I've read some of the not positive reviews for this school, I'm sorry for the bad experience you all had. My experience with this school was superb, took the knowledge test with a group of other first timers, the instructor was awesome (passed). Took my road test with Marty (who I see was bashed in a couple of reviews) he was not only a great instructor but very knowledgeable and patient with me, he even came in 1/2hr early so I wouldn't have to wait a couple of days for the next slot to open for my road test, after I PASSED (90%) he had some time before his next test and submitted my score, I'm now at the DMV writing this review and couldn't be more ecstatic. read more

Currently signed up and no behind the wheel driving lessons available until December. Classes for this group began at the end of September. If you want to pay this company over $700 only for you to teach your own student how to drive yourself then sign up! They sign up LOTS of students for their Zoom classes and then cannot provide driving lessons to these students until 2 months after they complete the Zoom class and tell kids to drive 2-3 hours with their parents a week during the Zoom classes and do not offer nearly enough driving classes to go along with the Zoom classes. Quite the business model to make the $. Insulting to customers and students. I suggest going to Burien or King Driving. This is unreal. Very frustrating and extremely dangerous. read more

There is no sign where the school would be and the instructions just say meet at bartell parking lot? There is no body with a sign or nothing I searched for 30 minutes I tried calling but nobody answered and I doubt I can get a refund read more

This school should be forever closed, They gave no real information where the school was located and sent an email asking to meet in the bartells parking lot. And if you ask for a refund, good luck. Definitely should show this to the local news station on how severely bad the experience with this crappy school. Best to go elsewhere. Extremely unprofessional and horrible management!!! read more

Scheduling drives with this school is nearly impossible. They are so backed up from Summer that to schedule drives with their 9 day inbetween makes it so hard. Competing with all the other students that couldn't do drives this summer. No wiggle room for students just starting to drive now. Of course, if you don't make it by the alotted time they give you - you get to pay extra. So frusterating. School/classes have been ok for my 15 1/2 year old- instructor was a bit dry. All on zoom which can be a difficut way to learn. read more

As an adult learning to drive, I can't recommend this place. The instructors I dealt with were unprofessional, inappropriate, and rude, with the exception of Marty, who is just okay. One instructor yelled at me and was constantly looking at his phone while I was trying to ask questions and learn. Customer service is atrocious; if you complain, they will politely tell you that it's not their problem. Overall, very disappointed. read more

This place is so unprofessional. For the knowledge test, the instructor showed up 10-15 minutes late in the evening. No real apology. There were multiple test takers waiting outside by the door. As for the driving skills test - I got this older guy who was grumpy right out the gate and I knew he was planning to fail me. I suspect they just want you to pay twice, because once you fail it's non-refundable. You have to pay again to take another test. read more

My first experience here was when I took the knowledge exam with Marty- he was so kind and explained testing procedure very well, graded papers immediately and congratulated me on passing afterwards! Because of this good experience (and the fact that I live across the street) I decided to schedule a few drives with this school. My first instructor was James. I met him outside of Bartell drugs and almost immediately after confirming my identity he takes a look at my information on his clip board and asks, "And you waited this long to learn how to drive...why?" Obviously I was taken aback by this condescending question and started to explain that my husband and I got into a car crash a few years ago and only just now bought a new car a year ago. He says "the car wasn't crashed, someone crashed it" and raised an eyebrow. First of all, I'm in my mid 20's. It's not that unusual to not have a license when you live in the middle of the city. I'm also assuming that he's used to teaching kids who he can get a pass with being condescending towards, but I don't have mommy and daddy paying for my driving lessons. So obviously I try to take this in good humor as a small 100lb woman who will be in the car alone with a man for an hour but I'm not feeling too great about these comments and they set the tone for the entire drive. As for the lesson itself- I'm just glad that I got some driving practice in beforehand because his teaching style is very fast and difficult to follow. I was given some helpful worksheets afterwards so that was a plus, but overall I think I'll be scheduling future drives with Marty because I didn't get a condescending vibe from him at all. It also seems like he knows how to mind his business, which is apparently a rare trait nowadays. read more

