Balda Driving School

Negative experience: We all have bad experiences, but my last session W. Mr.Willie had me very unmotivated to have a desire to drive w. Them again. " we are all learning please take your time w. Us". I'm with burgees driving school now and I'm doing better so much better ‍. The last thing I need is to be upset when on the road leaning to drive (Got my refund back without an issue. )

Fantastic experience: The classes were really easy if you do what your supposed to do and these reviews that give this place a 1 start the problem would most likely be you but other than that the teacher was really funny and helpful

Fantastic experience: Thank you so much to Mr Willie I got my permit on my first try, his the best instructor/ teacher. Mr Willie is an educator that will leave you with a life time impact, his very patient, very professional, very kind and it felt like my father was teaching me how to drive. I absolutely appreciate you Mr Willie and will never forgot you!

Negative experience: Rude teacher more worried about money and talking about weed than actual lessons very poor experience and waste of money

Fantastic experience: Love this place taught me how to drive great they have patients

Fantastic experience: The teacher was amazing and funny. Her stories had everyone laughing. The class is really easy as long as you are doing what you are supposed to do.

Fantastic experience: Amazing teacher and staff, after attending here I know all the bad reviews are students who failed the class and are salty about it. Would recommend.

Fantastic experience: Great teacher all of the reviews are false. She helped me drive. Thanks , if your looking for good drivers ed school this is the one to choose affordable and great teacher. And everything was easy to understand

Fantastic experience: I loved the class understood everything she made it easy

Negative experience: miss girl wanted too fight about trans people with another student most of the time and she did more story telling than she did teaching!!! my phone went off and i went to silence it and she just kicked me out of the class!!! i do not recommend this place at all

Negative experience: Absolutely awful experience. the classes were insulting and irrelevant. The behind the wheel instructor was amazing but the reason I give the lowest review is because it took a month to get my permit and my license is unattainable because they have not put me in the system like they should have months ago. the owner is the most rude woman in the world and never does what she says. they had one job and I have had a problem every step of the way. If it takes any longer to get my license I want a full refund.

Negative experience: If I could give a lower review I would I’ve had nothing but problems with this woman who runs the place and she can’t schedule right to save her own life showed up for my driving and no one was even there for a hour so I went home( I drive hours here anyway) and now she’s trying to cancel all of my driving because she messed up

Positive experience: My instructor, Willy, was amazing. He was so kind and understanding. Never yelled at me, he made it comfortable for me during the lesson. I’ve learned a lot with that few hours we had. Balda the school though was unreliable. They dont have enough drivers to accommodate the students. They only booked me for 1 lesson and the rest of my money is for refund.

Fantastic experience: They were very professional with my grandson thank you so much

Fantastic experience: Went in for remedial driving class. Very nice people, good class and a great price. I'll go back if I need behind the wheel lessons.

Negative experience: Owner (female) was extremely rude over the phone. Horrible customer service- poor listener and somewhat insulting. Glad I didn’t bother to waste my money at this place! I’ll send the individuals that I was trying to assist to the school in East Peoria they were just the opposite and super professional. Where’s the button for ZERO STARS?!

Negative experience: Both my sister and I went here for our driving instruction. The woman who teaches the class will spend longer talking about random stories rather than the actual lesson. It's a therapy session for her basically. And she always insulted people. My favorite was when she said 'Only drive with responsible people. That means only people who can pay your bail after an accident. Which is your parents if they love you enough. And they probably dont.' The guy you drive with will talk trash about her. And he will critique you on the most random thing. Like foot placement. 80% of what he says it wrong. My sister has severe allergies and she couldn't figure out why her allergies were so bad until I came with her one time. There's black mold under the stained ceiling tiles. Miss Christina int even in the classroom till 10 to 15 minutes after the start of the class because she loses track of time in her office. She ignores most people who walk in. It's just mentally abusive and stressful. Just avoid the place if you can. The only reason I give one star is because I know have my license. That's the only reason. The black mold did it for me. It's not healthy.

Negative experience: 0 stars! Horrible customer service. Refunds were promised and then denied. It’s obvious that a company whose website is copyright 2007 and doesn’t have an email address is extremely outdated in every way. The owner is also extremely rude.

Fantastic experience: Very worth the price. Short classes and they teach you the major info unlike many public school drivers ed classes.

Fantastic experience: My Son just finished he class tonight at Balda Driving School and he love it! He told me the teacher was a lot of fun and made the class really interesting. He learned a lot from the class and is now prepared to take the road. Thank you for making this experience a great one for my son.

Fantastic experience: I enjoyed this class Mrs.Kristina made it easy to understand everything. On top of a great class atmosphere (even during covid) she also told us all sorts of entertaining stories, and drew us some very interesting and detailed drawings. Over all my time at Balda was great and very informative. I recommend to anyone getting ready to take dr.ed

Fantastic experience: This is a good place to learn how to drive!! I took Drivers Ed at Balda. Miss Kristina was a great teacher! I learned a lot and will be using the skills I learned when I drive. Willy was also a great instructor! I would recommend this place!!

Fantastic experience: I really enjoyed my time at Balda Driving School with my instructor Miss Kristina because she was a great teacher and made the class very entertaining. They also did a great job on the set up because of Covid 19!

Positive experience: It's okay.

Negative experience: Complete BS place that does not know what they are doing, all of the good reviews are BS and do not go here for your son or daughter. I finished the class fully weeks before my birthday and they still couldn’t fill out the paper work in time for me to be able to get my license on my birthday. COMPLETELY A JOKE NOT RECOMMENDED!!!

Negative experience: Very poor experience. Do not recommend.

