Akademia Driving School

Love these guys they really make you feel comfortable while driving, great teaching method and they help you get the job done! I highly recommend Akademia driving school I just passed my road test. Thanks guys

I don’t usually Unilocal but felt I had to here!!! Beware of this place! Don’t come here!!! Worst service I have ever gotten literally. Today was about above 80 degrees hot. I Walked a lot and was dehydrated which led to a headache. I was relieved when I entered Akademia driving school because I saw they had a sofa and air conditioner. That was until… The man behind the desk asked if I needed help, so i told him I wanted to know the prices so he gave me a pamphlet and told me to take a seat. Since I was super tired and dehydrated I took my time to calculate and figure out what packages or individual price best fits my need and what I can afford along with how to fit it into my schedule. The man saw that I was looking at the pamphlet and saw me sweat. Instead of offering me water or atleast say «take your time» like normal professionals would do, or just humans for that matter. He said to me «I feel uncomfortable that your taking your time to think and if you don’t want the service here I suggest you to go out and come back when your ready.» I was in shock because I took about five minutes and I WAS THE ONLY PERSON THERE! The place was not even busy for me to be bothering by sitting and looking at the prices trying to figure out what is best for me. Little that he knew how much I had walked just to get there and the fact that I didn’t even buy my work clothes just to make sure I have the money to pay him the full price. I was a committed customer .he didn’t know how bad my head felt for me to have to walk out and find another place to sit so that I can continue to look at his pamphlet to see what is best for me is not right and inhuman. I am a nice female nurse who does not look intimidating nor the type to be seen as if I’m a waste of time. If anything everywhere I go people find me kind and loving. I must say there is a first for everything I have never been treated this way. I have never seen such an unprofessional person like himself. If anything I feel bad for him because he is money hungry and wants you to decide fast what to do, instead of being polite as other businesses would have been. I hope if your reading this that you learn how to run a business and understand that customers should be treated with respect and not like garbage. I suggest anyone to instead go the driving school 806 Lexington ave, New York, ny, 10 065 and call 212−752−0100 wow what a difference!!! Thank god I googled this place after I left ! I really need my license and they where professional and super kind to me. Good luck

Just passed my road test thanks to this school. My intention when signing up for lessons here was not to make friends with any of the instructors yet they were both professional and supportive. I wanted to learn how to drive not simply pass the test. And that’s what I got.
I believe people expect everything to be sugar coated when they get here. Do your research, come in, be prepared, and be timely. I had Julio and Manny, both were great, honest and helpful.
Thanks! I’ll be back for my motorcycle license!
–M. M.

I should’ve read the reviews below, as I had the exact experience. The neanderthal looking person behind the desk was just rude from the get go. I didn’t give him a chance to be more rude as I just picked up myself and left, this was within literally 2 minutes of him opening his ignorant mouth. Dude whether you work there or you own the place or even just sleep there, you don’t need to act like such a catch u next thursday. Fine you have a crappy life and no ambitions but that’s not a reason to be a lil bee.
The only good thing is that you get to know what kind of «school» this is right at the get go, so you don’t end up wasting time and money

Ummm we didn’t even get to the part of me purchasing your services I asked for the price of a lesson outside the package and you lost it because you posses no professionalism and lack a business mentality. Your customers are your entire profit. I can tell by your response to me and others who have reviewed you negatively that you really should hire someone to deal with the customers and you just collect the money. Communicating with humans seems to be an issue for you. There are way more reputable places than this Lexington avenue hood spot. Oh and thanks for your advice I tried real driving school where they pick you up at your home and drop you off. First class driving school has real customer service and real professionals. May be you should call that owner get pointers on how to be a real business.

So I’m re-​writing my review because my initial review was flagged. Want details? You get details. :)
This business doesn’t deserve any
stars. Why not? WELL…
The dude at the front desk is very VERY HIGHLY rude (I believe he is the owner). I came here with my boyfriend and his mom to ask questions about the school just to make sure our hard earned money is given to the right business. Immediately, the dude at the front desk started to get really defensive when we were asking fair questions. One question she asked was if the school was licensed by the state, and his answer was «Why wouldn’t we be.» Dude, it’s just a question. Customers have the right to know if they are spending their Benjamins on the best business around, which is NOT Akademia. We came here planning to sign up for the school, and left thanking the heavens we dodged that bullet. PLEASE invest your money in a driving school with professionalism and standards, because there are none once you walk through these doors (take a look at the 65+ «not recommended» reviews). I will never understand why a business owner is bothered by potential clients for asking reasonable questions…
Run away people, run away!!!
*IMPORTANT NOTE: In my initial review I ended it with «Um, can somebody open a café in this space?» The business owner replied «How about a fried chicken joint?» … Hmmm.

