Aaaa Driving School of Staten Island

DONT DO IT!!! ABSOLUTELY HORRIBLE!!! I took my 5hr class with them which was ok didn’t expect much from sitting in a room for 5hrs watching a safety video but my first road lesson was with Maria smh! This women was either drunk or ditsy! She pick me up from my job which is 20 mins from my home it took us maybe 40 mins to reach our destination because she spoke about her life story while laughing at her own jokes an had NO Sense of direction, by the time I got behind the wheel i had 10mins to drive but she credit me an extra 10mins the only lesson I recieved was driving around the same block, she said let’s switch it up a lil an we ended up in a school zone which EVERY instructor should no is against the law!
Next day I requested someone different and recieved ken, this man spoke very rudely, had zero patience an not only did he aggressively grab my arm he almost cause us to crash on hylan Blvd, by forcefully turning the wheel so we can go in a bus lane, thankfully I didn’t step on the gas cause a suv came speeding down the same lane, instead of him saying good job for being alert he said I need to be more aggressive, take control of the road. After this experience I lost my drive, my motivation to pursue my license but after 2 months I decided to give it another shot with a different company (IslandDrivingSchool) who I must say is wonderful!!! Very organized! & Genuine! So happy I made the switch

This is my first review on Unilocal and I implore anyone that is reading this to NOT go to this school. I have proof that I paid $ 449 for the 7 lesson package with the car and 1 lesson on the day of the road test!
Several Reasons Why This Is A HORRIBLE PLACE
1. Horrible Scheduling for the Road Test — They couldn’t schedule for months for the road test. When I say months — It took them 2 months for them to schedule me a road test. By that time, my driving lessons ended and therefore, I would have a difficult time.
2. Horrible Class Scheduling — They gave me a road test date right after my 3^rd lesson when I didn’t know how to parallel park yet. In addition, the girl over the phone told me on a FRIDAY before the test on following MONDAY that it was scheduled for that day. She also told me over the phone specifically «I HAVE TO FIND A DRIVER» for that day. B!@#%, don’t schedule me for an exam when you don’t have a driver to take me there for the exam. She also told me tough luck and I had to take it at Father Cappadano when I specifically requested another road test place. They also do not always remind you of your lessons.
3. Horrible Instructors — I had Mike D. as my first instructor. Though he’s nice, he’s not going to teach to PASS the exam! No sorry! He’s here to watch you drive. That’s it. I didn’t know that you had to stop twice on a red stop sign until I signed up for another driving school because my experience here was that horrible. I had Ken for my last instructor, the day before the exam. He was an ABOMINATION. Not only was he condescending but also rude and brusque. He had no patience and called me an idiot. No wonder why his schedule was free for the whole day. He also tried convincing me to sign up another class the very same day.
4. Nasty Unkempt Car — The school typically uses a 98 Camry or Corolla. Jim, my last instructor that took me to the road test site, found out the radio broke on the day of exam. Granted it was a radio. What if it was my brakes?! When I say nasty. I mean real nasty. It hasn’t been cleaned in decades. Soot and dirt everywhere. It’s worse than my father’s 98 honda in which he smoked regularly.
MY FINAL THOUGHTS — AVOID THIS SCHOOL. I implore you to avoid this school! I have receipts and credit card statements as proof that I went to this horrible school.
The package I bought from them was called the License X Program. $ 449 — Completely horrible. The girl that I dealt was named Jackee. She’s so sweet and charming but don’t fall for her tactics!
Update:
Prices without the package that I bought:
5 Hour Class — $ 50 (Don’t pay this ridiculous price. Go to another school for this.)
1 Hour Lesson — $ 46 (Beware, depending on instructor, it may not be one full hour as it claims! Chris, actually asked me to stop at one point during the lesson and spoke to his neighbor for 15 minutes straight. Lack of respect!)
Fast Road Test Appointment — $ 95
Please also be aware that this school goes under different names:
AAA Driving School of Staten Island (I remember they used this name when I was in high school)
AAAA Driving School of Staten Island
Secure Driving School
Secure Auto School
They have a Brooklyn location as well. Still, Avoid!

