For months, aspiring drivers unknowingly faced a hidden cost while attempting to navigate the already challenging path to getting their licenses. Thousands of learners were impacted by a subtle, yet significant, booking fee that wasn’t revealed until the very end of the online purchase process.
The Competition and Markets Authority recently ordered the AA to issue refunds to over 80,000 customers. The issue centered around a £3 booking fee that wasn’t displayed upfront on the AA and BSM websites when lessons were selected. Instead, it appeared only at the checkout stage, after personal details had been entered and a commitment to purchase made.
While the average refund will be around £9, the exact amount each learner receives will depend on the number of lesson packages purchased. The total sum being returned to affected customers exceeds £760,000 – a substantial amount representing a breach of consumer trust.
The good news for those impacted is that no action is required to receive the refund. The AA and BSM are proactively contacting affected customers to initiate automatic refunds directly to the original payment card. In cases where this isn’t possible, cheques will be issued.
This situation highlights the practice of “drip pricing,” where mandatory fees are deliberately concealed until late in the buying process. This tactic, once widespread and costing consumers billions annually, is now illegal, thanks to recent legislation. The law is clear: all mandatory costs must be transparent from the outset.
The AA expressed disappointment with the investigation’s outcome but acknowledged the need for greater clarity. They stated that while the fee was ultimately disclosed before purchase, it should have been visible from the beginning of the online booking journey. Immediate changes have been made to their website to address this.
Sarah Cardell, chief executive of the CMA, emphasized the importance of price transparency, particularly for significant expenses like driving lessons. She noted that hidden fees can significantly impact consumers, especially during times of financial strain.
This issue arrives amidst ongoing turmoil within the driving industry. A substantial backlog of driving tests, stemming from pandemic-related disruptions, continues to plague learners. The current average wait time for a test has ballooned to 22 weeks – a stark contrast to the five-week wait experienced before the pandemic.
Desperate to secure a test slot, many learners are now booking appointments hundreds of miles from their familiar roads. This situation has also fueled a secondary market, with bots and third-party websites exploiting the backlog by reselling available slots at inflated prices.
The government has responded with measures to alleviate the backlog, including releasing an additional 10,000 test slots each month and enlisting military driving examiners. However, the road to resolving this crisis remains long and challenging for aspiring drivers across the country.
