Mad Area Driving School

I learnt from Jim at Mad Area Driving and give it five stars! I had very little driving experience and wasn’t sure how many classes I would need. After the introduction class he suggested I do four classes instead of six and I was impressed with their honesty. The instructor was very patient and taught good responsible driving instead of just telling you how to get through your road test. He explained the reasoning behind the rules which made it easier to learn. I would recommend them to a friend !

The man was late for our appointment for about 30 minutes. I was already on the bus station planning to go home but he called, and then I was thinking, then maybe give it a shot.
He seemed like a one-​man company, even though he stated he has 4 people working for him. We left several messages and never got answer back, including the last one for cancellation because of his dishonest attitude.
I have major doubt for this «company”(?) because of this man, Jim, who tried to cheat me for paying more. When we called and made appointment, we were told the payment can be done for 1^st class. Then for the 1^st class, I asked him how we should pay, and was blamed for not bringing enough cash or check. I told him it wasn’t our fault because he didn’t make it clear, and also my husband was there to sort it out with you but you were way too late and my husband had to leave. In the end of the class, he told me I should pay him ⁷⁰⁄₇₅ for 1.5 hr class instead of 1 hr class for 49, the latter the price he gave us over the phone. His logic went like, 25 mins driving to/​from pick-​up and drop-​off points, which is both downtown school area. I challenged him saying it wasn’t what he said over the phone, and clearly we only had class for 1 hr. He then said I was «obviously very confused» 2 – 3 times.
Another thing that bothered me was, he was being a bit touchy while trying to be funny. No, it felt creepy. No no.
I immediately cancelled the next class, as long as I got home. Left message in his «company» and still got several calls on the day of the class. Probably never care to check his message?

Mad Area Driving School completely failed to provide me with any service whatsoever.
First, I tried to contact them by email, but all they would reply is that I needed to call them. If they won’t help customers by email, why do they publish an email address on their website?
So I took the extra time out of my day to call them, and we scheduled an appointment for an instructor to pick me up for a driving lesson. When the time came around for the lesson, I was standing at my living room window looking out over the street, waiting. Twenty minutes later, when there was still no sign of them, I called for an ETA, thinking maybe they were running late. No one answered their office phone, so I had to leave a message.
They never showed up, nor called for directions, nor made any attempt to contact me. I didn’t hear anything back at all until the end of the following day, after normal business hours. By this point I had given up on them and already scheduled lessons through another company, so I didn’t want to waste my time talking to them. But they called three times in less than an hour, so I finally answered just so they would stop interrupting my evening.
The representative on the phone identified himself as Jim from Madison Area Driving School (who I believe is the owner), then simply said, «You called?» He didn’t seem to have a clue who I was or what he was supposed to be calling me about, even though I had left a pretty clear message. I tried to tell him I was going with another company and no longer needed his assistance, but he pushed so I gave him the time and address of my appointment and explained that they had stood me up. He immediately insisted that they were there, I assured him that they hadn’t been, and he again insisted that they were. I said that I was there, so I KNEW they hadn’t been, and that I didn’t want to waste my time discussing it further; his only response was to hang up on me.
Now, even though I was frustrated, the owner could have salvaged the situation by simply apologizing for the mistake and trying to figure out how it happened — in other words, by showing even a modicum of basic customer service skill. Instead, he all but called me a liar.
Despite that, I still want to extend the benefit of the doubt and assume that the owner was just going with what the paperwork said, not intentionally lying to me. But if the instructor had, say, made an honest mistake and went to the wrong address, why didn’t they call me right then? They had my phone number. If he had just called, I could have given him directions and this whole issue would have been fixed before it even started.
I also want to make it clear that, though I was getting pretty frustrated with the phone rep (justifiably, I think), I remained reasonably polite throughout the conversation; I was not shouting, swearing or insulting him in any way, even though he was all but calling me a liar. Hanging up on me was completely uncalled for.
I can’t comment on their instruction technique, but their office staff seems to be completely incompetent, and their customer service couldn’t get much worse. The only way they could possibly fail more than they already have is if they try to bill me for the lesson they skipped out on (they haven’t so far, but I’m watching my mailbox).
If you need driving lessons, I’ve had a mostly positive experience with my new instructor at Four Lakes Driving School. But avoid Mad Area Driving School like the plague.