Golden State Driving School Inc. — Local services in San Diego

Lacking customer service, communication, and overall professionalism:

Paid for a full 3 lesson package. As someone who does not get many opportunities or time to practice on my own, I needed to get this experience out of the way ASAP.

Scheduling and communication was a constant issues. I would provide when I am available over the phone and set up appointments. I would several times be contacted DURING my work hours which I informed them of, just so they can update me that the time no longer works.

Before my first lesson, I was called the day before and asked if I was okay if there was another passenger in the car. I thought it was bizarre because they did not explain who the passenger would be at all. I agreed because I just wanted to get my lessons done; and I had little experience. The car for that lesson was also unkept and a bit messy. It went well for a first lesson and getting used to driving which I had not done much at this point. I was only given very simple feedback on what I was doing wrong.

Scheduling issues and communication issues get worse: The instructor who was giving me lessons was now experiencing car issues so I couldn't receive my second lesson for a while. They would tell me they would call me and update me about the situation but they never did (e.g. "I'll let you know by tomorrow" but no call would happen that day). I would have to be the one contacting every time just to let them know that the vehicle was still unavailable; and they did not suggest giving me another instructor until VERY much later. Even THEN I had to continue to go out of my way to schedule it myself since I did not get updated. This delayed my 2nd lesson by about 2 months.

My 2nd session however was very helpful! I had a different instructor who would explain CLEARLY how I can improve and let me know how to avoid mistakes instead of simply pointing them out whenever I made them. They seemed like a real instructor that used positive feedback and clear communication to guide a student instead of abrupt criticisms. Their car was also clean and they were very prompt with pick-up and drop-off.

I schedule my 3rd lesson a month or so later, and a week before that sessions I get a call asking to DELAY the appointment to the next day. I begrudgingly accept because I NEED to take these lessons and don't want to wait too much longer.

3rd Session: Instructor (the same as the first session) arrives about 5 minutes late. Car is just as messy still. We drive around possible testing routes. They give very little feedback or communication about improving my driving skills. Very similar to my first session, I only receive comments and criticisms when I make a mistake but never ideas or concepts on how to avoid mistakes or how to improve.

I am then asked to park in a parking lot for a store for them to use the bathroom for around another 5+ minutes while I wait. In addition to the tardiness and this break, the driving ends our sessions 10 minutes before a full 2 hours.

When asking what I can improve on, I am giving very simple answers without much elaboration or help on how to improve. I then ask about SEVERAL specific areas to improve on and they agree to each; which they for some reason omitted when I asked earlier on how to improve.

I wish I could have gotten the name of my 2nd instructor because I truly believe they are amazing; however my other experiences felt very unprofessional and very unconstructive.

I do not recommend overall due to communication issues and...

D perez did a great time teaching me how to drive. Didn't catch his name but the guy who answered the phone seemed kind! I had to miss my second lesson due to Covid and they charge a $50 fee for that (fine).

Here's the bad part. When I had to reschedule the only option to get a sooner driving lesson would be to meet at the Clairemont location with a different instructor. I agreed to it however I should've seen this as a red flag. I live 15 minutes away and I think it's odd that they wouldn't just pick me up the same way the other instructor had done. Especially because it was an agreement in what I paid for. However I wanted my license asap so I obliged. I made my way to Clairemont and I see one person outside of the unit which was Yolanda's daughter. She was kind and peaked into the unit to tell Yolanda that I was here. As I walk inside she just looks at me.... no hello, no greeting, no anything. She just asks if I have my permit and I said yes. Then she's just walking towards the door without saying anything so I walk out as well, awkwardly down the steps to a car that I'm not sure which is hers.

As far as a driving lesson I wouldn't even call it that. She seems so upset and angry and had an attitude with me despite me not saying much to her because I was uncomfortable. This is only my second driving lesson and she had an issue with every T-intersection we reached. I would stop and then pull forward for a secondary stop but before I got the chance to even stop... she would freak out before I even did the secondary stop! Without giving me a chance. It was super weird honestly. For the most part if I made a mistake she would just tell me what the mistake was... rather than telling me what the correction should be. I just remember thinking to myself I should just tell her I wanna stop the lesson... but it's something I had paid for in advance so I just had to keep going. I literally could not stop looking at the clock waiting for it to be over so I can get out the car with her!!

Mr Perez was patient and an actual teacher. I'm a late bloomer and getting my license but I feel bad for any teenagers who have to work with her. If you decide to use this service (out of desperation) request Dago Perez! Avoid Yolanda all costs. Not to mention she had the radio on while we drove which was extremely distracting. Very unprofessional. After making it back to the unit... she says you owe me $50 (the cancellation fee). Like I said the $50 fee was fine it's just the way she asked. She's very uncouth and lacks people skills which is needed for service jobs. I chose this specific location because I wanted to support a local black businesses but I...

My school offers free driving school with this company,so I did it. I did not purchase the time with the driving instructor at this time for my own personal reasons,so at the end of the course they refused to give me my certificate of completion,or to anyone else unless they had bought time with the golden state driving instructors,because they claimed that if i had not paid for that,then i did not have permission from my parents to be in that course(????). (This was not mentioned to the class,EVER,coming as a shock to everyone who did not choose to purchase time with their driving instructors) So my father had to drive down to their office,sign a piece of paper,and then they mailed my certificate to me. This establishment is extremely sketchy,I just bought my first scheduled time with an instructor and whoever answered the phone was very unprofessional,almost rude. Also,the instructor that came to my school was never on time,he even missed a few days (even though we were told that if we missed more than one day to not even bother coming back) So moral of the story,you get what...