Terms and Conditions
Our Policy
Why we have a policy
Customers should take the time to read our policies about purchases, payments, cancellation fees/ non-attendance fees, rescheduling, refunds and bookings.
All customers and students are informed of our policies at the time of booking and anyone buying through PayPal is required to acknowledge they have read the terms and conditions before they can purchase. Don’t tell us you haven’t been informed.
Our policy is to inform customers and students of our requirements they should consider when purchasing lessons or packages from Penrith Driving School which can help avoid any disputes or misunderstandings after a purchase.
As a business, we book lessons and driving tests sometimes up to 6-8 weeks ahead so we require all lessons and driving tests to be prepaid.
This way we know we have a booking on that day and time which then guarantees a student or customer of their booking.
When other students or customers call us and we check our calendars we know what day/time is not available as it has already been reserved.
Any bookings where we have turned away someone else or not been able to take that booking because of your booking cannot be cancelled or rescheduled.
We always endeavour to book someone else on a different day/time.
Example; we have you booked on a particular day/time for a driving test/lesson. We have another enquiry for the same day/time which we can’t take as we have already booked you. This will not be allowed to be changed once this occurs.
We can’t assume that a non-paid booking will actually go ahead on the day as students and customers can change their minds so, for this reason, if lessons and driving tests are not pre-paid within 24 hours then we don’t take the bookings or hold bookings.
In the past, our instructors would have lessons cancelled by students or customers on the day of a lesson and at times just forgot or had something better to do. Losing money is a deterrent and most people attend so it gives us more consistency with bookings as we still get paid.
Not attending seemed to be ok for the student/customer but as a business, we lose that booking which means we lost money and wasted our time.
When we take a paid booking we reserve a day and time exclusively for that person so we are prevented booking another paying person or someone else in the same time slot so it is not fair to us to have a customer/student cancelling at short notice unless there are extenuating circumstances which don’t include forgetting, not having your licence with you, being called into work, having to stay back at work or school, forgetting excursions, feeling unwell with a minor issue or because it’s raining plus other inappropriate reasons.
Your teachers and employers should be informed that you have a lesson on a particular day to avoid being charged for non-attendance.
If you smell of alcohol the lesson will not proceed and you will forfeit the lesson and the full lesson fee will be charged.
Use a calendar/mark in a diary to help ensure you remember your booking. All mobile phones have reminders or calendars.
It’s not up to us to remind you about your lesson we remember our bookings so you should be able to as well.
Ensure you have not doubled booked your driving lessons with doctors, specialists appointments etc, non-attendance will be charged by us.
Other places such as the RMS, attending concerts, airlines etc do not refund for non-attendance and you will forfeit your payment.
They may reschedule but only if given enough time just as we do.
Our time is worth money to us so the customer or student will be charged a lesson or fee equal to the time that has been booked by the customer.
We don’t come and knock on your demanding money as some other schools may do we inform you up front by having a policy and if disagree with our policy or feel that it is unfair then you should probably not buy driving lessons from us but at least we inform you upfront.
Purchasers of our lessons need to attend their booked lessons or give us enough notice so we can book someone else.
If you prefer to do something else and not attend your lesson that’s fine but we will charge you a lesson fee without 48 hours notice this also includes driving tests.
All our lesson/tests/packages are all prepaid, we do not accept payments on the day although there have been occasions when we do lessons at short notice if we have a space available in which payment is required prior to the lesson.
By purchasing lesson packages or gift certificates it is taken you have read and understood our Payment, Refund, Rescheduling, Rebooking and Cancellation Policy.
If you do not understand our policy then you should contact us before purchasing any packages or gift certificates.
Penrith Driving School provides the best quality and most informative driving lessons to our students and we have a commitment to maintaining our student’s lesson bookings.
Students expect us to keep their lesson booking for them on the day and time they reserved and if we don’t then we will provide 1 free lesson of the type cancelled to compensate for our cancellation not that generally happens.
Free replacements lessons will not apply for cancellations by us which are out of our control which may include the instructor being excessively sick or a vehicle breakdown as examples or other extenuating circumstances.