Response to John’s (Bitter Spanish man with the scar on his face, sitting at the front desk) Unilocal comment:
1. You (the business) are supposed to earn the trust of me (the customer). Not the other way around fool.
2.Thank you for proving my point of how rude you are. I was simply asking questions about your business (respectfully), and instead of answering you wanted to be a jerk. Well, this is why you lost (and will continue to lose) business. Good luck Sir.

terrible customer service hung up the phone on me while i was trying to schedule a lesson

The manager/​owner is a total douche with as it turns out too much free time on his hands (see the idiotic responses to all negative reviews). Zero customer skills. I regret stepping my foot into this establishment. Don’t bother.

This is a great driving school. I would definitely recommend it to anyone who is interested in quality service at a great price. I don’t agree with any of the negative reviews. All the instructors are good at what they do and make you feel very comfortable during your lessons. The manager is also very nice.

I honestly don’t understand the negative reviews. How are most of these reviewers even qualified to review something they haven’t tried? The majority of those people haven’t even taken a driving lesson and are only complaining about the manager’s attitude… sure he may come on a little strong but Leoni just doesn’t like wasting anybody’s time (his and especially his customer’s), which I absolutely appreciated.
Now, for someone who has only driven for like 10 minutes in someone’s backyard, I was very nervous to drive on the streets of Manhattan. Therefore I opted for the beginners package which came with 10 lessons, the required 5 hour class, an appointment for the test and a car as well. And for a great value too! Within minutes of my first lesson, I felt like a natural and was already planning my next road trip!
My 10 lessons were taught in rotation between three very knowledgable drivers: Darwin, Julio and Santiago. All of them gave me different tips and taught me different lessons, so the knowledge I gained at the end of my package was astounding. Also the vibe with each of them was so light that it never felt like a class, it felt like having a friend ride with you and help you along the way. And I’m proud to say I got my license on the first try!!! (which is amazing because imagine having to wait that long a$$ line to take the road test again… oh hell no!)
I’m so grateful to all these guys for boosting my confidence on the road and for making me love driving. This all happened in December so this review is long overdue and I apologize… but I’ve been busy driving, haha! ;)

I went to this school because the price was reasonable and it was near my work place. The instructors are hit or miss. Ask for Santiago to teach you if he’s available. Be proactive, do your own research on driving (a checklist used by the examiners is available online) and ask questions. Schedule your classes outside rush hours as they make you practice in the streets of manhattan (which i think is good but horrible during rush hour). Schedule a class before or a few days before test day. Bring something to munch on on test day as you’ll have to wait for the others to finish their tests before you can leave the testing site (~3 hours). I feel the management wants to project an air of professionalism but a little bit of flexibility and kindness never hurt a business.

Absolutely not. I called a few minutes ago to ask if they had availability for the next three days so my husband can go get lessons. The owner (i’m sure the owner as I have used this driving school before) picked up the phone and was extremely rude and rushed right off the bat. I asked for availability, and before I could tell him times I was asking he says there is a time slot today, before I could say anything else he places me on hold, didn’t even hear a «hold on». Comes back on and I ask him about the next three days, and he is rushed and says «Can you come in today?», I couldn’t I told him. «You HAVE to come in today to pay upfront for the classes like I told you before» — hold up… what? You never said that, you just told me there was a time slot today! — «Can’t come in today but…» «Sorry, can’t help you, can’t be done!». «But I did it before, just came in the same day…» «Can’t help you». I was so pissed at his attitude I told him I was going to find another company and hung up.
Seriously… you have a potential customer and you act like a moron on the phone? Actually not even a potential customer, but a past customer (for 5 hr class and car for test) who was actually OK with your services in the first round, albeit a few mishaps along that route too.
You sir, need to look at your customer service skills. You’ve now lost on a guaranteed 500.00 + more lessons if they were needed. We’ll be happy to give our hard earned money to a more professional and well mannered establishment and staff. On top of that, I will never recommend your establishment.

