Driver Advisors

I show up at 10 for a 10:30 appt, there’s 3 people in the lobby– no one behind the desk. At around 1030 a guy casually strolls in and says sorry guys you’re going to have to come back after lunch, we are behind today. Ok– so go grab a subway and be back in 15, right? NOPE– they take an hour and a half lunch break. So I drove down here 45 mins for an appt I had and now have to wait 2 and a half hours.
This place is awful and this is under their NEW management– which is far worse than the already sub-​par management that was there before– go elsewhere, these guys are a joke. They act nice and helpful to sign you up, then they have you by the balls and make you pay for it.

I wish there was a way to give negative stars to this company. If only I had checked Unilocal before I had my interlock installed! I chose them based on their BBB rating which was an «A». Service wasn’t «too» bad at first. However they did completely screw up my electrical system with the installation. I had to take it to the dealer to have it fixed. The dealer wouldn’t release my car until DA paid for the repairs. The dealer called them every day for a week and they did not respond. Finally they felt bad for me and gave me my car. I don’t know if they were ever paid.
All the previous comments are true… device takes forever to warm up. In the Phoenix summers, this is miserable. And you have to do the suck back method which if you don’t do perfectly you have to repeat until you get it just right. I almost passed out many times from being so winded from doing it again and again.
When Guardian acquired DA, it was like watching a damaged ship finally sink. No one answered the phone anymore… it went straight to voice mail. The nice flat panel TV in the lobby playing Pandora while you waited disappeared. All the employees I’d come to know in my monthly visits vanished. Then it got ugly.
I started my car like always and when it asked for the rolling retest 5 minutes later it said I failed. WTF?! Then it made me keep taking the test over and over and over while I drove home, failing me each time. It finally stopped beeping as I pulled into my house. The next day I get in my car to go to a meeting I’m facilitating and it has permanently locked me out of starting my car!!! There’s no nice override code like the other places so you can drive in to resolve it, no, you have to take off the device and have someone else drive you there. This is Saturday and they are only open Monday thru Friday.
So they put the device on their little tester and tell me I refused a rolling retest so they are reporting me to the DMV, my contract will be extended for 6 months, and that will be $ 95. Are they kidding?! Uh, no, they’re just crooks. They told me I must have been drinking in the car after I started it or this wouldn’t have happened. Wrong! Then they said that must be why I refused the rolling retest. Wrong! I did the dumb rolling retest over and over and over until I almost passed out. Well they tell me, there’s nothing they can do. Well I tell them, then take the device out and I’ll go to another company. Btw, the «fines» for violations prior to the Guardian acquisition were $ 40 and they raised it to $ 95 without any notice to customers (who have a lease contract).
Now I have a dispute on my hands with the DMV thanks to DA/​Guardian. AND the best part, when they removed the device they gave my car a nice long scratch on the passengers side of my Lexus as a parting thank you for my business… after I had the car completely detailed 2 days before. Not only is this bad business, they are criminals.

When I had to start looking for an interlock company to complete my court ordered 12 months with an interlock device in my vehicle I found Driver Advisors. The reason that I chose this company is that the website claimed that their devices did not need a «warm-​up» time like other devices offered by other companies. This was simply not true. I had my interlock installed in January and if I needed to start my car in the morning when the weather was cold I would sit in my car for 3 – 5 minutes waiting for the device to warm up. It may not seem like a long time but deal with it every morning and you will be frustrated. Besides that issue I was treated well by the staff who is very friendly and professional. That is why they receive one star, simply for the staff. My main gripe happened just recently. It was a Saturday afternoon and I was leaving my morning job to go home and get ready for my evening job. I entered my vehicle just after 1pm and was not happy to find that my interlock device was not working. I called Driver Advisors who then transferred me to the service department. I was told they would replace my handset if I could make it to the office. When I informed them that I could not make it because I did not have the time or means of transportation they told me that I would be contacted «shortly» by a roadside technician. Nearly an hour passed without receiving a phone call. I called the office again and was given the same information. After waiting another half hour or so I called again to listen to an answering machine telling me I was calling during non business hours. I paid for cab fare to my apartment and then again to my evening job. I was at work already when the roadside technician called me over 3 hours later. They claim to offer a ²⁴⁄₇ emergency hotline but when I called that number I received an answering machine repeatedly. Oh, by the way I did not receive a new handset until after 5pm Monday evening. I am writing this now waiting for a call back from the general manager of Driver Advisors. I have been waiting almost exactly one hour for that phone call. I would not recommend this company.

Do you ever feel like someone is pinching your arm, with no intention of ever letting you go? Welcome to Driver Advisors, it is that constant dull pain that you can tolerate for a short period of time, but you don’t want too. Unfortunately, the law won and I got a DUI. I was clearly in the wrong and luckily nobody was hurt. I accepted responsibility and the consequences, and anyone who has gone through the experience can relate to how humiliating the entire ordeal is… court, jail, counciling and then comes along your ignition interlock device. I opted to go with driver advisors because they seemed to be the cheapest, and they were recommended by a friend (Referral $). And an added bonus, they have a mobile unit that is available once a week near my house… sounds too good to be true, right? RIGHT! The device itself has all kinds of issues… but even worse, the customer service here is horrible! For some instances, DMV dictates charges and check-​ups. However, when there is a problem and I call the office, they take forever to get back to me. The unit gets caught between my seats and detaches, this is a huge issue because when this happens it needs to be checked within 6 days by the company. Highly inconvenient, especially if the car wasn’t even running! (This is a programming logic error, I am 99% sure). This happened a few weeks ago, and I happen to be driving my their office, so I called to see if I could get it check right then because I wasn’t able to go to the regular Tuesday mobile unit. She said they would have to call me back. She never did, so I stopped by the office and it was a $ 25 fee because I didn’t have an appointment. Not only that, the guy behind the counter was very rude about it. I don’t think anyone can drop what they are doing to accommodate Driver Advisor’s schedule, but that is clearly what they expect you to do and how they behave. I know we don’t have a choice in getting the device, but you most certainly have a choice in companies that provide them. There are several others I wished I would have chosen.
So, why the 2 stars vs. 1 — well, after I through a fit, one of the techs was very nice and helped me out, without charging me the $ 25. He tried to explain that they can’t accommodate all the walk-​ins, too many people just drop in to get their device services and people with appointments have to wait. I explained I called and instead of putting me on hold and seeing if they could get me in, they said they would call back. He said they use a instant messaging system in the office and that is how they do business. I give the star for this guy — however, this business model is clearly about making money and they don’t have to provide good customer service, and they don’t. If you have to get a device, I urge you to check around.