I really wanted to be able to vouch for this school granted the owner, Chris, was sympathetic and gave me a full refund for my terrible lesson, but after leaving a positive, critical, and honest Yelp ... Read More
I really wanted to be able to vouch for this school granted the owner, Chris, was sympathetic and gave me a full refund for my terrible lesson, but after leaving a positive, critical, and honest Yelp review originally, I have realized that some of the instructors at this school could have a lesson on customer service and business etiquette. It doesn't take a lot to be a good and understanding person, especially when you are teaching people to be safe, considerate, and good drivers. My experience with instructor Warren was unprofessional and disorganized. I had an appointment scheduled for 11 AM and did not find out who my instructor would be until the day of. The instructor called me exactly at 11:05 and let me know he would be roughly 10 minutes late because the car was having some difficulties and he needed to fix it before I took my lessons, which I completely understood and didn't bother me. He ended up being around 40 minutes late and STILL had the previous student in the passenger seat...I was literally so confused as to why there was another person in the car in a one on one driving session. This was the first red flag.Second red flag came when he admitted he had lied to me about just getting the car fixed and had gone with the student to go out to eat. I think I would understand if the other student had just passed their test or something, but it was literally just a driving lesson. I didn't say anything in order to keep the peace, even though I was honestly pissed off. Who wouldn't be? You are expecting someone to arrive at or around a certain time and they show up way late. If I had an appointment or work at 2, I would have been late because I don't have the money to pay $60 extra to cancel. I kept my cool and was courteous and eager to learn. Unfortunately, my enthusiasm faded as the actual driving lesson started. I was asked if I had ever driven a car before and I said no. Why would I be taking driving lessons if I had driven a car? I'm not under 18, I could have others teach me but I did pay for a driving school with my own money to be taught the right and safe way. The instructor laughed at me. Honestly made me feel like I was stupid. Isn't that why people take driving lessons, to LEARN how to drive a car? Third red flag: Instead of driving the previous student home and me to an empty lot so I could actually learn how to turn and use the pedals/get more comfortable with actually using the turn signals, he makes ME drive the student home. He briefly went over how to adjust my mirrors and do shoulder checks, but I was uncomfortable with the fact that the other student was still in the backseat laughing at his criticisms of me. I understand that I am an adult but I don't think the way to go about showing people how to drive is to shut down their confidence and demean them for trying to learn. At that point, I was completely prepared to just end the lesson myself. I wasn't nervous about driving until he began laughing at me for every single thing I did like I was stupid. The whole lesson literally consisted of the instructor just giving me absolute hell for being nervous, which is a natural reaction that I think most (GOOD) driving instructors are usually sympathetic to, Telling me I was going to end up killing him, Insulting me and laughing at me for doing things he made me do without any prior knowledge of how to do them, in the middle of traffic completely wrong. At first I blamed myself and felt discouraged but I realized I am not to blame for not being taught how to do things before I do them. He wasted about 30 minutes of the lesson just talking about himself and asking me questions about my personal life, and, as another student has mentioned, telling inappropriate and weird jokes, which I wasn't too opposed to but it is definitely too much for a driving lesson, and could be uncomfy for others.He made commentary I also found completely inappropriate and assumptive. He called me spoiled, and asked if I had ADD. Both things you don't say out loud to a paying customer, or as a teacher. Think what you want to yourself all you want, but if I'm paying for a service, I expect the decency and respect I am giving. On my previous review, the instructor I left this review about voted on my review as "Funny" and "Cool", I'm assuming to undermine my review or make me look like I'm being a jerk for leaving a negative yet honest review about my experience. However, that sort of behavior (which is also against Yelp's policy since a business cannot review or vote on their own listing), is reflective of the experience I had, and it is sad that no progress has been made since then. I felt disrespected and small because of a lack of mutual respect and good customer service/instruction, and I still do. I really wanted to give this school a chance, but there's work to be done, and I will be going to another school where my will and need to learn is respected. Read Less