Seeing quite a few contributions complaining about Tom, I couldn't help contributing my own experience to correct the record! This past Sunday, my son had the pleasure of being road-tested by the very Tom Kaleta at the Lamphere High School testing site of Courtesy in Madison Heights, just next to Costco. After seeing my son being arbitrarily failed twice at another road-testing company in recent months (see more details here: https://www.yelp.com/biz/same-day-road-test-detroit), we are hesitant to come to do the road test at Courtesy, especially having read some of the not so pleasant feedback from some posters here. However, our experience with Tom has been nothing but joyful! Tom arrived right on time (10 minutes before the scheduled test) to set up the cones even though it was quite early in the morning. Tom is gentle, kind and easily approachable. He even tries to make small talk with my son to ease my son's nervousness. My son had a great time with both the parking and road tests. Unlike road testers elsewhere (again see above link for very bad experiences elsewhere), Tom never tries to trick you into failing. He wants to make sure that my son drives cautiously and safely. This is exactly what new drivers need. We are truly grateful to Tom's help that day. Thank you, Tom and Courtesy! Another benefit of taking the test at Lamphere High School for me personally is that when I waited for them to return from the road test, I got to walk around the nice trail in the city park right next, enjoying the morning fresh air with all the other people working out there on a Sunday! read more

Courtesy Driving School - Tom's business card - Driving Schools Near Me - Shelby Township, Michigan

Find somewhere else to sign up your child for the road test. I scheduled a road test in Lake Orion they called me while on vacation to cancel his road test saying they won't offer in Lake Orion anymore. They gave me a few different cities all which are far and not knowing I picked Bloomfield hills, upon searching it was 45minutes - 1 hour away. When I told them I want to cancel they said no refunds, ok we'll schedule me somewhere closer, they said they don't have anything in Rochester Hills or Romeo and won't know probably till mid September if there will be instructors. So it was their fault for canceling the Lake Orion location but you don't get your money back. I think they have all these locations but no instructors and you won't get your money back even if they cancel. read more

Terrible experience. Save your money and go to a different driving school unless you want to get scammed by these clowns. I showed up to the test site today, and the instructor was nowhere to be found for ten minutes. Since we saw the cones already set up, we assumed it was okay to practice (no signs said otherwise.) Conveniently, just as we were pulling out of the cones, the instructor appeared, told me I failed and should've read the documents, and walked away. An hour later, we called to reschedule, only to be told I was now banned from testing at that location because I had "practiced in the cones." Absolutely ridiculous. F*cking clowns read more

Awful business and management. Their refund policy is laughable and they won't even transfer a roadside test credit from one family member to the next with the same last name. I understand that refunds are clearly not allowed, but what business does that in the 21st century!? Do not even try to go here. read more

Terrible communication and hours. Difficult to schedule make up classses. Speak to the customer service line and express problems. The office refused accountability and allowed bad instructors that were aggressive with students to continue to instruct courses read more

Do not recommend Courtesy/Rich, Sterling Heights. My daughter did really good on the parking part of the test, then it went south. He had my daughter change lanes constantly on Van Dyke during high traffic and also had her drive thru construction areas with closed roads while asking her to turn around where every street was blocked. He said he was unfamiliar with the area. He failed her within minutes of the test. We will not be returning to Courtesy for her next road test. Multiple Lane changes on a heavily trafficked road with speeding drivers, which is the norm, put her in not only an unsafe position, it also set her up to fail. read more

I would give this company zero stars if I could. Their customer service is garbage. They take peoples money, their instructors do not show up and the could careless. They have no F#$%'s to give. I could go on but just wanted to warn people to stay away. FYI, I have never given a negative review before to any company. read more

Terrible, just plain Terrible. There's many many different places that can give you way better experiences when taking your road test. Very strict on the car that you need to have when taking your road test. The smallest crack with some small spidering that you can't even see when inside the car. That, will void your test. (Can't even send in a photo to get it checked by an instructor or such) The instructions given by the instructor aren't verbally expressed well. It's like they're talking to a wall, and not a person. The lady on the phone is nice until it becomes an inconvenience for them, then they will basically disregard your concerns and talk about "just follow the documents" for any question you have even though it doesn't answer your question. The professional ain't so professional at the end of the day. Very disappointed, they don't respect your time just the Non-refundable money you throw at them. 0/10 read more