I am editing this comment as I notice that more and more people experienced something very similar to what my wife experienced. Alexandra A., Steiner C., thank you for posting these useful review.
I also notice, thanks to these reviews, that the Owner seems to consider that many people state utter lies… I was told the exact same thing. It is funny to see how anyone who would dare criticising this business is, according to the owners’ words, telling utter lies…
So first, here is what happened to us:
Mid-​august, my wife called because she wanted to use the services of Akademia driving school. On the paper, it looked like a professional service on top of a good deal.
She’s not a US native. It means that she doesn’t speak perfect English though a fairly good one. She was trying to understand the process and she decided to call the driving school to see when she could take her 5 hour class and proceed with the rest. She was at that time 8 months pregnant and she also wanted to check if it was safe and fine to take driving lessons so late in her pregnancy. I was quite astonished to learn that the person who answered was not only rude in his behaviour, but also hang up on my wife without providing the requested information. She assumed it was a mistake and called back, but then the person reacted very aggressively shouting «how many times are you going to call». Well, it was the second time she was calling, and the first time was when this guy hang up on her. This is unacceptable.
The business describes itself as «high class service». I call this poor service.
It says that they are «humble». Where did they get such standards? And I notice that when you go through the bad reviews, Akademia Driving School always seems to have a good excuse. An attitude, that I don’t see as very «humble»…This time was a disaster.
Second, the owner answered to me at that time. So the answer received was along the following lines:
— «You were mis-informed…we are very busy so we keep conversations to the point… Me telling her „how many times you’ll call“ is an utter lie.»
My answer: I really don’t see the point for my wife to lie to me… Just like I don’t see the interest of other reviewers to lie in their review, despite what the owner says.
And I do notice that the Owner implicitly acknowledges that he hang up on my wife.
— «Mr H Being humble does not entail that we would not answer a review based on lies or a compromised recount of an event you were not even present when it occurred. ««how many times are you going to call»…this is Mr. H an irresponsible lie with the sole intent to defame us or perhaps a not so accurate translation of what in fact was said to your wife (Because I assume she recounted the all incident to you in french).»
My answer: It is true, I was not part of the call and so my wife could be lying. However, and as I replied to him, I don’t see my wife’s interest in lying: she was calling to get one of this schools’ package. Though I see the interest of the owner in denying. So I tend to believe my wife on this. She did recount the incident in French, but she also knows when someone is being rude or not.
— «and trying to portray me as an insensitive individual by bringing up irrelevant facts in a 1 minute phone call conversation is totally inadequate to say the least Mr. H.»
My answer: I don’t know you, so I won’t make any judgement on you. I will just make a judgement on the way you acted at that time… And I do notice, based on other reviews, that I am not the only one to perceive this.
So potential customer, I would pass my way if I were you. The owner is definitively not customer oriented, not humble as he claims to be, but most importantly he seems quite aggressive. I am glad that some had some good experiences with this driving school, and I have no intent to «defame» it. Just to mention what happened to my wife, and based on the reviews, to others.

I passed my driving test thanks to Julio at Akademia Driving School! He is really the best instructor! Very pleasant, very patient, and encouraging. I am now an expert parker and I feel very confident on the road. I wish I could keep him in my pocket! Thanks Julio! Hopefully you see this and get the credit you deserve :)

Spoke to someone over the phone and immediately realized that this would not be the right school for me. He had a very bad, condescending attitude which made me think that this would not be a good place to take lessons. It is possible that they offer great lessons but they need work on the customer service side for sure.

Great driving school, they teach you exactly what you need to know and you drive in high paced areas so the test is even easier. Had a few good instructors Darwin, Julio and another guy. overall great experience and passed easily!

I dried to get a driving license in New York 3 years after moving here from Europe. I found the school on the internet and wanted to do the advanced package (since I already have a European license). I didn’t know that I would need a learners permit before registering at the school.
So I went there and the guy says he needs my permit. Confused I show him my European license and he just throws it on the table saying that this is non of his business and that I need a permit. After asking about that permit and stating that I find this confusing he — instead of explaining the process — just tells me to write a letter to Bloomberg if the process is to complicated for me. The guys was very rude and I felt quite insulted after I left.

The guy at Akademia wrote this to me:
«Mr.C
Keep in mind that having the intention to „giving your money to someone“ does not translate into making a comment implicitly offensive in nature (Perhaps…because they’re in harlem, they may be driving around without insurance) and expect to be greeted diferently. Leave the prejudgments aside, call us back and I’m sure we could have a much longer and pleasant conversation. Just remember to treat others as you’d like to be treated.»
My response:
Because they are in Harlem, they may be driving around without insurance? What is that supposed to mean? You wanna bring up prejudgments? You’re telling me to treat others how I want to be treaded? You need to listen to your own advice, pal!
You personally, and your attitude over the phone, and now here on Unilocal,are a great reason to NOT do business with Akedemia.
Everyone beware of this place! There are plenty of other driving schools in the area that will treat you with respect, when you spend your hard earned dollars with them, and not try to be «right», and win arguements.
Next time when you have a customer, or even a potential customer who is less than satisfied, you might try appologizing first instead of blaming them.

They offer stick shift lessons! I’ve been driving automatic since I was 16 but always wanted to learn how to drive a manual.
I went inside and was quoted a price of $ 65 for an hour and $ 100 for a 90 minute lesson. Im in there like swimwear! The guy said that I’d only need one lesson since Im already a driver. Rates may vary for non-​drivers.