I had lessons with this school a couple years back, starting in 2013, I was a first time driver and my instructor, was a D**k, he would yell at me for not driving correctly and was on his phone half the time, He spoke in a monotone and never gave me any tips on any of the road test sites after asking him how they are and what I should avoid doing, he did not teach me the right way in parallel parking, either, that’s what made me fail my road test, he said that was the «easiest method» and that that’s what hell give me. I had several lessons with this guy and he was just not enjoyable I had NO CONFIDENCE in my driving, five hour was boring and actually I zoned out. I have no idea what went on, everyone there doesn’t give a crap about you and wants $$$. I accepted that if failed the first road test, because lack of proper training on the instructors behalf. I then again in 2014 decided to do another lessons package, with a lady, I don’t know her name but she was monotone and in her world like she didn’t care, she was quiet and if I made a mistake, she’d say «uhm you did_​_​_​_​» I’d say, Okay so how do I fix it to make it perfect? «oh maybe if you listen to what I’m saying you’d get the hang of it» … I was then just really fed up with the school, I even asked her the day of my road test, «do you think I’m ready, ?» she shrugged her shoulders, I FAILED AGAIN, this time it wasn’t my fault it was actually the testers, they had me change lanes last minute and I ended up hitting the curb of the divider. This school is bullshit. Now a year later I took my 5 hour and I’m Currently taking lessons, at Island driving school, this is the best school ever! Five hour with Bob was super interesting, gave amazing tips, friendly and funny and my instructor for lessons, is hilarious! Does mock road tests with me, and if I make a mistake, he politely explains in detail how to correct it and be flawless, I feel so much more confident now in my driving skills and ill be taking my road test soon, I have a big feeling I’ll pass, (but you never know haha). GOD forbid I do fail, I wouldn’t blame it on the school or instructors but my self, cause this school has done everything they can so far to make sure I will pass. Please go to Island driving! Save you a headache! Screw you AAAA!!!

Coming southbound over the Edison Bridge (connecting Woodbridge to Sayreville in NJ), on Tuesday night (¹⁰⁄₂), I noticed a car from this driving school quickly cutting over 2 lanes in one motion while trying to maneuver thru heavy rush hour traffic. I later managed to catch up to the car when it was stopped at a traffic light after it got off the bridge and heading onto the Main St. Extension in Sayreville. I only saw 1 individual in the car at this point, who I assumed to be an instructor, as he then seemed to be in a huge hurry after the light changed and very closely tailgated the car in front of him. Then when he had the smallest of openings, he quickly switched lanes, passed the car in front of him, and then quickly cut back into the lane once again. At this point, he had an open road in front of him and I managed to clocked his speed at 60 mph in this 40 mph zone. All I remember thinking is that I hope this guy isn’t training his students this way, and I would never recommend that school to anyone if they were looking for a driving school, just based on what I witnessed that evening!

This Place sucks the office is really unorganized they lost my partner’s road test paperwork so she missed her original road test date of April 30 2012 so we had to wait until today July 16 2012 and they still lost her payment lost her information got her confused with another driving student she also paid for lessons and use of the car the instructors as stated by the previous post don’t teach you how to drive they just teach you how to pass a road test and not very friendly about it either when they arrived for the lessons the times we always wrong and after her lesson the day of the road test the pick up another driving student give her a lesson an then go to the road test site where once again the have the time of her test wrong again and these wonderful toyota’s they brag about in there ads are really beat up suprised there useable for the test, I wouldn’t reccomend this place to no one not even my enemy if you want to still use these incompetents after this, keep all your reciepts from the 5 hour class to the road test because there filing system must be done in pencil or crayons they have no accurate records worse place ever should be called take your money and screw you driving school and if there were a lesser rating i would give it

Probably the worst run office I’ve ever encountered. They’re slow, extremely rude, extremely uninformed, and redundant.
The teachers are alright, but they don’t teach you how to drive as much as they teach you how to pass the driving test.

the driving instructors were very good and thorough, the offices are hectic as hell. only thing is that didnt confirm the dates of my lessons and actually didnt even show up on the day of my road test like they were supposed to, so i could use the car and get some practice in. –dave

I learned to drive through AAAA, when it was still AAA driving school. Because I knew one of the instructors I received a 10% discount an all lessons and on my road test. My Instructor Nicole was very impressed on how quickly I was able to pick up and maneuver the 3 point turn as well as the parallel park. I don’t know what a certificate of completion is but I suggest this driving school to anyone I know who needs to learn to drive.