Defensive Driving School

I have a Hawaii drivers license which expired, and was unaware of the proper procedures that I needed to take to get a new drivers license. So I contacted Poulsbo department of licensing and explained my situation and was instructed that I needed to take the written exam and driving test to get my Washington license. So I registered online to take these classes with the Defensive Driving School and when their office contacted me to make an appointment I was told by the lady that called me that I didn't need to take these classes if I already had gotten a license before. Since I was getting conflicting information from their office and Poulsbo DOL, I walked into the Bremerton department of licensing to talk to someone in person and find out what I needed to do to get a WA drivers license. I showed them my military ID with my expired drivers license and was able to get a new drivers license at that moment. I tried contacting their office directly to get a refund and was told that I needed to email the manager. I don't think that it is good customer service that the DOL and the Defensive driving school do not follow the same policies. It is not fair to me or anyone else, being new to the state, to get conflicting information and have to pay for a class that I did not need to take. It is frustrating that I had to pay $64 and was told that I couldn't get a refund, but I am able to transfer it to someone else. It really shows that this company lacks the business aspect of a company because if they didn't they would be concerned about the positive referrals that their company could get and not be concerned about the few people who enrolled in the classes that they did not need to take. more

First off I'm an adult student who completed the Defensive Driving course, (5) lessons as well as my driving test. I completed 5 lessons with a female instructor. She was somewhat intimidating at first. The positive thing was that she helped me become more confident in driving. She was strict which really enforced the need to check, stop fully etc. The negative part was we did not do much parking practice. The drive test was great. My examiner Bill made me feel most comfortable right when he greeted me. He gave extremely clear instructions on the road and was calm. more

Given the plethora of 2 star reviews on other sites, I can only assume most of these 5 star reviews are fake. The classes are very good, but there is hardly any time behind the wheel of a car; the drives they do have are scheduled so far apart that it ends up being the parents who teach the driving, and driving lessons are cancelled routinely with little or no notice. Terrible customer service, understaffed instructors, and no effort to improve services. RESPONSE FROM Defensive Driving School: Hi Jim, I'm sorry that we did not meet your expectations. Please call me (ask for J.C.) and I can look into your situation and see why any of the appointments were changed as well as see if we can make your situation right. Teen courses in the state require 6 hours of behind the wheel driving while the parents are required to give 50 hours of driving. In other words the driving they get with us is meant to supplement the teaching that the parents are providing. more

I am a 26 years old Phd. candidate in engineering. I took the test in Bellevue location. The examiner, Carol, was absolutely impolite from the beginning to the end. Her attitude made me nervous and I made some mistakes in the test. She was frustrated when I did not understand one of her commands. I am fine with failing the test, but it is difficult to perform while your examiner is not responsive and impolite. The car that they provided was really nice, but that is the only thing I can say good about my experience. RESPONSE FROM Defensive Driving School: Utku, we regret that you were not satisfied with your 1st experience taking your test. I will follow up with your examiner about your feedback. I see that you have signed up for another test with us and we are grateful that you are giving us another opportunity. more

My instructor is execellent! more

I was an adult student of Defensive Driving School. I learned great driving technique and the knowledge. The people I worked with were friendly and helpful. My driving teacher was so nice and thoughtful. I would recommend them to others. more

My son never received the lesson on how to parallel park. When I demanded that they give him one, they said no because his course ended the week before and insisted he had it back in week 3. He had gotten the basic city driving lesson.\r \r Then I also found out that he didn't receive the freeway driving lesson. (I hadn't realized it since he had practiced with his dad.) Instead he ended up doing the basic city driving lesson 3 times. I could've taught him that and it wouldn't have cost us $600! They still insisted on believing his teacher, who happened to leave the company at the end of the course, and said the teacher signed off on the lessons.\r \r After several complaints to the company, they finally agreed to give him a free combined lesson on parallel parking and freeway driving. Initially they would only offer half off on extra lessons. The man was very nice who gave him the lesson. I wish he'd had him the whole time. We paid extra for the skid training, and that was very coo more

Overall my experience at Defensive Driving School was really fun! My instructor German Yuen was really good! He is an amazing instructor! He is very patient and is very organized! He was always on time for my drives! He taught me so much, and he helped me improve in my driving! He went step by step on the mistakes I would make, and he would help me go over them! I defenetly would recommend Defensive! more

Mr Kim made the class fun. Very informative. more

They were cheaper than everything else up here in Washington. They got me in and out quickly. more

Defensive Driving School was very good in helping me learn to drive. more

I recommend to take driving lessons in Defensive Driving School. I liked my instructor. He is so patient and very nice. His name is Mr German. Thank you for teaching me to drive. I got my license now. more

Defensive Driving School does a great job, they make good points to us and show us how to improve. They are so nice and they make you feel good and confident in what you are doing. Totally worth the money. I took 2 classes and they were great. more

Isaac Kim , is an excellent trainer. His teaching methods are awesome that he shows greater maturity while explaining mistakes committed by the student. He treats the students with great respect and we nevr feel let down. I would recommend to drive with Isaac , if anyone would want to book your sessions in Defensive Driving. more

German Yuen is an excellent instructor, always patient, kind and right on time! He has a really good driving techniques, teaches me a lot. more

I think the teacher was a little dry, but the driving instructor was pretty good. My son seems to have learned a lot. more

I really enjoyed the driving teacher, he was very patient with my son and my son really enjoyed him. The classroom teacher was a little dry, son said he got a little bored in class sometimes. more

My daughter took the driver education course at Defensive Driving School. It was a great experience for her. more

I have Chinese driver's license but no actual driving experience in China, this June my family moved to Sammamish, What I was worrying about was that I couldn't control the car smoothly, took long time confirming safety before change lanes or left turn. Fortunately I had German Yuen as my instructor, he can speak Chinese and helped me a lot in English while teaching my driving.I didn't know how I would take the drive test as I can't speak English. Today I passed the drive test. And I immediately recalled that I need to thank Mr. Yuen for his professional instruction, what he guided me defensive driving technique and must-have knowledge on the road, really helped me passing the test. definitely I'll be benefit from his guidance for all my life as well. Appreciated, Jinmei Liu more

Verla Douge is a great instructor. I am an adult and I have no previous driving experience but she was able to teach me everything I needed to be a good driver. Her work ethics is outstanding. Her people skills are outstanding. Her driving knowledge is awesome. I definitely recommend Verla Douge for anyone who wants to learn how to drive. God bless you Verla for making this a wonderful experience for me. more