Elementary Driving Academy, Bodmin, Cornwall. Reviews

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Latest Reviews

“Fell for it aswell”

★☆☆☆☆

written by Arnavb27 on 06/03/2017

Wow, just been reading all the reviews, I too have been through this! Met at Asda coffee in Bodmin went through everything, went away thought about it. Decided that this was what I was going to do, all seemed great could fit it in around my employment at the time. Applied for the Career Development Loan and got it. Then came a the rest! Didn't show up, would cancel last minute, made out he had a lesson before me in the Redruth and would I meet him there. (I also lived in Bodmin so my own fuel ect) sat waiting for him didn't show, didn't answer his phone, then got a txt saying that one of the kids had been taken to hospital! An so it went on £2500 out for pocket and a loan to pay back. As anybody else if I had known any of this before I would never of gone near the man.

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Turbosnail1's Comment

Written on: 09/04/2017

is this recent

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“£2500 paid.. No training all talk no action.. What an...”

★☆☆☆☆

written by turbotaz9 on 04/09/2014

Dsa approved this clown.. about time we got our hard earned cash back!

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Kernowken's Response to turbotaz9's Review

Written on: 20/10/2014

I have recently been done over by this Fraudster! would any of you like to form some sort of alliance and take this to the authoritys as this Man! and i use the word very loosly needs to be stopped!

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“ i gave him money to send off for my tests, and on...”

★☆☆☆☆

written by davekcornwall on 08/07/2012

 i gave him money to send off for my tests, and on equiry the dsa knew nothing of any money. 

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“I am reading horrified how this man has swindled so...”

★☆☆☆☆

written by Rod888 on 28/06/2012

I am reading horrified how this man has swindled so many people out of their hard earned cash. 

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Turbotaz9's Response to Rod888's Review

Written on: 04/09/2014

I want too speak to you... Im affected also and want too hear how you have done!

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Kernowken's reply to Turbotaz9's Comment

Written on: 20/10/2014

Hi i have we have also just been done over by this person! would be great to hear what people have to say

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Spalmer123's Response to Rod888's Review

Written on: 17/04/2017

Hi,

He has also taken £2600 from us.

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Stevehopper2's Response to Rod888's Review

Written on: 16/11/2014

Presently he is living at St Teath and working at Tesco, Wadebridge.
I believe he also (in 2014) took part in a charity run to raise money for a cancer sufferer. His run raised approx £214, Lord knows how much of it actually got through to the charity.

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“I signed up with them and I must admit at the time I...”

★☆☆☆☆

written by jackson23 on 01/06/2012

I signed up with them and I must admit at the time I was impressed, then as the months went on and I found myself struggling along on my own and having tried to contact him for help he informed me one of his children was ill and he was not working. Next i receive a letter informing me that the business was in the hands of administrators and they would be in touch. Now more than a year later I havent heard a word and am still £2500 in debt basically just for a few books!!! He best hope I dont run into him amywhere.

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Ralphh85's Response to jackson23's Review

Written on: 21/06/2012

Was this recent? if so please e mail ralph.hampshire(at)gmail.com cheers.

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Marionsinger's Response to jackson23's Review

Written on: 07/05/2019

Did you ever resolve this? I have been swindled out of over £15k who now trade as Bespoke Timber Solutions, Tintagle. I paid for them to make a shepherds which has now disappeared as well as my money. He has, yet again, declared bankrupt. I cannot let this rest until this man is stopped.

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Cornish1's reply to Marionsinger's Comment

Written on: 12/05/2019

he has set up another company called penpethy shepherds hut ltd in wadebriide in his lads name, if you saw your hut being built and can prove you paid money towards it ,you need to get in touch with official receiver who is dealing with his bankruptcy,

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Cornish1's reply to Marionsinger's Comment

Written on: 02/06/2019

would be a good idea if you got in touch with watchdog rogue traders
holdcroft has been ripping people off for a long time it goes back yrs if you need proof you have all these reviews plus the comments also you have bespoke timber plus the fact he has had your money then set up a company penpathy shepherds huts ltd wadebridge in his lads name
it might help

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Actioinshedman's reply to Marionsinger's Comment

Written on: 14/09/2019

We are trying to contact you Marion as we are in the same boat.