We may from time to time be able to move a booked lesson time on the day to earlier or later time subject to availability of spaces.
Our business relies on students keeping their lesson bookings after they are made so when a lesson is cancelled at short notice we lose that booking and are usually not able to fill that space at short notice which costs us time and money so we lose the opportunity to maintain our full day of bookings which our business requires.
Should we fill your booking space we will not charge the cancellation fee.
Penrith Driving School is unable to provide driving lessons or be available for driving tests to all students or customers that contact us as there are only limited spaces available on any given day that we can reserve.
When you make a paid booking, we reserve that lesson day and time exclusively for you.
By you cancelling or rescheduling a lesson at short notice we lose 2 bookings.
1. The lesson we booked for you which prevented us from booking someone else.
2. Then having to use another booking space to rebook for you which prevents us from using that space for someone else.
NOTE: All packages are valid for a period of 6 months from the date of purchase and should be used within that time.
Lessons/Packages
All driving lessons, our packages, and car hire are to be paid for in advance. It’s your choice on how you choose to pay.
Be aware of buying lessons through our website will cost extra as Paypal Fees are included in lesson prices.
Any direct payments through PayPal which do not go through our website will need to include the Paypal fee at the lesson price indicated in our buy lesson page. This not the lesson price page, if uncertain you should contact us prior to any purchase.
We do not generally accept cash on the day of the lessons but may accept cash if prepaid.
We must receive payment before bookings are confirmed.
If buying through our website using PayPal fees are included in lesson prices (PayPal fees are added to the lesson/package cost)
To avoid PayPal fees our preferred payment methods are by internet/bank transfer (online banking) or visa card/Mastercard over the phone or EFTPOS.
NOTE:
All packages and or lessons are valid for a period of 6 months from the date of purchase and should be used within that time.
All new bookings are held for 24 hours in which payment must be received or the booking space may be used for someone else.
If lessons are not prepaid in full then we are unable to take your booking or reserve your lesson space.
Prepaid lessons or gift certificates that are purchased through our website or over the phone will be applicable for the discount price when bought as a package.
Individual lessons are as per individual prices and do not attract accumulative discounts.
Sometimes customers or students may not want to buy a full package up front so you can always buy a single lesson first to ensure you are happy with our instructors and our best quality driving lessons.
You can pay for the balance of a package minus the first lesson cost which still maintains your lesson discount for package purchases in which the balance or part payment must be paid prior to the next lesson.
This does not apply to gift vouchers.
Any discounts will apply to the last lesson.
Online Internet/Bank Transfer Details Below
Payment information is:
Commonwealth Bank Account.
Penrith Driving School
BSB 062-589
Account# 11153997
Pay ID 0426446955
Any online purchases are not valid until payment confirmation has been received by us.
Please note any payments made by Paypal that are refunded will incur a refund fee (varies) which Paypal charges us.
Any Paypal refund fees or cancellation fees or dispute fees are to be paid by the purchaser as per terms and conditions of purchase which you agreed to before purchasing. If you don’t want fees don’t use Paypal.
Penrith Driving School is a GST registered business and we include GST in our prices.
Payments
Bank/Internet transfer is our preferred payment method.
Pay ID is available for those banks that use it.
NO Fees for using this payment method.
Pay information below.
Commonwealth Bank Account.
Penrith Driving School
BSB 062-589
Account# 11153997
Pay ID 0426446955
Use your name as a reference or the people’s name the lesson is for.
Visa/MasterCard-Credit or Debit Cards over the phone.
There is a current 1.25% merchant fee for credit card transactions.
We offer the option to buy lessons through our website using Paypal but fees charged by Paypal are added to the original lesson prices as listed on our lesson price page. Paypal fees are 2.6% + 0.30 cents
Any direct payments through PayPal which do not go through our website will need to include the Paypal fee at the lesson price indicated in our buy lesson page. This not the lesson price page, if uncertain you should contact us prior to any purchase.
Use your Name/purchase type as a reference e.g. Smith 10LP or Smith RMS TP for reference in bank transfers.
We do not keep any Visa or MasterCard details after a transaction so they must be supplied on each occasion.
