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Bad driving instructors

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My first instructor was so bad that i knew after about 10 minutes in his car that i would never have another lesson with him again. When i got in i said 'alright' and he just completely blanked me (?) and because i was a bit nervous i was sitting there and told him i was a bit nervous and he replied 'I neeed your licence', just completely blanking what i was saying. He just seemed really moody aswell and was acting like he hated me and everything he said seemed really sharp and nasty. He was also looking at me with a nasty look, it was really bizarre. It was making me sick to my stomach tbh because my mom had paid £20 for this lesson and it was my first time and i honestly wanted to kill this guy but i never said anything because i really wanted to drive.

So he drove me to this quiet road and regaled to me in super speed about the clutch, the biting point, the indicators, the fog lights and the gears and he never even asked me whether i understood or repeated himself, that stupid prick just assumed that i'd immediately remember everything that he told me. He then made me turn the car on and find the biting point and because it's my FIRST time in a car, i obviously never got the biting point right the first time and was trying to find it and he was just getting really pissed off, like after his rapid fire introduction i was supposed to be an expert driver. We then took off and i went kind of slow obviously and he just looked so pissed off. We then drove back to my house eventually, with me just doing 2nd gear on a long road and when i was parking up that **** never told me to keep my foot on the clutch and i'm not going to assume that you're supposed to do that and so the car sort of shuddered when i took it off a bit and he had a right go, even though he never even told me to keep it on.

He then drove me back like a madman, never said goodbye and i got out and immediately phoned 4 wheels and made a complaint and perhaps this guy has a history of terrible instructing as they gave me 2 free lessons with a new guy, who i've been having lessons with now and who is great. I've made a few mistakes with him but when i do, such as occasionally not changing gears smoothly or not checking my mirror sometimes, he'll just say 'now mate, what are you supposed to do here?' in a friendly way, i'll reply and he'll just encourage me to do it next time and thanks to that i've become quite a good driver in a short space of time and i'm really grateful for it.
Original post by HELPING
lol my dads an instructor and wohoo he is amazing!! a model and Yamile Aldama got lessons with himmm... he teaches famous people..!


Yamile who now? :confused:
Reply 62
My first instructor was a horrible money grabbing leech. In 10 lessons I had only reached up to doing junctions and hadn't even learned emergency stop, let alone parking! She then wanted £250 for 10 more lessons. Her technique was to basically teach students as little as possible to get them to pay for more lessons that got more expensive each time. I told her she could stick her overpriced lessons up her backside. Thank god I got a new and much better instructor later on with a fixed price range!
Reply 63
I'm hard of hearing in my left ear unfortunately so it's hard for me to hear my instructor when he is telling me directions, especially on the dual carriageway where the engine is really loud. Anyway, he wanted me to turn off the dual carriagway onto the roundabout but I didn't hear him and stayed in the right lane and we ended up having to go to another town and he kept shouting at me telling me to listen to his directions and he was huffing and puffing in a really foul mood. I felt absolutely sh!t. On the way back home, he said he was really sorry for treating me like that and he will talk louder next time. I forgave him and he hasn't done it since. I won't ever forget it though! Now I am petrified when I go on the dual carriagway because I'm afraid he will shout at me again. I've got my test at the end of the month so I might as well stick it out for the time being.
Original post by tregan92
Hm, lots of things my instructor did. I was too stupid to see early on he was taking my £££ from me.

