I had a great experience with Carlos, my driving teacher, but I had the worst experience ever dealing with the administrative staff of this place, who were unreasonable, disrespectful and rude. It was... Read More
I had a great experience with Carlos, my driving teacher, but I had the worst experience ever dealing with the administrative staff of this place, who were unreasonable, disrespectful and rude. It was my first time driving and I don't own a car so from the beginning I wanted the 20 lesson package with 2 tests. I asked if I could pay in installments, and the woman on the phone -Laura, the older sounding woman and the wife of the owner- said sure and suggested a $160 payment to start with.I had Richard as my driver at first, but for our first two lessons, he ended up arriving late and short changing me 15 minutes each lesson. I switched teachers and I called in to complain about the 30 minutes I was owed twice and they did nothing about it- the second time I called they didn't even know what I was talking about. I scheduled my first road test after 16 lessons. Carlos said I had a 50% chance of passing but to my surprise, I did pass. Carlos and I had solely been practicing for the road test and didn't do anything else, such as going on the highways. I was still in no shape to actually drive alone and he agreed as well.I called the office to schedule another appointment and Laura said I was actually charged for a 15 lesson package plus 1 extra. I said there must be a mistake, and she said it did originally say 20 lessons but someone crossed it out. I said I'd pay the additional $90- how much extra the 20 lessons would have been- for the 4 additional lessons, and she said she'd ask the owner if it was okay. The next day Laura left a message saying no it wasn't possible. I called and she refused to talk to me, and instead I had to talk to someone who only started working there who then started backtracking and lying and saying I never wanted the 20 lesson package to begin with, and that they don't even allow paying installments. I told her that wasn't true, and she started making more things up and making more excuses. She said it was my fault that this happened and that I should've looked at my credit card statement sooner. She said after passing the test, as a licensed driver, the lessons would cost me $45 vs $35 for permit drivers anyways so I wouldn't be able to use the leftover lessons in my package anyways (nowhere does it say that on the website nor did they tell me this when they first tried to sell me lessons). I asked what would have happened if I failed the first road test and needed another one and she said then the 20 lesson package would have been honored. Then when I said the website showed lessons for licensed drivers cost $40 and not $45, she said she'd be able to give me a $5 discount. I asked to be transferred to the owner's wife, and she did, but the call dropped (I think she hung up on me). I called again and finally did I get Laura on the phone. I was calm and rational and respectful the entire time, but suddenly the conversation turned ugly and Laura started screaming at me over the phone that I was wasting her time and hung up on me. Now, it's obvious they just wanted to make more money from me at $45 a lesson. I don't even know if they are deliberately scamming me or not because they kept making stuff up and changing their explanations. I realized, each time they called me and asked for payment over the phone and gave me no contract, nor receipts. This is incredibly shady and at best, horrifically unprofessional. I have talked to other students who said they also thought Laura, the owner's wife, was very rude to them. This was overall the worst customer service experience I've ever had. I have paid over $500+ to their business and I shouldn't be treated this way. I literally had to beg for them to even talk to me and hear me out. I wanted to complain to the Better Business Bureau but they are not an accredited business. My advice is to get everything down in writing should you go with them. I do recommend Carlos as a teacher but I would suggest going with another driving school to save yourself this headache. Their lessons are not actually cheaper, they are just 45 mins long vs 1 hour long at other driving schools. Other schools don't charge $5-10 more per class if you are a licensed driver and cheaper if you only have a permit (what is the logic in this?!?). And finally, the dilapidated nature of their office, the fact that their licensing course hasn't been updated in decades and the ancient car they use should tell you enough. Go with a state of the art driving school and one that is BBB accredited. Read Less