I had a really disappointing experience with this driving school. I originally signed up but had to ask for a refund months ago due to scheduling issues that made it impossible to attend, which I called minutes after booking. Fast forward a few months, and when I tried to book again, I was told I couldn't because of my previous refund request. It seems like they hold a grudge for something that was entirely due to an honest mistake that was cancelled minutes later. It's incredibly frustrating, especially since I was willing to give them another chance. I would not recommend this place to anyone--poor customer service and a lack of understanding. But, as you see from their one star review. I can't be surprised. I will happily spend my money elsewhere. read more

I have never dealt with such an incompetent company. I paid $75 for a road test for my son. I was. told if he cancelled less than 36 hours prior to the test date I would lose the $75. I cancelled the day of so I understand I lost that original $75. When my son called to schedule a parking lesson, which is $90, the woman said we still had a balance of $75 which we had to pay before he could even schedule a lesson. My son didn't know I had already paid it so he paid another $75. Now I have paid $150 for that missed test and I still haven't scheduled a lesson. We wait 2 1/2 weeks for someone to call to let us know when he can get a lesson. My son had called every other day to see when he can get the lesson. When Courtesy called today to tell my son someone will be calling him to schedule the lesson I asked the woman to give me a refund for the second $75. She insisted that there is an additional $75 on top of the original $75 for a missed appointment and she said it states this explicitly in the contract. I pulled up the contract and it doesn't. When I asked her to point it out to me she said she had to go speak with the other manager. She came back saying there are no refunds and refused to give me back the $75. It appears no one in the company has read their own contract. I suggest you take your business elsewhere as I will be doing. Very condescending people. read more

Worst driving school period. Do not send your child here unless you want them to fail so courtesy can charge more money for a retest. Do not pay as there are no refunds even if you try to cancel within an hour of scheduling. read more

I don't recommend. Had a very kind person on the phone the first time I called to schedule a driver's test. Then someone else from the same office called me back to say they didn't have enough info on the person doing the road test - and they were pretty awful on the phone. How much effort does it take to be courteous on a phone call?? We next had a couple of frustrating experiences with the person administering the road test. Lots of criticism and conflicting statements during the road test - one minute saying "your turn was too fast", next minute saying "your turn was too slow and you're overly cautious." I understand needing to have confident drivers who are safe on the road but this process DID NOT accomplish that. I now have a very timid young driver who feels nothing she does while driving is ever going to be right. And who feels she will never pass the road test. Combine that with the absolutely insane costs of Phase 1 and Phase 2 and two failed road tests due to automatic failures for things that should NOT be an automatic failure. And even better, we now have to start this process over completely. We won't be using this company again. read more

This company is biased, subjective, and incompetent in testing and online instruction. They will hold their phone screens to the computer camera to show instructional videos rather than learn to use "the computer machine." This is a cash-grab outfit, and I'm mad at myself for not looking at the reviews before wasting my money here. Every negative review before me is 100% accurate. The tester, Roxanne, was duplicitous and unreasonable. She should not be an authority to help new drivers become capable and confident. You can smell the 'power trip' oozing as the smirk to tell your aspiring driver they "Automatically failed" for an arbitrary, subjective, and inaccurate description of the circumstance for which they claim the reason to be. Here's the heartless bit: the "automatic failure" (game over) occurs halfway through but was not mentioned. They instead continued to have the driver waste time, fuel, and hope of doing well for another 25 minutes when we could have been back to the start in 5 minutes. THEN, Roxanne offers a saccharine smile and sweetly offers encouraging hope, " So, how do you think you did?" Answer: "I think I did pretty well" (which he did and had less than 8 points off at the end). Then, she pounces, "Well, remember what I said when we were on Garfield? (For an event that didn't happen) That was an automatic failure. The good thing, though, is you only have to pay $55 for the retest." This place's only Courtesy is that they are happy to take your money. Run away from this organization. Tell anyone considering them for services, "DO YOUR RESEARCH!!!" Shame on me for putting my kid through this debacle. read more

This place is a scam. They deserve less than a star. Guy lied straight to our face passing the time, stating we were late. I called the office to discuss this with them an older lady laughed in my face. I never experienced anything like this. read more

