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Is it OK for a driving instructor to run errands during a driving lesson?

Is it OK for a driving instructor to run errands during a driving lesson?

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Matt N

Matt N

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I know the question in the thread title probably sounds like a bizarrely specific question, but there is a reason I'm asking it and I'm interested to hear the opinions of the good folks of TowersStreet on this.

As many of you know, I have been learning to drive for the past 1.5 years or so, and I have had the same instructor for that time. I like her teaching style and we get on well. However, that's besides the point in this context. The reason I'm asking the question I am is because on odd occasions during our lessons, she has asked me to pull into a car park and then left me waiting in the car for 5-10 minutes or so while she runs an errand. As examples, she has previously:
  • Asked me to reverse park in Lidl so she could pop in and buy a few groceries.
  • Asked me to pull into a farm shop so she could pop in and buy chicken food.
  • Asked me to reverse park in a supermarket car park so she could pop down the road to the nearby fire supplies store and buy wood burner cleaner.
It doesn't happen very often by any means, and as I say, it never takes much longer than about 5 minutes or so, but it has happened more than once in the time we've been working together.

Personally, I honestly hadn't thought anything of it; she never takes that long, it's usually somewhere along our route, and I'm more than happy to do her a favour.

However, when I was talking to my parents about driving once and mentioned this in passing, they were absolutely aghast and thought that it was cheeky of her to run errands during my driving lessons. I was surprised by this, as I've genuinely thought nothing of it when it's happened.

So my question to you today is; do you feel that it's OK for a driving instructor to run errands during a lesson? Do you agree with me in not thinking much of it, or do you agree with my parents in thinking that she shouldn't be doing it? I'd be interested to hear your thoughts.
 
The question i have is about the time. Does the lesson get extended by the amount she is not teaching you or do you get a deduction on the price of the lesson.
As you are paying for the time you are in the car.

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delta79 said:
The question i have is about the time. Does the lesson get extended by the amount she is not teaching you or do you get a deduction on the price of the lesson.
As you are paying for the time you are in the car.

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No. The lesson is always either 1 hour or 2 hours long (dependent on whether we have a single or a double), and she always charges the same £35 per hour regardless.
 
Matt N said:
I know the question in the thread title probably sounds like a bizarrely specific question, but there is a reason I'm asking it and I'm interested to hear the opinions of the good folks of TowersStreet on this.

As many of you know, I have been learning to drive for the past 1.5 years or so, and I have had the same instructor for that time. I like her teaching style and we get on well. However, that's besides the point in this context. The reason I'm asking the question I am is because on odd occasions during our lessons, she has asked me to pull into a car park and then left me waiting in the car for 5-10 minutes or so while she runs an errand. As examples, she has previously:
  • Asked me to reverse park in Lidl so she could pop in and buy a few groceries.
  • Asked me to pull into a farm shop so she could pop in and buy chicken food.
  • Asked me to reverse park in a supermarket car park so she could pop down the road to the nearby fire supplies store and buy wood burner cleaner.
It doesn't happen very often by any means, and as I say, it never takes much longer than about 5 minutes or so, but it has happened more than once in the time we've been working together.

Personally, I honestly hadn't thought anything of it; she never takes that long, it's usually somewhere along our route, and I'm more than happy to do her a favour.

However, when I was talking to my parents about driving once and mentioned this in passing, they were absolutely aghast and thought that it was cheeky of her to run errands during my driving lessons. I was surprised by this, as I've genuinely thought nothing of it when it's happened.

So my question to you today is; do you feel that it's OK for a driving instructor to run errands during a lesson? Do you agree with me in not thinking much of it, or do you agree with my parents in thinking that she shouldn't be doing it? I'd be interested to hear your thoughts.
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It's completely unprofessional and border line unethical. She'll be charging a fixed amount for her lessons, I presume, and won't be deducting the time that she's not present for the lesson, or having you be her personal errand boy. Incidentally you're providing a service to her, by driving her to places for her to do her errands, and paying her for the privilege of doing so. You're covering her time for the errands, her fuel and car costs. What are you getting out of it? I'm all for multi tasking, but this is taking unfair advantage of you and your good nature.
 
Poisson said:
Year and a half? She's rinsing you for money, that's what I'd be more concerned about.
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That's purely down to the fact that I've been a very slow learner compared to average. My parents and I always knew that I would take an incredibly long time to learn to drive, and we went in fully prepared for that.

I also have a test booked for February, so it's not like we're just doing this ad infinitum with no end in sight.
MattyH said:
How long has she been making you run errands? Has it been since you started?
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It's only happened a handful of times since we first started working together. However, it has happened more than once, and it's something that my parents have always had a bee in their bonnet about regardless, so I thought it was worth raising.
 
No, that is absolutely not ok. You are paying for her time. I don't think my employer would be at all happy if I popped out in the middle of a meeting to buy chicken food.