1. Charged me for first lesson (£23/hr), but my friends said their first lesson was free. Even his business card, which he gave to me incase I decided to return to him after I cancelled lessons with him, said on it 'First lesson Free'.
2. Only took me through test routes literally three times out of 53 hours of lessons - I would travel to far places and practice there, for what reason? To pick up his next student who happened to live far away. So I never had a chance to actually drive through the test routes nearly as much as I should have.
3. In the process of 'picking up other students' I would occasionally drive an automatic for half of the lesson since the next student who I am 'going to pick up' drives an automatic - I paid for manual lessons. My fault for not talking about it, but again I was stupid.
4. Promised me discounts for booking a block of 10 lessons; never saw that.
5. This is where it really gets annoying. He would book my tests AT THE WRONG DATES; literally 2 months late. I would tell him there were test dates in (December) but he would intentionally leave it till 3 weeks later to book the test dates and then say there were non available. I remember he even had to nerve to try and push me to do more lessons up until the (too late) test date.
6. When he tried to correct my test date he booked it at the WRONG TEST CENTRE and when he tried to correct it, he would leave it, you guessed it, 3 weeks later so the test dates become really late. More lessons = more £££ for him. Even had the nerve to tell me 'Not to check online regarding my test date' :confused:
7. Once test was booked, I suddenly became the worst driver in the world, telling me there is a speed camera coming up (when I'm driving at a constant 28mph when limit is 30mph?), telling me I indicated a second too early, telling me when to change gear (after 40-50 hours I know how to change gear...) and then using this all against me saying I am not ready for the test and that we should postpone it and do more lessons
8. He also made me do a reverse around the corner at nightime in a dark alleyway with no streetlights. I literally couldn't see the kerb, looking in the back window is pointless since its all black, I had to get out to see. For some people this may be OK but to me it seemed he was just trying to have a reason to tell me I'm not good enough. I would be able to execute the manoeuvre but he would tell me off for not being exactly x cm away from the kerb at all times.
9. He would talk on his mobile whilst I am driving, this is actually illegal
10. I told him I was going to cut lessons short and start practising in my own car: you can imagine his response. Apparently I should not drive any car OTHER than his own (instructor's car) as I will, all of the sudden, be unable to drive his (instructor's) car. And this was after I had 50+ hours practice in his car.
11. Such a hypocrite, about 30-40 lessons earlier he pulled up outside my house in a completely different car, didn't tell me about it, made me 'practice' in it for 2 hours, charged me £46 and then switched back to his old car. I had to spend important lesson time getting used to his new car; I was very early in my learning stage at this point.
12. One time I was waiting to emerge into a major road (from a minor road), and there were lots of traffic on both sides - so I couldn't enter. Literally there was no way to enter without having an accident. He then had a go at me for 'not making any effort'. I said to him I can't emerge its too unsafe and there are no gaps. His reply? Yes, but, you should move you car up a bit past the line to show you are interested in emerging. WTF:confused:
13. He would use my lesson time to run his little errands, going to the bank, his house (like 25 times literally, half the time I am driving there), etc
14. I don't know why but I have caught him a few times with his eyes closed whilst I am performing a manoeuvre like reverse around the corner or reverse parking..


:eek: I can't believe he put you through all that!
Reply 65
Well, this morning i got shouted at ALOT and i mean lots, whole lessons was shouting/moaning.

I've had 50hrs + done 1 test (failed)/got another booked but this is going to be my last attempt.

I'm sick of the woman and really dislike driving to the point of being a bag of nerves before EVERY lesson. It's my fault for sticking with her but lesson well and truly learnt.
Original post by Spammich
Well, this morning i got shouted at ALOT and i mean lots, whole lessons was shouting/moaning.

I've had 50hrs + done 1 test (failed)/got another booked but this is going to be my last attempt.

I'm sick of the woman and really dislike driving to the point of being a bag of nerves before EVERY lesson. It's my fault for sticking with her but lesson well and truly learnt.


That's horrible, if I had someone shouting at me whilst I was driving I wouldn't be able to concentrate! Get a new instructor if you don't pass on your next attempt.
Reply 67
Original post by amyshamblesxx
That's horrible, if I had someone shouting at me whilst I was driving I wouldn't be able to concentrate! Get a new instructor if you don't pass on your next attempt.


It sucks! i think my driving is suffering due to lack of confidence and the fear of getting shouted at :frown: i do make stupid mistakes but when all she does is shout.. i've sorta grown immune to it? I think the only "good" i got was for reversing around a corner correctly :/
Definately changing instructor!!!!
Original post by Spammich
It sucks! i think my driving is suffering due to lack of confidence and the fear of getting shouted at :frown: i do make stupid mistakes but when all she does is shout.. i've sorta grown immune to it? I think the only "good" i got was for reversing around a corner correctly :/
Definately changing instructor!!!!



do you not also find girls have their complete bitchy days? with mine she can be in a GREAT mood then others im like dear god help me :rolleyes: i hate driving lessons,just wish i could have already passed my test
Reply 69
My first instructor was snappy and easily agitated, I got rid of him quick. The instructor I passed with, was real friendly, calm and paitent...
Reply 70
Original post by JustDisturbia
do you not also find girls have their complete bitchy days? with mine she can be in a GREAT mood then others im like dear god help me :rolleyes: i hate driving lessons,just wish i could have already passed my test


I agree! one day she's fine talking about random things the next she's biting my head off and proper grumpy. Maybe it's their age haha :tongue:
Reply 71
I had a great instructor.

