ComplaintsforTop Driver

• Initial Complaint

  06/27/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Order Issues

  Status:

  Resolved

  More info

  I signed up on May 22nd, 2024 for my child to take drivers school at Top Driver, starting on August 18th, 2024. On June 27th, 2024, I called Top Driver asking to unenroll my child due to a scheduling conflict. I originally paid $685.00. ********* told me that she would be keeping $200.00 per the contract. I read her the contract which states: " Any class changes requested by a customer such as, but not limited to, transfers, changing start date and changing class time after the first day of the class session are subject to a $200 non-refundable fee." I am cancelling BEFORE the first day of class and should NOT be subjected to the $200 fee. She stayed silent for several minutes at which point I asked if she could respond to me. She responded by hanging up on me. I am requesting my child's cancellation from this class as well as a full, $685.00 refund.

  Business response

  07/01/2024

  **************,

  We are very sorry that you had such an unpleasant interaction with a member of our **************** team (she is no longer with us).  The manager overheard your call and immediately followed up with you the next day to let you know that a full refund was approved.  ****** left another voice mail with you this morning when this complaint was received to let you know that the refund is in process and it can take up to 7-14 days to appear on your credit card statement.  

  Thank you very much for your understanding and we hope that ****** is able to find a provider that better meets her schedule. 

  Should you have any further questions please feel free to reach out to ****** or ****** at ***********************************.

  ********

   

  Customer response

  07/02/2024

   
  Better Business Bureau:
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me.
  
  Sincerely,
  
  *******************

• Initial Complaint

  05/28/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Delivery Issues

  Status:

  Resolved

  More info

  Student drivers must have their permits for 9 months in order to get a license. We paid for a package of additional lessons with Top Driver teachers, but were unable to use them due to his intense school schedule. We intended to finish this summer - which would make sense with the 9 month requirement. Except, they want to charge us $150 extra for him to take his additional driving now. It's in there, we will pay it, fine. Except, they will NOT EVEN SCHEDULE HIM UNTIL SEPTEMBER OR OCTOBER in order to give priority to newly-enrolling students.They are holding his driver's license hostage and that's horrible.

  Business response

  07/16/2024

  This account has been resolved as parent paid Reinstatement Fee that was incurred due to not completing program in contracted 9-month period (4/10/24). Once fee was paid, we assisted them in scheduling all of their remaining ******s. Their final ****** is currently scheduled for later this week.  

  Thank You,

  ***************************

  General Manager, Top Driver

• Initial Complaint

  02/12/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Billing Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I paid $525 dollars for six driving sessions for an account I created. Later, after five sessions were completeled, I was cut out from having access to the account (I had previsously added a passcode to block third party scheduling). The final ****** was completed without my consent in conjunction with my account. I want to be refunded because it was 1) unethical for them to cut me out of my own account allowing my child to finish without my consent, and 2) the person who scheduled the class without my knowledge should cover the costs.

  Business response

  07/16/2024

  Due to the sensitive nature of the information regarding this complaint, I am unable to leave much detail in this response. I can say, however, that this was resolved with the student and their legal guardian months ago and the complainant was legally restricted from access to this student's account. If there are any additional questions or concerns they may be emailed to me at ******************************************************. 

  Thank you,

  ***************************

  General Manager, Top Driver

  Customer response

  07/16/2024

   
  Complaint: 21283378
  
  I am rejecting this response because:  This matter has not been resolved legally by any means.  I should have never been restricted from my child's account.  My access was restricted and denied even though I paid for the account.  In addition, no other parties should have been permitted to access this account.   I am requesting that the company make this situation right by reaching out to me personally and by granting me full access to my daughter's account and fully restricting other parties.  I am still the legal guardian of my daughter and was when the account was created.
  
  Sincerely,
  
  *************************

  Business response

  07/16/2024

  Please direct any further inquiries from **************** to IL State Representative ***************** (information below). The student has completed their program and Top Driver wishes to have no further contact with this individual. 

