A-1 Driving School

Negative experience: I wouldn’t use A1 due to the difficulty of scheduling an appointment and poor quality customer service. If you pay to register, the next instructors available are usually around 3 weeks out from the date of registration. I booked an appointment for my friend and did not receive any information that the instructor would not come to the door to knock if there was no student outside. Unfortunately, I was not available to answer the phone when the instructor Kenneth called me 15 minutes after the appointment start time, which made me wonder if he was late, so my friend didn’t know that the instructor was here. I tried explaining this situation over the phone to the A1 customer service line and they were very rude and dismissive, made no effort to show understanding in an amenable manner, which left a bad taste in my mouth. I am turned away from using the company in the future. It is also hard to reschedule appointments as when you cancel an appointment, you have to wait for the company to approve it before getting the credits back and sometimes that can take a day or so…

Negative experience: Do not use A-1. They do not care about their customers or their safety. We had two 2-hour driving lessons scheduled with Kenneth. No communication just an email saying the appointment was booked. We showed up at the office on time. He was not there and the office was closed. I called the office, and was told he was on the way. He showed up 30 minutes late. For the next appointment, we showed up on time and he was not there again. This time he showed up 45 minutes late. No apology or anything. Then, he ended the lesson early without telling us and left our 15-year-old son sitting in a parking lot without us knowing. This was at their Decatur location on Memorial. Thankfully, we were able to get there before anything happened to him. Again, spend your time and money elsewhere. Even if it costs more money, go somewhere else. The school and instructors do not care about your time or safety.

Fantastic experience: Ms. Robbie is the bomb! She has taught 4/6 kids of mine how to drive. I would definitely recommend her and A1 driving school!

Negative experience: I originally scheduled an appointment for July 14 with this location (Decatur) as the one closest to my house (Lithonia) doesn’t have any driving instructors. A few days after i scheduled my appointment i was told that it was cancelled because i live too far away.. (i only live 17 minutes from this place mind you) but whatever, i rescheduled and told them that i would meet them at the office by catching an uber and id find my own way back home. Fast forward to the day of my appointment, August 1 which was the next closest day available. I arrive at 10:20 am, about 10 minutes before my appointment. At 10:30 the driving instructor, Kenneth, calls me to say hes “running late” somewhat confused, i stayed around waiting for him in this sketchy parking lot anyway, because i paid NOT ONLY a deposit, but money on transportation to get there in the first place. The office was closed even though this was during business hours, the doors were locked so i had no choice but to wait outside. Theres lots of homeless people on this stretch of memorial drive as its on the same road as the jail, and a motel that houses homeless people. I waited for 33 minutes past my appointment time, and Ken did not show up. I was getting really hot and uncomfortable waiting out there so i called an uber home. Fast forward 2 hours later, i called for a refund (and by the way, receptionist from different locations and buildings answer for every location so no one was actually working inside the building this was someone from a random office) she basically explained to me that “its been too long we cant give you a refund” which makes NO sense, how can you not give me a refund for a service that was for TODAY that I’m reporting TO YOU TODAY, that you didn’t give me! How is it my fault that the instructor didn’t show? At 12:15pm, 2 HOURS AFTER MY APPOINTMENT, Ken called me to say he finally made it and his excuse was that he had to “handle something” never was i told he would take THAT long nor was there any apologies for everyone involved in this mistake. Anyway, i will get my money back either way so i’m not stressing, i just want to warn others before they book here. You most likely will never see your instructor or get the services you paid for.

Fantastic experience: Great driving school! Mr. Kenneth Russell is an excellent and thorough teacher who goes through each part of the driving test. 10/10 would recommend!