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Actionshedman's reply to Actioinshedman's Comment

Written on: 04/10/2019

we are trying to contact you Marion

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Actionshedman's reply to Marionsinger's Comment

Written on: 04/10/2019

how can we contact you Marioni?

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Guest's Response to jackson23's Review

Written on: 08/07/2012

i think i may know where lives....

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“April 2009, i was looking for a change in carrer and...”

★☆☆☆☆

written by stevehopper2 on 03/11/2011

April 2009, i was looking for a change in carrer and decided that qualifying as an ADI would be a good idea, after all, I had been an HGV driver for years but was fed up of being away from home. So I tried most of the established schools, Red, BSM etc tec, I read all of the horror stories on the internet of driving schools letting trainees down and charging them fortunes for a Franchise after qualification. Then i spoke to silver tongued man, there was no problems, I could qualify easily, I could have a Franchise which included a fully funded dual control car and a full apointment book for £108/wk. The car would be changed every 18 months and I could choose almost any car I wanted. That was it, I was hooked. So Informed old Silver Tongue that I had been granted a Career Development Loan and was he by any chance an approved provider?

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Guest's Response to stevehopper2's Review

Written on: 28/06/2012

Hi
Could anyone who has lost money to Holdcroft please send me your contact details to rodbromiley(at)me.com as I may be able to help.

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“If you do use this guy pay as you go ”

★☆☆☆☆

written by PMCam on 10/10/2011

He does seem good at what he does I thought I was just unlucky in that he fell on hard times -I lost £500 but having seen this I'm quite shocked. He comes across well, but then by the look of it he gets a lot of pratice.

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Radicalboomer1949's Response to PMCam's Review

Written on: 25/11/2011

you fell for it as well; he's a ......

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“my story is the same as all the other reviews if not...”

★☆☆☆☆

written by Ruthy on 03/10/2011

my story is the same as all the other reviews if not some what worse as I have received no tution at all from him only a DVD. I signed up in April 2011 and he provided me with a Part 1 DVD and sporadically contacted me with support regarding the Hazard Perception. I passed Part 1 in July and he booked my 1st part 2 lesson, which he never attended his wife texted & said he sick. I have had no further contact from him. I have contacted the Police but they say they cant prosecute as he provided a DVD & therefore it's not Fraud! but they have said even though he has no assets (having been repossessed in June) we can make a civil prosecution, if we can find him and get the court to place a levy on his income which would eventually repay his debt. I have also contacted Cornwall Trading Standards ref: 3605 can you all make sure you have provided them with your contact details and as much information about him as you have been able to find out. There is an online contact form on Cornwall Council website. I have also contacted the DSA who say they have insufficent evidence to remove him from the ADI register ! so can you all please make sure you complain to them in writing. As a last shot I have also contacted Rogue Traders from BBC Watchdog, no reply yet but I am sure the more cases they get the better our chances are.

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Marionsinger's Response to Ruthy's Review

Written on: 14/09/2019

Just as a follow up to your experience, I have been tricked of over sixteen thousand pounds by them. I contracted with him to build a shepherd hut and somewhat stupidly paid him in installments to the value of £16,666. He built the hut to my complete satisfaction, however would not deliver it. I made an unannounced visit to his yard to find the hut had disappeared. He has now been declared bankrupt. This couple are complete cheats and seem to be getting more and more daring with their exploits. I have contacted Action Fraud and will now as you suggest contact Cornwall Trading Standards. I will not let this drop, this couple cannot keep getting away with it. If any one else wishes to build a case against this couple please contact me.

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Mkbike's reply to Marionsinger's Comment

Written on: 01/10/2019

Marion, how can I contact you?

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Actionshedman's reply to Marionsinger's Comment

Written on: 04/10/2019

How can we contact you Marion as I number of us are getting together over this?

