driving instructor is horrible

darling.x

Warning this is long.

I'm on my first permits licence. Just got it in early january. I rang a local driving instructor for driving lessons. I got two lessons from him and i thought as a learner driver i was getting on brillant. I thought my instructor was nice and good. I grasped everything he said. Learned how to move off, learned about gears and when to change them and braking. On my seceond lesson i was on the main road driving along not a bother on me. Remembered everything. I also did a hillstart. Everything was going well and he said it too. He didn't even correct me on anything. I was happy. I booked another lesson for the week after and told him that i would need him once a week for a lesson for the next few more months and that i would book him on a weekly basis.

Half an hour before my third lesson he cancelled my lesson without giving me a reason. I left it a few days before ringing him back to book another lesson and he told me that he was fully booked out for the next five weeks which i don't believe. To say the least i wasn't impressed with him. I rang him again afterwards to see where i went wrong and he wouldn't even tell me. He just told me that he was fully booked out for the next 5 weeks with people doing driving tests (I'm aiming for the same thing). He was a waste of my time and my money and i demanded for a refund and he won't give it to me.

I've booked lessons with another instructor now starting in four weeks time.

What do you all think of that story he told me. Would he be telling the truth or what. He should have given me notice of some sort if he was going to be so busy. Now i think it was something to do with me and my driving and i totally lack confidence now. Not looking forward to starting more lessons but i need to learn how to drive for work.

I also hope to go for the driving test this summer. Am i leaving myself enough time. Would it be possible to learn how to drive and pass a driving test in 4 or 5 months.

Does anyone elso have any bad driving lessons, driving instructor stories to make me feel better maybe.

AugustusMaximus

darling.x wrote: »

I also hope to go for the driving test this summer. Am i leaving myself enough time. Would it be possible to learn how to drive and pass a driving test in 4 or 5 months.

Does anyone elso have any bad driving lessons, driving instructor stories to make me feel better maybe.

Passed mine within 4 months of starting to drive. It all depends on how comfortable you are with your driving. If you can do the basics correct and you feel that you are up for it, then get 3 or 4 more lessons with your instructor to correct any potential mistakes you are making and to ensure you are getting the technical stuff like backing round a corner, correct procedure for pulling out and other stuff right.

A quick spin with any instructor should tell you if your up for passing it.

Misticles

did u pay him up front for the lessons he couldnt go through with? did he offer another instructor?
some instructors can be that busy, when theyre out on lessons their company is on the phones taking bookings and assigning drivers. maybe people specifically requested him through recommendation or what not. or maybe he dosnt work 5 days a week, maybe just part time.
he didnt really have to tell you he was that busy, he probably would of assigned you another instructor. not really a big deal.
it wouldnt of been your driving as instructors tend to be blunt and he would of said.
id give him the benefit of the doubt.

matrim

darling.x wrote: »

He was a waste of my time and my money and i demanded for a refund and he won't give it to me.

What did you demand a refund for? Had you payed him for lessons he didn't give you?

When I was doing my lessons my instructor was very busy. 2 people constantly booked out, so you had to call at least a week before hand. Alot of people are trying to do tests now before the 2nd provisional law changes kick in around May.

Wishbone Ash

matrim wrote: »

before the 2nd provisional law changes kick in around May.

June 30th.

cantdecide

There is no substitute for hours, experimentation and focused practise. You have to keep finding answers to those questions that pop up in the learnng process and avoid becoming passive after achieving a certain level.

You have to programme your brain- i don't mean endless memorising, I mean keep adjusting your thinking as you learn something new.

If the test is far away weekly/ fortnightly lessons will more than prepare you if you're picking it up.

Esel

Shouldn't this thread be in http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/forumdisplay.php?f=603 ?

kona

darling.x wrote: »

Warning this is long.

I'm on my first permits licence. Just got it in early january. I rang a local driving instructor for driving lessons. I got two lessons from him and i thought as a learner driver i was getting on brillant. I thought my instructor was nice and good. I grasped everything he said. Learned how to move off, learned about gears and when to change them and braking. On my seceond lesson i was on the main road driving along not a bother on me. Remembered everything. I also did a hillstart. Everything was going well and he said it too. He didn't even correct me on anything. I was happy. I booked another lesson for the week after and told him that i would need him once a week for a lesson for the next few more months and that i would book him on a weekly basis.

