Berkeley Driving School

Negative experience: They do not answer the phone or respond to email. If you schedule a lesson, their instructions say to call, but since nobody answers you can’t reschedule. This means that they end up keeping your deposit and you have no recourse. I tried calling for two weeks. No one ever returned any of my calls. Review Updates We had to re-do our lessons with another school because we could never get BDS to respond and provide evidence of our previous lesson. So ended up paying double. 11/3/25 - I have filed a complaint with the BBB. The BBB was also unable to reach anyone at this business and they closed the inquiry. 11/10/25 - I have filed a complaint with the CA DMV. Will see if they can take action and have this company's license revoked. I recommend anyone else having trouble with this business to file complaints with BBB and the DMV.

Negative experience: Paid online deposit and received confirmation of upcoming appointment. They were no-show and never called or answered calls or texts. Storefront looks abandoned and others have had similar experiences.

Negative experience: No one showed up for my daughter’s 2nd lesson, despite multiple confirmation emails. No one has followed up after multiple texts and emails. We need a letter from this school to confirm our completion of the 2 hour lesson. As a result we will need to start over with a new school to get our required 6 hours.

Negative experience: The first two lessons were fine, but the teacher never showed up for my daughter’s 3rd lesson, which was scheduled just days before her driving test. As a result, she does not have documentation of the first four hours that she did with them and they have not responded to my phone calls, texts or emails. As a result of this very unprofessional service, my daughter will likely have to delay getting her license, despite all of her efforts to be very prepared

Negative experience: The instructor failed to show up for a scheduled lesson, and neither they nor the company has responded to calls or text messages.

Fantastic experience: As a parent who used Berkeley Driving School over 20 years ago, I knew to contact them when my daughter got her permit. They're easy to schedule with and the lessons are affordable. Lule was her driving instructor every time and she helped my daughter improve her skills. My daughter passed her license test on the first try. Very well worth it and thank you!

Negative experience: If renting this service purely for a DMV test, make sure you check what car will be brought to you and if you're comfortable with it. The instructor also kept trying to get out of the pick up and drop off rides promised by this service and was quoting much longer times than was necessary. Communication was scattered texts and 0 communication day off.

Fantastic experience: I want to express my utmost gratitude to Amber Rose, my driving school teacher, for her exceptional teaching skills and unwavering support before my behind-the-wheel test. Her patience and clear instructions gave me the confidence I needed to pass the test successfully. I highly recommend Amber Rose to anyone looking for a dedicated and skilled driving instructor.

Fantastic experience: Berkeley Driving School is the best! This review is for Amber. She’s patient and understanding. A great communicator - she’ll draw diagrams, give you acronyms, anything to help you take in the information. She’s knowledgable, experienced, adaptable - all the things you want in an instructor. Above all, she has a wonderfully positive attitude and uses her background in psychology to build up your confidence. So encouraging. Never pushy. I kept taking lessons with her beyond the point of passing my driving test simply because I learned so much from her each lesson. The owner of Berkeley Driving School is very cool, so I can only imagine other instructors are as good as Amber, although though this review is specifically about my experience with her.

Fantastic experience: Very convenient and helpful service! I was able to schedule an appointment within the week of calling. I needed a vehicle to take the drivers test at DMV but I hadn't driven in some time. I was able to request an additional hour before the test to brush up on my skills since it had been considerable time since I had been behind the wheel. Lule was my instructor and she was incredibly helpful, insightful, and most of all stress free. (S.M.O.G.!) Long story short I passed the test and I was very excited and happy with the results. Also, for this service I paid $150 which I thought was somewhat pricey until I researched other services who charge WAY more for this same service. I found places charging $300 - $500 for the same service -- that's a lot. Yeah I think ill just pay the $150 instead! I must mention that im a middle aged person who had gone to drivers school way back in high school and had my drivers permit a number of times but just never got around to taking the drivers test for a number of reasons. I've driven a number of times in the past so the hour of prep time with the instructor, Lule, was very much a refresher. Of course if you have never driven before then you will need much more time behind the wheel, but definitely a service that they provide. If your situation is similar to mine, I HIGHLY recommend this service. Or, you know, pay $500 elsewhere

Negative experience: Quite literally one of the most poorly organized companies I’ve ever had to deal with. People showing up at our house for a lesson that we cancelled weeks prior; contacting different members of our family who aren’t on the students’ contact list (no idea how they even got these phone numbers). It’s truly just so disorganized. Do not use unless you want to be stressed out for no reason.

Fantastic experience: I have only had my first lesson and already have to leave a review. Amber Rose is excellent--so patient, clear, thorough, and understanding! I mentioned that I was nervous to learn, and she went at a perfect pace for me, checking in with me frequently. Highly recommend, well worth the price. Looking forward to my next lesson!

Fantastic experience: Great customer service. Easy to use website.

Fantastic experience: I have used their service twice. The first time was a 2-hour lesson. I was not very impressed with the service that time. But the second time was really . They helped arrange a road test assistant appointment although the time didn’t match the instructor’s schedule at first. And my instructor this time (Dee) was awesome. He was very dedicated and nice.

Fantastic experience: Excellent! Instructors are outstanding!!

Fantastic experience: Course was comprehensive and covered a wide range of driving topics. Tests were detailed but fair.

Fantastic experience: lt was easy and proficient.

Negative experience: Not terrible, but there were a lot of organizational problems, and ultimately they let me down when it came to my test. The instructors are very good. The booking process was very convoluted. You call a number, no one picks up. You have to leave a message, and the owner calls you back. The instructors also apparently submit their schedules every so often, and you can't book anything before they submit the schedule for the time period during which you want a lesson. In my case, I booked a DMV driving test one month in advance. I e-mailed the owner; she said she would call me back in 2 weeks, after the instructors submit their schedules. She did not call. After I contacted her, she told me everything was booked, and I had to look for another driving school. Before this, I had no trouble booking 1-2 weeks in advance, so it didn't make sense that I wasn't able to get anything one month in advance. Clearly, they don't maintain a queue of people who request lessons.