Cascade Driving School

Negative experience: Not very customer friendly or helpful. Hard to schedule testing and drives. Sometimes would take weeks for a callback, but cancelling last minute for them was no problem. My daughter failed the written test twice even though she had studied and prepared and knew she was ready to take it ....they wouldn't help with understanding which questions were incorrect for studying and finding the correct answers. Would only say the template was how she graded and she didn't even look at the answers. Went to DOL - passed with flying colors....money scheme? Online class was convenient but overall, not thrilled with their service.

Negative experience: This place acceptedy my money and then has been almost completely unresponsive, one email only to say that the Olympia location closed due to "unforeseen circumstances", offering Centralia as an option. They don't answer the phone. Avoid until they resolve their issues!

Fantastic experience: I take my driving test today and i passed in my second try.I like the instructor shes kind lady and so calm thats why i never feel nervous while im driving and do what she ask me to dothank you so muchhighly recommend this driving school

Negative experience: poor. doesn’t assess properly, on the phone while practice drives are ongoing, etc etc. staff are rude, receptionist lady is nasty rude.

Negative experience: Was not a good place to take the written test at. I failed 6 times even though I knew the material and studied for it. They only had 3 different versions of the test but they refused to show me what I missed because I would’ve been “cheating”. If you want nice and honest people who won’t scam you, go to 911 driving school. I went there same day I failed my written test for the 6th time and I passed. 911 is a lot better and a lot friendlier.

Negative experience: Place was cheap and affordable but they were extremely unreliable and called to cancel 4 out of 6 drives that we had scheduled. They expected our schedule to adjust for them whenever they had an issue. Would not recommend.

Negative experience: 3 of my 4 kids attended Cascade driving school. Never had a problem prior. Covid definitely had an impact taking almost full year to complete 6 week course plus drives. I accept this inconvenience and understand, not a problem. When it was finally time for the drive test, we were met with an unfriendly intimidating unhelpful instructor who had my daughter in tears before they began. My daughter was frazzled immediately, can you imagine a nervous 16 year old then expected to perform a drive test? Failed 5 min into test, test over. Woman instructor was cold hearted stating it’s the law. Nothing else offered. Didn’t care. Terrible experience, I’m still upset and my daughter didn’t want to test again, uh no! I need her to drive!!!. Not wanting to take the chance of getting same instructor, we went to 911 and were greeted with warmth and humor and smiles that totally put my daughter at ease. Instructor was awesome!!! it was obvious he loved his job and the kids (should be required for that position) happy to report we passed. Great experience! Thank you 911!

Negative experience: The front desk lady is rude, I give road test but they didn't gave me a paper, never go their. waste of time and money.

Fantastic experience: The new ownership work smoothly and efficiently making the experience easier

Negative experience: Cancelled my drive saying that they have no instructors but I hear them in the background of the phone call and they were the ones to schedule my last drive

Positive experience: They were helpful and professional. My son was comfortable with the testing environment.

Fantastic experience: There pretty good at teaching you how to drive, calm teaching

Fantastic experience: Jeff in Olympia office is an amazing instructor and actually cares about the students!

Fantastic experience: Was really easy and nice experience. I get a lot of anxiety when driving but Kim was the instructor and she was great I felt way less anxious with her!

Negative experience: Scammers, very rude. only cool person is jeff. dont go here not worth the money. purposly fail you so you pay again. i took a test and put the same answers twice and somehow passed the second time? also made drives 3-4 weeks apart. front lady had attitude everytime i went in there wonder how she isnt fired. dont go here

Negative experience: paid for driving test online and asked for yelm location. get there for my appointment to be told they scheduled me for olympia and that they do that often like its not a big deal. gives me a number that doent ring, then when i do get a hold of someone they say best they can do is in june... this be scummy af

Fantastic experience: I had a really great experience with Cascade! The staff was welcoming, supportive, and kind. They gave suggestions for how I could improve or what tools to use for practice. I felt like they were really rooting for me. I would definitely recommend them!

Fantastic experience: granddaughter took driving test..the instructor was very pleasant

Negative experience: Total rip off! They took our money and then refused to schedule appointments close enough together to be of any use. It took several weeks to get a first appointment. They WILL NOT book another driving appointment until the current appointment is complete. This means it may take 2 to 4 weeks to get the next appointment. When I called to request having all lessons close to each other, they refuse and say it is policy but cannot produce this policy when requested. They are over selling themselves and don't have enough drivers to accommodate students with any reasonable schedule. The person that talked to me was very RUDE and did not give one care about our issue with their scheduling.

Positive experience: Fair pricing for testing, straight forward process. Just wish the staff was more friendly....a simple smile would have gone a long way.