10 out of 10 - would totally recommend! I discovered that Washington doesn't recognize Hawaii licenses so I needed to retake the written and driven. Easy peasy, right? No. I've been driving for 22 years and figured I would blow both tests out of the water. Boy was I wrong. Once I finally studied and practiced, I was able to pass both after 2 attempts. For COVID - they have the desks separated and it felt very safe. The instructor, Marty, is very detailed in explaining how to take the test (both written and driven) and has a very calm demeanor. He actually made me LESS nervous than I thought I'd be during the driven test. Once you enter the car, you wipe down every part of it with a disinfectant wipe - which again, lets you know they are taking every measure to ensure everyones safety. read more

I am giving this 2 stars only because the instructors were nice. Otherwise dealing with this establishment has been a nightmare. They are unorganized and you end up having to do everything yourself. Schedule drive's etc. I have twins and wasn't informed that I need two separate devices and logins for them to zoom from home. So classes were not credited at first. Finally got permission to use one login and device after a lot of back and forth. The classes honestly are nothing you can not google or YouTube and get the same exact knowledge for free. And when my daughter had a high fever the day of one of her drives, I was informed that since I did not give 48 hours we would have to pay 75 dollars for a make up class. I guess I was supposed to just let her drive sick and a high fever. And then since my other daughter did not pass one of the computer tests she did but for some reason it didn't show up we ended having to pay for another class and that meant another 75 dollars. So after all that we come to find out that you still need to take the knowledge and skills test to even get your license. But of course for extra money they will gladly help you out with that. I can not recommend this driving school. 699.00 is a lot of money for very little service. read more

The Defensive Driving School has some of the most experienced driving instructors. At the time of starting these driving lessons, I had a little bit of driving experience, but from a country that drives on the other side of the road, which in some ways, unfortunately set me back on US roads, even more than not having any experience. But my driving instructor helped me draw the rules of the US road into my instinct, and then, went further to help me learn several tips and tricks to drive defensively. I feel it is this Defensive driving technique, that would help me keep my family, others on the road and myself safe on the road. Whats more, he helped me do it in just 5 hours and was patient and generally amicable through the whole process. I would highly recommend getting driving lessons from this school. If possible, ask for "Marty", but they are all very good! read more

Vincent is fantastic!!! Although the commentary driving is a weird and somewhat distracting addition to the class. Good class though!

Wonderful instruction, and preparation that go beyond what may be necessary. Thank-you for all yo for the future drivers and safety on the roads read more

Basically, they only want your money. My husband took his driving skill test, the lady failed him saying he passed the line in a stop sign. And when parking uphill, your wheel needs to be turnes 4x? Seriously?Totally BS. She also told my husband that at least it is a good thing he does not have to take the class again unlike the guy who took the test before him. DDS, hopefully you guys hire professional instructors. Also, order to take another driving skill test, he is going to have to pay another $60? read more

The driving instructor, Clay, was wonderful and extremely fun. I just felt like the classes were extremely slow and it was sad that we had to fulfill and stretch the lesson to the full two hours instead of being able to get done early. also, I had a hard time getting to the midterm and also emailing staff members. I also had a hard time scheduling my practice drives. read more

Terrible experience. This place is a racket. My 22 year old son is a good driver, but was nervous about passing the driver's test in a new state. So I paid $1000 for driving classes and testing for him. The instructors at this school in West Seattle were rude, dismissive, and sneering. They made him feel as if he was a terrible driver. He took the test with them in Seattle, and did not pass, due to nerves. So I took him out driving myself. He relaxed some, and became a good driver again. (I have been driving for 30 years and taught my four older kids to drive -- I know good driving.) He paid $60 and signed up for his driving test with the same school, but in Poulsbo. As soon as we arrived, I knew it was going to be bad. The instructor was SO unprofessional. He greeted us with a sneer, didn't give his name when we introduced ourselves, and started barking orders at AJ, who obeyed quietly and quickly. AJ said that the man tried to trick him into doing things wrong, all through the test, but I had coached him for that, and he didn't fall for it, which made the instructor mad. The instructor couldn't find any skill that he couldn't do, or any safety issues, so he whittled off points here and there ("you weren't far enough to the right in your lane before you made the right turn". REALLY.) and didn't pass him. People like this should not be teaching anything. Save your money and get a friend or parent to teach you. read more

Marty was a great instructor. Super helpful and nice. Clear instruction and calm demeanor, made the whole process very enjoyable.

