DAViD'S ACADEMY OF DEFENSIVE DRIVING

If I could - I would give this driving school 0 stars.

When I initially contacted the school asking about only in-car driving packages, everything was fine and I was given the $170 package for 5 lessons + car for test. So I chose that.

First lesson, the instructor calls me at the exact time the lesson was supposed to start and tells me he is leaving his house and to give him directions to my place - we were going back and forth for 20 mins as he couldn't find my address - then I had to walk over to the mall down the street and just meet him there. He told me we are going to have 2 lessons today not the one I originally thought. The entire lesson, this man keeps touching the steering wheel and will not let me park on my own. I may not be an experienced driver but I really didn't think any of my moves merited his hand on the wheel and taking over my parking job. I could honestly say that lesson was a write off as I did not get a chance to practice my parking once in this 2 lesson slot.
Second lesson, I get a text 10 mins after our lesson was supposed to start letting me know that he has car trouble and can't make it, will keep me posted and 'thank you for understanding'.. I waited all day to hear something, anything.. and just gave up and called the school to get my money for the unused portion of my payment.
The receptionist reassures me that she will talk to the driver and get back to me. Instead, I get a few nasty texts from the driver to call him if I want to see my money again. So I call him and arrange to have it dropped off.. of course it wasn't that easy. He shows up and is arguing with me, talking over me and proceeds to tell me he showed up twice at my house and kept knocking loudly on my door and I didn't answer - to which I responded that I did tell him at time of booking that I work night shift and sleep during the day.. again, the rude loud talking over my voice telling me he didn't know.
Don't waste your time with this school. Once you pay, you are not a priority... you will not get sufficient practice and be stuck with this man that has trouble showing up for appointments, keeps taking the wheel, and talks on his cell a lot during lessons.

I completed a full training course with them in the spring of 2012, passed the course test and thoroughly completed the required assignments. Yet this school called me in the fall telling me that I would not be given my certification or be considered for insurance discounts because I have not handed in my final assignment (which I did). I phoned several times and was passed from one person to the other, each telling me that they would call me back but nobody ever did. I do not know what else to do at this point. This is so irresponsible of the school…it basically seems that they misplaced my work or that my instructor at the time didn't hand it in. I payed for this service they stole my money.

Despite all the other complaints on how this driving school is terrible, I decided to give it a shot anyway.

The in-class was decent. If you pay attention and try to learn you will. Yes, they do use material from the 80s and 90s, but much of it is still relevant today.

The in-car was also very good, at least with the instructor I had. My instructor taught me well (although he did, on occasion talk on his cellphone during long stretches of driving where verbal input from him was unnecessary).

I have a friend who was taught by another instructor. This friend tells me that this other instructor is tardy and often cancels lessons.

My experience was horrible. My instructor had me running errands for him. I was yelled at and talked down to almost every time. Language barrier and the condescending tone my instructor had has totally put me off driving. I'm in the middle of lucking for an accredited school, any suggestions anyone?

I went to the Danforth location only taking in car lessons. They were $20/hr a lesson. The driver came late and he cut off the lesson at 35 minutes. In between the driving lesson he ran errands and picked up other students during my time. Very unorganized and not very professional. AVOID.

BEWARE. AVOID. THIS IS NOT AN ACCREDITED SCHOOL

http://www.mto.gov.on.ca/english/dandv/driver/gradu/revoked.shtml

I took the classes in the Finch location and I have to say that my in-car lessons were completely horrible. The driving instructor cancelled my appointments without notice and failed to show up for others. During the lessons, he would force me to drive him to locations for his own benefit (i.e fixing his signs, shop, etc).

After I requested to change my driving instructor, they replied only once to my email and did not reply to any other emails. They refuse to refund my money and will not issue my certificate either. Avoid at all costs.