  *****************
  State Representative, *************
  **************
  repjeddavis.com

  Customer response

  07/18/2024

   
  Complaint: 21283378
  
  I am rejecting this response because: Top Driver has failed to resolve the issue.

  Sincerely,
  
  *************************

• Initial Complaint

  01/29/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Order Issues

  Status:

  Resolved

  More info

  In 2023 I signed my daughter to a driving classes. She was scheduled to have 3 driving classes but only did 2 of them. The business kept on rescheduling the third class. We tried to schedule the remaining class but were told that the 9 months expiration date has accrued and we need to pay an additional $150 for the third class

  Business response

  07/10/2024

  This student was enrolled into a course that began on 4/10/23. Our contract clearly states that per ILSOS Rules, students must complete their program within 9 months from their first day of class. This would have been 1/10/24. As of this deadline, the student had only completed 2 of the required 6 in-vehicle lessons. They also cancelled one of the lessons they had scheduled for 6/8/23. On 1/29/24 the parent reached out to our customer service center and were reminded of the deadline and the Reinstatement Fee that had been incurred. They then threated this BBB complaint as well as complaints via ************* The following day, the Regional Manager reached out to the parent and was informed that the student was responsible for their scheduling and didn't understand the 9-month deadline. At that time, we graciously waived the Reinstatement Fee and assisted them with scheduling the remainder of their lessons. I have also included screenshots from their account as well as their signed contract. We would appreciate if this complaint was removed at this time. 

  Thank you,

  ***************************

  General Manager, Top Driver

• Initial Complaint

  01/03/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Product Issues

  Status:

  Resolved

  More info

  I paid Top Driver for a drivers education class for my son which included classroom and on the road instruction. After months of trying were never any time slots available for road instruction that worked with our schedule. My son received his road training through CPS. Top Driver now refuses to certify my son completing the classroom portion with the state because he did not do road training with them. They only will give an email saying he completed classroom portion. To top it off, the customer service has been rude, condescending, and unhelpful in any meaningful way.

  Business response

  01/04/2024

  *********************

  Thank you for sharing your concerns about the **************** interaction yesterday.  I understand that you had a conversation with the **************** supervisor who cleared up your questions about the Letter of Completion.  She will be discussing your initial call with the agent in order to provide assistance with how to better assist our families going forward.  Thank you for your understanding and please feel free to let us know if you have any further questions.

   

  ********

   

  Customer response

  01/04/2024

   
  Better Business Bureau:
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me.
  
  Sincerely,
  
  *****************************

• Initial Complaint

  11/29/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  Extremely unhelpful and unfriendly staff at customer service call center who seem to be annoyed and bothered by being called. Thats their jobis it not??? Every time I have called, even just to reschedule something, I receive the same huffy service.No resolve by employees stating they cant give me any regional manager or corporate manager information. Shady business practice!Hidden policies where they charge $60 for a forgotten permit?! My son showed up and performed the observer portion of the drive. It was NOT A NO SHOW!I am absolutely not paying that ridiculous and arbitrary and completely unreasonable fine! And they can only take the final exam twice? Then you have to pay them all over again and have your child go through the processagain?! I have a special needs, learning disabled child who fails exams. He is also forgetful! Stop with this ridiculous punishing of the PARENTS who PAY for this service AND KEEP YOUR BUSINESS ALIVE!I will continue to file higher reports and I will even file a dispute with my credit card company for the entire amount paid if I do not have a reasonable resolve.I should have checked your BBB rating before ever purchasing. I can see how poorly you are reviewed. Very sad business ethics.

  Business response

  11/30/2023

  ************,

  We are sorry that you are unhappy with your fees.  I am happy to research your son's account information and notes  - would you please provide his name and DOB?  Is he enrolled in our Specialized Program for teens with ADHD and other Executive Functioning Disorders?