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Cornish1's reply to Marionsinger's Comment

Written on: 23/09/2021

Did this issue get resolved or is it ongoing

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“Elementary Driving Academy ”

★☆☆☆☆

written by on 09/06/2011

I have also chosen to write about my experience with Elementary Driving Academy, Bodmin, Cornwall. Like the ever-growing flow of people before and after me I too agreed to meet up with this man to discuss his unlimited tuition for ADI training. When he contacted me to arrange a meeting at his "office" he stated that the office (spare room in his house) was being re-wired and could we meet up at Morrisons for a coffee (which I paid for!!) Upon meeting him he seemed a genuine man that put all of my reservations to rest as he explained that if I started with him in Oct 2010 he could easily have me qualified and working for him with a full diary by March 2011. I am in the construction industry and this was being hit very hard by the current economic climate and I made it perfectly clear to him that I was currently not working and if I paid £2500 for unlimited tuition then I would be available 5 days a week and I needed to qualify ASAP as I have a home and family to support. He assured me this wouldn't be a problem and that the whole thing was well structured and he had a string of ADI passes to his name. And, if I am being fair he is very knowledgeable and a I found him to be a good instructor when he actually bothered to turn up. This is the point where hindsight comes into play. The very next day he came to my home as arranged and gave me a few books and a couple of DVD's to aid my learning. We discussed my options to join his company when I had qualified and I did think he was holding back the juiciest information (how did the advertising work, how much to pay for pupils he would send my way, different options for leasing an instructional car etc etc). But, he put his reluctance to share this info down to the fact that he wasn't going to over-load me with all that yet but all would be clearer as we progressed. I gave him the cheque and when it was safely in his pocket he then told me he was going camping the next day and would contact me when he returned to arrange my lessons. To be honest, I didn't really worry too much because he seemed so genuine and he is quite a gentle person. When he didn't contact me when he said he would I rang his mobile and asked him when my lessons would begin? He told me to reserve every Monday at 9am for a 2 hour lesson and when I questioned him about having 3 double lessons a week he said we could discuss this after my first lesson and we could book some firm lesson dates then. This never happened! It was one excuse after another, kids ill, car trouble, wife in hospital, stuck in traffic, poor weather conditions etc etc. And, just when I reach the point of breaking he would turn up, we'd have a good, constructive lesson and I would give him the benefit of the doubt. Afterall, I didn't want to have a massive argument with him and then have an atmosphere in the car. I didn't think that would help either of us, so we plodded on with one lesson a week. And everytime I would say to him that I need more than one lesson a week he would have a great excuse why we couldn't that week but the following weeks would be different! They never were! If we did manage to book a lesson for later in the week, 9 times out of 10 he would text me just before his due arrival time to cancel with some great excuse. I failed my part 2 twice, and while I will take a little bit of blame for nerves etc, I know he wasn't bothered. The problem was he wasn't correcting my 20+ years of bad driving habits. He was quite happy to turn up occasionally, let me drive him round for 2 hours while telling me that I would sail through the part 2 test and I had only missed one mirror check for the whole 2 hour lesson! I got a serious fault for checking over my shoulder as I joined the A30 dual carriage-way. This was something that he specifically told me to do! I received minor faults for not doing mirror checks when changing speed or direction. But, according to him my mirror use was "spot on"! After failing the second attempt he told me not to worry as I won't fail the third attempt because the examiner will let me through because he can end it all in part 3 if he wants to!! I did pass on my 3rd attempt and he told me that now we would "up the pace" to get me qualified. Then over the next 6 weeks or so the excuses seemed to be more erratic and random. He was starting to ignore any texts I sent to him, the "office" phone was diverted to an answerphone and he wouldn't answer his mobile phone either. After 3 days of trying to contact him, I received a text from him telling me he had seen the doctor and he had a nasty case of Laryngitis and wouldn't be available for a few days. After a week I decided to contact him to see if he was feeling any better and to inquire about the continuation of my training. All of my continuous texts and answerphone messages to him were ignored for another week until I got a text from his wife saying that he had a lump in his throat and needed to have some tests done. At that point I put aside all of my fears and actually felt really guilty for hassling him when he was very ill!! I even sent him a text wishing him well!! What a mug!! Another 2 weeks or so fly by and although I wanted some reassurance from Elementary Driving Academy I resisted the urges to contact him and felt that the poor man deserved some space. Some several days later I got another text from his wife saying that the lump in his throat was malignant and they should be allowed some time and space to deal with this tragedy! She said I would be contacted soon to discuss my future training. Again, I felt pangs of guilt for hounding him! Then I noticed the company website had been suspended due to non-payment and the office telephone no longer existed. Over the next week I tried several times a day to contact him via text, email and by ringing his mobile. No joy there!! All my messages were again ignored. I wanted to go to his house and confront him about his ethics but resisted because I know I would have given him a slap and then I would be the wrong side of the law and after everything he had already done to me I wasn't prepared to let him have the satisfaction of having me arrested. I did go and see another instructor who has been good enough to pick up my training at the start of part 3. When I explained to him what had happened and by whom he told me that the man was well known around the local test centres as being very unreliable and also known as a bit of a dreamer when it came to business ventures. On my first lesson with my new instructor he gave me a printed page from reviewcentre.com with a review of Elementary Driving Academy. There's that hindsight thing again!! I did write to him asking him for the return of £1250 of my £2500 fee as I thought it was a more than fair refund amount as he had failed in his commitment to me and had been providing inadequate training. A few days later I got a brief reply saying that the company had gone into receivership and I would be contacted by the receivers. Yeah, right!! I decided that I had given up too much of my time in trying to sort out the mess and decided to chalk it up to experience and try to forget it. I had my new instructor, who is great, and I just wanted to continue training to achieve what I set out to do last October. I am still training for part 3 but it is now structured and more enjoyable. And, in the words of my new instructor, "the only reason I won't turn up for a lesson is if I'm dead" and he hasn't let me down!! I wasn't going to bother giving a review on Elementary because, to be honest, I am sick and tired of hearing the name "Elemetary" but I happened to just check back on the review and have noticed a few more "victims" of Elementary. So, I decided to leave my story here for others to read and to realise that you are not "stupid" or "too trusting" but, that you have just been suckered in by a very good actor, who will go to any lengths for a few thousand quid!! And, just in case you ever do read these reviews, I stick by what I said in the message I left on your mobile.  And as for the question "would i recommend Elementary to friend"......I wouldn't recommend Elementary to my worst enemy!! 