Half an hour before my third lesson he cancelled my lesson without giving me a reason. I left it a few days before ringing him back to book another lesson and he told me that he was fully booked out for the next five weeks which i don't believe. To say the least i wasn't impressed with him. I rang him again afterwards to see where i went wrong and he wouldn't even tell me. He just told me that he was fully booked out for the next 5 weeks with people doing driving tests (I'm aiming for the same thing). He was a waste of my time and my money and i demanded for a refund and he won't give it to me.

I've booked lessons with another instructor now starting in four weeks time.

What do you all think of that story he told me. Would he be telling the truth or what. He should have given me notice of some sort if he was going to be so busy. Now i think it was something to do with me and my driving and i totally lack confidence now. Not looking forward to starting more lessons but i need to learn how to drive for work.

I also hope to go for the driving test this summer. Am i leaving myself enough time. Would it be possible to learn how to drive and pass a driving test in 4 or 5 months.

Does anyone elso have any bad driving lessons, driving instructor stories to make me feel better maybe.

hes "running" a business not a charity, why do you feel entitled to a refund??
its like buying a bottle of coke and drinking it, going for another and the shop are all out, so you demand a refund for the last bottle
WTF???

just go elsewhere....Its not a big problem.

Orange69

darling.x wrote: »

I also hope to go for the driving test this summer. Am i leaving myself enough time. Would it be possible to learn how to drive and pass a driving test in 4 or 5 months.

Does anyone elso have any bad driving lessons, driving instructor stories to make me feel better maybe.

The first time i sat in a car was october 21st and i had my full license on February 8th the next year. If you have a good proficiency for driving and are willing to go out every night and practice for an hour or two you can get a license in 3 or 4 months.

My first driving instructor told me to take roundabouts is first gear!!! So dont put too much emphasis on having an instructor... Get a dvd and practice your driving and then a month or 5 weeks before your test get some lessons/pretests from an instructor..

E92

You have to have the permit for at least 6 months before you can do the driving test.

Wishbone Ash

esel wrote: »

Shouldn't this thread be in http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/forumdisplay.php?f=603 ?

It is there already but should be here http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/forumdisplay.php?f=909.

Orange69 wrote: »

you can get a license in 3 or 4 months

Not since October last.

Esel

Wishbone Ash wrote: »

It is there already but should be here http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/forumdisplay.php?f=909.

Is that a fail, then?

ztoical

unless you paid him for the extra lessons up front I don't get what your demanding a refund for. You said it yourself you had no issue with the two lessons you had. You got what you paid for with them, lessons on how to drive. He was under no obligation to give you more lessons. With the new laws coming in there's alot of people taking tests now and as a result looking for pre-tests. Yes your aiming to do your test but you can't even apply for it until you've had your permit 6 months, I'd wager the people he is giving lessons to now are doing their tests in the next few weeks.

Also you said your starting lessons with a different instructor in 4 weeks, why so long a wait? could be cus that one is booked up till then as well.

My driving instructor moved or cancelled at least two lessons on me [out of around 8] when I first started. Other students would get their test dates and want a pre-test so she rang me and asked to either move my lesson later/earlier or cancel for that day and move to another day. It can be annoying when you've limited free time and they don't teach on saturdays but when my test came around she made sure she was free two hours before it so we could do a pre-test.

Seth Brundle

I think you are being unreasonable.
It was a pity that he raung you 30mins before a test and cancelled but there is no obligation to give a reason. You now are angry with him and expect a refund (why exactly as you got what you paid for?). You think the instructor is being unfair because they can't see you for a just over a month but you are content switching to another instructor who seems just as busy?!?! At least you felt you were doing well with the original instructor why change? Despite learning the basics you now feel it was a waste of time?
To be honest, I think the instructor sounds quite busy and if I were him I would feel quite wihtin my rights to tell you to feck off for demanding money back. However, your instructor still is giving you a chance! He sounds decent enough to me.

hadook

My first instructor took 6 personal calls during my last lesson arranging his holiday :rolleyes: and referred to me as "little missey" (I'm in my mid 20's) so I don't think you've really had that bad an experience.