  Thank you very much,

  ********

• Initial Complaint

  08/09/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  Enrolled my daughter in Top Driver driving school in ******************* in October of 2022. she completed all of her driving classes successfully and on time. The complaint is about how the company has set up driving ******s. There are more students enrolled in top driver that need in vehicle training ******s than there are drivers so they limit the amount of appointments available. If you don't complete the driving ******s within 9 months then they charge you $150 to extend. Process to enroll in a driving ****** is completely stupid. Top driver will open up the calendar on the 2nd Wednesday of the month at noon. When a customer opens up the calendar at noon on those days, there is limited availability of appointments and many day are already completely booked. There have been months where I open the calendar at ****pm on those Wednesdays and there is no availability for ******s after 3pm and some dates are already closed. I've even tried booking at a different location and the same problem occurs there. If you open the calendar past one hour of opening then forget it, there's no availability until the next month. Again, there is not enough drivers for the amount of ******s that are required and the company is charging customers for their own problem!Top Driver makes you pay an additional $150 to extend the completion deadline for driving ******s if you don't complete the driving ******s within 9 months of start. Well, if there aren't enough appointments available and/or not enough drivers, then why should the customer get charged extra money for a company's staffing problem? this is the reason for my complaint to the BBB. I want my $150 back for not being able to get into a drivers ****** when I've followed their rule of trying by noon on those Wednesdays. My friends told me that they too had to pay the $150 to extend ****** availability because they too have said that the calendar is full when they open it by noon on those Wednesdays.

  Business response

  08/11/2023

  We have reviewed this complaint and noted the following:  **************** verified their phone and email records and the parent has not reached out to indicate an issue with scheduling either via email or phone.  There have been plenty of scheduling opportunities in ******************* and in fact there were over 200 unfilled hours from January until today.  **************** has assisted this parent in scheduling the student's remaining lessons.

  Customer response

  08/11/2023

   
  Complaint: 20446373
  
  I am rejecting this response. I would like to see those 200 unfulfilled openings that were available in March April May and June. There were very few lessons open after school hours. I should not have to pull my child out of school to get to a ******* When I spoke to to the woman on the phone yesterday, she kindly told me that theres so many openings before 3pm because of the home-schooled kids. Ultimately, I am not the only customer experiencing difficulties getting into a drivers course at a reasonable hour. I have now mentioned this complaint to 5 people and they all say they have to wait til the following month to try again to get into a ******* 2 have been charged $150 to extend because of the limited availability. 
  
  Sincerely,
  
  Karina 

  Business response

  08/14/2023

  ******************,

  Per your request, attached please find a report that indicates all unfilled ****** blocks in ******************* alone (137 hours) from March thru June.  You will note that while there were a few 1:00/2:00 blocks remaining the vast majority are at times when all students could have enrolled.

  Should you have any other questions our General Manager is happy to assist you.

  Thank you very much.

   

• Initial Complaint

  08/08/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  In July 2023, my wife enrolled my son, ***********************, in a Top Driver class in ******************* for $625. Yesterday (Aug 7, 2023 starting at 6:30 pm) was the first day of class and a parent was asked to attend the beginning of class which I did. After an introduction lasting about 20 minutes the instructor, ***********************, asked if there were questions. I asked if we enrolled in the correct class, given that my son has already taken and passed the written portion of driver education at high school. He said no, that we should be in a "Behind the Wheel" only class and that we could get transfered and refunded the difference in price. My son and I left the class at this time. Today I called customer service *************) and was informed they would charge a $200 transfer fee since it was after the first day of class. The representative, ******, would not consider waiving this fee. I asked her what the rationale of this fee was, to which she only responded that it was stated in their terms of agreement. I asked if there was anyone else I could talk to. She said she could not provide me with a phone number of someone higher ** in the company at this time, but she could look into getting me a phone number of someone higher up and get back to me in a couple of days. I asked her to do so. I found this quite a ridiculous policy and am doubtful that she will provide me with another person to talk to. I would have been happy with enrolling my son in the cheaper class with the refund in price difference, but after this experience I would prefer a complete refund. The comparable Behind the Wheel only class costs $575, so switching with the $200 fee would entail us paying an additional $150 for less services.

