Did we get ripped off?

[Inkognito]

Right. Where to begin

Today my missus showed up for her CBT this morning at 9am.
It was £120 for the day and so we assumed she would pass in a day. I remember CBT not being overly difficult.

When her and another girl showed up he greeted them and promtly took their money.

After which he proceeded to tell them that they probably wouldn't be passing today and might need another £50 for a day more.

From what she explained to me it sounded like the bike had a dodgy throttle as she had to open the throttle half way round before anything happened and then it would rev it's arse off instantly.

Later in the day he told them that he couldn't take them on the road today as he only had 1 radio so he could only take 1 out and couldn't leave a person on the car park.

What? You booked 2 people on same day and you only have 1 radio? What??!

In my mind he already knew when he booked them in that they wouldn't be passing in 1 day. No matter what kind of experience they could have had or if they was both naturals on a bike.

I paid £120 and was expecting results and i got this?
What the hell happened here? Can he legally do this to people and get away with it?
Can he milk people for money just because business is slow?
He told them that CBT could take up to 4 days to pass.

4 days? What? On what planet does CBT take 4 days to pass?

He would let them on the bikes for 15-20 minutes and then take a 40 minute break.

So the 8 hours i paid £120 for was really only more like 4 hours and for that i think the price was extremely steep.

I know that my money is lost now and she has achieved nothing but feeling bad about spending that kind of money and getting nothing in return when the money could have been spent on the kids.
I'm not even sure she wants to do the bike licence anymore just because of this.


If you're about to take your CBT/Bike licence near haydock/warrington/st. helens i can highly recommend you DON'T use Rev-Elation motorcycle services in haydock.

If you have any ideas on this or just want to call me a wanker for wasting my money then please feel free to post.
I'd like to know if anyone else have had similar experiences aswell.

[nick606]

i used kickstart in haydock for lesson about 2 years ago i didn't have any problems with them should give them a try. if your wife is still interested that is.

[honda_arry]

Does sound a bit dodgy. I suppose in some rare cases people do need more than 1 days training though this wont become apparent until later on in the day, not before they've even got on the bikes!

I would tell the story to the DSA who regulate the trainers.

https://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Dl1/Directories/DG_10011318

[Bike Jockey]

When i sat my CBT it was a one day course, when i asked the instructer what would happen if i wasnt ready in one day he said just come back tommorow untill we get you through the course. i did complete it in one day.
I would personely go down and see this guy.
Did your missus pass the coarse

The 120 pound is for the coarse not the day.

[stinkwheel]

Most places I know of do any additional training they think you need for nothing until you are up to a sufficient standard to issue the certificate. As in the fee is a one off to train you to CBT level.

When I did my CBT (admittedly a long time ago, but the format is still the same) there were four people and one instructor. One of the trainees was doing a second day. Everyone got their certificate by the end of the day. In my case, he did take us out one at a time for the on road part, the others waited for him to come back.

I suggest you complain, see what they do. If nothing else, they've charged you for use of a defective bike.

The CBT syllabus includes an on-road part. It would appear he did not provide this because he didn't have the necessary equipment. As such, you paid for a CBT course but didn't receive it. I'd tell him as much and explain there are three options:
1) He provides the balance of the CBT course you paid for at no extra charge.
2) He provides a refund.
3) He gets reported to the DSA.
____________________
“Rule one: Always stick around for one more drink. That's when things happen. That's when you find out everything you want to know.”
I did the 2010 Round Britain Rally on my 350 Bullet. 89 landmarks, 3 months, 9,500 miles.

[supZ]

[taz4626]

this is seriously out of order when i did my cbt the instructor couldnt take me out on the road as he had to go somewhere but we just arranged another day to come back just to do the road part of it both days were covered in the price.

from what you have said he is just trying to pull a fast one and get some cash phone him and tell him your not happy and if he doesnt sort it contact DSA as its definatley not right.

[tutton]

Hmm, gotta see it from both angles, i dont know how good your other half is on a bike, perhaps he saw from a 10min ride or so that they would likely need a day at least to get up to grips and be safe on the road.. This happened to me but only because i was using my own bike and water got in the carb so couldnt carry on that late on But my trainer was known by absolutely every establishment worth its salt and he was highly reccommended police motorcyclist, rospa etc. so i feel it was worth it.
If i remember correctly the road ride only 1 trainer can take out 1 pupil at a time, if he did any more hes breaking the rules the DSA set down for them. Suppose he was also watching his own back..
Id go down there face to face and question it..
____________________
Past: '05 Peugeot XPS '99 Aprillia RS125 '94 FZR600R
Current: '02 ZX636 A1P '51 CCM R30

[honda_arry]

[Digitalize]

I went out on the road with another student, admittedly he was renewing his CBT, but still.

Started at 9am, was back home by 1pm, including paperwork etc.

I Would go down to there businees, kick up a fuss, complain etc, demand a refund.

[Alexio]

I'm pretty sure that my CBT cost me just £80 and the instructor let me come back the next day when he ran out of time to spend on me and let me out on the road on the first day. This was because someone had come back for a second day and he was just making sure that they were competent to get out on the road safely.

I came back the day after and all went well. He took lots of time to make sure I was as good as I was going to get during a CBT.

Do what stink wheel suggested or go somewhere else.

