EDIT: For the hard-of-thinking out there, this story is from 2010. BSM is now owned by the AA, and any complaints mentioned in this article are totally irrelevant as far as choosing BSM as a driving school goes. Remember: this TV programme is from 2010.
I haven’t seen it yet – waiting for it to go live on iPlayer – but the BSM Instructor Academy has issued this:
Watchdog Statement
BBC Watchdog – BSM statement.
In keeping with our company policy of keeping our instructors as informed as possible, please see the below statement that has been issued to Watchdog and will be aired on this evening’s show.
“We would like to thank Watchdog for bringing these issues to BSM’s attention.
As the UK’s largest driving school with over 130,000 learner drivers each year, we accept that there are going to be occasional instances where we don’t get it right. However, having taught the nation to drive for over 100 years and with a pass rate at least 20% higher than the national average, it’s important that we work hard to maintain the high standards that we have set for ourselves. We would like to apologise for any customer dissatisfaction in relation to these cases and we have made operational changes and implemented new control measures to ensure they are not repeated.
We are working hard to ensure these instances won’t occur again and we have already started the process of contacting the individual customers concerned. We will be working with them to find suitable resolutions to their problems and offering compensation where appropriate.
Unfortunately, our website incorrectly stated that people pass with BSM every six seconds. This was due to an administrative error rather than an attempt to mislead and we now have controls in place to ensure this won’t happen again.
We commit to monitor all these issues closely and to learn from them in order to continue teaching the UK to drive for the next 100 years.”
We feel this is an honest and fair response and will continue keep you informed of the reaction to the segment on tonights show.
So, it seems that the Watchdog had latched on to several very specific complaints from individuals. I will comment when I have seen the Watchdog report.
One thing I did notice when I was on Watchdog’s site, is that it says of tonight’s programme:
Anne and Matt have been digging up stories on Asda online and Marks and Spencer this week.
Now, doesn’t that look like someone was going to say one thing and ended up not finishing it off? Digging up stories? Or just digging the dirt?