prime example of what can happen if you don’t know what you are getting into when you decide that becoming an instructor is your lifelong ambition after seeing a TV ad about it. You can fail.
(Note: This “Gareth Arnold” (the bogus instructor) is not to be confused with any other “Gareth Arnold” (and who has nothing to do with this story). You wouldn’t believe how many people are searching for that name. It must be the Welsh equivalent of “John Smith”).