I was not a confident driver, but she made me take my test when she thought I was ready and passed first time!

Always on time, never lost her temper even when I couldn't park.

She said the hardest part of her job was dealing with people who thought they knew it all.
My first one wasn't necessarily bad, was just really sexist about women and always commenting, no issue with driving but I was so uncomfortable when he'd be like 'COR I'D GIVE HER ONE WOULDN'T YOU?!' I was like 'uhh'

Yeah he got canned for a lovely woman instead, good times :smile:
Reply 73
i think my driving instructor doesn't like me very much. was doing a parallel park on my own, which i did well and the wheels were centimetres from the kerb. he told me that's how far a professional would do it but its too close for me. he then proceeded to guide me in and it was too far out. maybe he should just let me do it.
Reply 74
Well if u can get the car that close to the curb there is nothing wrong with it...u would also pass with the amount of space between car and curb when you were guided. Maybe the instructor just didn't really come across how they wanted to and u saw it as being mean? Maybe they are just like that in general? I would say if you're not happy with them request a new instructor

This was posted from The Student Room's Android App on my HTC Sensation XE with Beats Audio Z715e
Reply 75
I missed all of the previous posts in my last reply as I'm still not used to the app form of tsr sorry :s-smilie:


However I've been quite lucky with my instructor..he honestly tells me what he thinks which I'm happy with. I've got a feeling my assessor will be a bit of a dick though :frown:

This was posted from The Student Room's Android App on my HTC Sensation XE with Beats Audio Z715e
Reply 76
I have personally had a terrible experience with a driver from One2One Driving School in Newcastle-Under-Lyme. The instructor was very quick to get angry yet slow to explain what needed to be done. He often gave sarcastic comments and answers to my questions, which when I payed over a grand for him to teach me, is utterly disrespectful. He even questioned my sexuality! He made me really upset all the time. I wanted to know if I could get a refund of any kind after the first 6 hour day, but he refused. I failed my test with him, went to a local person with good reviews from friends and passed on my first lesson with him and became a much better driver because of it. I'm not sure if I should put in an official complaint about my first driving instructor, do you think I could have a valid claim?
I started learning to drive with an absolute BITCH who was a family friend, so it was mega awkward. If I did anything wrong she would literally shout at me, like, " never, EVER do that again, it's SO dangerous!" even for little things.

Luckily, I switched drivers so I could learn in the town (me and instructor no1 were doing the country lanes around my house) and I got an absolute legend of an instructor. An 'east end geezer' with an earring called Dave, whose laid-back personality worked really well with my nervous "ohmygod what's that car doing? Which lane which lane WHICH LANE?" personality :wink:. After lessons from Nov '10 til March '12 (!!!), I passed with 2 minors.

My first instructor is teaching my sister's friend to drive, and said friend has failed five times in a row, because the instructor only took her to the town we do the test in, about two times before the test!
Reply 78
I had a pretty crappy teacher for my first teacher, she didn't teach my a single maneuver and i had about 25 lessons, i don't think it was me though because we would drive on 70 mph roads, i could do roundabouts and drive in general, but had yet to reverse a car :/
My first instructor was really horrible, she'd shout if I stalled, called me useless & gormless, never taught me a manouevre in the 5 months I learnt with her & I remember once I was trying to pull away into a road but forgot to take my handbrake off & couldn't work out why the car wouldn't move, she then screamed that my handbrake was on and started huffing & muttering angrily to herself. Safe to say after that lesson I told her I couldnt continue, went with another instructor & am now almost ready to take my test.


This was posted from The Student Room's iPhone/iPad App

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