My daughter had her test at the Romeo location and the instructor was over 5minutes late (supposed to be 15 early). My daughter had a note that was accepted by the Sterling Heights instructor to allow her grandpa to ride with her. However, it was deemed unacceptable by the Romeo one. Overall, requirements were inconsistent and the Romeo instructor was rude to both my daughter and her grandpa. We went to another company for her retake. (Same Day Road Test) and had an amazing experience. read more

Stay away from this company driving test Romeo site. Had a horrible experience. Total scam. At Romeo site never schedule a test with Karen. She is purposely failing students. And the customer service at this company very rude and unprofessional. Run away from this place. If I could I'll give 0 stars read more

This review is for Courtesy Driving School in Shelby Twp. MI. One star is because you cannot give less. They don't deserve even a single star. Extremely rude and unprofessional stuff. Instructors make kids nervous , don't want to speak with parents. Management is the same kind. Please do your homework and choose another school. There are some better ones. I would say this one is worst of the worst. read more

Website advertising that they offer private lessons to adults who can't drive. No where on there does it list prices or limitations so gave a call where their representative straight up said: "We only offer it during the school year, and not your location." I was willing to make a trip if needed to another location or take a different available program if I could not get private. She made no offer of information for what locations do actually have it for their company, and when I mentioned that their website doesn't state any of this and the information would be useful on the website the woman on the phone was very rude and essentially spoke with the tone of 'Not her problem.' and told me to Google adult driving. That was how I found their company at all funnily enough. If it is a service you offer, why would you not at the very least list WHEN it was available if not the WHERE? If they're this rude to adults trying to use their services I hesitate to think of how they treat the teens in their courses. read more

STAY AWAY Instructor accused me of being late to my appointment and told me to reschedule , to pay another 70$. absolutely not I refuse to give this place any more of my money. read more

Poor communication, failed my daughter for not Honking the horn to start to parking test read more

Absolutely horrible customer service. So many errors were made on their part all throughout our experience with them. Multiple times they made mistakes and were trying to charge us more money for errors that they made in the first place. Also make my daughter re-do a segment that she had already done because the reported the wrong information to the state. Absolutely horrible. Save yourself and use anyone but them. read more

My husband contacted Courtesy Driving School to schedule a driving test for our son. We had a $75.00 credit on their books from the segment 2 driving course which my child never took because he turned 18 and the state no longer requires that segment if you are over 18 years of age. We were told that the 75 dollars could be used for the driving test but could not be used for another student, so we decided to schedule a driving test. My husband was told that the closest testing site to us was in Waterford and if we chose that location, my son would be required to wear a mask. Yes, in 2024 he would be required to wear a mask. This company is putting new drivers at risk by impeding their breathing and peripheral vision by requiring students to wear masks while driving. I called to reschedule at another location and the person who answered, was downright nasty. She refused to give me her name while demanding I give her all of my information. Upon my insistence, she finally said her name was Mary. She refused to give me the owner's name and snapped that it was irrelevant. Mary insisted that their testing staffs have every right to require students to wear masks and that if I didn't not want my child to wear a mask, I would have to choose a different location which is over 30 miles from our home. When I suggested that they return my money Mary indicated that I could not make demands and that they would not return my money for a service they NEVER provided. When I mentioned letting other parents know of our experience and treatment and contacting the better business bureau, she laughed and said, "Go ahead." We only used this company because it is the company used through our local high school. Knowing what we know now, I would NEVER, EVER under any circumstances recommend this company! NOT EVER! We scheduled our test through a different company that is professional and highly skilled. Run as fast as you can from this company! read more

Told a fellow student she should kill herself. I know how ridiculous this will sound to people out of the loop, and I so badly wish I was lying. Years ago while I was taking driving lessons with them in the Hartland area, I was on a drive with another student and the instructor, who is an absolute creepy menace. During a breif conversation we had about how little my generation reads, the other student made a passing remark about how she never does, to which the instructor turns a bit and says something along the lines of "you might as well kill yourself". I was absolutely stunned and I still regret not reporting him and decking him in the face. And yes, Karen scammed and broke me down during my exam too. Marked my parking wrong for incomprehensible reasons and even while seeing how upset I was over failing and being harassed by her, I was told "that was a child's leg you just ran over" when I bumped a cone. The classroom teacher we had was pretty cool, and I feel bad for him having to work with them. An absolute nightmare, it sickens me that they have a near monopoly on this side of the state. Avoid at all costs. read more

