My BSM driving school nightmare

heatheryone_2

When I decided to start learning to drive, I considered the BSM. For half a second, which is all the time it took to find out that in London, they charge around £30/hr. !!!!!!?!? Instead I plumped for a local driving school (Wimbledon), mostly because they were charging a more realistic £20.95/hr, and I have no regrets so far - my instructor is lovely and in about 20hrs of tuition I've learnt all the basics and just need to get it all polished off for my test (and I need to get round to actually sitting my theory test).

benzito

So, how many lessons did you have? Did you make more on the average or did they? Did he make no limits, ie 3 tests worth of lessons for that money?

i must have had about 20 lessons in total, so i guess he made more out of it as that would usually cost around £400 but it was far more relaxed as i didnt feel rushed even though he did! i recommended him to my sister and friends and hes done the same deal with them

babyshoes

My instructor was great, though I admit his sense of humour wouldn't go down well with everyone! Totally not PC, but completely genuine and nice, very laid back but still thorough in terms of making sure I knew everything I needed to know. The one day he messed up and brought the wrong car by mistake (automatic instead of manual) we still practised but he didn't charge me at all, which I thought was reasonable of him. I laughed for 1.5 hours each 2 hour lesson, drove around at the same time and and learned the necessary things along the way! Passed easily too.

I will gladly pass on his number if anyone near Borehamwood/Watford/Bushey wants it. (He lives in Borehamwood.)

DCFC79

I got taught by 2 independnat instructors so maybe thats the better way to go, i did have experience of an instructor who went a bit ott with me, id not been learning for long and i was still not at ease with the old fiestas and id managed to make the clutch plates smack against each other by bringing up the clutch pedal too soon or soemtihng like that(was trying to find the biting point and it was hard in his car)

retro_bluebell

My first instructor was an independent and he was a brutal sod....he really knocked my confidence and reduced me to tears at some points (not an easy thing to do with me!) he would make me talk through the maneuvers I was doing (apparently this is how they teach advanced police drivers, which I was told later on)...I switched to a small company and had a female instructor who was fantastic and I had her for 6 months with an hour and a half lesson a week (needed it my confidence was shot to bits) and I passed my test first time


The way you have been treated is disgraceful, I would be taking it much further!
It totally depends on the instructor IMO, good luck with your future lessons (and new instructor )

mrsmasterplan

I had a similar time with AA - after ten lessons I hadn't even moved out of a very very easy square of roads (so i never right turned!). I went out with my dad and he couldnt believe that I hadnt faced traffic lights before.

Awful.
Then went with an independant lady from the area and she was brilliant.

Cheers Diane!

TakeittotheLimit.

I can`t believe BSM are STILL so bad,I went with them over 25 years ago and they were terrible.
I asked them to pick me up from home on the 1st lesson,was waiting nervous as hell and they never showed up,I had to go to the phone box as we never had a phone(the good ole days eh?)and ring the local office up,I asked them where the instructor was and was greeted with "What you want picking up as well?"
Should have told them there and then to bog off but had already booked 10 lessons with them,anyway they said we will pick you up next week but you will have to have a different instructor.
The guy picked me up and started moaning as soon as I got in the car "That I was miles away from where he usually picks people up" "yeah thats why I asked BSM to pick me up:mad:" anyway this went on every week with him moaning away,he hardly ever took me out onto the roads just wanted me to ride round a car park and never showed me how to reverse park or anything,all he did was his paperwork for other pupils and perve over women walking down the street,he would also decided to eat his lunch everytime I was with him,munching crisps and belching on fizz pop.
After having 20 lessons I had been showed no reverse parking,no 3 point turns nothing, except driving forward and changing gears,on looking at the BSM learners cards they gave you at the time I should have been well down the line to passing so I challenged him...all they wanted was for me to book another 25 lessons then I `might `be ready for my test.
So I told them to stuff it.....I then went to work and an old guy who trained the post office van drivers offered me a few lessons,I had 5 with him and passed and soon after was offered a driving job.

skintdragon

chomsky wrote: »

I went with an independent for my driving lessons as he had taught a few of my friends and he was a bit of a maverick. We would have to have Stevie Wonder blaring from the CD player every lesson and he refused to wear a seat belt. This was all very well until I did an emergency stop as a cat ran across the road and his face hit the windscreen.

I know I probably shouldn't laugh but that is one funny post! I cannot believe people don't wear seat belts; that's just plain daft.

am still laughing!

Jojo_the_Tightfisted

Independents aren't necessarily any better; I've taken lessons with quite a few places, as every time I seemed to be getting somewhere, something would crop up and I would have to stop lessons again.

1st instructor: independent; nice, but got ill, so cancelled.

2nd: independent; brilliant, nice little car, felt confident with him. Personal crisis meant I had to stop lessons, he had moved when I went to start again.

3rd: independent; creepy, creepy, creepy. Car handled like barge, carried a wooden spoon to hit you across the knuckles if you crossed your hands over 12 o'clock. Put his arm across the back of the driving seat and whispered 'here comes the spooo-nie'. I threatened to take his wooden spoon and put it where he would require surgical intervention.

4th: Small group. Same barge like car as creepy spoon guy. Couldn't continue because OH became ex and refused to have kids to allow me to 'go off gallivanting around in cars with men'

5th: BSM. Racist, sexist, was determined to make me do at least 35 two hour lessons 'because the rules say you have to do one lesson per year of age'. Car was underpowered Corsa that crabbed slightly and had a blowing exhaust giving out blue smoke. His idea of driving was 'stick your foot down and bang on the brakes as you begin to turn the wheel'. It wouldn't go over 27 miles an hour in 4th gear with your foot flat to the floor.

Not only was he convinced that there was nothing wrong with the car because I didn't have a driving licence, when a car pulled out in front of me on a mini roundabout, I braked to prevent a collision, he shouted at me that I should have hit the other car because it was their fault and he would have got a new car out of it!

He also spent lots of lessons complaining about how disabled drivers shouldn't be allowed on the roads and when I explained I couldn't look all the way over my shoulder to reverse, but had to use my mirrors after 90 degrees (after having broken my neck in a car accident 10 years previously), he threw a fit and said I would never ever pass.

He then proceeded to try and debit my credit five more times after I finished lessons with him.

Confidence wrecked, believed him about my neck injury making it impossible to pass, gave up.

The last one wasn't actually someone I had lessons with: I dated him for about ten days (which was more than enough to decide not to bother)

AA: spent all night on online chatrooms, all day nearly asleep in lessons or texting on his fancy mobile. Always complaining about the AA. Admitted that most people were ready far sooner than when they were told they were ready for the test, which was why he sat back with his eyes closed for the majority of the lesson.


Nevertheless, I am going to try again. I will have that licence eventually!

ceh209

I was very pleased with BSM for my lessons - this was about 5 years ago.


I started with an independent, who was a friend of the family. I learnt things SOOOO slowly with him - but I didn't know this as I hadn't driven at all before, obviously!
He changed cars (to a Renault Modus, horrible thing) and after a couple of hours stalling every 2 minutes in that, I gave up on him. After my last lesson he said to me 'I bet you didn't think you'd have done so much after 20 hours of lessons, did you?' Err, well yes actually. I expected more.

I went to BSM, who gave an instructor with the highest pass rate in the area (70% apparently!). He was shocked I'd never been on a dual carriageway in 20 hours :eek:
He told me to book my test straightaway - 10 more hours lessons (well I paid for 10, probably got more like 11) and I passed

He later taught my sister, and then moved to America. Shame, as i would have recommended him to anyone.