Just took my driving skills test for the second time and passed! I had the same instructor both times which and I am very glad. Marty was patient and clear with explaining the test and made sure I was comfortable and ready by asking multiple times before we started. I failed the first time and he made sure to be very clear about what I got points marked down for. Great instructor, would highly recommend! read more

Update: the school called me and gave me back one class. ----------------- BAILED BY THE INSTRCTOR ON THE FIRST CLASS I got bailed by the instructor on the first class and they count that class as `no show`. I was really disappointed and reached out to their customer service in hope of getting my one class back, but they asked me to buy another half-priced class instead. What the heck? Attached are the emails: Hi, I had a driving class on West Seattle, 5:30PM May 27th. Since the appointment email told me to meet the driving coach by Bartell's parking lot, Seattle 98116, I ubered to this address and it turned out to be another Bartell also in 98116. I called at 5:20PM to the service center about this and the agent says he would tell the coach to wait for me. I immediately ubered to the correct parking lot and arrived at around 5:35PM but didn't find the coach by the parking lot. I waited until 6:10PM and saw that the class got cancelled and left. When I was waiting I tried to contact the service center again but it was past the hour, I tried to call the coach but there was no contact of him in the scheduling portal. The system now shows my class as no show and my one class was wasted. I don't think that's fair since your instruction was not clear and it was the coach not showing up. If he couldn't find me he should've call me since he have my number but I don't have his. I won't ask for the cost of Ubers that day, but please either refund the tuition for that class, or cancel the no show and recover my 5 classes. Best Regards, Noah Su ------------- Hi Noah, I'm sorry to hear about the confusion with where to go for your driving lesson a couple weeks ago. I have emailed your instructor to find out where he was. It's customary to be on the Bartell side of the parking lot near the entrance to the main building. Usually, the cars are parked in the center parking aisle near Bartells. Usually our instructors do reach out to students. I'm not sure if your phone accepts blocked calls? Most of our instructors will hide their personal cell number when reaching out to students. On our confirmation email for making appointments, it gives the following information: This is an email confirmation that you have a drive scheduled for: Thursday May 27th 2021 5:30PM Location: DDS - West Seattle Address: 4700 42nd Ave SW #500-Written test in classroom., Lessons/skills tests meet by Bartell's parking lot, Seattle, WA 98116 To reschedule or cancel an appointment, you must log into Schedule Agent or call our office 48hours beforehand (not counting weekends and holidays) to avoid being charged as if the appointment took place. It looks like you missed the address part of the notification and only saw the Bartell part at the end. As a one time courtesy, we can schedule another lesson for you at half price. Let me know if you'd like to do this or need help getting your other lessons scheduled. ---------------------- Hi, Thanks for replying. I don't think a half-price lesson is acceptable. The address in the instruction is  4700 42nd Ave SW #500, which is a room for the testing. I don't think we will have a driving a class in a room so it's reasonable to think only the latter half sentence tells the address. And not I don't have any blocking apps installed and I receive scamming calls every week. Moreover I already called the service center and got confirmed that the coach would wait for me but he didn't and didn't call. Please be responsible for all these three mistakes. If you can't recover that one class, please refund the whole package. Best Regards, Noah Su ---------------------- read more