  Business response

  08/10/2023

  Thank you for sharing your experience and we apologize for the miscommunication.  There were no notes on your account that your son had already completed the classroom portion of a driver education program elsewhere otherwise this situation would not have happened.  ******************** manager is ensuring that her staff always note important comments such as these in the student accounts.  We are sorry that you decided to look elsewhere for your son's behind the wheel instruction due to this miscommunication however should you decide to return we will ensure the best in vehicle instruction in the area.  Thank you very much.

• Initial Complaint

  07/26/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Customer Service Issues

  Status:

  Resolved

  More info

  We paid $1,200 for a specializ** ADHD behind-the-wheel driver **ucation program with Top Driver (TD) for our son. When we sign** up, we were contact** by ***************************** at TD who discuss** the program with us in detail. He inform** us that because drivers in this program ne** to work with one specific instructor, TD would reach out to us directly on a monthly basis to sch**ule lessons within that instructor's sch**ule. Our son receiv** his permit at the beginning of March and I enter** that information into the TD online portal. ****************** indicat** that ***** would begin lessons in April. When we did not hear from TD, I contact** ****************** who indicat** that he ne**** to add some information to the portal and TD would contact us at the end of April/early *** to begin sch**uling lessons. We have not had any communication from TD or ****************** since that time. I have email** ****************** repeat**ly with no reply. My husband and I have been calling TD **************** weekly since mid-June with no reply. Each time we call, the **************** agent apologizes, takes our contact information and promises to have someone call us back. No one ever has. We have ask** the **************** agent each time what we can do/who else we can call to get this going and they repeat**ly tell us there is nothing we can do except wait for someone to call us back. This is completely unacceptable. Not only is it beyond rude to not extend a paying customer the common courtesy of a return** phone call, but our son has now wait** nearly 5 months and complet** his entire classroom portion of driver ** without a single behind-the-wheel ******* Instead of being able to complete the majority of his lessons during summer break, he will now have to coordinate all of them with his school and extracurricular sch**ule. We would like a phone call and an apology and, most importantly, to sch**ule our son's lessons. At this point we believe we should receive some priority in sch**uling as well.

  Business response

  07/28/2023

  Upon receiving this complaint the Specialized Program manager reached out to the parents.  He explained that the management of the program had changed hands in late spring and apparently this student's behind the wheel scheduling was not transferred and he was unaware there was an issue.  We have spoken to **************** who now knows to provide the manager's contact information whenever there is a question about the Specialized Program since that was not handled appropriately.  The manager offered to provide behind the wheel lessons himself and then will schedule the remaining lessons for the student with the Specialized instructors accordingly.  Thank you for letting us know there was an issue and we believe it has been rectified.

  Customer response

  07/28/2023

   
  Better Business Bureau:
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me.
  
  Sincerely,
  
  *******************************

• Initial Complaint

  07/23/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Resolved

  More info

  I paid Top Driver $525.00 for classroom and in car driving lessons for my son. His classroom started in December and he was able to get his permit shortly after that. Since his classroom portion ended he has had only two in car drives and this program I paid for required six by 07/04/2023 or they will charge me another $160.00. I had a third appointment booked but Top Driver canceled it. I look almost every day at many different locations to see if anything is open but nothing is available. I did call customer service and the lady I spoke to said that I just have to keep looking. At this rate, my son will not be able to get his license in September like he is supposed to.

  Business response

  07/28/2023

  The parent was unaware of the scheduling process and who to contact with questions - the Regional Manager's contact information is in the student workbook that the student receives on the first day of class.  Upon receiving this complaint the Regional Manager called the parent and talked thru the whole process, how to get the license, how to schedule lessons, etc. and did schedule several lessons for the student.  The student should be on track now to complete the program in a timely manner.

  Customer response

  07/28/2023

   
  Better Business Bureau:
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me.
  
  Sincerely,
  
  ***************************

*Some consumers may elect to not publish the details of their complaints, some complaints may not meet BBB's standards for publication, or BBB may display a portion of complaints when a high volume is received for a particular business. ↩