Fantastic experience: Good location friendly staff helps make a nervous situation much calmer i would recommend

Fantastic experience: Pase mi examen

Negative experience: I had payed for 6 lessons which has a value of $408 before COVID-19 and only ended up being able to take one. When I called and asked for a refund for the other 5 lessons because I had moved I was told they were not going to allow the refund because I had taken one of the lessons. One lesson prices out to be around $70 but instead of giving the difference back to me I was flat out told no. The lady that I talked to was also rude and unprofessional as well and shouldn’t be manning the phones.

Negative experience: The driver instructor is awesome the people at the front desk are awful I made a mistake going there.

Negative experience: Somewhat unprofessional. The drives were silent and poor attempts at humor were made.

Fantastic experience: Best drive school and fair pricing in town! Thank You Cascade for making the process of getting my license simple and easy! Andrew is the best when it came to my drive test, letting me know it’s okay to be nervous because everyone is. His professionalism made that portion of my experience easy sailing.

Negative experience: DONT GO TO CASCADE DRIVING! Been multiple times. Once for myself and twice now to help other get their driving license as well. The people at the front desk are incredibly mean and unprofessional. I have been on the phone with them and they hung up on me making me call back acting like nothing happened. If you wish for peace and quiet while you take an important test good luck they never stop talking behind you as you take it. When they give you the car exam. They are not helpful at all. I was taking driver's test and before I had gotten into the car I ask "will you show me where all the buttons are for this car as I have only been trained to drive in a 95" and the one they had assured me they would I got into the car for the test. She sat there quietly and told me nothing then when I asked her to show me she just failed me for not "knowing my vehicle". They will fail you over anything so that you have to take the second test and pay more. I really feel there isn't enough room on these review to explain how bad they truly are. Basically if your not a student driver at the age of 16 paying the UPMOST FULL amount of money to learn to drive over a period of 6 months then they DONT CARE ABOUT YOU only your money. Everything I said is just what happened to me. Both people I have brought here have had the same experience with them. They do not care about their jobs and only care about money.

Fantastic experience: Friendly

Fantastic experience: Great school and good price.

Fantastic experience: My driving instructor was cool we could actually talk about stuff while driving. They were always friendly and never were hostile or bad. As long as you are willing to put in the effort and time in to actually get a license or pass a class then you'll do great here. If you're not doing anything then you cannot pass.

Negative experience: The place has terrible service and I couldn't pass my test no matter what once I tried at another driving school and I passed

Negative experience: DISHONEST MERCHANT, TRIED TO STEAL MY MONEY AFTER I CANCELED CLASS FOR MY DAUGHTER!

Negative experience: This is a TERRIBLE driving school. I was purposely failed on my written test so I could pay them the $25 fee. They are ALWAYS looking for ways to scam you for money. When I completed the course, a week later I called to schedule for my test, and a lady made up saying that I'd have to pay and redo the course over again, however we figured that out. They don't teach, they are very unprofessional, they dress like they just woke up and eat and go on their phones during your drives. One of the instructors told me, the second day I'd be a "flirty drunk girl" very unprofessional. They failed me every time on my test even though I memorized like all the questions, giving me the same score every time and the same score as everyone else taking the test, 5 times. The odds of that happening ONCE are one in a million. Plus, it is very sketchy, dirty, and outdated. I highly suggest going to 911 driving school.

