Joyce's Driving School

Negative experience: DO NOT RECOMMEND! GO SOMEWHERE ELSE! This was the worst experience for drivers ed we have encountered out of my 3 kids. The instructor was insulting while teaching then baited and then kicked kids out of the class. Instructor skipped over material because he didn’t feel like presenting it. Escalating the issue was worthless as the ‘manager’ did not care. Instructor has since been removed from the classroom but still does btw’s. Took my 3rd kid to Ready Set Drive and had a great experience.

Fantastic experience: We are extremely pleased with our daughter's experience a Joyce's Driving School. From the very beginning, the staff was professional, welcoming, and committed to safety. The coursework was thorough and well-structured, giving her a solid understanding of the rules and responsibility that come with driving. The classes were engaging and informative, and the instructors were patient, encouraging, and highly knowledgeable. Thanks to their expert guidance, our daughter gained confidence behind the wheel and was well-prepared for her behind-the-wheel sessions. The hands-on training was practical and tailored to her learning pace. We appreciated the clear communication and support throughout the process. Most importantly, she successfully passed her final road test on the first attempt. We are grateful to the entire team at Joyce's for their dedication and excellent training. We highly recommend this driving school to anyone looking for a trustworthy, professional, and effective driving education. Thank you! The Sheeran Family

Fantastic experience: I signed my son up for driver’s ed to start his classes in August. Then he was told he made the soccer varsity team at school and all games conflicted with his driver’s ed classes so I had to push his start time back to October. Miss Diane took care of the matter very promptly and has been nothing but helpful and understanding in the process. My oldest son used Joyce’s Driving School as well, years ago. We were very happy with them back then, and seven years later, they’re just as great. I can only recommend them. Shout out to Miss Diane for all her help!

Fantastic experience: Absolutely Outstanding Experience with Joyce's Driving School in Barrington, IL! If I could give more than five stars, I would! Joyce’s Driving School is the gold standard when it comes to professionalism, kindness, and top-notch customer service. From the moment we signed up, every interaction has been smooth, clear, and incredibly supportive. Their entire team is knowledgeable, patient, and truly dedicated to helping both students and parents feel confident and informed throughout the process. I have to give extra-special recognition to Mary Pat, who has gone above and beyond on more than one occasion. Not only is she incredibly organized and responsive, but she genuinely cares. When I had to cancel a weekend appointment due to an unexpected family health issue, she immediately stepped in to help. Without hesitation, she handled the cancellation and followed up first thing Monday morning—not just to confirm the successful cancellation, but also to check in and send kind wishes for my daughter’s well-being. That level of thoughtfulness is rare and so appreciated. Mary Pat and the entire staff at Joyce’s have a way of making what can sometimes be a stressful experience feel manageable and even enjoyable. They’re accommodating with scheduling, clear with communication, and always incredibly friendly. You can trust that Joyce’s Driving School will treat you with respect, compassion, and a genuine desire to help. I can’t recommend them enough—they’ve been an absolute blessing to our family!

Fantastic experience: Loved Joyce’s and the experience with the ability to talk and drive with different people including the instructors, especially Ms. Whitney and Mr. Watson.

Fantastic experience: Great teachers in the class and driver instructors were good

Negative experience: Unfortunately, the scheduling for driving in car instructor is horrible. We had to wait one month to schedule 1h class of driving for my teen.

Positive experience: Worst communication, stuff and management incompetent and rude, office almost never open, most inconvenient scheduling system

Negative experience: BTW scheduling is inefficient and constantly full and over a month is guaranteed between classes. I've had Joyce's cancel BTWs with 2 hours notice more than once despite them charging customers a $50 fine for cancelling within 72 hours, leaving me to wait even longer until new slots are posted. The office hours were also wrong for multiple months last year both on the website and in the voicemail leaving me unable to schedule a class as online scheduling was closed, and then blaming me for being untimely with my completion of the course. It seems only now is Joyce's getting its act together but there are still many issues.

Negative experience: Btw classes canceled twice within 24 hours

Negative experience: Frustrating interactions with staff and poor communication.

Negative experience: Behind the wheel scheduling is broken. No available time slots. Phone operators can't help. If you don't mind waiting 2 months between btw classes, it may take a full year to completely 6 of those. Joyce's must have an acute shortage of drivers, possibly because of low wages. I'm willing to pay more per class just not to wait weeks for the next availability class slot

Fantastic experience: Obvious choice for Barrington. Currently my 4th child going through the process. Well run and friendly behind the wheel instructors.