Worst place to take drivers test. Will fail you for absurd reason with no warning. All instructors tell you different things. They change their story and are completely unsympathetic. Don't give them your business because if you do they will just keep taking your money. read more

Terrible customer relations may be purposely failing g people . Very unprofessional. Would not recommend

Terrible. Teacher didn't teach because she couldn't control the class. She spent 40 minutes pouting rather than teaching. I paid for my child to witness a melt down, not to learn to drive. Teacher also verbally berated my child on her first drive (which was in the dark). Under the pressure my child made a mistake and then the verbal berating really went off the charts. Hire competent people that don't make kids cry. Hire people that will teach driving, rather than expect students who have already been taught illegally by parents. Do what you have promised your customers you will do. I won't get my money back but changing schools is worth it. This is basement bottom minimum. Bring in a kid that can drive - they don't actually teach driving Nothing but regret. read more

This place doesn't even deserve one star. They are so unreasonable and unprofessional. So I scheduled a road test with them then another chance to take the test came up somewhere closer so I took it and passed. So I went back to cancel this appointment 4 days before the test which more than 72 hours before the appointment so since there's no refund which is very inconvenient I kindly asked if my cousin can take my appointment instead since it's already paid for they said no for no reason at all they couldn't even tell me why. If you Ned an appointment I highly recommend Johnny's or all city's driving school. DO NOT GO TO COURTESY DRIVING SCHOOL I REPEAT DO NOT. read more

How does Tom Kaleta still have a job as a driving instructor? My daughter took the road test with him. He was not just gruff; he was downright rude to her and to my husband. There are too many examples to list but, as many reviewers have stated, student drivers require a calm, patient teacher. Tom has neither of these qualities. He also gives unsafe instruction: As my daughter was going up a blind hill on a two-lane road, there was a semi truck ahead with its hazard lights on parked in her lane. Instead of telling her to turn onto a side street to go around it, he instructed her to drive around it in the oncoming traffic lane, thereby crossing the double yellow line on a blind hill! Fortunately there was no car coming in the other direction (which she could only see once they were over the hill) or there would have been a head-on collision. My daughter was afraid he would fail her if she didn't follow his abysmal instruction. My husband didn't speak b/c Tom had already yelled at him when he made a benign, conversational comment. Courtesy either doesn't care or is desperate for instructors to keep this sorry excuse of an instructor employed. read more

There should be a list of settings in place for the on-line classes. My son had his class all set and right at class time, it wouldn't work. Courtesy did not work with us at all - "it's your computer." Pay $200 to reschedule. I was angry and didn't want anything to do with them, asked for a partial refund then. They would not give anything back. They are going to keep our $425 when my son was there waiting for his class. How do they know it was our fault for sure? It's a new computer. See if they have a list of what settings are needed. They probably won't and will just ask for $200 more if there is a problem. ABSOLUTELY UNPROFESSIONAL with no understanding whatsoever. read more

I should of read the reviews. Buyer beware the scam is to take your money for the road test then find anything they possibly can find to fail or make u take a 2nd test. My sons a great driver and he was not allowed to take the test because ONE of his numbers on the permit was not legible but we had a picture of it when he first got it and she (KATHY, pep boys 17 1/2 and van dyke) wouldn't even look or even the common courtesy to roll down the window and speak to me!!! Left message for courtesy and still have not received a call back. read more

Overall I'm happy with Courtesy. The lady I spoke with on the phone was very nice and helpful. The classes were good. All 3 of my daughters went here. Their weak link is Ms. Kathy, the driving instructor at Pep Boys in Sterling Heights. There's not enough room here to explain how rude she was! My daughter was nervous to begin with and failed because she was so intimidated by Ms. Kathy. Then she had another test with Mr. Phillip at St. Clement of Romeo and passed with flying colors. The difference? Mr. Phillip was kind, made small talk and made my daughter feel comfortable. Just make sure you don't book the driving test with Ms. Kathy and you should be good :-) read more

Is this company a scam? We signed up for a segment 2 class, they took my money from my bank account and 2 days later I got an email stating they thought classes would be available, but aren't. They only have a recorded message giving an email address for questions. I emailed and have not got a reply. In all fairness, it's only been an hour. I called the facility where the class was supposed to be held and they stated they canceled all rooms/rentals back in March. I feel I've been scammed and want my money back and answers to why they took it in the first place knowing classes were not happening. read more