I have a few things I like and a few things I don't like about this school. Firstly, the classes (at least online... and granted this was June 2020, so only a few months after COVID hit) weren't very smooth, the teacher was slow and often boring to listen to. Sometimes they would have another person talking, and in contrast, showed way more energy and enthusiasm. Secondly, when I was doing my drives, I had only 2 drives with great people, kind, understanding, and informative, but on my third, I had this one older guy named James, he seemed grumpy, and it affected his ability to get things straight across to me. At this stage, we were backing around the corner, and he very vaguely gave me directions to do that maneuver, I began following what he told me, and almost without reversing more than a foot, he slammed on the passenger brake and said something like "are we going to do it my way, or your way?" To say the least, James was a bad apple and not representative of the school itself. I later had Marty who was amazing. Marty explained things very clearly and was easy to understand. He was calm and descriptive of what we were doing and gave constructive and honest feedback on what I was doing wrong/ what I should do for a good habit. I commend Marty for his professionalism and friendly attitude towards teens learning to drive, he is the true representative of his company. If not for the sour experience with one of the instructors this would have been a very solid 4 star. I recommend this school to any parent looking to give their child a good education and experience of learning to drive. read more

I'm from Brazil and I was afraid to take my skill test because of my English, but the instructor Jimmy Green was very patient and calm, and he explained everything, then I could be approved on the test in my first attempt. Thank you Jimmy. read more

This review is regarding this Defensive Driving School in Issaquah, WA. My child took the online classes this summer due to Covid 19. The online instructors were overall very good. They kept a high level of enthusiasm, which is hard to do these days. My only complaint with the online instruction is that questions would be asked online in the chat and if they were answered in the class, the instructors would not post the answer in the chat, and just say it was answered in the class. If your child has issues with auditory learning and prefers to see answers written out, this could be an issue. The primary disappointment for me was with the driving. With covid-19, I assumed the cars would be sanitized/wiped down between learners. However, when we came to our driving class, there were open bottles in the cup holders from previous learners/teachers which were not removed and my child was expected to wipe the car down with provided Clorox wipes. My child is not an expert at these things, my child is a teenager, so I would have expected the Defensive Driving School to have seen to the requirements for a clean environment in the car, and not relied upon my child to wipe it down. Also, during the last class there was a long section regarding being an organ donor. That has no impact on my child's ability to pass a driver's test. read more

I previously took classes with Defensive Driving U-District (with a pretty good experience) and just switched to the West Seattle location. I just had my first class with Jeremiah and that's been seriously bad. He was impatient to the point of being agressive. He yelled at me for causing him discomfort by being to hard on the break or not being smooth with the wheel. I didn't feel like he assessed my driving skills competently and didn't feel safe driving with him. I hope his company is aware of his hairy behaviors and lack of professionalism. read more

I have 20 years of driving experience, only one ticket twelve years ago, and no accidents. I accidentally let my out-of-state license expire and had to go through testing. Marty picked me up from the West Seattle location and gave what felt initially like a very easy and fair test. He didn't say anything during the drive other than instructions, but then failed me with a 78 (out of 80 to pass). His list of hits seemed very arbitrary and he wasn't able to articulate where most of them had occurred. One of them he called an 'improper lane change' (for 4 points) but said it occurred while easing up to the curb on a 2 lane residential street at 5mph (at his instruction). He said I lifted one of my hands from the steering wheel at one point... I most certainly did not. Another time he had me park on the side of a residential street and act like I was backing out of a driveway. He said even though I was backing slowly and looking over my shoulder, I didn't stop at the sidewalk. But we had literally parked right past the sidewalk, and were thus starting the maneuver from the place I was supposed to stop at. I had already visually cleared the sidewalk for a hundred yards in both directions. The point was that because none of the hits were mentioned at the time, I was in no position to contest them. It was just his stubborn word that they happened. I understand that driving tests are subjective by nature, but I distinctly felt that he was lying to my face about these things. Very convenient to collect money from someone and then make them retest. In short, this guy was an absolute clown, and now I'm out a hundred bucks. Run far away from these people. read more

