Riders Training Institute

first contacted RTI on Sept. 28th, 2017 by phone, and expressed that she would like to take the M2 Riding Basics course, however she was concerned if RTI would have a motorcycle that would be suitable, given her height. We suggested that before she book with us and make any commitments, we would be happy to set up a site visit for her to meet with our instructors and try out our motorcycles - free of charge - to see which bike would be comfortable for her. On Oct 1st, she spent about 45 minutes one-on-one with our instructor and they together determined which motorcycle would be the best fit for her. We made a note on her file for the instructor who would be teaching her M2 course, should she choose to book, to ensure this motorcycle would be available for her.

*** called us on Oct. 2nd at 9:16am to book her M2 course. All pertinent information was provided to her over the phone as well as by email. This information included our policies and course requirements.

The Course Information email was sent to her at 9:19am on the same day. The 4th sentence of this email clearly states "Motorcycling is a sport that requires coordination, multi-tasking, concentration and balance. It is possible that a student may decide that motorcycling is simply not for him/her. Although we sympathize with this situation, we cannot offer refunds to students who do not complete a course. We will do everything we can, however, to help these students overcome their difficulties and continue with their scheduled course."

*** paid the course price of $508.50 on her credit card, (Oct. 2nd at 12:56pm). *** was sent a Reminder Email (Oct. 4th at 3:38pm), which contained the same line copied from the Course Information email above.

*** attended the first component of her M2 course on Oct. 5th from 6:15pm - 9:30pm at our East North York theory location. She called our office late Thursday afternoon and spent over 30 mins on the phone with our Executive Director. *** was having trouble locating the entrance door to the theory location, and although she was assured that an instructor would be there closer to 6pm in order to help her find it, our Executive Director spoke to her at length in order to help ensure she found it.

For background, we recognize that directions can sometimes be tough to communicate; we ensure that our students have clear directions to each classroom we use for our courses. Both emails *** received had the following information, as well as a marked map attached. "Your theory course will be held at *** We will be using Classroom #***. Map: *** You want to turn into the school on the east side of Bayview using the driveway beside the tennis courts (we've marked it with a red arrow). We've attached a map for your reference. The yellow arrow shows which driveway you should enter from, the "P" shows where to park and the red star shows where to enter the school."

*** was scheduled to attend the Practical Portion of her M2 course on Oct. 14th and Oct. 15th. She attended on Saturday morning, and the notes from the Senior Instructor are as follows: "*** had 3 tipovers and 1 fall by 11:20am Saturday. She complained of a sore right hand after the fall. She felt she was falling behind the rest of the class and chose to not continue." *** called our office on Monday morning, and spoke to our Executive Director. She accused our instructors of a vast range of policy violations, including preventing her from using the motorcycle she had previously chosen. When further investigation was done, it turns out *** was using the motorcycle she had originally selected for the entire duration of the course.

As our policy states, we "will do everything we can to help these students overcome their difficulties and continue with their scheduled course." Although *** chose the abandon her efforts in our M2 course, our Executive Director made the exception to rebook *** for an entire M2 course - Free of Charge. The only stipulation was that *** must take a Private Lesson with one of our instructors prior to the M2 course. This was put in place in order to give *** the best chance of success, helping to ease her anxiety and fears in a one-on-one environment.

The Private Lesson was scheduled for Oct. 14th at 4:30pm at our East North York location. The instructor let us know that he had helped "get her going around the lot by the end of the lesson; she was very happy about that. She is very fearful about riding a bike". *** paid $80 in cash for her private lesson, which included using our motorcycle on our property.

Following this experience, *** called RTI on Oct. 17th to request another Private Lesson prior to her free M2 course. We told her the availability of our sites; she wanted the East North York site on a weekday, which is simply not available. We made this very clear to her, and set up a Private Lesson for her at our Toronto site for Oct. 18th at 4pm, which she agreed to. We provided her information to the instructor and he followed up with her. During their conversation *** indicated that the office staff confirmed East North York as the site for the private lesson. Our instructor was perplexed, as he knows the site is not available on weekdays, and called the office. When our Executive Director reached ***, she said that she "thought that if she spoke to the instructor he might be able to make an exception for her" and it "must have slipped her mind that it was for the Toronto site." This lesson did not take place.

RTI made special efforts to set up a Private Lesson with ***, who had originally met with her to test motorcycles on Oct. 1st, as she said she felt comfortable with him. This was scheduled for Oct. 22nd at 4:30pm. The instructor feedback was lengthy, but highlights include: "She was concerned about falling and was scared to fall. I showed her what she can do in order to prevent herself from falling" and "There was one point where she was riding and she went over a little bump, she started to panic and said she was falling, even though she wasn't falling, she looked to the ground and proceeded to tip over, luckily I grabbed the handle bar and stopped her. After that, we pretty much had to start all over again because her phobia of falling had taken over." This instructor also suggested further Private Lessons. *** paid $80 in cash for her private lesson once again, which included using our motorcycle on our property.

*** attended her free M2 course on Oct. 28th and Oct. 29th. The notes from the Senior Instructor include: "*** removed herself from the course on Sun. during the first exercise. She was becoming a safety issue (not stopping at stops and not able to control the bike in order to keep it in the course layout). At no point did I tell her to leave, instead we reviewed the layout and that she needs to stop at all stops as indicated by the little pylons on their side pointing at each other." Once again, *** removed herself from the course despite the instructors trying to help and encourage her.

*** called the office on Oct. 30th, and our Executive Director returned her call at 9:20am on the same day. She, once again, made all kind of wild accusations of our instructor team, including that "the instructors were told to make sure they did not help *** because she needs to fail." These accusations have been thoroughly disproven by everyone on site, and the unfortunate case is that *** falls into the small minority of students who find it very difficult to ride. For whatever reason, she has developed phobias that prevent her from being comfortable on a motorcycle and has instead chose to blame the instructors that have tried to help her for her difficulties. It should be noted that not once was class size mentioned until reading this complaint; for reference, RTI follows the Ministry guidelines of 5 students:1 instructor. At both of ***'s courses the ratio was 4 students:1 instructor.

Financially speaking, *** has paid RTI $508.50, the cost of one M2 course, as well as 2 x $80 for the two Private Lessons (a discount from the standard rate of $90). She has received an additional M2 course for free, which is a loss of $508.50 for RTI in order to do our best to help her be successful. Unfortunately, we are not able to provide *** with any kind of a refund, as clearly outlined in all communications to her since Oct. 2nd. We have delivered on our promise to go above and beyond by providing her another M2 course at no cost, and setting up additional Private Lessons for her. We have adhered to good business practices and done our very best to help *** be successful at every turn, and are disappointed that she has chosen this route.