Intensive driving course, please recommend a company?

Illuminist

Illuminist

Illuminist

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I went with a company called bumpers intensives in Decemeber, to cut a long story short they took my money and kept delaying and re sceduling the lessons and test over and over and over until Febraury where i eventually gave up and took took them to small claims.. and won.

This company looks completely legit, the website the reviews, its only when you dig deeper you see they do this to a few people, the rest are either very happy or fake reviews.

Trouble is now when i google intensive courses I can't trust any of them however legit they seem,
does anyone know of a reputable company that does them, i am based in Surrey so Ideally someone round here, but any advise or suggestions would be welcome.
 
Most intensive courses are dodgy especially the ones from Blackpool that claim to have you done and dusted in a weekend.

Just find a decent instructor and book loads of lessons like 2 x 2hr lessons a week or something like that, it's what I did when I was learning to drive. Also pay for lessons individually so it gives the instructor an incentive to come and give you a lesson when you want one. I found when you block book and pay up in advance they have got your money already so you end up working on their terms.
 
LeeUK said:
Most intensive courses are dodgy especially the ones from Blackpool that claim to have you done and dusted in a weekend.

Just find a decent instructor and book loads of lessons like 2 x 2hr lessons a week or something like that, it's what I did when I was learning to drive. Also pay for lessons individually so it gives the instructor an incentive to come and give you a lesson when you want one. I found when you block book and pay up in advance they have got your money already so you end up working on their terms.
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Unfortunately it happens - I had passed my bike test and wanted to do my car test a year later, my instructor didn't want to do 2hr lessons as i'd 'not be able to concentrate on driving for that period', then he didn't want to do 5 days a week as it wouldn't be 'fair on other students'. Strangely when I asked if he could recommend an instructor who would actually like the work if he didn't want it, I could book as many hours as he had free any day I liked. Remember if you block pay, book your lessons at the time.
 
Avalon said:
Unfortunately it happens - I had passed my bike test and wanted to do my car test a year later, my instructor didn't want to do 2hr lessons as i'd 'not be able to concentrate on driving for that period', then he didn't want to do 5 days a week as it wouldn't be 'fair on other students'. Strangely when I asked if he could recommend an instructor who would actually like the work if he didn't want it, I could book as many hours as he had free any day I liked. Remember if you block pay, book your lessons at the time.
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If they let you book all the lessons in one go on a block booking then that's cool. I've had friends who have paid in advance for say 10 or 20 hours only for the instructor to only allow them to have 1 hour or 1.5 hour a week. Well that is no way to get on wise you won't learn anything for months.

When I was having 2 hour lessons my instructor said it was better as you learn more in that time.
 
LeeUK said:
If they let you book all the lessons in one go on a block booking then that's cool. I've had friends who have paid in advance for say 10 or 20 hours only for the instructor to only allow them to have 1 hour or 1.5 hour a week. Well that is no way to get on wise you won't learn anything for months.

When I was having 2 hour lessons my instructor said it was better as you learn more in that time.
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This was th problem I booked all the lessons in one go and the test date back in december for january, when the morning came i woke up at 7 for my first lesson at 8am, at 7:10am the driving instructor texted me that he hit a pot hole and his car was out of action, we re scheduled for 2 weeks later, at which point he ignored me trying to say he sent me an email which he didnt, then rescheduled and when the time came he said that the email said different date, I then spoke to him on the phone and confirmed a solid date, he then decided that the month was the wrong month and i was mistaken even though I had texts and spoken on the phone to confirm the date, it was then the end of march when i gave up and took them to court, only now at the beggining of june (after calling them and sending letters recorded deliver asking for a refund) that they agreed to refund me. It was a nightmare i never want to go through again, need a reputable firm that does intensives or at least can cram it in a month.
 
DAIR said:
What sort of driving course are we talking about?

If you're talking performance driving then I would suggest CAT Driver Training.
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Just normal everyday driving lessons, but i want to get it done quick and done as I ve had over 20 hours already with a standard driving company, but the intructor left and when they replaced him they were always too busy to arrange lessons, so went for the before mentioned option
 
DAIR said:
CAT might still be able to help.
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Probably not if he doesn't have a license?

As for booking lessons, 2 hours is the best thing to be booking imo. 1 hour flies by and by the time you've got fully comfortable with everything that day (especially if you're doing 1 lesson a week) the lesson is over. With 2 hour lessons you'll actually be learning to drive the car.
 
Illuminist said:
I went with a company called bumpers intensives in Decemeber, to cut a long story short they took my money and kept delaying and re sceduling the lessons and test over and over and over until Febraury where i eventually gave up and took took them to small claims.. and won.

This company looks completely legit, the website the reviews, its only when you dig deeper you see they do this to a few people, the rest are either very happy or fake reviews.

Trouble is now when i google intensive courses I can't trust any of them however legit they seem,
does anyone know of a reputable company that does them, i am based in Surrey so Ideally someone round here, but any advise or suggestions would be welcome.
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When you finally pass you need to come down my way to enjoy some high class hookers and take your little one to the beach (obviously these are mutually exclusive as you might not want to take the little one to see the high class hookers). Also we won't be sharing, I know the forum is a sausage fest but that doesn't mean life has to be. I have nothing to add from a driving perspective other than to say get it done.
 
InvaderGIR said:
Probably not if he doesn't have a license?

As for booking lessons, 2 hours is the best thing to be booking imo. 1 hour flies by and by the time you've got fully comfortable with everything that day (especially if you're doing 1 lesson a week) the lesson is over. With 2 hour lessons you'll actually be learning to drive the car.
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Yep 2 hour lessons are best as by time you have done some driving to the test route area and done one or two manoeuvres it's time to come home again. I found having 2 hours gave plenty of time to do everything in a lesson and to have it sink in. I always just booked my next lesson at the end of the lesson usually for 3 or 4 days time. I used to work all different times back then so there was always a suitable slot to fit in.
 
Meaker said:
Independent local instructor worked for me, had my license after 18.5 hours behind the wheel including the test.
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Weirdly I had roughly the same amount of hours think it was 18 plus the test. Mind you that was like 17 years ago now and things do change.
 
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