I took the program at the Danforth location (Woodbine) and I agree completely with the comment that is posted below. If you are looking for a driving school that: (a) uses training materials that date back to the 1970's; (b) has maybe 2 qualified driving instructors, who are never available due to "family emergencies"; (c) cannot be reached at any time,except through an answering service; (d) will not provide you with a certificate, once you've completed your course and passed your driver's test, then you should seriously consider this school. If, like most of us, you would prefer to find a driving school that actually SCHEDULES your in-car sessions, has a sufficient number of qualified driving instructors and delivers on its commitments (you know, the ones you have paid for...), then I suggest you consider another driving school. Also, please feel free to check the ratings on the Better Business Bureau. You will see that David's Academy has actually registered their various locations with the BBB, so that they do not appear to collect all of the customer complaints against one particular location. As a former customer of David's Academy, I now take pleasure in removing their ads from TTC bus stops, etc., so others do not make the same mistake I did.

PLEASE listen to all the negative reviews and ignore all the positive FAKE reviews.

My fiancee and his sisters attended the David's Academy of Defensive Driving at the Whitby location in 2010/2011. They've completed all in-class & in-car hours, and got their G licenses without any problems. Issues started to occur when my fiancee started shopping for car insurance. Most insurance companies provide a discount for those who have completed in-class hours, and some of these companies require proof. My fiancee and I have been calling "DADD" since last year and NOBODY would return our calls. It seems like once they have your money, they will screen calls to avoid issues.

Today, I called again, I was polite and honest with the dispatcher. My fiancee just bought his first car and I would really like him to be under my insurance since its a better deal and we're all trying to save money these days. However, my insurance company requires proof. I don't want to yell at anyone, and I would drive anywhere to get this "proof." The dispatcher was honest and very understanding. She said "i've paged Mike, the owner, hopefully he'll call you back. We get alot of these complaints (people requiring documentation & other issues). Unfortunately, we can't do anything about it and we get the brunt of these complaints. We usually tell/direct people to call the ministry." I've even suggested that I would even drive to meet "Mike," perhaps giving him a face to look at would make it easier for him to assist us. The dispatcher said she has never seen him before. She also mentioned the ministry of transportation probably does not have a copy of this "proof" but they may try to contact "Mike" so that I do not have to, also to file a complaint and hopefully they'll do something about it.

After reading other people reviews, I filed a complaint with the BBB, consumer alert at CTV, and called the Ministry of Transportation that is responsible for listing accredited driving schools on their site. They are helpful at this point, hopefully we will get what we need in the end and that this school will no longer scam people.

My fiancee went back to the school only to find the sign is still there but the office space was no longer the school!

Lastly, this company is not BBB accredited! despite what their business details say above.

http://www.bbb.org/kitchener/business-reviews/driving-instruction/davids-academy-of-defensive-driving-in-scarborough-on-1184841