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Guest's Comment

Written on: 04/07/2011

hi,sorry to hear of your experience but thought i was the only one to have been taken in by Mr.Holdcroft!i was one ofthe lucky ones i believe as i did in fact pass my ADI>Mr Holdcroft told me it would take 6months but it was nearly 2years!the worse thing really is that when he actually did teach me he was good!i chose to go with him as he was only member of learning district council from where i got my loan to fund my course

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Tam45's Comment

Written on: 02/09/2012

OMG i have just read your review and it was like you were talkin about me, i thought i was the only one, i went to his house ,texed and rang but notting . I would get phone calls from (name removed) 5 mins before (name removed) was ment to turn up to say he was ill or the kids. i feel sick readin all the reviews , i did give up with my training , i did past part 1 and 2 i wish now i carried on, im glad your still goin , good luck

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“I signed up with the boss of elementary driving...”

★☆☆☆☆

written by on 10/05/2011

I signed up with the boss of elementary driving academy in Bodmin Cornwall in August 2009. When i called him about becoming a driving instructor he seemed to be very informative about the course that he was running and that he was much cheaper than the bigger driving schools than ran the same course. I also made it very clear to him that i had dyslexia and that i was very worried about getting through the part 1 which is the theory test and the hazard perception. after doing this he said it would not be a problem because he ran a course with cost £2,500 which entitled me to unlimited training. which i thort sounding really good for my circumstances. After this i paid him that sum of money and really through out that two years i have had nothing but excusses why he could not come around for a lesson that was pre arranged over the phone. Or he would not even contact me too say he would not be coming around it was always me doing the chasing around for something that i have paid him to train me on. As a positive note when he did come around i found that the information that he gave me was very good. The type of excusses that i would get were one of his kinds was taken ill, bad traffic, running late thanks to the dsa, away working with the ambulance service, away camping, or just simply running late. After all of this i can't get hold of him via his mobile or is house telephone and i still have all three parts to complete after two years of signing up. I have now since been told that he has gone bankrupt. 

