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“Rude and condescending ”

written by on 15/01/2015

If you only have 15 seconds:

Positives
- the bikes we got (Kawasaki Gladius) were very new and nice to ride;

- small classes with only two bikers (+ instructor) riding together.

Negatives
- instructors are condescending and rude;

- nearly everything is assumed knowledge and if you make a mistake, they will yell at you to the point of being insulting;

- headsets frequently cut out so you often miss instructions + they are extremely uncomfortable to wear;

- training site "of which we are extremely proud" is a bumpy, public parking lot with kids & cars crossing regularly - it is also smaller than the one in the official test centre so some exercises are somewhat 'compressed';

- If you fail any module, you have to pay a full day’s fee but only get half a day’s worth of classes for it; and

- feedback process is flawed.

If you want my full summary:
I did my motorcycle licence (Category A - unrestricted) with 1 Stop Instructions in November / December 2014. I passed Module 1 on my second attempt and Module 2 on my first try.
On day 1, one of the instructors explained that she had only wanted to be an instructor temporarily and never intended staying as long as she did. This was reflected in her teaching style; she was by far the worst instructor I ever had and my bad experience with 1Stop Instructions is largely down to her. She is rude and treated the students as if she was doing them a favour by ‘teaching’ us as opposed to you being a customer who paid a large sum of money for the course. I put apostrophes around ‘teaching’ because all she did was drive behind us and yelling at us when we made mistakes.

I’m all for tough love and all that & I assure you that I’m not a difficult customer / bad rider but when you’re out on the road and get shouted at constantly for minor things e.g. missing a turn (‘What the hell are you doing!?! I SAID LEFT, LEEEEFT DIDN'T YOU SEE THE SIGN!!’) and you don’t have any way to respond that it may be due to the crappy headset cutting out again, you do lose enthusiasm and confidence in your riding skills. Even on our way to the test centre on the day of my module 1 test, she made me feel insecure which I attribute to a large extent on why I failed first time round (I never made a mistake during our practice sessions and passed without mistakes on second attempt).

The other instructors are marginally better but if you expect great teachers, look elsewhere. Just as an example of their values; another instructor filmed the students (without our knowledge / permission) and showed the video of my co-rider making a mistake to another friend of his at the test centre whilst making fun of her - this was all behind her back of course while she was in the bathroom!

Finally I also told another instructor that I couldn't adjust one of my rear mirrors properly and hence I couldn't really see behind me. The response; "your riding seems fine though so don't worry."

Anyway I could go on forever but suffice it to say that my experience with 1 Stop Instructions was absolute terrible. If I hadn't been forced to pay the full fee up-front, I would have stopped going after my first class.

I do not recommend using them and would suggest you look elsewhere for your driver's licences.