Beware of rip-off trucking "schools" like HGVT

Hi all.

The “trucking school” I went to called HGVT refused to refund me.
They charged me 450 for a Class 1 rebooking, and didn’t even book it after 3 weeks.
They claimed that it was over 14 days, and unless I was arrested and imprisoned a refund wasn’t possible.
Well, a stern conversation about my willingness to escalate it (small claims court) and I was given my refund. I waited until the money was in my bank to write this, in case they tried to pull a fast one on me.

One year ago, I was interested in trucking to fill the “shortage” I was hearing on the news.

I unfortunately went to the first trucking school I found on Google, which turned out to be a complete waste of money.

HGVT are not a school at all. They’re a “B2C”. Business to Client. They connect clients to businesses. A middleman.
They claim they’ll support you via MANPOWER (disclaimer; I was ghosted by the company, and HGVT doesn’t give a ■■■■ for you).
They claim they’ve got schools over the country. Instead they have schools they buy lessons from wholesale. These schools don’t actually like the broker because they’re being undercut, and you’re considered low priority by the school compared to their own clients.

The broker just arranges for the DVLA papers and eye tests, load you up with 90 days of a software worth ~£20 then send you off to an actual school they’ve got “connections” to.
You can arrange the DVLA papers, eye tests, and software for a pittance compared to what these companies will charge you.
For reference, if I had went to a proper diving school, I would have gotten well over twice the hours of lessons for far cheaper.

Instead, I got 20 hours for around double the price, and this scummy company pockets the difference.

For the price I paid for my Class 1 and 2 license (>3500), I waited nearly 6 months! for things to begin. In total I had 20 hours of training over 5 days (4 hours per day).
They cancelled my Class 1 lessons twice, and added a ton of unnecessary delay of around three months.

One thing of note is, the driving school refuses to provide me and services for 6 months because I booked with this broker, and the broker is afraid of clients just going directly to the school and saving their money.

So lessons learned. Do not use these shady, scummy companies that pay thousands to be on top of Google search results.

Go to a local reputable school instead. Unfortunately, these reputable schools aren’t able to get on top of google search results due to poor Search Engine Optimization, and they don’t spend thousands in Adsense and adwords.

.

It was a real ■■■■ experience and thoroughly embitters me that companies like this rip off young people who genuinely want to find a skill.

If your driving school doesn’t know it’s own teachers, that’s a huge red flag.

The school they sent me to was GTG. My Class 2 teacher was alright. He listed to me and understood me and how I learn.

Second teacher I had for Class 1 constantly yelled at me and called me dangerous, undermined my desire to learn, compared me to other students, and berated me for not understanding her.

Hit and miss experience really. It felt like an army instructor trying to break me down.

The schools were legitimate, and on their site they advertised lessons for around half the price of the scummy broker.

Blue Glasses:
It was a real [zb] experience and thoroughly embitters me that companies like this rip off young people who genuinely want to find a skill.

It pays to do your due diligence and go and check the school our for yourself.

Nothing illegal in being a broker for any business, it’s up to you to check it out and make the informed decision. Don’t rely solely on what a website says. Maybe morally wrong to charge abhorrent prices. Lesson learnt by the sounds of it though so onwards and upwards.

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