Top five signs that you have a driving instructor from hell:
1) The Time-Waster:
He is always late and never apologises for lateness nor make up the time you have lost (yet paid for) due to his lateness. This type of instructor is not remotely interested in teaching you anything, let alone driving! This type of instructor is the "Time-waster instructor" and he is only interested in spending as much of your hard earned cash as he/she possibly can. Although severe and almost guaranteed lateness is a common tactic used by the 'time-waster instructors', there are other signs that your instructor is one of these.
Does your instructor insists of driving the car while narrating to you what he/she is doing, lesson after lesson? Does your instructor keep asking you to make stops to his/her friend's house, supermarket (so he/she can do their shopping), dentists for his/her appointment etc? Does he/she insist in teaching you the manoeuvres first (for those learning to drive a manual car) before you have even got the hang of 'finding the biting point'? If you answered "Yes" to any of the questions above then I am afraid to tell you that you have indeed a 'time-waster instructor'! Driving is something that we learn by 'practising' so the more we practise the better we get. However, if your instructor prefers to drive while you sit there listening to him/her telling you what he/she is doing, you will take a very long time to actually learn to drive.
In other words, he/she is deliberately stalling your progress. Thus wasting your time and money. Likewise if your instructor insists is starting you off by teaching you the manoeuvres then he/she is deliberately making sure that learning to drive will take you much longer and cost you more. Doing manoeuvres in a manual car requires an ability to control the crutch, this is something that takes practice and requires basic knowledge and confidence is using the clutch. Thus starting with the manoeuvres is making any progress in your basic driving skills and confidence very difficult to measure. The only remedy to these situations (and they are many more) is to find another instructor immediately and see if you can get your money back.
2) The Drama King/Queen:
This the type that has more stories than Jeremy Kyle! If you have one of these then brace yourself and your ears! This type of instructor can be entertaining initially but gets irritating very quickly. The trouble here is when the stories get in the way of the actual teaching and as you know you will not be judged by how elaborate the stories you heard are but your driving skills. It's also an indirect method of wasting your money so if the balance between chit-chat and driving is way off, and in favour of the chit-chat beware!
3) The Desperado:
Here we have the instructor that is desperate for your money and is trying to blackmail you into staying with him/her. The easiest signs to spot this type of instructor is by listening to the usually cringe-worthy sad stories about his/her life. If your instructor can't wait for you to get in the car and tell you about his struggles and how he/she may be losing their home, their kids etc., run! These type of instructors also tend to have very worn out/old cars, which they also use to demonstrate how hard life is on them and why he/she needs more students like you and so on. There is a serious side to this too and that is the instructor is most definitely not a good one hence he is broke. Don't waste your money!
4) The Gossip monger:
This is the type of instructor who likes to know everything about everyone (and by everyone I mean you!). He/she will tell you about the other students especially things that you may not even be interested in. This sort of instructor will also try to pry into your life as much as possible so beware. It is tricky sometimes to spot the "Gossip monger" than the others simply because usually students get familiar with their instructors and like any situation where one spends a lot of time with another person, it's inevitable that some private information will be exchanged. However, when the questions become very intrusive and uncomfortable, it might be time to have a word and if that doesn't work then leave.
5) The Mother Theresa/Gandhi wannabe:
Don't be fooled by the title for our next instructors from hell. Mother Theresa and Gandhi are obviously great individuals who are highly respected and rightly so. What I am talking about here however, is the instructor who is 'unable' or 'unwilling' to tell you when you do something wrong and how to correct it. This is the instructor who fears 'hurting your feelings' even though learning to drive correctly is what you are paying him/her to teach you to do. These type of instructors can seem overly friendly and almost in awe of you but be careful because you could spend a lot of money believing that you are learning what you should only to find out on your test day that your driving skills are no where near the standard required. The other problem with this type of instructor is that he/she will almost certainly tell you that you are ready for your test when you clearly aren't!
These are just a few examples of the extreme real life situations that students have experienced with driving instructors from hell. Luckily the driving instructors from hell are rare but watch out and choose your instructors carefully.
The scary thing is that such people can be found anywhere in the world, it's no wonder driving can seem like drag racing.
ReplyDeleteVery true and unfortunate but hopefully with more students becoming aware of what to watch out for, the less these instructors from hell will be able to get away with.
ReplyDeleteWhen I first met my instructor, I thought they were the best thing since sliced bread, very chatty and made my feel very comfortable, particularly as previous instructors from years ago have shouted at me and said I had no natural aptitude to driving- that put me off for lessons for years! Seven months on I realise I'm not progressing and all my instructor is interested in is chatting... I find myself opening up and chatting about everything, but this isn't helping... My instructor never picks up on my mistakes and just makes light of them, never encourages me to look in mirrors - I've started to do it myself and it's quite scary that I have no perception of the speed cars are travelling behind me.. My instructor seems like such a nice person, but after spending over £700 and making little progress, I am beginning to wonder if it's just a clever tactic on my instructors part to keep me at the same position as they seem to have no interest in my driving at all... I have had to practice for my theory test by myself- I have learnt loads, but I feel my instructor thinks it's one big joke! Perhaps it was my fault to by encouraging the chatting, it gave my confidence and it was nice to have someone to listen... Now all I want to do is learn to drive...
ReplyDeleteFirstly thank you for taking the time to share your experience. Secondly, I am so sorry to hear this and I believe that you already have sussed this guy out. He is wasting your time and money unfortunately but you can change all this. Please never, ever blame yourself for any of this. He is the teacher and you are paying him to teach you a skill, which he is not doing so it is NEVER your fault.
DeleteIt can be hard to let go of an instructor like this one because part of their 'trick' is to make themselves familiar to you to the point that you feel like they are your friend by finding out all your personal business. Friends are a lot harder to cut off than strangers but do not fall into this trick. He wants your money and has little interest in teaching you to drive, which means he will continue with the chat for as long as he can get away with it. He will also not hesitate to take credit for all the extra effort you are forced to put alone to progress in your learning.
Don't feel ashamed by the way, many students deal with these sort of instructors so you are not alone. I can tell you from experience, hence I wrote this article, I went through 3 instructors before I found a good one. I even had one who convinced me to book my test when I was far from ready and I failed that test horribly, so I learnt from my mistake.
The money you have invested so far is a lot for what you are not actually getting so don't waste anymore. There are so many good instructors out there and you will be amazed at the difference in your confidence and progress once you find one. It might take a few days or week to find one but it will be worth it. If you continue with this guy, it will take you years to actually learn to drive and even then you might not have learnt enough to actually be a confident, good driver.
I don't know where in the country you are so I cannot recommend any specific instructors, but if you start by asking people around you for recommendations as well as check reviews online for different instructors, you should be on your way to finding a really good one. I also recommend instructors who are part of a company rather than independent ones because you can ask to change instructor if you are not satisfied with the initial one at no extra cost with many reputable ones.
You really shouldn't be having to teach yourself any aspects of driving because it is unfair but also dangerous. It makes me angry to read all this extra effort you are having to put into this when you are paying someone who claims to be a driving instructor.
Don't hesitate to let him go, believe me he will be out there looking for his next victim soon enough unfortunately. Be prepared for him to pretend it is somehow your fault or try to use any personal info he has on you to guilt trip you. Don't fall for it and keep in mind that you are dealing with a con artist who is very experienced at conning innocent people like you and he is not your friend.
I hope this helps you and if you have any questions or want any further advise please do not hesitate to let me know. I shared these articles so that others can benefit from my own mistakes. Take care