Negative experience: Hated this place and I do not recommend anyone to ever come here! I promise, evil and scary instructor, also 3 hours is too long for a lesson, an hour and a half would be better

Negative experience: Frightened by my instructor while driving. He would scream at simple mistakes. A couple of times in the heat of the moment driving he would scream at me to change lanes or something like that and I did it once because he told me to and then he remembered you aren’t supposed to change lanes at an intersection and blamed it on me for changing lanes when he literally screamed at me multiple times to change lanes after I didn’t do it. He also yelled at a student in my car who dropped out of high school and told him he’s gonna do nothing with his life if he doesn’t stop getting in trouble and get back in school

Negative experience: I enrolled at balda to get my driving permit because I couldn’t take it at a public school due to a contradicting schedule. Mrs Christina (the owner) taught my class. She called students that did well in the class “nerds” and made fun of them while calling the students who did under the passing grade “retarded”. She was so racist that nearly all the students that weren’t Caucasian dropped out within the first two weeks. My driving instructor (Harvey) however, was very nice and helped me become a better driver. The only thing that got me through this class was telling stories to my family about some of the things Mrs Christina did. Terrible class, but very memorable.

Negative experience: I am DISGUSTED at how I was treated. I would get yelled at when I did stuff right. The instructor would yell at me that I’m speeding when I would be going the speed limit or under. He would tell me to turn my blinkers earlier and when I did that he screamed that I turned them too early!! Like WTF!!! That doesn’t add up, he made me drive places I have never been and I did not feel like I should be driving. He slammed his brakes on me when I stopped at a stop sign and pulled ahead a little more to see. He contradicted him self so much it was annoying and stressful. I would do what he would say and he would try to diminish me and make me seem idiotic. There is one thing that makes me over the moon mad and it is when my human value and mind is obliterated. I will not tolerate being acted upon as an idiot. I have been driving for months and months now I barely make mistakes and mine were not big enough with him to have been treated that way. I should not have been yelled at or slammed on brakes. It was disgusting to see this loser diminish me and get away with it! I do not recommend coming here ever. Look at the other reviews! Also I have driven in multiple cars in good condition. The car i was forced to drive in had brakes that were way to hard to push down on. It was a safety hazard and it’s ridiculous it’s allowed to be in use. The driver also Would pop his bubblegum frequently and it was distracting and rude....

Negative experience: Yesterday, December 3 rd, around 5:40 pm, my husband and our 2 kids, were coming out of shop Flying D at Metro Center in Peoria. Suddenly, we noticed a grey car FLYING by at a high speed right by my kids-luckily, my husband grabbed my daughter’s coat sleeve to pull her to safety: she would be run over by this insane driver! The plates said BALDA 9. We immediately called Balda Driving School, and spoke with some VERY rude female , who basically told us to “ stay away from their cars”, and, after I asked “ so, they are allowed to do anything in residential areas? Even to run people over?”- sge said “ yes”. And hung up.... I called their number multiple times today-to speak to the manager-nobody picks up. I called Peoria Police Department, spoke with Sgt. Figis, they will be investigating. Sgt. said they have to follow the road rules like everyone else. I called Journal Star-the article will follow . My husband and I are both health care professionals, and will not leave it alone. My kids were scared to death, we were shaken.... but after I spoke to that absolutely rude female, I am going to escalate it until she gets repramanded. It us absolutely unacceptable. I will make sure I will spread a negative word to all my patients I see for my appointments. These cars should NOT be practicing on streets.

Fantastic experience: Did 4 behind-the-wheel sessions at a reasonable price, with Harvey He super nice guy who knew what he needed to teach. The first day of spending 90 minutes with him I felt like a boss , I learned a lot and I recommend him to anybody ! He’s awesome , doesn’t yell & if you make a mistake he’ll let you know without making you feel belittled.

Fantastic experience: Did 4 behind-the-wheel sessions at a reasonable price, with JOHN. He was a nice guy who knew what he needed to teach. Spend a hour with him and you'll know how to change lanes, merge, etc. like a boss. P.S. The Chrysler 200 V6 (293 horsepower) has enough power for some fun. It spins tires easily

Negative experience: The owner, Christine, is extremely rude and impossible to deal with. After we enrolled in behind the wheel instruction, she refused to give me any dates/times of when my son could drive with the instructor. When I asked her if she could give me a general idea of what month we could anticipate driving to start, she responded that I was being a problem to deal with and would refund my money. Any communication with her is frustrating ; she does not let you speak. She scolds, lectures and then hangs up on CUSTOMERS! Her staff that answers the phone continuously apologizes and states she is difficult to communicate with. I will say that our driving instructor was wonderful to deal with and a good communicator. But Christina's customer service is so awful that I would not recommend this school to anyone.

Negative experience: The OWNER is extremely rude! During the class she talks in circles to the point of absolute boredom. Very difficult to work with. Does not communicate well. And treats costumers very poorly in from of other staff members. While the owner was chewing me out I witnessed another staff member upset to the point of crying because of embarrassment. If I could I rate a 0 stars out of 5. Do not come here!!!

Negative experience: Staff is very rude and unprofessional...they don't listen to u and use insulting words.very bad experience with them

Negative experience: No matter what time you call them on any given day they never pick up there phones! Just lazy and stupid employees the worst place you could ever go I wouldn't even ask hitler to get his license here 0/0 stars is my rate.

Negative experience: Staff is rude and condescending. Refuses to communicate with Secretary of State making it nearly impossible to get a license. Acted like I was an inconvenience because my autistic son needed extra time before he could obtain a license. Would recommend ANY other school.

Fantastic experience: Due to an intense school schedule we were unable to get my son into the driving courses at school. Balda taught him everything he needed to know in a compressed time schedule to get it out of the way. They have a lot of different schedule options for convenience. This was a perfect alternative for us!