first thing i'd like to say is nice one DAoDD making a bunch of false accounts to increase the ratings of youur business. unfortunately the REAL students who have had problems getting certificates or money back or responses to complaints are going to speak over your many false accounts.
my son was a student there.. he did all of his in-class classes then it came time to do the in car lessons the instructor continually stood us up. not only did the guy not sho up he ignored our repeated phone calls to him by shutting his cell phone off. and not calling for weeks on end. he'd come up with some b.s. excuse that he had a family emergency and apologized for the previous mishap with the failing to show up to the lesson, and we'd make another appointment with him for my son to do his in car lesson. again. same thing. no show. phone off. after the second time i called their "head office" which turns out is an answering service. i got some older lady telling me to call back the next day. i asked if i could just leave a message for a manager and she said no there was no manager to speak to me that i would have to call back. i asked her to correct me if i'm wrong but isnt an answering service supposed to pass messages and take calls? every answering service i know of does that. i asked her for her name and she said i didnt' need to know that now call back tomorrow during regular business hours and she slammed the phone down on me. i called back and the same older lady answered the phone and i told her i wanted to speak to a manager immediately and she hung up on me again.
i figured i wasnt going to get anywhere with this old woman so i called again the next day when i got home from work. this time i got a very helpful woman named kim who explained to me that yes they are an answering service however yes it is their job to pass on messages. she took my name and phone number and told me she would page the owner to call me right back. so i waited a few hours, no call. i called again at around 8:30 pm spoke to kim again. she paged the owner again an i got no call again. the next day (wednesday now) i called again when i got home in the evening and spokke to kim again. at this point i asked her if she had many calls like mine of people who were unhappy with the driving service and she said truthfully there were quite a few. so i asked her what she suggest i do? she said what they've had no choice but to start telling people was to call the BBB or the Ministry and see how to go about filing a complaint. that was all she could suggest as she said the answering services hands were tied too due to the poor business practice davids was displaying. from what i got from kim, the ladies were constantly being dumped on by disgruntled students/parents wanting answers/money back/certificates, etc. these ladies are being used as a smoke screen so as the actual staff at Davids can rip off customers and not have to deal with it. its messed up and i cant believe their business is still in business.
in the end, i ended up getting my money back. after explaining to kim my situation as a single mom, etc she suggested why not use a false name and perhaps my son's cell phone number and send a message to the owner claiming that i was someone interested in registering and wanted to join and pay up front. guess what? after days of trying and many phone calls, i got a call back from the owner within the hour. he arranged to meet me the following Tuesday night to register me, which i went in, told him who i really was and that i wanted every cent of my money back.
bottom line STAY AWAY FROM THIS PLACE. COMPLETELY. kim if you ever read this i would like to thank you for your exemplary customer service skills you went above and beyond to try and help me over several phone calls/days as a PAID customer and took the time to explain to me your role in this place. your empathy and listening to my situation and the help you gave was much appreciated i was able to get my money back in full and we ended up re enrolling at Peters academy where things are run properly. what a night mare we had to go through to get our money back unbeleivable.
to the old woman who refused to help me and hung up on me twice withot even makeing an attempt to listen to my situation you have no customer service skills what so ever and maybe you should just quit your job thatyou seem to hate so much and stay inside your own house and wallow in your misery there. you have no business working with the public.
to mike and the real staff at davids, i really hope you get shut down you have no business praying on people for your own personal gain. sickening. i hope anyone who reads this really thinks twice. ok so the prices are affordable. so are peter's. go there. same price range, better results.

What a Horrible Experience this place was! Called the Answering Service and requested a Certificate and cannot get any help or call backs. The Answering service lady refused to give me her name and told me to go to the Better Business Bureau as this is an on going problem with everyone. I highly recommend you avoid this place. If anyone gets the number for Head Office please post it. If I get it I will. I will also file a complaint at the BBB.

I enjoyed the in-class as the instructor was very nice & tried his best with what he had as the materials they are using to teach was VERY old. My driving instructor was also very nice & professional & i WAS very happy with everything until i completed everything & wanted my certificate. I called the in class instructor & head office multiple times & finally head office told me i should go waste my time to walk into the location to request for it. I shouldn't have to do that. I should't have to be hounding them for the certificate as i have to work during the day & it's fairly far for me. Only after a filed a complaint with the BBB & called head office & expressed my disappointment, i finally get the call from the instructor advising me that he will get me my certificate the following week. I don't understand why they couldn't of done that in the first place. Once a driging instructor tells the inclass that the lessons had been completed, they should send you the certificate instead of me having to harass them for it. Overall i would recommend this place, BUT make a suggestion to harass them right after the course is complete

Even if David's school, was the best in the world I would not use them , just for the how they market themselves. Plastering their flyers on all public spaces across the city in violation of out laws. The people that are putting them up appear to be thugs, very persistence ,a sign of disrespect for most of us who see this as the' ghettoization'of our neighbourhoods

Honest Review:

In Class is GREAT. Mike the in class instructor is engaging, knowledgeable & fun to learn from. He made the in class sessions interesting.

In Car lessons, NOT GOOD. 2 Instructors:

#1 Instructor - Puts you down, erodes your confidence, yaks continuously on the phone with his friends while he is supposedly teaching you, last minute instructions, rough, unprofessional & was a highly traumatizing event being taught by him. I don't think he likes or respects women much, given his mistreatment of me. I quit after 1 lesson. He should quit driving instruction and be a telephone operator since he is so good at yakking non stop over the phone.