Negative experience: ZERO IS MY REVIEW! I WOULD RATHER PAY TO HAVE MY SON TAKE THE WRITTEN TEST AND THE DRIVING TEST 35.00 EACH THAN HAVE MY SON GO BACK TO "THAT HELL HOLE!" It was the last straw tonight I went to take my son for his written test 4/30/18 we were early he went in forgot his permit came back to the car said he can't take the test....I went back in and Nicole asked me what can I help you with? I said can't my son take the test you know who he is I paid over 300.00 for him to come here I will go home and get his permit and be back by the time he is done. I took the day off to bring him in. She said I can give you 5 MINUTES!!!! No it is a state run test we have to have his permit.....ALL THE WHILE SHE WAS ON A COMPUTER WITH HER YOUNG SON I THINK NOT EVEN OFFERING ANY KIND OF CUSTOMER SERVICE AT ALL! She said he can come in tomorrow....I work tomorrow. No response....As I was leaving I said Thanks a lot...she said in a condescending tone you're welcome! This was my son's fault for forgetting his permit but this isn't the first problem this is about the 4th! They double booked my son didn't have him down i came in to have him take the test she said SORRY....that was it! I took the flipping day off! nothing else was said! another time they wrote the time wrong unreadable we came later because we thought the time was different she said you should be getting a text reminder...I said I'm not so she looked up on her computer and it was WRONG! Then on top of everything else my son took the test twice and failed! They wouldn't let him even see what he got wrong to learn.....I've read they have done this to other people on the reviews....This today was the LAST STRAW! I took my son home got his permit drove him over to 911 in Lacey they were friendly, professional, and he passéd first time! NICOLE IS JUST HORRIBLE AND CONDESCENDING IF SHE ISN'T THE OWNER THE OWNER SHOULD KNOW HOW SHE REPRESENTS THEIR BUSINESS! RUDE! SHE WOULD RATHER HELP HER KID THAN GET UP OFF HER BUTT AND LOOK UP MY SONS INFO AND ACCOMMODATE US! I contacted a former DOL employee and she told me that she could've looked up my sons info he went there and on top of it all his permit HAS NO PHOTO so how could she id him! The former Dol employee said she could've taken down my id as his mom as well since he went to that school but why would she offer to do that??? I've worked with the public my entire life and have never been treated so poorly, I waited to write a review I let it pass all the other mistakes they made but TODAY I WAS DONE! I DON'T WANT ANYONE ELSE TO MAKE THE MISTAKE WE DID! GO TO 911 DRIVING SCHOOL THEY WERE AMAZING! What makes me an expert on customer service? My husband and I own 2 businesses in town and If we treated our customers like this we'd be OUT OF BUSINESS!

Negative experience: The women at the front desk were loudly chatting while I was taking my written exam and even before that, they were very rude and unprofessional. When I took the road test, the instructor, who looked like Danny Devito and Ursula from the little mermaid had a baby and raised it in Jersey, made a shamelessly obvious attempt to intimidate me and it was quite effective in taking my $45. Flustered and panicked, I inevitably choked and stalled my truck. I went to take off again at a two way stop, where I had the right of way and she ended the test there, saying it wasn't my turn and I failed, but that was after 3 minutes of the exam. She didn't even let me finish. It was a waste of money, but the worst part of all of it is that I can still smell her Dollar Tree perfume in my car and her hair left a greasy film on the headrest and I pray to god it's gel. That place was dirty. I took it again at 911 and passed with a 90% one week later. They were so nice and actually wanted me to succeed. Go there instead.

Negative experience: Horrible service. I paid too much, the ambiance is horrible, the teachers are mean. The teachers don't care if you do well and they won't hesitate to yell at you if you are doing something that you didn't know you weren't supposed to be doing. I came in, paid way too much to take a test, put my headphones in and started working. The woman at the desk ran up to m e and yelled in my face: "YOU ARE NOT ALLOWED TO LISTEN TO MUSIC" She told me to take my phone out of my pocket and she proceeded to rip my phone out of my hands. The teachers will look for anything to yell at someone about, it seemed to me that they got off on making people's days worse. The people that goofed off in class and didn't take it seriously were awarded with praise and laughs by the teacher. I don't understand how they are still in business. They treated others like they are so above them. They have no respect for their students. I would rate 0 stars if I could. DO NOT GO HERE!!! They are very fake with their customers and it seems like they don't care about them at all. I'm sure that they will comment something like "We value your feedback, please give us a call". They're just trying to save face. They don't want a bad comment left on their page, they want to look professional even though it's someone behind a desk yelling at paying customers or ignoring them. I wish I could give 0 stars. I rarely leave reviews for businesses, but I feel very strongly about this. Please take my advice and stay away from this business.

Negative experience: If I can give this a zero I would. Paid 60 dollars for an hour drive session. Left feeling more anxious than ever. An hour later feeling an anxiety attack. Never again. Instead of leaving more uplifting that I'm working towards getting my license, I felt discourage and spoken to down to. The owner shouldn't be teaching his clients if he can't at least respect them.

Fantastic experience: Love this place! Family owned and operated. Fairly priced. They've been around forever. They must be doing something right.

Negative experience: zero stars if I could this place made me feel dumb from the very moment I walked in the door sure the price is grate and all but they really will find a way to fail you some way. I took test B there and failed took the same test with my same answer 2 days later at 911 driving school I passed will flying colors how is this possible. something is very wrong here don't use this place if I was you I would go straight to 911 driving school forget this place. I've done my homework on Cascade and they have been around for so long that the state doesn't even monitor them so basically they can do what ever they want. so if they want to fail you that day they fail you never mind if you got your stuff right or not. also when you take a test don't you think the teacher would be quite so you can think . oh no not this lady she was making all kinds of sounds. she asked me if it was bothering me i said yes. she waited a few mins and then went right back to doing it ...please people don't waste your time and money here

Fantastic experience: We have been teaching both adults and youth since 1993. That’s over 20,000 students. We try for a relaxed yet displined classroom atmosphere that allows all students to be successful. We also give the DOL skill and knowledge exam since this program started in 2013. We are a local,small business not a chain or franchise. We have a highly experienced staff that average 10 years of teaching . However we are govern, as all driving schools are, by DOL rules. Within those rules we operate and do the best for our clients to be successful

Fantastic experience: Great place with good learning environment. Dedicated experienced instructors who are good with students of all experience levels. Great value.

