Homer's Driving School

I have experienced some issues with Steve (as an instructor not a person) most of these issues I have decided to ignore and continue with the lessons as I am not the kind of person to hold grudges. Unfortunately, the latest issue I have had with Steve will be the last one for me. Steve would constantly remind me that I need to give him 48 hours notice of any lessons that I wish to cancel, this was fine, I understood, especially being self-employed in the past myself I understand that time is money. However, on this occasion I gave Steve 3 – 4 weeks notice that I will be on holiday from the 28th September – 04th October which we agreed to cancel all lessons during that week. It turns out that Steve turned up to my address on the 4th of October as he booked me in for that lesson without my consent, He had left me 2 voicemails saying that he will charge me for those lesson. I am sorry but we had a conversation on when both of our holidays were and agreed which lessons to cancel and I am not only annoyed but disappointed because I liked Steve and the last lesson I had with him was a really good lesson, I was driving well and he was complimenting me for it and I thoroughly enjoyed it. In all fairness Steve did book me in on the 4th of October for a lesson but I found this out the day he came to my address, but regarldess of this we still agreed that no lessons would be booked that week. It is not the money that bothers me it is the principle, the instructer made a mistake and they want me to pay for it while using the instructers excuse that he booked me in for a lesson on the 4th of october to try and defend themselves. As mentioned above, this is not the only issue I experienced while doing my lessons with Steve, Him wanting to charge me for a lesson that we agreed to cancel is what has made me decide not to continue having Steve as my instructor any more. As a person Steve is fantastic, however as an instructor there was issues. I am an honest person, when it came to driving if I made a mistake I owned up to it straight away. On two occasions Steve accused me for not checking my mirrors when I did, there has been times when I have not checked my mirrors but I have owned up to it and apologised for it as it was a mistake. For one of the times he accused me for not checking my mirror he had me pull over for 10 minutes which had wasted my own time and money which I was not happy about, especially when I 100% checked my mirrors. The second time he accused me for it I then failed to check my right mirror when entering a new road because I was too busy telling Steve that I checked my centre and left mirror when turning left. There was a time where I did make a mistake, but I was handling it safety and legally. Steve wanted me to go straight on where I accidently went from 4th gear to 1st which threw me off a little and I forgot that I was supposed to go straight on and decided to go left instead. However even though I made these mistakes I was still driving safely, I even indicated left because that was where I was going but Steve grabbed the wheel off me and tried to continue going on straight which not only caused us to nearly crash into a car who stopped at a give way line but caused problems for the car behind us as I indicated left and started heading in that direction. Yes I agree that I initially caused the problem but I was handling it safely and legally and I have no idea why Steve grabbed the wheel off of me as I did not put us in danger and was still in control. I hate to complain honestly, I dislike it very much as I mentioned above Steve is a great guy, but as an instructor who I am paying £30 an hour I am not satisfied, I tried to carry on as normal but the whole charging me for a lesson that we both agreed to cancel did it for me. I want to carry on with my lessons, I have a new job that requires me to drive as It is a 2 hour commute which is the reason I want to drive. I never once let Steve down on my lessons, I always showed up and paid, when he asked me for 48 hours hours notice to cancel, I gave him 3 – 4 weeks notice instead. I wrote an email to Homers who phoned me back later on that day, Mark who called me seemed like a decent person until I told him how I felt about the problem and then started to be rude towards me and said that he could not do anything about it. I am frustrated with this company, it had a rough start but I was starting to enjoy it and tried to blank out the minor issues and carry on and now because of this companies mess up I am the one that is paying for it. Sorry Homers, but I think your customer service is really poor. .Moreexpand_more

I recommend RED DRIVING SCHOOL instead of this terrible customer service. Refused to come to my lesson 15 mins later than the normal time simply refused to turn up. Then tried to fine me £60 for canceling my appointment even tho I wanted the lesson, when I refused to pay, they shouted and bullied my mom into paying. (who suffers with her nerves). Going to citizens advice. Awful snotty people on the phones shouting and making woman cry. Sarah is snotty and needs to learn some manners. Mark is a bully who shouts at old woman. Scum.