Lastly, I became friends with my instructor and he gave me several services of my bike later on for absolutely free.
____________________
will never give up his CG. I look at my fuel gauge more as a progress bar than a fuel gauge.
G: With my GSXR I do often effectively use it as a scooter with a clutch in town.
ms51ves3: why does it need 500 miles? Are you teaching it how to be a piston?

[ClaireBear]

Did your wife pass? Keep encouraging her to carry on- dont let this cowboy put her off.

It seems strange that he started off with the attitude of not passing them- the majority of people do complete the course on the first day after all. And its very poor that he didnt have the equipment for both of them- if he knew this he shouldnt have started the day with them both.

I did my CBT recently- and it was a solid day of riding.
8.30-9.30 talked about the day, safety etc
9.30-12.30 about the bikes and training in the school
1.30-2.30 road safety
2.30-5 riding on the roads.

And my CBT was only £90 for all of the above.

I would certainly recommend trying somewhere else. Its worth asking around though to see who other people have been with and then speaking to the instructor on the phone- if he sounds a pr!ck then best not to go there.

Hope your wife carries on with her riding.

[Kickstart]

Hi

Thought the limit for CBT was one instructor to 4 pupils (although I also have a feeling that might have changes to 1:2 ratio, and think that is the ratio for DAS although I might be getting confused).

All the best

Keith
____________________
Traxpics, track day and racing photographs - Bimota Forum - Bike performance / thrust graphs for choosing gearing

[Inkognito]

She did not pass no. He said they will need another day and it will cost £50 extra. And then maybe that wouldn't even be enough.

From what she told me they wasn't doing bad at all.
The bike she was on though seems dodgy to me with the throttle like that. The instructor said that was how the honda CG's was.

I've never been on a CG with a throttle you had to turn half way round before the engine starts revving.

Another thing that got me thinking. Last night as we went to bed she said that the guy didn't even have his own bike there.
All there was, was a suzuki something.. the honda CG my wife was on and a scoot. He brought them there in a van.

So either he wasn't planning on taking them on the road from the off or he was gonna drive behind them in his van.

The funny thing is that he didn't know if they had experience on a bike before he said they would probably need an extra day.

I feel bad because i think it was me pushing that got her wanting to do the bike licence and now she's lost interest completely after what happened yesterday

She says the guy was nice enough but he kept wanting to stop for breaks when all the 2 girls wanted was to get it done. The other girl there already had a CBR 125 waiting for her when her cbt was done. So she wasn't impressed either. Neither was her BF who bought the bike for her.

We just can't afford to be paying over £200 for the CBT alone.
I only paid £450 for my complete DAS including cbt when i did mine and that was for a 5 day course i think.

I'm just not sure what to do.
I feel it's a bit pointless trying to report him as it won't help us. He probably won't be giving us any money back either.

I'm a bit pissed off with the whole thing. It's supposed to be fun and i don't think she was having fun at all yesterday.

[Jaloopa]

In the off road bit the limit is 4 students per instructor, and 2 on the road. I know not everywhere charges it as a one off fee but I've never heard of an instructor saying is will take another day and another 50 quid right at the start.
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mattsprattuk wrote: but at least the lifan could do like 104mph in 3rd gear

[taz4626]

have you contacted him and expressed your views? he may be willing to do the rest for free if you start asking a few questions?

[Riskit4abizki...]

Ye it sounds dodgy, i was riding a honda cg this week on a lesson and i found the throttle fine, and when i did my cbt last year i went out with another person with 1 instructor + payed £120 for bike hire and the course, if i didn't complete it in the 1st day i could of came back the next day for no extra fee, check if they have a website or something and see if they have information on it about the prices and how much it is for an extra day etc.

[imanupstart]

Ouch that's not on, when my girlfriend did it she had to go back two or three times to pass, no extra charges or anything and it was all one on one tuition. Go have words with the bloke!

[Mudskipper]

Sounds like a right cowboy.

Yes sometimes people need more than a day to complete the CBT, but this can only be judged once some riding has been done!

I would follow stinkwheel's advice, and ASAP.
____________________
CBR125|||GSXR400|||CBR400|||CBR400|||CB250RS|||GSXR750|||CB250RS
"You're clumsy, you eat too much and you behave like a 12 year old boy. But you know what? Every once in a while, you find a thumb."

[stinkwheel]

A snap poll might be handy for some figures to back yourself up with.

Started one HERE.
____________________
“Rule one: Always stick around for one more drink. That's when things happen. That's when you find out everything you want to know.”
I did the 2010 Round Britain Rally on my 350 Bullet. 89 landmarks, 3 months, 9,500 miles.

[neil.]

Sounds very dodgy indeed. Might wanna give Trading Standards a ring as well as the DSA.
____________________
CBT February 2008 | A2 June 2008 | Yamaha YBR125 (written off) | Honda CBF125 (current)

[iooi]

[supZ]

[supZ]

[bacon]

mine was £120 and completed in under a day, by 12.15 in fact!

I was informed at the beginning if I was didnt meet the standard on day one, then we would arrange more training until i was to the standard at no extra charge (im sure this is of course within reason, i.e people that take no more than a couple of days)

road2freedom in weston super mare, great bunch of chaps, can reccomend, did my das there too


these guys sound like they are taking the piss