Fantastic experience: I had a great experience with Cascade and would highly recommend this driving school for anyone looking!

Negative experience: Very unprofessional staff. They are not flexible and they are not willing to work with you. They will say that they do things and will work with you but after they have taken your money the answer and response that you will get from them is " if you don't like it you can go to another driving school". Even the owner has this attitude and mentality. Do not go with this driving school they are about taking your money.

Negative experience: I have dealt with this school two times and have received mediocre and apathetic service on both occasions. After my last experience I went to Olympic Driving School, their rates were cheaper and their service was informative and friendly. I would not recommend this school to teens or adults looking to receive their permit and license.

Negative experience: Cascade driving is scum. They are absolute trash and even if the next closest driving school was 8 hours away I would still make the drive. Every factor of the company has no potential and will go nowhere. Just do whatever you can to go somewhere other than this awful establishment.

Negative experience: How can you leave zero stars. Worse school to attend. They will find a way to fail you and they won't give you a clear explanation. Seems like a scam. Also mysteriously overbooked, when I finally arrived the allegedly booked instructor was watering plants and washing cars. They are completely incompetent and are incapable of testing more than one person on written test whine they leave in a room to take a test . Don't go here it's a scam.

Fantastic experience: My family is on a time schedule to get the drives done before my son leaves to London. The staff has been nothing but helpful and polite. The price is right and the service is great. Yes parking is difficult but I can make it work :)

Negative experience: I took my brother for a driving lesson not long ago. They are really unprofessional. Receptionists always mess up the schedule. Teachers do not care if you had an hour drive lesson or not. Leassons are weeks apart which is not good for teeanagers trying to learn how to drive

Negative experience: Had the worst experience here!!! They find a way to fail you so that they can take your money! The lady asked me to stop in the middle of an intersection when there was a car driving towards us. Worst experience here! If you're going to take a driving test, I recommend you take it somewhere other than cascade unless you want to spend $45 and fail for nothing!

Negative experience: Warning they will look for any reason to fail you on the skills test. Money racket to try to get you to pay to take again. Avoid.

Negative experience: This is the worst place ever. I was not happy the moment I went to orientation but of course it's already paid so you try to make the best of it but they are not helpful in any way and definitely not worth the $$$

Fantastic experience: Just took this class they are great

Fantastic experience: I had a wonderful experience with Cascade Driving School located in Olympia.The staff were friendly , my all one-on-one (behind the wheel)10 driving lessons took place as scheduled with exact 1 hour per each and the instructor his name is Micheal Jackson was a real pro! I'm 30 , have never driven in my life but he helped me to learn from scratch and I have my driver license now.The prices were affordable too.I highly recommend Cascade driving school ..

Fantastic experience: My youngest son just finished driving school at Cascade and we had nothing but positive experiences with the staff. I highly recommend this school, especially if you have a tight budget and a tight schedule. They were flexible with my son's football schedule and worked with my busy life. They were friendly and knowledgeable about the new laws regarding getting a license. We received a substantial discount because my son's friend took the class at the same time and both boys were very glad to be able to take their driver's license test at this same location with instructors they knew.

Negative experience: My son just completed this course and received his license, but our experience there was so AWFUL that we won't be returning next year for our other son. The staffing is poor, most especially, a Ms Jayme Dean Houseman, who was rude and unfriendly to even the parents of the students. They frequently change the scheduled apt drives to fit their personal needs, and although sitting right at the desk, do not always take calls, but let the machine pick up and are slow to return calls and twice I never got a return call. The parking.... well, there is NO parking and you basically have to wait on Martin for your turn to enter the business and drop your child off and move on quickly. I am a parent of 7 children and have parented for the past 34 years. Our kids have done the school driving program, 911 and one another program in Olympia that is no longer in service. Cascade was the WORSE experience we've had and we will NEVER return.

Fantastic experience: I took my two kids in for their DMV testing. Easy to make an appointment. No waiting at all. I had a taillight out so they let me use one of their cars at a discount. This is a family place with an older but clean building, nothing fancy. Very helpful and knowledgeable staff. A really no stress place for testing. Wish I went there for my kids driver ed, much cheaper than anywhere else in town.