I found the school to be very helpful. But a certain instructor belittled me the whole time, whilst preparing me for a test. Then proceeded to corner the observer of my drive into saying he felt unsafe. This immensely took a dive on my confidence that this instructor preached, and did the opposite. I hope this issue is addressed. I will be talking to my regular instructor. Have fun at school. - xoxo Belittled Teen read more

Bear with me as this is detailed: For the knowledge test: i was scheduled in Seattle and arrived to a shabby building (high school). No one waiting there and i stood wondering where is the tester. He shows up on time and to be honest he was professional and the test was kind of generic. For the driving test: i was scheduled at west seattle location. They say wait next to some grocery store, so you can't find them in their office. After waiting there i saw their colorful car park. I approached the car in an effort to introduce myself and tell the tester i was on time. She ignored me standing next to the car until she decided to get out of the car and acted surprised i was there. So i took the test, failed by getting a 76 and here is how she delivered the news: unfortunately u have not passed, u were too safe and hesitant and you slowed down when it came to roundabouts etc etc u didn't pay attention to blind spots etc etc. so i said thank you and she replied: oh by the way next time don't approach the instructor's car and stay next to the grocery store. I realized that 90% of her failing me came from my approaching the car which i did out of courtesy. Unfortunately i decided to retake the test with her: boom fail again. Didn't come to a full stop at a stop sign etc etc. totally understandable and i don't mind. But here is the funny part: when u parallel parked you didn't turn your wheels. It was a flat road not uphill or downhill and she never said treat it as uphill etc. Summary: if you value your money don't go there. At least not to the West Seattle location. read more

Both my teens have taken Driver's Ed through the West Seattle DDS. My teen had a horrible driving experience with Jeremiah (as noted in other reviews). He should not be teaching. He is impatient and angry. He called me afterwards because I am sure he was concerned about what my child would tell me about how he acted. He proceeded to say my child was lying and would not provide me with the name of his manager. read more

Took my drivers test here and although I passed, the lady I was assigned with was nothing but impatient. Her attitude was just unnecessary. I would only say come here because it's quick and a bit easier than other locations. read more

Good experience overall. Easy and convenient online scheduling for drives. My son said his driving instructor, Natalie, was nice and made him feel comfortable while on drives. I made him more nervous when we practiced driving than his instructor did. I also like the convenience of taking the written and driving tests through the class. Going through the school removes most of the hassle of dealing directly with the department of licensing. read more

Defensive driving school has the most lackluster staff who are unable to properly teach anyone how to drive and honestly shouldn't be in business. They failed my sone for not turning the steering wheel fast enough when making a left turn, "he stayed in his lane, but he didn't turn his wheel fast enough" said the instructor claiming that that could lead to "unsafe habits". Absolute bull. Save your money on both classes and dol testing, just go somewhere else. read more

I would not recommend this place. As I was looking for a place to take adult driving lessons, from previous comments on here I saw that Jeremiah was highly recommended for his ability to use humor and tough love. I was drawn to this as I was quite anxious about driving to begin with, I had purchased 5 drives with him, and while I was looking for relief and confidence he simply made me more anxious about driving. There would be instances where I would do something and he'd clap his hands really loud and say "Boom. You don't need me to tell you what happens next." inferring that I would be dead... He would belittle me as I made mistakes and said that I lack patience and that he was only giving what he felt I was giving off, though I was simply trying to learn from his feedback and improve, and he would constantly mention how he taught 15 year old's who drove better then me. Driving with him made me feel like DDS is simply trying to get money and make me lack confidence so that I would buy more lessons. I didn't learn how to back around a corner, how to properly adjust my mirrors and many other things. All I got was the ability to shut up and drive, taking in all his comments and worry even more about the possibility of dying at every corner I turned. Also: While I understand Seattle traffic can be bad at times, he was 30 minutes late to a 1 hour lesson, and said I wouldn't be able to make up the 30 minutes and that everything happens for a reason. I sent an email asking for either a refund for my 30 minutes or for it to be added onto my account, I got a response saying that it would be added to my account and I have yet (it has been almost 2 months) to still receive anything. I have received my license from another school and passed despite his call saying I wouldn't pass until I took at least 4 more lessons. read more