My second driving instructor tended to have limited availability for the next week to 10 days and that was nearly two years ago now and in Cavan. Given that everyone and his mother is applying for a test now I'm not at all surprised that you have to wait for a slot.

I can understand wanting a refund for lessons you haven't taken if you paid upfront but, to be honest, I can't see why you didn't just book a lesson for 5 weeks time and say "call me if you get a cancellation". If it's important you'll put yourself out. If it's not, then why are you complaining?

javaboy

hadook wrote: »

My first instructor took 6 personal calls during my last lesson arranging his holiday :rolleyes: and referred to me as "little missey" (I'm in my mid 20's) so I don't think you've really had that bad an experience.

I knew of a driving instructor who had a nice little way of making money. If a woman say 17-25 booked a block of lessons and prepaid in advance, he would be a complete sleazeball in the car but stop just short of what could actually be called sexual harassment. Usually what would happen is the girl would just not use the rest of her lessons and he pockets the money.

Hope that wasn't him!

hadook

Nope thankfully.

He was ignorant and insulting but not a crook. Apparently he had quite a good pass rate too

gillymayb

Before i did my test last september i booked a few pre tests with the driving instructor who taught me how to drive. It was a good 3/4 weeks before test so i wasnt rushing, just wanted to get professional opinion. Driving instructor turned up a few mins late which i didnt find too annoying because i presumed they would go on the end. Then we went through a mock test, all went well until i had to reverse around a corner. He told me to swap seats with him, then he got in, drove my car and showed me what to do! He drove it like he was in a rush which i found out 10 mins later he was. He drove for the remainder of the lesson until we got back to starting point so he could meet his next customer. I considered myself a confident driver and was well able to drive. I didnt like the way he got in and drove, he should have just instructed me instead of pushing me out of the way! Anyone else get this treatment for an instructor. Needless to say in didnt get my extra 15 mins and definitely cancelled the other 2 pre tests and i passed me test.

stepbar

TBH I think the type of car you drive should be reflective of your experience. I can't wait for the day when they bring in a law requiring learner drivers to drive a car less than 1.2L. I started in a 1.2 and passed my test no problem. I failed a test because I decided to drive my parents 1.4L saloon. Far too big to handle when you are learning to drive. What I'm saying is, the smaller the car the better.

TBH you might be better bringing our your other half or someone else you know because I think lessons (to a point) are a waste of money.

Bargain_Hound

Personally, no matter how well you can control a car and drive around the streets - To pass the car test, you will need to meet a set of standards and know what they are specifically looking for and the only way to learn this is to get some driving lessons.

I wouldn't take any driving lessons from someone, unless I heard recomendations about that person which is who I got my lessons off and have never found one problem with him. Infact, it was me causing problems.. ( I had to cancel once.. 1 hour before it :rolleyes: )

Even if you have been driving and are waiting on a test, there is no harm in taking a few lessons before the test to make sure you are capable of providing the exact requirements the testers are to look for.

If you decide to take out another driver who currently holds a full licensce, depending how long they have held it they may have fallen into habbits such as driving a little too fast which may cause you to fail your test or not using signals correctly, not using your mirrors correctly again causing to fail! I know for certain, if I took the approach of asking someone else out to "teach" me to drive I certainly wouldn't be driving in a correct way to pass the test, I can't really think of anyone who could actually teach me to the level and accuracy that the testers are looking for(Parents, friends... I see them with all too many habits). The only person I know that can really teach me this is a driving instructor. Again.. there are acceptions, but I'm not going into them - Its late at night

stepbar

I'm only going on my experience. My problem was that I wasn't driving on a continual basis. Although I was taking lessons I wasn't driving outside of the lessons. Only when I got a car, I passed my test. And during that time I took no lessons (except on the morning of my test). My point is lessons are only beneficial to a point. At the end of the day, it's up to yourself to pass your test.