Had a bad experience with Advantage Wimbledon, so thought I would share a review
My girlfriend got fed up going on the back of my bike, so decided she wanted her licence. Canadian, so although experienced car driver, had never used a clutch and manual gearbox.
We went in person to check it out and book her in for CBT. Explained about never having used a clutch before. Not a problem they said, we’ll take care of it.
When she went to do her CBT, she duly struggled with the clutch. When she told the instructor she was struggling with it, he just told her she needed to keep trying and get it right - no attempt to explain further/help her. At the end of the off-road section, he told her she wasn’t good enough to go out on road. Come back next week to resit the course at half price.
2nd attempt a week later with a different instructor (had told office that the instructor had been very poor, and they had made sure she got someone else). This time I stayed and watched her all morning - she had no problems whatsoever and was probably the 2nd best out of the 4 students. Off I duly pop confident she was going to be ok, only to get a phone call - she’d apparently been too nervous and been pulled off the road after 15 minutes. Given this was an experienced driver who had been fine just a short time before, this seemed very strange.
To be fair to Advantage, when I kicked up a fuss about their instructors and told them they’d lost our business for the DAS, they did offer a 3rd attempt for free, but we declined due to concerns over the quality of the instructors. I will add then when I watched them, both instructors spent most of the practice sessions rolling cigarettes instead of focusing on the students and there was only the most basic of guidance (i.e. go this way around the cones etc).
3rd attempt with CBT done with a different training school, passed with flying colours. I sat in on the debrief, where the instructor said that she was excellent and had the clutch control / hill starts spot on. I held off writing this review until she did her 3rd attempt in case it wasn’t a problem with the instructors, but this has backed up my opinion of her being perfectly capable of doing it. She’s now booked in with them to do her DAS in February.
These instructors do have a duty of care. If they have any doubts about a riders level of competence or frame of mind then pulling them out is their only option. I can understand your disappointment and hers but ask her how safe she felt at the time? Ask yourself how you would have felt should the worst have happened.
On the car driving front no amount of experience in a four wheel cage can prepare you for riding a motorcycle.
Oh I have no problem with the concept of instructors pulling a student who is too nervous to be safe. My point is I believe the poor (actually non-existent apart from directional commands) instruction was the cause of the nervousness, as evidenced by how well she got on when she got a decent instructor. And I would like to give other people getting into biking as much help in picking the right training school as I can.
Me_groovy, cheers. I just need to watch out for her pinching my bike now!
I must say after 10 years of driving a car I was very nervous on my cbt and failed first time. (I felt fine in the car park)
Only passed 2nd time.
Looked into doing my DAS at home (Aberdeen) and was amazed at the difference in price a good £200-300 cheaper!
Eventually did it in London because I couldn’t get the time off. Worth a thought though
P.s if you pm me I can give you the number of the guy who passed me good relaxed school. Also has a female instructor if your girlfriend would be more comfortable with that.
Lots of fantastic stuff to do in Dundee! 2 great museums in Discovery Point and Verdant Works, day trips to St Andrews and Glenshee for a wee bit of skiing. Less sheep than Aberdeen too I’m a bit biased tho - its my hometown
She’s got her DAS booked for April in Dundee, so fingers crossed
I’ve used them and they were great, passed my CBT after failing it with another school and then went back and did my DAS. You said your girlfriend didn’t drive a geared car before so clutch and gears would obviously be new to her and something that she has obviously struggled to get to grips with. (probably why she didn’t get a geared car licence) I’m sure all the training they did with her was upto standard and your girlfriend was probably just nervous. If she freaked out on the road and the Instructor stopped her training for safety that sounds like a good thing tbh. By the time she took her third CBT, clutch and gears were no longer new and I’m sure the quieter roads in Dundee made it easier for her. I wonder if your girlfriend blamed her car instructor because she couldn’t get to grips with gears in a car?
I’m a bit biased tho - its my hometown