The AA driving school pupil introduction fee rose to £40 in feb 2010 so I was told by one of their franchised instructors told me recently!
This fee wouldn't be a problem if the quality of the introductions where high like it used to be in the olden days when every referal came with a minimum of 12 pre-paid hours so you where guaranteed a set income for each learner driver. Nowadays you pay the £40 fee even if the learner driver only takes one driving lesson, especially now with the state of the economy and the high cost the the AA charges for tuition.
I have mentioned in the past that driving school franchises are designed to make money, so all the call centre has to do is to persuade the provisional licence owner to prepay for one lesson, they charge the instructor £40 in addition to the weekly franchise fee, it is then up to the instructor to do everything in his/her power to keep the pupil, which might include dropping the lesson price from the official rate!
Showing posts with label AA Driving School. Show all posts
Showing posts with label AA Driving School. Show all posts
AA Driving Instructor Diaries not filled
I was speaking to an AA Driving School Instructor recently at the soon to be closed Hendon test centre, and he was saying that the AA Bristol call centre was not able to fill his diary at the moment with pupils.
This fully qualified ADI has held an AA franchise for over 18years, was available for work for 60 hours a week and covering about 9 North London post codes and yet not fully booked. This is obviously the effects of the current credit crunch economy, and I woud wonder how a newly qualfied driving instructor would be coping with an AA driving school franchise, especially after the 10 weeks discounted period is over and you still have to pay £200 pounds a week minimum franchise fee, could be more if you've had pupil introductions (£30 per learner driver no matter how many lessons they eventually have).
This is one of the reasons why I decided to become an independent driving school instructor. While I can't charge as much as an AA instructor, I can freely market myself as I like, don't have to use a 1600cc Ford Focus car for driving tuition, have a less expensive monthly car leasing fee to pay and generally have less strees in my life. The biggest reward is of course the fact that I'm now promoting my business, and everytime some sees my car, it is promoting me, not the AA.
If you've taken out a national driving school franchise to get yourself established in the industry, I wish you the best, but I would recommend you always have setting up your own driving school up at the back of your mind.
PS I've just had a letter through the post inviting me to join the organisation, offer a weekly franchise fee of £28 gradually stepped up, claiming to equate to over £1000!
This fully qualified ADI has held an AA franchise for over 18years, was available for work for 60 hours a week and covering about 9 North London post codes and yet not fully booked. This is obviously the effects of the current credit crunch economy, and I woud wonder how a newly qualfied driving instructor would be coping with an AA driving school franchise, especially after the 10 weeks discounted period is over and you still have to pay £200 pounds a week minimum franchise fee, could be more if you've had pupil introductions (£30 per learner driver no matter how many lessons they eventually have).
This is one of the reasons why I decided to become an independent driving school instructor. While I can't charge as much as an AA instructor, I can freely market myself as I like, don't have to use a 1600cc Ford Focus car for driving tuition, have a less expensive monthly car leasing fee to pay and generally have less strees in my life. The biggest reward is of course the fact that I'm now promoting my business, and everytime some sees my car, it is promoting me, not the AA.
If you've taken out a national driving school franchise to get yourself established in the industry, I wish you the best, but I would recommend you always have setting up your own driving school up at the back of your mind.
PS I've just had a letter through the post inviting me to join the organisation, offer a weekly franchise fee of £28 gradually stepped up, claiming to equate to over £1000!
AA Franchise - Driving Instructors
The AA Driving School Franchise Take One
I've held an AA Driving School franchise twice, and would like to share my experience with any PDI or ADI thinking of taking out one.
I first joined the AA Driving school as an ADI in late 2003, at the time I had recently become a driving instructor, and needed for my new driving school business to grow, and the way the franchise was setup at the time suited me very well. There was the weekly fixed fee which was about £160 and they then charged you about £150 for every pupil they supplied you over a 10 week period, but the good thing was that they only charged you for a maximum of 10 pupils. They also had an introductory offer which meant that I didn't have to pay the fully weekly franchise fee until I had been with them for 10 weeks. I also think it was one of the cheapest driving school franchises at the time, at least compaered to BSM, RED and probably LDC.
My first franchise with the AA Driving School at the time was very good, I had lots of pupils and didn't have any complaints as an instructor with them, in fact I had to limit the number of pupils with them, as I was getting very busy. I had to give up my franchise with the AA driving school due to some family problems about 2 years after I joined them.
