What do you think? Re: Driving school missed 2nd appt. - Let kid continue with them?

Hired a driving instructor that was recommended by two friends whose kids had used her, one very recently. Completely trusting their judgement, I hired her without question. Now I'm doubting it.

Background:

After my daughter passed written test, scheduled all three lessons while still at the DMV. I put them in my phone calendar as instructor wrote them in her book.

Lesson one - Instructor texted and emailed to confirm the night before. Arrived a few minutes late. Lesson went well, although she ended it about 10 minutes early.

Lesson two - was scheduled for today at 8am. I realized at 7:20 that no confirmation had been sent the night prior, so I texted instructor. Heard nothing back. Called her cell at 8:03, and left a voicemail message. Saw that she read the 7:20 text I sent her at 8:06, and she immediately texted back

"Unfortunately on my way my car broke down on 280. I am waiting on the tow truck hopefully it is nothing major and th emechanic can fix it but i will keep you posted"

I texted back

"That stinks. Can someone else cover my daughter's lesson this morning?"

She texted:

8:11 am "Give me a few min will call you the tow truck is here"

8:15 am "No I called they are at dmv"

After she didn't call me as she said she would, I texted at 8:22 -

"Well, things happen, but I'm not very happy that you were planning to have my daughter drive in a car that was about to break down unexpectedly. I'm also not happy that you didn't call me when you broke down so we weren't sitting around wondering whether you had forgotten the appointment. Are you going to find coverage for tomorrow's 11:30 am appt, or should I restart this process with another company?"

She read that at 8:22 and finally called me at 8:36 to apologize, said breakdowns happen all the time in her business, and to say she had her other lessons "on hold" and was with the mechanic waiting to see whether her car could be fixed so she could still have our lesson at some point today. I told her we had made plans around today's appt and could not do it later (true - games for both kids), and asked her to find coverage for the lesson tomorrow in a reliable car now and if that couldn't happen, I'd be asking for a full refund and would restart with another company.

________________________

I call B*** S*** but maybe I'm not being fair. Here's my thinking:

1. First and foremost, driving school vehicles should be impeccably maintained and breakdowns should be extremely rare!

2. IF a breakdown does occur, there should be an immediate call to the client to let them know about the delay and to offer either to find a covering instructor or to reschedule.

3. Even if your driving school's vehicles do breakdown "all the time" basic intelligence and business sense should prevent any instructor from sharing that unhappy tidbit as an excuse for not having done #2 above! (I want the instructor teaching my firstborn child to drive a car to have better than basic intelligence, btw.)

4. I think she is lying and forgot all about the appointment and made up the entire story. Why?

* no confirmation email or text the night before, which is odd given our two previous meetings (at DMV for written test and the first driving lesson)

* no call to let me know she'd be late, regardless of the reason. Any professional would take that step immediately if they were waylaid on their way to an 8am appt.

* See #1 above. What reputable driving school would not insist that the instructor vehicles are extremely well-maintained?! In my opinion, well-maintained cars don't break down - am I wrong?

Interested in your thoughts. Also, would appreciate recommendations for truly professional driving school anyone has had a great experience with in case I go with my gut and dump this one. Preferably a company with dependable cars.

Thanks.

Latest development -

text at 10:22

"The alternator went and the belt broke the ordered the parts and they came right in and the are almost done."

Does that happen to a properly maintained vehicle? My 10 yo minivan had some belt replaced during a regular maintenance.

She sounds totally unprofessional, and in someways acting like a teen herself, failing to confirm appoinments, and amking light of a breakdown. I would definitely find a different school.

Crap happens...expecting driving schools to have brand-new vehicles may be unreasonable, since they have to compete on price as well as reputation. Unexpected breakdowns do happen (but are a reason that can only be used once!)

Having said that, you are not going to trust or like this school again, so you need to decide whether to grit your teeth until this is done, or to delay your daughter a bit by changing companies.

If we were having this problem, I'd probably let my daughter (who is also currently taking driving lessons) decide which way to move forward. Chemistry with driving teacher matters.

How was the instructor supposed to know that the car was about to break down UNEXPECTEDLY? other than that, I would try another school, but in my experience with various businesses.bad customer service is rampant and you would likely have similar problems anywhere you go.

No matter how well you maintain a vehicle, things go unexpectedly wrong all the time....sure there are LESS unexpected problems, but there are problems... These cars are on the road for hours every day..driven by inexperienced drivers who may be hard on them.

Go ahead and get a different school if you want, but I think you are asking for a pretty high standard. They delivered the first lesson. They owe you no refund for that. They probably can't afford to have spare drivers and cars waiting around in case of breakdowns. They could communicate better, but I see that everywhere now. My bank is piss poor at communication, and they are a billion dollar operation.

I see it everywhere too, but let's be clear about the difference: a small driving school might suffer the impact of poor personal communication far more severely than a major bank will (and with far more opportunity--your relationship with a driving school is entirely personal).

As to the maintenance issue, sometimes alternators and/or the belts go. It's not really maintenance however, nor is it related to unnecessary or excessive wear and tear caused by new drivers. While there can be obvious warnings one's about to go, it's not always the case.