You can call her up on this, or you can find another instructor. It may be time for a change anyway if you've been learning for a while. A different instructor may come with fresh insights or suggestions that will make you a better driver. I was a slow learner too, until I found an instructor who actually got it and knew how to get the best from me.

Either way, don't put up with this. It's tantamount to stealing.
 
Matt N said:
I know the question in the thread title probably sounds like a bizarrely specific question, but there is a reason I'm asking it and I'm interested to hear the opinions of the good folks of TowersStreet on this.

As many of you know, I have been learning to drive for the past 1.5 years or so, and I have had the same instructor for that time. I like her teaching style and we get on well. However, that's besides the point in this context. The reason I'm asking the question I am is because on odd occasions during our lessons, she has asked me to pull into a car park and then left me waiting in the car for 5-10 minutes or so while she runs an errand. As examples, she has previously:
  • Asked me to reverse park in Lidl so she could pop in and buy a few groceries.
  • Asked me to pull into a farm shop so she could pop in and buy chicken food.
  • Asked me to reverse park in a supermarket car park so she could pop down the road to the nearby fire supplies store and buy wood burner cleaner.
It doesn't happen very often by any means, and as I say, it never takes much longer than about 5 minutes or so, but it has happened more than once in the time we've been working together.

Personally, I honestly hadn't thought anything of it; she never takes that long, it's usually somewhere along our route, and I'm more than happy to do her a favour.

However, when I was talking to my parents about driving once and mentioned this in passing, they were absolutely aghast and thought that it was cheeky of her to run errands during my driving lessons. I was surprised by this, as I've genuinely thought nothing of it when it's happened.

So my question to you today is; do you feel that it's OK for a driving instructor to run errands during a lesson? Do you agree with me in not thinking much of it, or do you agree with my parents in thinking that she shouldn't be doing it? I'd be interested to hear your thoughts.
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It doesn't sit well with me Matt. Sounds like she's exploiting your good character
 
I had a chuckle as soon as I saw this thread, not just because of the awesome observation @RicketyCricket made, but that the whole thing reminded me of my driving lessons.

I used to have a dodgy instructor. He had a souped up boy racer mobile to attract the patronage of young idiots like me. The lessons usually consisted of me driving him down to Keynsham so he could run errands and we usually stopped at a burger van for a bacon sandwich. He didn't charge me for the time spent bacon sandwich scoffing, but we did take it in turns to pay. I was just a kid on part-time wages and couldn't always afford to buy for the both of us every other lesson but when you're young, you're a bit naive.

After all the bacon sandwich munching in the car park of B&Q Brislington, he decided I was ready for a test. I failed miserably. My dad used to lecture me about all this bacon sandwich eating and errand running being abnormal, and said I was being ripped off. He also took issue with me being taught to just brake when slowing down rather than change down gears. But I was an appalling young person who grew up in the 90's, I knew better and to hell with what my old man say's!

But when I ran out of money to spend at burger vans, it dawned on me that I was actually a crap driver and hadn't been taught properly. When the coffers were replenished, I switched instructors and passed within weeks. That's because the lady who took me on was professional and cared about me passing. I shouldn't have passed of course because 2 decades later I'm an absolutely terrible driver. But I passed nonetheless.

But the Mrs had it even worse! When I told her my story, she told me her first instructor was a raving alcoholic! She used to drive to her house hammered and the errands consisted of popping down to the local off-license to get "bags of shopping that sounded like bottles clinking together". She dumped her within the first few weeks, got a new instructor, and passed first time.

Yet despite her first time pass, and constant criticism of the "old fashioned way" I drive, she can't negotiate the Almondsbury or Ray Hall interchanges, won't drive outside of the region, and on a stop off at Membury services on the way back from Thorpe Park she remarked "is this the serves we stop at on the way to Alton Towers?". No luv, that's Frankly.
 
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It's certainly not the most upstanding behaviour from your instructor, but if you otherwise like her and weren't bothered by it previously I would say to just let it be. If it's only happened a handful of times and for 5-10 minutes each time, from a purely economic perspective this whole thing has "cost" you about 15-20 quid. That's about what you'd spend on a pizza, and so to me it's not worth the hassle of finding a new instructor or otherwise getting upset about this, even if on paper it's not necessarily a good business practice on her part.

Charitably you could even suggest that waiting in a parking lot for someone to run into a shop and pick something up is something you'll have to do quite a bit once you're driving for real, so who's to say this isn't part of the lesson?
 
Reading this post reminded me of two separate occasions i did things with my instructor that was out of the norm.

He did not have time to fill up before a lesson. So he got me to drive to the petrol station, and explained how to fuel the car as i did it. He did apologise.
I saw it as a useful experience.

The second was as we got into the car for a lesson, he found the driving examiner clip board in the footwell.
After dropping it off at the test centre. My instructor got me to do that guys favourite test route.

Next day i found my test was 4 weeks later with the same tester that left his clip board. And he used the same route. I did pass that day.

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