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Guest's Comment

Written on: 06/06/2011

hi, i did my training with [name removed] and found exactly the same thing, he took me just under 2 years to pass but originally he said it would take roughly 6 months, i had all the excuses and so many missed appointments, i was lucky enough to get my green badge at long last but he still owes me over 100.00 pound for a missed part 3 test due to him being ill, its a shame because when i did actually get a lesson out of him he was brilliant.

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“ELEMENTARY DRIVING SCHOOL BODMIN, CORNWALL!!!! ”

★☆☆☆☆

written by on 09/05/2011

ELEMENTARY DRIVING SCHOOL BODMIN, CORNWALL!!!!



OMG!!!

i wish i saw these reviews before now!!!

i stupidly gave them £2,500 of my redundancy money as he convinced me he was the best out there & advised me strongly not to go with RED who i was very nearly going to proceed with.

He seemed like a very nice, genuine man who i put my trust in & believed he would be the key to a successful career in driving instructing.

How wrong was i???

He was late, unreliable!!!!

He promised me i would be qualified by Feb 2011, i started in October 2010 & by the end of Feb i had only then passed my part 2.....due to his incompetence & continuous delays!!!

anyway.....i thought i saw him out driving May 5th 2011, so i said to my partner about it & he said to give him his address & he would just go & speak to john to find out what was going on!!! On arrival at his home..if anyone wants it!!! My partner noticed that the house was empty, when he asked a neighbour about what was going on they said that he has been moving out over the last month!!!!

On this information i went straight to the DSA office & they advised me that i was not the only one to doubt his intentions, many people had gone in & complained & said he had run off with their money!!!

Can you believe this man made up stories to bide him his time & get moved out so that none of his puplils would confront him or put too much pressure on him whilst he moved???  

they need to be stopped, i am going to get my money back if it's the last thing i ever do.

i live in the Camborne area so if anyone is local to this please get in touch as i am going to the police & i need as many complaints, stories & info as possible so they realise the severity of the situation.

Please respond through this review centre & then i will give you a call or email back.

STAY AWAY.

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Molcher's Comment

Written on: 11/05/2011


<br/> Im in the same boat as you.Call me on 07946578563.Lee

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Moosejoose's Comment

Written on: 12/11/2012

I was the first to write about Holdcroft, I am quite appalled to read that his wife has tried the cancer excuse as a means to con people about him not turning up by saying he had a malignant lump in his throat. When I was trying to make contact with him about a franchise, he told me that his wife had just been diagnosed with breast cancer. What a pair of totally despicable people. I really hope that something can be done about this particularly if he is still practising as an instructor. The one saving grace for him was that I actually qualifed but after a long struggle. I can be contacted.

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Moosejoose's Comment

Written on: 13/11/2012

Sorry cut off on the last message, I can be contacted at kenandlucy at sky.com, if I can help in bringing these parasites to justice then please let me know.

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Guest's Comment

Written on: 06/06/2011

i had the same thing, its funny how when i started enquiring about the course all my telepohne calls would get answered to the office number i had for them and everytime they needed paying i could contact them easily...but then he started cancelling lessons and i found uit a bit strange as to someone who runs there own business cant pick up a phone or lisa his so called receptionist cant pick up a phone.

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Guest's Comment

Written on: 31/05/2011

I too have lost money, although i have passed parts 1 & 2 and failed on my first attempt at part 3 with him, his exscuses sound familiar. I have received a letter saying that he has gone bankrupt and the receivers will be in touch, some chance, I have had a look at companies house and he had dissolved this acadamy once already in 2008, and the new company is not registerd, or if it is then under another name.

If you want to contact me my email address is [email protected]

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Maxmummy's Comment

Written on: 20/05/2011

Hi this has happened to my partner also we've recently had a baby and he played on our emotions by telling us his son was in hospital! We are happy to be contacted etc and will help anyway we can my name is Zara my partner is Simon mobile number is 07554586415
<br/>Hope to speak to you soon
<br/>

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“Beware, as above, full of excuses, cant attend,...”

