A Complete Driver Safety Center

Review: This is the not where you want your teens to learn how to drive. My son took his 6 hour driving lessons back in February 2014. The driver handed him his temporary permit and said I just got this from Lodi. So my son and I both think we are done and we have been practicing since then. And the plan was when my son turns 17 this August he will get his diving exam pass and be done. My son called this driving school and attempted to set up the driving test date for the day after his birthday in August. The woman who answer said your parents are suppose to take you to Lodi and validate the permit and then the test is six month from that date. Needless to say my son was very upset. I pick up the phone and call the school and I'm immediately brought back to the day I signed him up in February that the document I signed stated after the 6 hrs it's the parents responsibility to take the child to DMV and validate the permit and get a date for the driving test. The woman then referred to mail that came to my home back in February that states to do this validation. She then tells me that DMV Has never made exceptions to the 6 month rule. Then I say well if you have had issues like this with other children maybe your process is broken.

The icing on the cake was this afternoon when I am at the DMV explaining the scenario to the clerk. She shook her head and I asked has others using this driving school had issues too? She politely said no comment. Then the clerk next to her couldn't hold back and said they are the worst. All the other schools Shepard the kids and parents through to completion. I wish someone would have warned me about this company as I would have definitely chosen another school. Now I'm sitting with a 17 year old disappointed son because they didn't fix the hole in their process. I admit I should have been more on top of this situation but when you pay good money for this serviced they should have went the extra mile. Parents Beware!Desired Settlement: They refund the money I paid for my son's 6 hour driving class and they change their process to ensure this doesn't happen to any teenager again. Followups calls etc to the parents who actually paid for the lessons to ensure everyone is on the same page. Other schools own the whole process. It's no that difficult to add in a last step.

Business

Response:

Fair Lawn Driving School has been in business for 55 years

and we take great pride in the quality and integrity of our company. We also

take very seriously our responsibility to provide students with a full six (6)

hours of driving instruction and do not use valuable driving time for any other

purpose. Upon enrolling your student in the 6 hour program with our school you

signed a Parental Agreement that clearly states that you (the parent) are

responsible to validate the permit at the completion of the 6 hours of

instruction. We have taken the liberty to forward a copy of this document to

you via mail so that you can review the information and your signature. Please

be advised that we offer validation service for a fee and we are happy to

provide it to those customers that request it. If you had any questions

regarding validation the office would have been happy to address them as we are

available Monday-Friday from 9am to 5pm and Saturday 10am to 12 noon. It is

unfortunate that you did not validate the student’s permit upon completion of

their lessons but it was not the fault of the school.

Consumer

Response:

[redacted]

I am rejecting this response because:

I admitted clearly in my write up that I should have followed up more closely but the school NEVER mentioned they would handle my sons validation if I paid extra for it. In the words of the motor vehicle staff fair lawn driving school is the worst. Also when the representative from fair lawn driving school dropped off my sons permit they handed it to my 16 yo son and mentioned nothing about it by being valid until brought to motor vehicles. They should add a final step in their process.