RED Driving School under investigation over mandatory booking fees

The UK’s competition watchdog has launched an investigation into the RED Driving School over how it presents mandatory fees, which can reach more than £75 on one booking, to customers.

Specifically, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) is looking into how RED’s mandatory booking fee of £3.49 and a ‘digital charge’ of £1.80 per lesson hour (for additional services such as its apps) have been displayed to people booking driving lessons. Also whether or not those fees have been included in the total price that people see at the beginning of the purchase process. 

When Auto Express examined the RED Driving School website, we noticed that the firm’s digital charges add up quickly with its package offers. For instance, the six-hour refresher package comes with £10.80 in digital services fees alone, and its most expensive option, which includes 40 hours of lessons, requires learners to pay an extra £72 in digital charges. Plus, there's the £3.49 booking fee on top. 

The CMA refers to the practice whereby mandatory charges are separated from the headline price, or added later in the buying process, as ‘drip pricing’, with the competition regulator now investigating the RED Driving School, Trainline and Virgin Atlantic for it. 

In a statement to Auto Express, a spokesperson for the driving school said: “RED Driver Training expresses disappointment to have been included in a wider investigation into 'drip pricing'.

“Red Driver Training always values both transparency and consumer satisfaction in all of our interactions with our customers. As an organisation we have been engaging with and working closely with the CMA as we take any and all of our obligations under consumer law with utmost focus and seriousness. We look forward to continued engagement to support the CMA to a swift conclusion of this investigation.”

The CMA is now in the process of gathering evidence to determine if the driving school has infringed on consumer protection laws.

Last year, the watchdog launched a review into similar practices by Automobile Association Developments Limited, which owns both the AA Driving School and the British School of Motoring (BSM). It found that the full price of driving lessons was not clearly disclosed when learners booked their slots online, and the company was ordered to refund learners a total of £760,000 as a result.

Automobile Association Developments Limited has also received a £4.2 million fine, which has been discounted from £7 million, after the firm admitted to breaking consumer law.

“The first price customers see should be the price they pay,” said Emma Cochrane, executive director for consumer protection at the CMA. “At a time when many households are watching every pound they spend, it is important that people are not surprised by extra fees when booking train and coach tickets, holidays or driving lessons.

“Clear pricing helps people compare offers confidently and choose the option that works best for them. Unexpected mandatory charges make this much harder, which is why the CMA initially put these firms on notice over concerns about their pricing practices and is now opening formal investigations.”

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