After your purchase online you can contact us to arrange and reserve a day and time for your lesson and on most occasions, we will contact you.
Buying a lesson, gift certificate or package online does not guarantee a particular day and time if uncertain you should contact us prior to purchase to check our availability for the time and day you require.
For purchases online using PayPal, you must be the PayPal account holder.
If paying over the phone with Visa/MasterCard you must be credit/debit card holder.
Please note any payments made by Paypal that are refunded will incur a refund fee (varies) which Paypal charges us.
Any online purchases are not valid until we have received payment confirmation.
You should contact us if you have questions or are uncertain before making any purchases online.
Refunds
We do not refund on driving lessons, lesson packages after they have been purchased for a change of mind or where a booking has already been made. If the booking is cancelled at short notice the fee is still payable. See cancellation information.
We do not refund on driving tests that have already been booked. We do not refund for any unused lessons.
In the event, a student does not like what the instructor is teaching another instructor will be provided for Automatic lessons only.
You do not go to schools and tell the teachers you don’t like what they are teaching so don’t tell us you don’t like what we are teaching. We are qualified and licenced driving instructors. You came to us to learn.
Any bookings where we have turned away someone else or not been able to take that booking because of your booking will be charged the lesson or test fee and cannot be cancelled or rescheduled.
Fraudulent purchases may be referred to the Police for use of somebody else’s bank accounts, PayPal accounts or credit cards without the permission of the account holder to purchase lessons.
In the case of gift certificates, NSW law requires 3 years from the date of purchase. They cannot be redeemed for cash.
All purchases are a lesson credit given to the purchaser for the value of the lesson or packages purchased.
Automatic lesson purchases are for automatic lessons only. You may pay the difference in lesson price to change to manual lessons.
There is no refund for downgrading from manual lessons to automatic lessons if you decide to change your mind.
Any incorrect purchases made through PayPal will have a fee charged which is charged by PayPal to us for issuing a “refund”.
Take it up with PayPal, not us.
We shouldn’t have to pay for your mistake.
NOTE:
All packages are valid for a period of 6 months from the date of purchase and should be used within that time.
Cancellations
Cancellation fees charged are equal to the amount of the lesson value as singles or part of a lesson package already purchased which includes driving tests.
Any Paypal refund fees or cancellation fees or dispute fees are to be paid by the purchaser as per terms and conditions of purchase which you agreed to before purchasing.
2 Full Business Days Notice Required for lessons and 5 days for Driving-Tests. We operate 7 days and most public holidays. Our time is worth money and we do charge for a late cancellation and for non-attendance. The fee is equal to the time that has been booked for the amount we would have been paid.
Example; If your Lesson is 1030am Friday notify us by Wednesday or earlier to cancel or reschedule which is ok.
If you notify us on Thursday then a cancellation fee will apply as we are usually not able to fill your space at short notice.
What would you say if we call the day before a lesson or on the day to cancel or reschedule a lesson or driving test?
What would you say to us if we don’t turn up at your lesson which you have booked?
We know you wouldn’t be happy as it may be the only time and day you had available so this would inconvenience you.
We will compensate you with a free lesson of an equal type for your inconvenience if that should happen so it works both ways.
If we are able to fill your space with a lesson then no cancellation fee will be charged.
Also see our cancellation information below for instructor exceptions.
A full lesson fee is charged for any lessons cancelled with less than 2 business days notice as we are usually unable to fill the booking space we have reserved for you at short notice.
A driving test fee is charged for any driving test cancelled with less than 5 business days notice as we are unable to fill the booking space we have reserved for you. We book out 3 hours of time for a driving test and cannot fill that space at short notice.
When booking driving tests through the RMS please ensure you check your day and time and the registry that the driving test is at, if you give us the wrong information and we confirm your driving test day and time on our booking system from what you have provided and this turns out to be incorrect that’s not our fault and you will still be charged the driving test fee.
Please ensure you get a booking confirmation from the RMS at the time you book by email or receipt over the counter.
We may from time to time be able to move a lesson time on the day to earlier or later subject to availability of spaces.
