Total Control Driving Academy, llc

Fantastic experience: Highly recommended!!! Both the classroom and behind the wheel instructors were fantastic! The behind the wheel was 1:1, just the instructor and my son. He enjoyed every lesson!

Fantastic experience: My son really enjoyed the instructor. He was patient and so helpful! He was happy he learned so much. He came home more confident in his driving after every lesson.

Negative experience: I'm a teacher at Elk River High who has access to students who have used this company. This company does not give students the required 6 hours of driving time. Instead, they split the time amongst two students. I talked to students in my math classes and had reports of students driving for less than 20 minutes in a lesson. I re-started teaching driver education with our district's community ed last spring. In that time, I have received two calls from parents who were desperate to get their child's behind-the-wheel hours done after starting them with Total Control. Those parents told me that their phone calls to Total Control were going unreturned. I don't have anything negative to say about A+ driving school. They would be my recommendation if you don't choose to go through ISD 728 Community Ed. Frankly, there are too many kids in the area for our CE to handle, so it would be awesome to have other reputable companies in the area who had the goal of properly educating our youth.

Negative experience: Biggest waste of money ever do not use total control driving academy. Did behind the wheel with Rob a couple years ago and not once did he ever give feedback to me as the student driver on what I needed to work on. The first time I did behind the wheel with him he spent the entire time on the phone trying to find a lost FedEx package and would only tell me things like turn left turn right stop here. Never in sessions did I drive for more than approximately 45 minutes and it was supposed to be two hours of uninterrupted driving per student. After failing my drivers test multiple times I was told that if I wanted to take my drivers test again I would need proof of behind the wheel certificate tried to get one from Rob and he told my parents that we never did business with him he refuses to give me my certificate of completion. If I could I’d rate 0 star. Don’t use total driving academy not even as a last resort the in person classes were great but please do your behind the wheel was some other company.

Negative experience: Has 2 kids in the car at once, technically each kid only gets 3 hours of behind the wheel, late to appointments, very hard to get in contact with anyone, didn't communicate on what they think the kids needs to work on.

Negative experience: Decided to go with TC for my second driver. The classroom training was very convenient and it was a bit less expensive and closer to home than the high school option. My son enjoyed the classroom and learned a lot. (Classroom was NOT taught by ROB.) The behind-the-wheel was a complete nightmare. Rob was so unprofessional at our first BTW meeting, it made me very nervous to let my son drive with him. We waited by the office for 15 minutes before receiving a call from Rob basically yelling at us for not searching the parking lot for the car he was waiting in. It was our first appointment for BTW and I couldn't believe how rude he was. It didn't take long to realize I had made a mistake by giving him any money. My son's first '2-hour' lesson was shared with another kid, so it was actually only 1. When I called Rob on this, he reluctantly agreed. On two occasions Rob was waiting at the wrong location for my son. On a third occasion, I had to call to make sure the lesson was still on due to weather because he hadn't called me to confirm it wouldn't take place. Scheduling was a disaster. This guy is spreading himself so thin he couldn't get my kid finished with his 6 instructional hours prior to his birthday. He teaches parallel parking on the last hour, which he says is to be scheduled the week before the test. He is also extremely difficult to get a hold of to make appointments. I, too, would give Rob and his school a zero but the review required at least one star. Customer service is non-existent. Once he has the money, he doesn't seem to care about anything but himself. As far as picking your child up from your location...complete joke. Interesting that all the reviews are either 1 or 5 stars. I have to wonder why some are 100% satisfied when others are 0% (but forced to be 20%). Seems a bit fishy that nobody was somewhat satisfied and gave them a 3 or 4. I can't discourage you enough from staying as far away from this place as possible.

Negative experience: This was absolutely the worst experience ever. Rob was either late, or had to reschedule every single time we had a driving appointment with him. He did not take my son driving in town but only on back roads. He did come to the house to pick him up, which is nice, but my son was never driving when they left. They had to stop for a "potty" but I think "smoking" break before my son got in the driver's seat. I caught him lying to me and also he tried to always take a 2nd student with in the car. Which would be ok, except he did not intend to extend the drive time to make sure the student each received a total of 6 hours. Between being late, dropping off early and the breaks, I know we only got 4.75 - 5 hours in. Find another school. If I could leave a zero review I would, but this site requires me to give at least a 1. I have more, which I have documented, but I think you get the point. If I knew what agency I could contact to report him, I would.

Negative experience: Constantly cancelling last minute and rescheduling. Never on time when he doesn't reschedule. Very unprofessional.

Negative experience: Continuously missed appointments with no call or explanation. Super disappointed because some of the reviews were positive so decided to give it a try. Was very rude when asked for a refund. This guy is having people write fake positive reviews to try and dilute the negatives. Will report to BBB.

Fantastic experience: I’d highly recommend Total Control to others! The flexible schedule for the classroom sessions is perfect for kids with busy sports schedules. I knew my son wouldn’t be able to make it to one of the sessions, so I was glad that they were very accommodating by offering other dates and times so that he could attend and not miss anything. That didn’t seem to be an option with other schools. His instructor Alan made learning fun and I appreciated that they were quizzed daily at the end of the session on what they learned. The behind the wheel training with Rob was great. His relaxed, easy-going personality made for a really positive, non-stressful driving experience for my son. Rob gave a lot of good feedback on what to work on for the next driving session. Also the fact that he will either come to your house or pick them up at school is really a plus! I’ll definitely use this school again in the future!

Fantastic experience: Some of the bad reviews here are fake, but I know for SURE! That Total Control is a great driving course. The staff teach in a fun and very engaging way, making all kids feel welcome and never left out. The learning environment was also great. The work is all done in class but homework is optional. This is great with high schoolers since they have tons of homework as it is. The prices were way better than anyone else we looked at too. Total control charges less for the class room session AND behind the wheel than our school charged with the charge of the behind the wheel on top of the classroom. They also are very flexible with schedules, often scheduling behind the wheels based on the kids and parents request. The driving instructor will pick your kid or yourself at their school or residence, while others don’t. They put in a lot of work behind the scenes too that goes unnoticed. Don’t think twice when choosing Total Control. They’re awesome!

Negative experience: Very tuff to schedule. Had to go to different driving school. Was promised a refund for money paid, have not been paid. I do not recommend this place.

Negative experience: This place is horrible! Almost impossible to get a hold of! We paid for behind the wheel hours, and my son has yet to finish his hours and he is suppose to test next week! He was suppose to have Behind the wheel today, guess what?!?! Guy didn't even SHOW UP! My son sat at the high school for 45 minutes waiting for him to show. I will never recommend this place and my other kids will never go here! Can't believe he is still in business if this is how he treats his customers!

Fantastic experience: Loved it!! Easy an fun way and quick to get me on the road!!

Negative experience: Extremely difficult to get a hold of over the phone, very poor at calling back. Errors made on their end with scheduling behind the wheel dates, actually arguing with us and telling us we were wrong (wrote it on the calendar the same day). Also, wrote on their contract form that one of the parents would ride with on the first day and they said no and denied that they ever agreed to do so. Over all I am very disappointed and a little angry too. I will actually discourage others from this driving school.