So not gonna lie, my instructor for the classroom portion of this was pretty bad. He really hated me and it showed. I was being failed constantly for really small things that were not at all important for driving. However, once I got to the drive portion of all of this, my experience got 100x better. I was given a brand new instructor and he was perhaps one of the coolest people ever. If you are going here for driving, make sure to request Jeremiah. He uses his brand of humor and tough love to get you to where you need to be with driving. Thanks to Jeremiah, I got a 90% on my driving practice test and I'm looking forward to using those skills at the real DOL test. Also, this place should hire more instructors like Jeremiah. Human beings who actually understand where the teen is coming from when he or she is behind the wheel. Although I did mess up a lot, Jeremiah was encouraging but also tough when he needed to be, and that's all I could really ask for. He should get a promotion for real. read more

I attended DDS for the classroom portion and skills/knowledge tests Marty was a great instructor who always made the class engaging, fun, and educational. I would highly recommend scheduling drives with him. I did have my skill test, observation, and parking drives with Vallare. I would not recommend drives with her she is impatient and unhelpful she doesn't help give tips, she just sits and uses the emergency brake if needed. For example during my observation the student had never driven before and she didn't tell her how to work a car or let her get comfortable driving. While driving back to the school the student was driving very unsafely and was being honked at by many cars while Vallare did nothing to help the student or use the emergency brake. She is unprofessional and showed up to my skill test while driving and talking on her phone, she then went upstairs to get paperwork and didn't come down until 10-15 minutes later which was not worth the money. She also made me adjust my mirrors how she wanted not in a way that was comfortable for me. She also adjusted my seat without asking and treated me like I was on an educational drive. She was also very unclear and judged me on stupid things: she said I didn't look the right enough, or went to far to the left on a residential, which only had room for one car. Although I did pass I would definitely recommend not taking any drives with her if you are inexperienced. read more

MY daughter had a great experience at your school. The location was extremely convenient. I plan to send my other teenager next year.

I accidentally let my DL expire and had to do both the knowledge and driving test. I signed up for an hour lesson before the drive test since I was going to be in their car and wanted to get comfortable. Marty was great! He let me know what the test would consist of and what most people found difficult, but asked what i wanted to work on too. We practiced parallel parking and he taught me the best way to back around the corners, including stopping at the sidewalk and ALWAYS looking backwards. Also, as I drove, he pointed out little things to correct that could cost me points. What he was able to teach and share with me BEFORE the test DEFINITELY HELPED. Marty was patient, knowledgeable, clear and friendly. The state requires some pretty detailed actions to prove driving skill and no matter how long you've been driving (34 years for me), an hour lesson with Marty was worth EVERY SINGLE PENNY! I got a 94! read more

MARTY IS THE BEST!!!! We love Marty and think he needs a raise- his driver's ed class at 6:30-8:30... started January 29th

Worse driving instructor ever, she was rude and impatient, just because I ask her to repeat an instruction does not give her the right to treat me this way, goto the one in u district, much kinder people there. read more

The classes were fine, but the opportunities to actually drive with an instructor have been limited; the drives have been cancelled with as little as half hour notice (had the student cancelled with less than two days notice, s/he would have been charged); rescheduling means waiting weeks for another appointment. It's been over six weeks since my child started with Defensive Driving and so far there's only been one lesson behind the wheel of a car. Given what I paid, I'm outraged and regret sending my child to Defensive Driving School. read more

I love this driving school - it was very helpful and the instructors are very informative.

Honestly, this place is pretty crappy. First, $600 for a month and a half driving lesson? That's the most overpriced driving school I've seen. Second, the instructors are pretty inconsistent. One is more conservative of a driver and others are more aggressive. Do I really need to match their standards? Classes were boring and we watched a lot of videos that "tried" to scare us about decisions. The biggest problem was that WE DIDN'T PLAY ANY GAMES! read more