#2 Instructor: Someone I know was taught by this guy. I would call him a big time scammer, coz during the 1st class, he pressures you into paying him $200 for arranging your driving test in Lindsay, Ontario. He says it is easy to pass. Also very rough, very brusque, cancels & reschedules lessons at whim. If he schedules a class at 2 pm, he will say that he will be there soon.....and then he picks you up at 3:30 pm, citing this or that stupid reason. He does this all the time. Also my friend who sat for the G exam was only given 1 class on highway driving and that was it. During his exam to Lindsay, he saw #2 Instructor collecting money from 3 other students $200 each. He targets new immigrants and scares them into thinking they will not pass the driving exams in Toronto. He himself drives aggressively and curses non stop & honks aggressively at other drivers.

Be Warned!

I was looking around and found this school, and then I looked through the reviews... Looks like someone from this driving school made like 10 accounts or so and posted a bunch of "great" reviews within a few days of each other. Kind of stupid, and especially because all the reviews sound exactly the same.

I don't trust a place that has to make a bunch of fake names to sell itself.

David's Academy is awesome. Their new location is amazing.
I mean really, really amazing. I shopped around & did not find any other driving school better than this, as they are very professional and respect their customers. Stop in & see for yourself. My friends always talks about david's academy but i was looking for something with lower price, but i was wrong.. I ADMIT, until I actually took the course. Now I refer all my friends their. Awesome school, awesome location, awesome website, friendly & professional service too:)

keep up the good job David's ACademy

Hi everyone

i am here to share my experience with David's Academy, i did my 4 day course at this academy, and i can tell you that's one of the best decision i ever made, No regrets at all, totally satisfied learn real a lot. i went there just to get insurance discount, but came out as a defensive driver, so got double benefit..so if you are really want to be a defensive driver GOTO DAVIDS ACADEMY and insurance discount is an extra bonus..

make a decision but make sure make it right....

good luck in your driving

hi folks...

i would only that david's academy is one of it's type, great teacher, fun loving environment, friendly staff with great professional skills..

With David's academy will never go WRONG..and

also don't forget to tell your friends if they are planning to learn driving than David's Academy is the place to GO

Don't know what to write, as i was reading the comments of other students they have used all the good words, and i am agree with them, and can only say this that if you really want to enjoy your learning than just pick up the phone and call 416-495-0000,

easy number, easy people, easy learning and very easy to pass the road test as i passed mine in 1st attempt

I was very pleased by the amount of effort taken by the instructor to make the experience enjoyable and easy to understand. In the class you not only learn how to drive but also how to become a responsible driver. During the in-car driving lessons the instructor created a comfortable environment to learn. Over all I would recommend David's Academy to all new learner.

Thanks to the team of Davids Academy for teaching me defensive driving

David's Academy is awesome. Their new location is amazing.
I mean really, really amazing. I shopped around & did not find any other driving school better than this, as they are very professional and respect their customers. Stop in & see for yourself. My friends always talks about david's academy but i was looking for something with lower price, but i was wrong.. I ADMIT, until I actually took the course. Now I refer all my friends their. Awesome school, awesome location, awesome website, friendly & professional service too:)

keep up the good job David's ACademy

I'm glag, i finished this course and is now able to start my driving lessons. I also enjoyed everyone and learned alot.

Myself and my friend completed Beginners Drivers Education program at David's Academy of Defensive driving and we have the G2 licence.
we glad that we choose this driving school (recommended by another friend).
Everything is very organize and done professionally.
we believe this is the only school with high tech education as when we share our excitement with other friends who went to other school and they were surprised and we feel proud.

The instructors are very good and we got the satisfaction.

I recommend every body to check all the schools at the spot and see the difference

my friend recommend me to do my driving course at Davids academy of defensive driving, as she had a wonderful experience, so i went to Bellamy location in scarborough,

and i can tell you that it's the best advise of my friend, and now i will be recommending this school to all my friends..there are some surprises that you will find out only once you register with them..

excited to have my license in first attempt...

thanks to david's academy's team

keep up the great work

i went to David's Academy at their uxbridge location, and i found the course very interesting, instructor was knowledgeable, like my friend who went to another school and complaint about the classroom and instructor..

i would highly recommend this school to every1 who is interested to enjoy their learning..

good luck