Fantastic experience: All 3 of my boys attended Joyce’s driving school and we really appreciated their flexibility, attitude and easy scheduling. The instructors were always patient and positive. My youngest just completed and really enjoyed Matt!

Fantastic experience: I called Joyce's because I needed some help getting information. My daughter went to take her behind the wheel test at the DMV and told her she needed a printed out certificate from Joyce's that she completed the behind the wheel class. Charles was very helpful to me and my daughter when she called and spoke to him about this matter. He was willing to help us and go above and beyond his job role. Thank you Charles for your kind professional attitude. I would recommend Joyce's Driving School to anyone.

Fantastic experience: I've had three students attend this school. With COVID, the on-line classes and "Behind-the-wheel" were still excellent. In actuality, I think if these options were available before (instead of in-class session) it would have made things simpler for our schedules. The "single person per Behind-the-wheel" was actually better than having several students in a single vehicle at one time. So, not all things with COVID were bad. The staff is very helpful and answers all the questions. We used the driving instruction out of Lake Zurich, and Don L and Bill Y were wonderful in the 6 "behind-the-Wheel" sessions my son had. There is handicapped parking and handicapped access to this facility, as well as the one in Lake Zurich. I'd recommend this school to others.

Fantastic experience: Hello!! Just wanted to share a quick story. My daughter took her driver's test last Thursday (she passed, yeah!!!) When she returned the first thing her instructor/tester(?) said to me was "money well spent mom". I was confused at first but he went on to say that he noticed she took driver's ed with Joyce's and what a wonderful job she did and how great of a driver she was. He said he had 3 other students from Joyce's that day and that they all did a great job. He said they must have some great instructors at Joyce's and what a great job they do. I'm sure he see's students from many schools in the area and what a compliment to Joyce's that he would go out of his way to mention that. Thought you should know! Thanks Joyce's!!!!!!!

Fantastic experience: My son just obtained his drivers license. He tooks classes through Joyces. We found them great to work with especially excellent was pivoting their business model to be more virtual during COVID. Quite impressive!

Fantastic experience: Great driving instruction for my son. He enjoyed the instructors and was able to schedule his own drive times with the easy-to-navigate website.

Negative experience: This entire company ran by a bunch of unprofessional people and their affiliation with Barrington High school is what keeps them in business which lowers new people into the nonsense I am about to explain. First my kid failed written test after taking the classes so I had to coach him and the kid passed the test the 2nd time. If you prepaid for behind the wheel session, good luck getting a freaking instructor available for months. They do not have enough instructors so the kids can take weekly driving lessons and off course weekends are the best time as kids have classes till 4:00 PM and then after school activities. In the fine print of their contract when you are paying for the services, they put a time restriction in their contract, so if you don't schedule behind the wheel classes within X number of months after the class room training, they will eat up your 100's of your dollars even you never used the service!!! What the hell. Then they force you to pay more money to activate or extend behind the wheel sessions if it expired (A service you prepaid but not even once used it)...what an unethical bunch of of people. There is $50 dollar fee if you cancel session less than 48 hours of schedule date, another gotcha. My Doctors even don't charge such fees. To avoid the BS, I paid some extra dollars, then again after two sessions which were two weeks apart, they had no slots available for the entire month. Not a single slot. In their online system they will provide available slots like in the middle of the school day while the kid is in school. What a nonsense. You can try calling them and no one returns phone calls, no one responds to emails. I think its time I throw few lawyers at their faces and get all my money back and all the time they have wasted so far.

Fantastic experience: great driving school. great instructors, very patient and as a company they are very accommodating.

Fantastic experience: It’s an awesome driving school!!! I bought just an hour driving lesson cause I mostly knew how to drive, but since I learned in another country I wanna to make sure I was doing everything okay from driving to parking. I didn’t know some terms and techniques that could be done, but my instructor Alex Tieberg-Bailie made sure I learned. He was great through all the drive giving me information about driving tests and he had a good vibe so I was totally chill during the whole lesson. I enjoyed my driving lesson, I enjoyed having a very outstanding and nice instructor, so I can totally say Joyce’s Driving School is a place kids who don’t know how to drive or aren’t sure enough about taking a driving test should go.

Fantastic experience: I really appreciate Joyce's willingness to answer questions and explain this process to me. She is very patient to first timers.

Fantastic experience: Having our oldest child become a driver is a scary thing. Having Joyce's driving school teacher her how to drive made it all good. I'm very confident in my daughter's ability as a new driver now. Flexibility in scheduling was great. She really enjoyed her behind the wheel teacher who treated them to ice cream on the last day will be a memory she will always have. My 2 younger kids will definitely go here.

Fantastic experience: I thought Mr. Toth was the greatest