useless driving instructor

magoogy

aarrghghg - im fuming - i paid for a beginners course of driving lessons for christmas for my son

the first lesson - no instructor - he said they hadnt put him down on his books.....

2nd lesson and 3rd went okay.....

yesterday he was due to pick son up at 6.00pm - at 10past he still wasnt here so i phoned him on his mobile to see where he was - he said he had put his car into service and he was just going to ring us to explain he is running a hour late - surely he couldve phoned before he was late? wouldve understood then - aaarghghg - son rearranged lesson......

what got me though - he was chatting to me on the phone whilst in the middle of someone elses lesson - i could hear him giving his pupil instructions while chatting to me too - surely this isnt right?

we have decided that once his paid for beginners course is over i will find him a different instructor - son said he is a bit arrogant anyway so he doesnt mind....i dont really trust him now to be competent.....

so - not going to name and shame him until the course is over, but;;;

does anyone know of any good instructors in bradford please?

thanks

hjb123

When I started to drive which is coming up 9 years since we went to soemone who was recommended to us. Paid for a block of 10 lessons. Had 3 lessons. Never heard anything after that. He had done a runner with the rest of the money, luckily he was part of a driving school, he was still training to be an instructor, so the driving school honoured the rest of the lessons that the driving instructor had taken the money for!

It took a lot of persuading that we were telling the truth. The instructor that took over was more than !!!!!! useless and once the 10 prepaid lessons were up I moved to BSM and never looked back!

H

Poppy9

My first driving instructor, a lady, was ok at the lessons but when it came to test day overslept. My test was at 9am and I was supposed to have a lesson at 8am. It was before the days of mobiles and she finally rang me at 8.40am to say she had overslept. She was a good 20mins drive away so I was late for my test. They let me do it and then told me I had failed because I didn't have time to do the whole test . She even had the cheek to say she would only charge me for the 1 hour not 2. I was 17 at the time she wouldn't get away with it now.

My next instructor was an older man with a little mini. He was sweet. First lesson he knocked at the door and introduced himself to my parents so they knew who their child was out with. After 1st lesson he said I didn't really need any lessons as I was more than capable of passing my test. He helped me get a cancellation and I passed my test 2 weeks later.

magoogy

i was going to go with bsm but our local one shut down and for what they charge i wouldve wanted him to be able to use the equipment they have; - ie. simulators and that......

not sure whom to go with after he has done his last lessons - he got 5x 2hr lessons for £35 - but, if he does do a runner he is part of a big driving school

Xenomorhic

I had one instructor for ages, I think he had personal problems or something after a bit cos he was quite short tempered and began cancelling lessons all over the place. I was struggling to keep track of how many I had left as I paid in blocks- I was sure I had two left. I went out with him for one of those and at the end of the session he was really nasty towards me practically accusing me of taking lessons I had not paid for. I was upset when I got in the house and did not arrange any more!

I honestly believed I could not drive. I'd been in tears with this guy so many times.

I went to BSM- no I never got to use the simulator either- but they were TOP NOTCH. I regained my confidence and had a lot of lesssons to build that up, then I went into my test and passed first time with five minor errors!

I was so thrilled. Went on to take my Pass Plus with them, was great.

I spent a lot with BSM but they were worth every penny and I probably spent less with them overall than with bad instructor no. 1!!

Addy

magoogy wrote:

i was going to go with bsm but our local one shut down and for what they charge i wouldve wanted him to be able to use the equipment they have; - ie. simulators and that......

not sure whom to go with after he has done his last lessons - he got 5x 2hr lessons for £35 - but, if he does do a runner he is part of a big driving school

Could you not contact the school he is part of and explain that you're not happy with him and would like your son to take the rest of the lessons you've paid for with another instructor?

muffinhead

I decided to take my lessons with an instructor I knew of - he was a classmates father. Anyway, first day he showed up 5mins early, everything went well. I enjoyed the first lesson and felt I had learned a lot in that one hour. So I thought I'd pay for a block booking of 10 lessons and get a bit of a discount. That was when it went downhill :mad: !

After that I would book up lessons, rarely would he show up on time, the worst being an hour late :mad: ! Also in those ten lessons I was taught in three different cars because his 2yr old car was constantly breaking down :mad: ! Another annoyance was that he would talk the hind legs off a donkey! He talked so much that he would forget to give me instructions, so I'd have to keep cutting up the one-way conversation to find out where I was meant to go!

After the 10 lessons were up I decided not to continue with him and haven't looked back since!

magoogy

yes - i will ask my son if he wants me to contact the school and ask for a different instructor - never thought of that...thanks

swillyburger

If your son dosent like the instructor dont go with him (i am a instructor) book a 1 or 2 hr lesson with 3 or 4 diferent instructors when your son finds the 1 he gets on with take him/her (i always tell new pupils to only book 1 2 hr lesson with me if they like wot they get/see) then book more lessons. Your son will will then be more inclined to do better with a instructor he gets on with than with 1 he dosent. hope this helps you.

magoogy

thanks swillyburger - i will take your advice definitely......where do you work then? are you available lol......

the instructor actually turned up on time last night so he was lucky there lol....

SaraSeahorse

not any advice just another anecdote

my first instructor took it upon himself to route past his house, make me park up and he would disappear inside saying he would 'just be a mo'

usually ended up waiting 15 minutes
I assume he was going to use the toilet the time he took

after the second time doing this when I went to pay for lesson I gave him £6 instead of £8 for the hour

he looked at money and then me and I said 'it would have been £8 if I had the whole lesson'

luckily he had another instructor join his school soon after who was just the best ever and never had to use the first one again (one time got driven home by another 'pupil' who stank of alcohol and I do not think was fit to be at wheel)

the new instructor was always on time
never did the rididiculous thing of picking you up and making you drive someone else home
always got full hour
didn't keep feet on dual controls and shout at you for not pulling away when you could not because they had foot on bl**dy brake