★☆☆☆☆

written by on 07/05/2011

Beware, as above, full of excuses, cant attend, blatantly forgets as excuse only comes when i text 5 mins before lesson an hes 40min drive away!

not hes gone in to administration an i will lose my £2.5k!

im stupid for not looking here before paying my money!

Never trust them!!!

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“I have posted this review of the Elementary Driving...”

★☆☆☆☆

written by moosejoose on 09/04/2011

I have posted this review of the Elementary Driving School, Bodmin after having experienced being trained by the proprietor to become an Approved Driving Instructor.

I answered an advertisement in the paper regarding training to become a driving instructor and the proprietor came to see me. We went through the training, costs etc which I was happy with. I did express concern about getting business in what is a competitive industry but he went to great lengths to assure me that once I had successfully completed my training I would be offered a franchise with his company and there would be no problem in filling my diary. This offer was confirmed in writing by way of reference to the Elementary information brochure in a written agreement signed by us both so when I started I was in no doubt that a franchise would be offerd to me when I qualified.

It took a year to qualify as an ADI, during the time he instructed me I found him to quite unreliable, altogether around 12 lessons were missed due to a variety of different excuses. Eg Poor road conditions, wife (who is part of the business) had booked a weekend away for them without checking his diary, children ill or injured, accident etc etc. Whilst I could accept one or two over the course of the year the amount of times this seemed to occur was all too frequent. He was also late quite frequently. Even on the day of my Part 3 test we had to forgo an hours lesson prior to it because a mistake had been made which meant that he had to cater for another trainee who had a test before me.

Also during my training he constantly assured me about obtaining business via the franchise, any questions about lesson plans, test and practice routes, admin support, accounts etc always met with the response that these matters would be addressed once I had completed my training.

After I qualified I spoke with him about a start date with the franchise and made an appointment to see him. He failed to turn up for the appointment we had made later saying that his wife was having pre arranged surgery which had taken longer than expected. I found this to be quite strange as to be frank the last thing I would do would be to make an business appointment on the same day that my wife was in hospital.

We made another appointment that week which again he failed to attend. Promised contact to set another failed to materialise. I emailed him and received a reply from his wife to say that he was very busy as he now had to do the school run as she wasn't feeling too well and coupled with all the lessons he was doing he hadn't had time to contact me. I was assured that he would ring me and set an appointment for the following week.

He failed to contact me during the period of the next 8 days, I therefore decided to call at his business address in Bodmin which I later found to also be his home. My wife was also there as we were on our way somewhere else. As I drove in his estate I saw his driving school car coming in the opposite direction. I spoke with the driver who I found to be his wife and asked her what was happening and why I had not had the contact she had promised (I felt entitled to do this as according to her husband she has responsibility for franchised instructors). She assured me that everything was fine, apologised for the delay and promised that he would ring me later that day. I also noticed that there was a young child aged around 2 years standing in the rear of the car, he was not restrained in any way which was completely unsafe and a very poor advertisement indeed for a driving school and also of course for someone involved in it. I politely pointed this out and she said that she was aware of this and would secure him when they reached the main road. I found it quite incredible that a mother could knowingly have an unrestrained child in the car!

That evening I received an email from him accusing me of upsetting his wife. At no time was I rude to her but I did feel it necessary to point out the danger or not securing a child properly in a vehicle. He did however also assure me that work was in progress in respect of my franchise.

To date however, despite several emails, phone and text messages I have not had any contact at all from him.

As a result of him ignoring his written undertaking I now find myself with the task of setting up my Driving School without the promised assistance. I feel very unhappy indeed at the way in which he has treated me.

I hope that this might assist anyone considering training with the Elementary Driving School.

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Guest's Response to moosejoose's Review

Written on: 09/10/2011

I too lost money with this guy, as has been said when you actually got tuition he seemed to know what he was talking about. I opted for the block hours thankfully but still down around £500.

As someone else said on here John, Kama. I have to say though I'm surprised by just how many other people he was able to scam money out of - I mean how many ADI's can one small school cope with. He always said he had more work than he could cope with and would be able to keep you busy. Well John if these comments are anything to go buy they'll be one or two people busy looking for you.

From what the guy had said to me during the lessons I did get from him I suspect he'll be in the Staffordshire area.

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