Summary of Complaint – John David Burbidge vs. AA Driving Instructor Gareth Farrell (ADI No. 102155) Complaint Reference: 2010/00272 On 28 March 2020, John Burbidge had a prepaid driving lesson scheduled with AA Driving School instructor Gareth Farrell, at a cost of £60. A confirmation message from the AA the day before indicated the lesson would proceed as planned. However, no communication was made by the instructor or the AA to cancel or postpone the session in advance. The lesson was later marked as "on hold" due to COVID-19. Following this, John was informed the lesson had been cancelled due to the pandemic, but the instructor had already claimed payment for the undelivered service. Gareth Farrell stated he attempted to contact John to verify whether he was a key worker—a claim refuted by John’s submitted call and text logs, which showed no such contact occurred. When a refund was initially refused, the matter was escalated. John submitted a formal complaint to the DVSA, alleging fraudulent conduct and a breach of the AA’s own terms and conditions, which require instructors to provide 48 hours' notice for cancellations. With John's written permission, the DVSA contacted Gareth Farrell for a response. In reply, Gareth asserted that the responsibility was on the student to provide documentation 48 hours in advance to prove eligibility for lessons during lockdown—despite the legal change only taking effect 24 hours prior to the scheduled lesson, making such advance notice impossible. John’s evidence showed he was not contacted and thus could not comply with this condition. Although Gareth Farrell maintained that retaining the funds was justified, the AA ultimately refunded John’s payment, acknowledging the breach of terms. The DVSA concluded they would not take the matter further but confirmed a record of the complaint would be retained on file for two years. While the payment was eventually returned, the situation raises concerns about the conduct and integrity of the instructor, as well as the handling of such issues at an instructor and company level resulting in distress and several weeks spend in resolution. No compensation was offered by AA for inconvenience.