AA Driving School Franchise Second Time
I decided to rejoin the AA driving school as a franchisee in 2007 having sorted out my family problems and having looked at the various driving school franchises around including the Red Driving School, Safeway, the AA still offered the best option for my needs, and since I'd had good service from them the first time round, I had no reservations becoming a driving instructor with the AA for the second time, however things were not going to be the same I later found out.
Just before I left the AA driving school the first time I had a franchise with them, there were a couple of changes made, one of them was a different way of charging instructors for allocated pupils to via insite. Instead of the system I mentioned eralier, there was now a flat £30 fee for each pupil introduced to the ADI. This new change also meant that the instructor was no longer guaranteed a minimum number of lessons with the learner driver pupil. The AA's spin on this was that after their 1st lesson, that pupil was now profitable for the instructor, while this was true, what actually happened in reality, was that there were a lot of instances where the pupil either did not turn up for the lesson, took only one or two lessons and then didn't want anymore (at least not at the AA recommended price anyway), and unless the instructor was very dillegent in checking the insite website, you could end up being charged with a fee for a learner that had cancelled their lessons.
Get cheaper AA Driving lessons
If you really want cheaper AA driving lessons, then instead of calling the 0800 number on the side of the car, contact the driving instructor directly and haggle the price with him or her as this means the ADI doesn't have to pay for the introduction. You can do this even if you had registered with them recently, as long as you didn't take any lessons with the new AA instructor.
How do you know what will be a good price to pay for AA driving lessons? Go to the website and get a quote, if the price for your area is not given online (large city prices are not quoted), call up (make sure you withhold your number otherwise someone will call you up) and ask for a quote. Once you know the price, you can then ask for a lower price when contacting the Instructor directly, a good starting place is £3 lower than the official price, though it is up to you to decide what you can afford, and see if the instructor will accept this or not.
Many AA Driving Instructors are short of work, so they will gladly take something rather than nothing, especially when they have to pay £200 every week to the AA driving School for their franchise.
Don't be afraid to knock on the door of a house where you see an AA driving school parked outside, especially during the week, it might be that the ADI has not got any lessons booked which is why the driving school car is parked outside, so this could also be a sign that you would be able to get bargain AA driving lessons.
One of the joys of being an ADI with the school is that learner drivers are always looking for high quality AA Driving Lessons. The strong brand name attached to the organisation means that people want to have the best value tuition that their money can get, though not all of the learner drivers will necessarily want to pay pull price for the privildge, some opting to have just one or 2 remidial hours, while others would want a large discount on the current market price, you as a driving instructor will have to consider your individual circumstances and treat each case with your business hat on!
As an instructor holding a franchise with them, giving AA Driving Lessons was a joy, being associated with such a large brand doesn't come cheap as reflected in the weekly franchise charge by the driving school (£200 in 2008), which is one of the reasons why I decided to operate my own independent driving school. While working for myself without a franchise will not allow me to command the high premium I was able to with the AA, I can choose which car to use, market my business more aggressively without fear of breaking some terms and conditions set by the organization.
I must confess I do miss giving AA driving lessons in the Ford Focus car, but not all pupils who used the services of the driving school where totally satisfied with the level of tuition they got, judging by some reviews on consumer websites or learner driver forums. This is not completely down to the organisation, as all ADI's are self employed, and not employed by them so can run their business as they like under the general franchise umbrella.
My advice to anyone learning to drive a car in the UK who have paid the high premium for having AA driving lessons is they should contact the customer advice centre in Bristol if they are not happy with the level of service they are getting (you should always speak to your instructor in the first instance to iron out issues), and request another ADI.
How do you know what will be a good price to pay for AA driving lessons? Go to the website and get a quote, if the price for your area is not given online (large city prices are not quoted), call up (make sure you withhold your number otherwise someone will call you up) and ask for a quote. Once you know the price, you can then ask for a lower price when contacting the Instructor directly, a good starting place is £3 lower than the official price, though it is up to you to decide what you can afford, and see if the instructor will accept this or not.
Many AA Driving Instructors are short of work, so they will gladly take something rather than nothing, especially when they have to pay £200 every week to the AA driving School for their franchise.