Full payment for a new booking will then be due before we can take your booking and reserve another time and day.
It is your responsibility to attend your lesson booking or driving test to avoid being charged a lesson/test fee.
This may include if you’re called into work, have to stay back at work, have to stay back at school, have something better to do, a lesson cancelled because of a late night and you’re not feeling well, you just forgot and or you are not fit to drive a motor vehicle which may be determined by the instructor or you can’t attend for other reasons.
Sometimes we hear “it’s raining”, well our answer to that is ” you won’t get wet when you’re in the car” not a cancellation reason.
We do understand extenuating circumstances but this will be at our discretion.
Ask your employer or school to pay for your lessons or simply attend to avoid being charged.
You should inform your school teachers and or your employer that you have an appointment on a particular day and time and that a non-attendance fee (Cost of lesson/driving test) will be charged if you do not attend.
If you choose work going into work or other reasons for not attending a booked driving lesson that’s your choice but we charge you for our time we reserved for you.
If this is unsuitable for you then we are unable to take your booking as it disrupts our continuance to maintain a full day of lessons.
In the event, we do fill your space at short notice you will not be charged or have a lesson deducted.
You will also be notified of this.
From time to time we may also need to reschedule a lesson by giving a student or customer more than 48 hours’ notice or a lesson may be done by another instructor when required if your regular instructor cannot attend.
Our instructors work 7 days and it’s inevitable at some stage with all the contact with students they may become sick and if they are very sick they may need to cancel a lesson on the lesson day or the night before, this wouldn’t include headaches or minor illness that can be worked through as they don’t like having to cancel or reschedule a lesson but safety comes first.
There can be mechanical problems with cars from time to time which may also mean a lesson is rescheduled. This is beyond our control.
If this happens then the lesson will be rescheduled or if possible another instructor may be able to do the lesson. This rarely happens.
Instructors may run up to 10 minutes late or be early on some occasions, students should check their phones for any messages.
The instructors will message a student if running late, please ensure you are ready when the instructor arrives.
Our policy is in line with Australian Consumer Laws.
Rebooking
All lessons are to be paid in advance so if you rebook another lesson then payment is due at the time of rebooking or within 24 hours of us taking the booking to reserve your day and time for your next lesson. We will hold the space for 24 hours only.
Lesson credits are lessons already purchased by way of packaged lessons or gift certificates.
If you have a lesson credit from your package lessons then this will be deducted and cancellation fees will then apply for any cancellations or rescheduling with less than 1 business days’ notice given.
If lessons are not booked immediately because of work rosters or uncertainty of your availability to attend a particular day and time then payment will be required at the time of rebooking to reserve you next lesson date and time or a lesson credit will be used to make the booking when you confirm your lesson day and time.
If you are not sure if you can keep your booking then best you don’t make it until you are sure, we can’t assume you might be available to do a lesson, we work on the basis you are or you aren’t.
We may not be able to reserve a particular day and time as this may have been already reserved for someone else if they are not booked early.
We do not reserve lesson spaces without payment being made so bookings should be made early especially for after-school lessons or weekends.
You should consider packages or vouchers to ensure you have credit so we are able to reserve a booking space by having already prepaid.
We have a lot of students on package lessons who rebook the same day and time every week so these students are given priority bookings and first option to rebook on the same day and time.
Penrith Driving School keeps a student record sheet that complies with the RMS requirements which also records lessons used by way of student signature at every lesson as a record of attendance or non-attendance.
Inform your boss in the days prior to your lesson that you have a driving lesson on that day and time so as to avoid cancelling at short notice and losing your lesson fee and or ask your boss to pay for your lesson that you want to cancel.
Everybody has mobile phones these days and can set reminders just as we do on our calendars.
All students are sent a message with their lesson information on what day and time it is. At the end of a lesson the student will be asked do they want to rebook and if so then the date and time will be messaged to the students so you should add our phone numbers to your contact list, there are no reasons to say you “forgot” we don’t forget so neither should you.
We also have an email where a message can be sent penrithdrivingschool@gmail.com
Geoff 0426446955
Marina 0433377173