This place is great! My whole family has been learning how to drive here for years. The price is really good and the instructors are really kind and are very patient with you. I passed my driving test with a perfect score. My instructor gave me the confidence I need for my test and I really appreciate his help. I recommend this place for new drivers. They provide lots of hours of training and practice to help you. Read Less

Based on my own personal experience, I would definently refer my friends and family to this buisness. I enrolled and through the school I was able to obtain my permit AND license. I did so well thanks to the school that I had ZERO mistakes on both!! I was very pleased, It could not have been made possible without American Driving Academy. They are very effective if you are trying to get either your permit or license with a very high success rate of their students passing and obtaining these. I know because my brother and my five friends who also went all got their permits and licenses with little to no mistakes as well and the instructor was VERY nice and helpful to ALL of us, male AND female. I really appreciate their efforts and they were very paitient with me and worked with my schedual very well. What makes me sad is these reviews, they are very harsh and some of them just go beyond talking buisness. :/ People nowadays are so quick to spew their negativity and rudely name call and make accusations. Its disgusting, if you didn't like them then that's fine, everyone has different experiences. But there is no need going so low as to call them incompitent and pathetic and so on. To bully and belittle them, they are human too and very hard workers!! Read Less

My good friend works as a secretary for this business and after reading these reviews she was utterly heartbroken. Neither of us could believe how harsh and ruthless some of these people can be in their reviews. My friend has explained to me that this business is extremely difficult to manage and can be very stressful at times. The instructors are constantly being pressured by the DMV and their standards and making sure they follow all the guidelines and produce educated and safe drivers. So one could try to understand how mandatory pay is with any type of service, especially those dealing with state-level government agencies such as the DMV, who also impose charges of their own and which by the way, require their instructors to be aggressive. They are also constantly under stress with each new inexperienced driver. They deal with multiple new beginners daily and most of these new drivers are young high school students who are usually over-excited, unfocused and have probably never worked a real job and could not possibly understand what these instructors go through on an hourly basis! My friend has told me that the owner and his trained staff are always very busy and dedicated to this business and that the ones who are unreliable are actually the people who sign up high school students and young adults who are more concerned and interested in getting in a car alone so they can do as they please rather than learning to drive the thing and watch out for the lives of the many sharing the streets with them. People schedule appointments then cancel and then expect to get the next closest opening but are so inconsiderate to the other students who have already filled up that week?s schedule. With her being their secretary, she of all people should know. People need to cut this business some slack, especially with all the budget cuts in education it is a blessing to even have an existing driving school that has been in business for over 15 years and has helped thousands of drivers receive the privilege of owning a license. You try risking your life and teaching multiple inexperienced drivers on a daily basis and then write a review on how you feel and how ?unsatisfied? you are then. Read Less

They were nice and answered the phone only when I contacted them the first time to schedule driving lessons. As soon as I met with him, he asked, ""You have the money?"". I said, ""No."" He said, ""Ok, let's go to your bank so you can pay for your classes."" I paid him $400 for 6 hours to drive and for the DMV test. I never heard from him back thereafter. They never answered the phone anymore. I do not know what happened to him and where my money are. He was gone with my money forever. Read Less

This is by far one of the WORST businesses I have seen. I have a lot to say on this matter because I didn't take the warnings and reviews on this page seriously before I enrolled. In short, PLEASE DO NOT ENROLL IN THIS COURSE! Read on if you want the disgusting details. I run my own business, and I am the president at multiple organizations at school which deal with providing tutoring to hundreds of students - and I coordinate the whole thing. I can handle that job even with my multitude of AP classes and extra-curricular activities. From professional experience of running a large organization, I can confidently say that this service is one of the worst. Here's why.... 1. The class instruction is utterly pathetic - From the first day to the last day, you are just given a worksheet, and told to look up the answers in the DMV book... You receive no form of lessons or teaching whatsoever. 2. To fill the time, they replay the same driving instruction movie - I watched one instructional movie about 3 times in that class. One wasn't even related to driving, it was about pool-side safety. I mean, even a money can hand out some worksheets and the DMV manual, and then play a movie. They don't do anything more than that. 3. They are the most unreliable people I've met to this date. They take your money and fail to show up for your behind-the-wheel training. Its really frustrating when you plan our your day, expecting this guy to come, and he never shows up... doesn't even bother to call. This has happened 5 times so far (conservative estimate), and I'm not exaggerating. I didn't know any business could be this unrealiable, it almost seems like a scam to get your money. I'm writing this review because I just got off the phone after yelling at him for canceling a behind the wheel training yesterday, offering me one today, and then canceling today as well. He says the next one that he can offer is 2-3 weeks from now. I threatened to get my parents involved and he just kept saying sorry and hung up on me. This has been going on for months now. Even though he only did 1 out of the 3 behind-the-wheel training that I've signed up for, I might just let this doosh have my money and find a more reliable instructor. The person who gave the 5 star is most likely a girl that those dirty dooshes like to stare at while they are training her, so they only were reliable with these girls. Ratings and reviews are important because they are from honest people who share their opinion. Please don't make the same horrible mistake that I did by disregarding what others who took this horrible course had to say. I'm taking the time to write all this out because I want to show that this business is only good at taking your money and not providing you with the service until you either a.) Give up and quit or b.) Threaten them to get your parents involved and sue them for trying to take away your money - even then it's not clear if they will show up on time. I really hope you make the right choice and go with a more professional business with better reviews and higher ratings. Thank you, Extremely Unsatisfied Customer Read Less

I didn't even want to give this business the luxury of one star rating. They deserve ZERO! I agree with all reviewers that gave this business negative comments. They are only interested in taking your money. Difficulty with scheduling and then, the instructor failed to show up. Refunds were refused and he was rude. Ali is the only person I dealt with. Stay away from this business! Read Less