Don't be afraid to knock on the door of a house where you see an AA driving school parked outside, especially during the week, it might be that the ADI has not got any lessons booked which is why the driving school car is parked outside, so this could also be a sign that you would be able to get bargain AA driving lessons.
Giving AA Driving Lessons
One of the joys of being an ADI with the school is that learner drivers are always looking for high quality AA Driving Lessons. The strong brand name attached to the organisation means that people want to have the best value tuition that their money can get, though not all of the learner drivers will necessarily want to pay pull price for the privildge, some opting to have just one or 2 remidial hours, while others would want a large discount on the current market price, you as a driving instructor will have to consider your individual circumstances and treat each case with your business hat on!
As an instructor holding a franchise with them, giving AA Driving Lessons was a joy, being associated with such a large brand doesn't come cheap as reflected in the weekly franchise charge by the driving school (£200 in 2008), which is one of the reasons why I decided to operate my own independent driving school. While working for myself without a franchise will not allow me to command the high premium I was able to with the AA, I can choose which car to use, market my business more aggressively without fear of breaking some terms and conditions set by the organization.
I must confess I do miss giving AA driving lessons in the Ford Focus car, but not all pupils who used the services of the driving school where totally satisfied with the level of tuition they got, judging by some reviews on consumer websites or learner driver forums. This is not completely down to the organisation, as all ADI's are self employed, and not employed by them so can run their business as they like under the general franchise umbrella.
My advice to anyone learning to drive a car in the UK who have paid the high premium for having AA driving lessons is they should contact the customer advice centre in Bristol if they are not happy with the level of service they are getting (you should always speak to your instructor in the first instance to iron out issues), and request another ADI.
The ex AA Driving School Instructors Blog
Welcome to the ex AA Driving School instructor's blog. Having held a franchise with the AA driving school twice, I would like to share my experience with both learner drivers and any driving instructors who might be thinking of taking a franchise with the school.
AA Driving School for Driving Lessons
Many learners will decide to take driving lessons with the AA Driving School because it is a well known and very strong brand in the automotive industry. The AA is well known for its breakdown recovery service, and thus it is understandable that people would turn to them for driving lessons.
The first thing a learner drive should be aware of, is that all AA Driving School Instructors are self-employed, and not employees of the organisation. Why is this important? The AA driving school has around 2000 instructors (Jan 2008), and each one of these driving instructors will be running his own business his own way, there are basic guidelines (eg call all pupils allocated to you within 24hrs), but there is no way the AA can monitor all these instructors, so the service you get will be a reflection of that instructor.
If you have any problems with your learning, the first person to talk to is your AA Driving Instructor, if you feel that the problem is not resolved, then the best course of action would then be to call the AA driving school. If you are not happy with your driving instructor, you can call up and get a new one anytime. You don't need to give any particular reason, just say you want another one, If you are given any difficulty, just say you will stop having AA driving lessons, that usually get them to act.
There are many potential driving instructors (PDIs) and approved driving instructors (ADIs) who might be thinking about taking out a franchise with the AA driving school, and I hope that the information provided in this blog will be of use to you in helping you make an informed decision.
The AA Driving School franchise works on a fixed weekly fee, with additional charges for optional services provided.
The fixed fee covers the car, some marketing, support and some stationary. The additional charges are for pupil introductions (a one off charge of £30 for each successful pupil), automatic car supplements. The fixed weekly franchise fee was almost £200 in Feb 2008.
If you are an ADI, and are thinking of taking out a franchise with the AA driving school, then you should try and speak to existing instructors already operating in your area to see if there is enough work through the AA for you, as there have been reports of the driving school taking on to many people in an area, and that you might not get as many learner drivers as you would expect. Please note that no franchise can guarantee you a specified number of pupils in a week.
AA Driving School for Driving Lessons
Many learners will decide to take driving lessons with the AA Driving School because it is a well known and very strong brand in the automotive industry. The AA is well known for its breakdown recovery service, and thus it is understandable that people would turn to them for driving lessons.
The first thing a learner drive should be aware of, is that all AA Driving School Instructors are self-employed, and not employees of the organisation. Why is this important? The AA driving school has around 2000 instructors (Jan 2008), and each one of these driving instructors will be running his own business his own way, there are basic guidelines (eg call all pupils allocated to you within 24hrs), but there is no way the AA can monitor all these instructors, so the service you get will be a reflection of that instructor.