AWFUL. so awful. Tom Kaleta is a money hungry man and has no idea how to do a road test. he does not follow the government guidelines for the parking and it seems like he purposely does it to make you fail. for more money. the money for each segment and for the road tests are overpriced and the people just working the phones are disrespectful. 0/10 do not recommend. go somewhere else if you have the chance 5000% read more

I learned alot with mr len today in parking and he is a good teacher and is patient with you

Money grabbing, power tripping opportunists when it comes to final road test. I could tell from the beginning that my daughter was doomed when the lady couldn't read one of the numbers on her permit that had been folded up in her wallet for 9 months due to it being on the crease. That was almost a deal breaker from the beginning. I will tell everyone else I know to go somewhere else. read more

Honestly my experience was totally different from the below reviews, after I passed my test Secretary of State recommend me this place and even though I was doubting because of the reviews I called and the lady she was so nice giving me all the details, paper work and prices for the road test. I meet the lady at the Hope church on Hayes and my test last between 40-45 mins. She took me to every single point that the writing test tells you (sings, highway, roundabout, changing lines, etc). Thanks to Cynthia that also was very nice and calm during my test. read more

Completely disappointed by the lack of customer service, communication, and professionalism by office staff, Shaundra, Mary, and Rachel. We arrived at a scheduled drive time last week, only to watch the driving instructor, John R. Drive away with another student. Nobody at the office seemed to care or offer a sincere apology for the inconvenience. The office reached out to who they thought the driver was, and he contacted me. One driving instructor, John Howell, refused to assist me and insisted that I call the office to receive assistance. He then hung the phone up on me. So in reality, I was bounced around from the office, to the wrong driving instructor. How does the office not keep record of who the drives are scheduled with? How does the office not know what driving instructor services the area we were scheduled to drive? Who are we supposed to contact when the instructor is not there for our scheduled drive time? The office told me they couldn't help me and demanded that I take my daughter to the high school at 9 am Monday morning to get this rectified. Why should I rearrange my schedule when they were wrong? This company is extremely unorganized and lack customer service skills when we paid over $600 for the course. All Star Driving was FAR more organized! We will be taking Segment 2 with them. Do NOT trust Courtesy Driving School!!! read more

It's obvious this company has a monopoly in the greater Rochester area as they treat customers like garbage. My son was scheduled for an august class, we cancelled and signed up for a july class because it worked better with our schedule. My wife drove 30 minutes to Madison Hts only to be told by the hotel clerk "Sorry, there's no session here". The class was cancelled and no one told us. So, normally you'd call a business and they'd be considerate and work with you as it is obviously their mistake. Nope, they said "sorry, we can't do anything and the prior class you were signed up for is booked now". I'm waiting for a call from Dean Trudell (Ops Manager if anyone needs to know who he is, receptionist said they couldn't give his last name) and Brandon Semrau (alleged owner) that is also avoiding confronting the disgusted customers. Receptionists wouldn't put me through to either of them because they "were not in" at 10 AM on a Monday. I want that gig. I'm really just using this forum to gripe as there's nothing apparently Courtesy will do to help resolve our issue. Yes, Covid has caused issues but don't give us erroneous info then tell us "sorry, too bad". As of right now we do not have our son scheduled for drivers training by no fault of our own. Brandon Semrau and Dean Trudell, I've left my number at your office if you'd like to call to discuss more. read more

My teen took her segment one and 2 with this school. She was yelled at by the instructor during segment one during the driving part. On the road test the instructor seemed as though he hated life. My teen had problems backing into the parking spot and he basically stopped the test immediately with out saying barely a word. Worst road test and school ever. read more

Very unprofessional, disrespectful, and disorganized. What to expect? A 3 week class will turn into 5. The drive times will not be scheduled during the 3 week period. Then after my daughter passed the written test with a 97% and the did all her drives, I had to contact them a week later to find out where her certification was just to find out they forgot to record 25 minutes of her make up class time. Don't expect to find a notification in the student portal or to be told. To top it off, if a make up time is needed, expect to be on stand by until a class opens up. Warning: This could take months. When you question or have a dispute, the manager Mary Jo is very argumentative and uncaring. Personally, I feel they can offer the courtesy of better communication. But, Mary Jo and Courtesy doesn't want to hear that either. The level of service is not what I expected for $430. PS. communication is part of good customer service. read more