I'm a girl and I went to American driving Academy, I just want to say i passed with no mistakes on my license test!!! and i thank American Driving Acadmey and my main instructor ALI!! thanks!! I had a couple different instructors, and one was ALI, being a girl, i dont think he was agressive at all but really nice, and patient, and i thank him for it, i needed it! could you imagine driving with completely unexperienced drivers all day everyday? Very dangerous and stressful, but he kept his kool. I always called and made my appointments early and right when I was done with the one, I called for the next till my six were up, he always showed on time, so did my other instructor chris, they were very professional, and knowledgeable. Guys give this school a chance!! they're great!! at least form your own opinions, why follow people you dont know and cant reallly trust it looks like all the bad reviews against this school are from the same person. Sad but just more reason to pay attention and not judge, find out for yourself!! thanks american driving academy!! ali, chris, and everyone else that works there!! Read Less

Very bad service I went to their office In Pasadena to pay the full amount for my daughter?s classes This school just takes your money (the full payment) on the 1st meeting and then makes it very difficult to schedule any more driving lessons. They show up late and always cut your driving lesson time off at the end. We singed with the owner since May 31 2007 for six hours she got total with him ONE hour. I?ll never recommend any one to his business. Read Less

I have not recieved service that is near the worth of the amount of money I paid. When I first registered I paid full payment. It took forever to schedule each appointment. In the first appointment the instructor did not arrive at all. I waited and waited until I called the office. He made me call her and she told me that she had to go to New York. It was a completely random excuse and the worst part is I wasn't inform ahead of time. We scheduled an appointment two weeks later. In the appointment she made me park in the parking lot of a supplies store because the car overheated. The class lasted thirty minutes and I remained in the scorching heat for an hour waiting for the wandering instructor to return. It was ridiculous. The second appointment was with the owner of the actual driving school. It lasted less than the promised two hours and it took two hours to get home!! I tried scheduling several times but it was unorganized and my calls were NEVER returned. Finally I got ahold of him three months later. The day before the scheduled appointment he cancelled but said that he was in the area and could pick me up in an hour. I agreed to it. He cut the class to only an hour. And not only that, but he made me pick up strangers and stay with them in the parking lot for twenty minutes while he was doing things in his office. The class was basically thirty minutes. We called again to make a real two hour appointment but he came up with lame excuses as usual. It was terrible service. We asked to get the rest of our money back but he didn't send it. We called again and he neglected us. I would also like to mention that he did not teach well, called me an incompetent student, and was quite aggressive in his teaching. The real purpose of his lessons were not even to teach, they were just to pick up and drop off other students. I didn't learn anything. I registered seven months ago but because of bad service and inability to finish the course I can't get my license. Read Less

Worst Service Ever!!! 06/04/2007 Posted by notahappycamper87the same thing happened to me tha happened with the other people here. they take your money first then show up the first day and then stop coming... i would schedule appointments and then they wouldn't show up or bother to call.Worst place ever. Already reported to the Better Buisness Bureau.Terrible school 04/09/2007 Posted by kenn714The Driving Academy Was overall, terrible. The instructor kept putting off Driver training session, making lame excuses. Although their advertisment promised that the class took 2 days, I kept trying to secure a session, finally gave up in disgust. The Driver Education did nothing; you just sat there and read the book and filled out the worksheets, and watched videos. I felt that it was a waste of money.Pros: noneCons: everythingRip Off 09/12/2005 Posted by benny123This school just takes your money (the full payment) on the 1st meeting and then makes it very difficult to schedule any more driving lessons. They show up late and always cut your driving lesson time off at the end. If you sign up for the 6hr (2hr/day) training, it may take 2 - 3 weeks for them to give you all 6hr's.Cons: not enough teachers, not enough trainingUNPROFESSIONAL posted by kimmypie1966 on 01/22/08The "instructor" wasnt even a lisensed instructor and he showed up with an unsafe car, having to switch cars and spent the whole time talking on his cell phone. He was rude, agressive and totally unprofessional. If anyone asks me about driving schools I would say to avoid this one because it is so substandard we will be reporting them to the DMV AND the Better Business Bureau. Read Less

I dont know about other instructors. I had a instructor by name Ali. He was kind of good excpet he is little aggressive but, I realised that instructor needs to be like that after I attended the dmv test. It was very frustating for me initially as he points out even very minor things. But, in behind wheel test, examiner is worse than that, they cut the points for even very minor mistakes. Overall, I recommend this instructor at this instiution. May be girls should think before going to him if you are really very sensitive as he is little aggressive. But you can be a good driver if he is happy with you. I couldn't make him happy with my driving though..All the Best!!! I dont know about other reviewers, I never had any time issue..he was punctual.. Read Less

the same thing happened to me tha happened with the other people here. they take your money first then show up the first day and then stop coming... i would schedule appointments and then they wouldn't show up or bother to call.Worst place ever. Already reported to the Better Buisness Bureau. Read Less

The Driving Academy Was overall, terrible. The instructor kept putting off Driver training session, making lame excuses. Although their advertisment promised that the class took 2 days, I kept trying to secure a session, finally gave up in disgust. The Driver Education did nothing; you just sat there and read the book and filled out the worksheets, and watched videos. I felt that it was a waste of money. Read Less

This school just takes your money (the full payment) on the 1st meeting and then makes it very difficult to schedule any more driving lessons. They show up late and always cut your driving lesson time off at the end. If you sign up for the 6hr (2hr/day) training, it may take 2 - 3 weeks for them to give you all 6hr's. Read Less