If you have any problems with your learning, the first person to talk to is your AA Driving Instructor, if you feel that the problem is not resolved, then the best course of action would then be to call the AA driving school. If you are not happy with your driving instructor, you can call up and get a new one anytime. You don't need to give any particular reason, just say you want another one, If you are given any difficulty, just say you will stop having AA driving lessons, that usually get them to act.
AA Driving School for Driving Instructors
There are many potential driving instructors (PDIs) and approved driving instructors (ADIs) who might be thinking about taking out a franchise with the AA driving school, and I hope that the information provided in this blog will be of use to you in helping you make an informed decision.
The AA Driving School franchise works on a fixed weekly fee, with additional charges for optional services provided.
The fixed fee covers the car, some marketing, support and some stationary. The additional charges are for pupil introductions (a one off charge of £30 for each successful pupil), automatic car supplements. The fixed weekly franchise fee was almost £200 in Feb 2008.
If you are an ADI, and are thinking of taking out a franchise with the AA driving school, then you should try and speak to existing instructors already operating in your area to see if there is enough work through the AA for you, as there have been reports of the driving school taking on to many people in an area, and that you might not get as many learner drivers as you would expect. Please note that no franchise can guarantee you a specified number of pupils in a week.
AA Driving Lessons
Why have you decided to have lessons with AA Driving school? Does having learner driver tuition with them guarantee a better service and thus a higher chance of passing the driving test?
One of the marketing sales pitch of the AA Driving School is that we only use fully qualified approved driving instructors (ADI), while that is good, you must remember that every driving instructor is self-employed, and thus does not fully answer to anyone at the AA.
It is therefore important for you think carefully if you are not getting good quality tuition from your AA Driving Instructor, do you stick with them just because of the prestige of the brand or are you really interested in learning to drive a car safely and going on to passing your DSA driving test.
The AA driving school just like any other training establishment can provide good quality tuition, but it depends soley on the attitude and drive of your individual AA driving instructor, and not the brand name. Many of the instructors with the AA are very hard working, proud of the brand and do a good job of providing quality learner driver tuition, but you might be unlucky and get a bad apple, then you need to make sure you don't keep quiet. You are paying for a service, not cheap driving lessons either, so if you are not getting the good quality tuition you expect from the AA driving school instructor, request to get a new one.
Back to the orginal question, choosing AA driving lessons doesn't guarantee a top quality tuition experience, though more often than not you will get one, but you can also get this elsewhere so don't discount local independent driving schools and their ADIs.
One of the marketing sales pitch of the AA Driving School is that we only use fully qualified approved driving instructors (ADI), while that is good, you must remember that every driving instructor is self-employed, and thus does not fully answer to anyone at the AA.
It is therefore important for you think carefully if you are not getting good quality tuition from your AA Driving Instructor, do you stick with them just because of the prestige of the brand or are you really interested in learning to drive a car safely and going on to passing your DSA driving test.
The AA driving school just like any other training establishment can provide good quality tuition, but it depends soley on the attitude and drive of your individual AA driving instructor, and not the brand name. Many of the instructors with the AA are very hard working, proud of the brand and do a good job of providing quality learner driver tuition, but you might be unlucky and get a bad apple, then you need to make sure you don't keep quiet. You are paying for a service, not cheap driving lessons either, so if you are not getting the good quality tuition you expect from the AA driving school instructor, request to get a new one.
Back to the orginal question, choosing AA driving lessons doesn't guarantee a top quality tuition experience, though more often than not you will get one, but you can also get this elsewhere so don't discount local independent driving schools and their ADIs.
Cheapest AA Driving Lessons
Cheap AA Instructor Lessons
Are you looking for the cheapest driving lessons offered by the AA Driving School or their instructors, then this website has some news for you! Good quality driving lessons cost money and do not come cheap. AA driving instructors have to pay for the priviledge of using the AA brand and therefore they are not going to be offering the cheapest driving lessons in town.
I had someone call me up in London looking to pay £15 for driving lessons while using an AA driving school car, the Ford Focus! There is a lot of driving schools or driving instructors around, so the competition is fierce, but a good business person will know that there is a limit to how much loss you can bear and your driving school still be profitable.
If you are serious about passing your driving test, you need to stop looking for the cheapest driving lessons in London or whatever town you live in. Driving Lessons are not cheap whatever driving instructor, AA driving school or not.
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