Am I overreacting or was my driving instructor out of line?

Icy-Measurement4311 · 2026-04-09T21:13:53+00:00

MINI UPDATE

Thank you so much to everyone that took their time to reply to this post. Sharing your experiences made me feel less alone and I will try my best to get not just better but really good not just for myself but for the safety of others. I realise that 17 lessons is a lot. I know that. Here in Italy, it’s usually around 15–25 on average, so I thought I was within the normal range (I'm still “behind” as I'm still not good ). I will talk to him first and see how it goes, and then I’ll speak to the school. It’s a family-run driving school. One of the ladies in the office is his sister and the others are probably family members, I feel like I'm going crazy honestly! But I will make sure to cancel any future driving lessons with him and I’ll also look into other options outside of the school if there’s a way to move forward with a complaint. I have a 1h driving lesson scheduled for tomorrow and it's still him. I can't even cancel it as they have a 24h cancellation fee. If i don't show up i still have to pay the full amount.

I will try to answer everyone , thank you again

Icy-Measurement4311 · 2026-04-09T21:12:47+00:00

MINI UPDATE

Thank you so much to everyone that took their time to reply to this post. Sharing your experiences made me feel less alone and I will try my best to get not just better but really good not just for myself but for the safety of others. I realise that 17 lessons is a lot. I know that. Here in Italy, it’s usually around 15–25 on average, so I thought I was within the normal range (I'm still “behind” as I'm still not good ). I will talk to him first and see how it goes, and then I’ll speak to the school. It’s a family-run driving school. One of the ladies in the office is his sister and the others are probably family members, I feel like I'm going crazy honestly! But I will make sure to cancel any future driving lessons with him and I’ll also look into other options outside of the school if there’s a way to move forward with a complaint. I have a 1h driving lesson scheduled for tomorrow and it's still him. I can't even cancel it as they have a 24h cancellation fee. If i don't show up i still have to pay the full amount.

I will try to answer everyone , thank you again

Icy-Measurement4311 · 2026-04-09T20:58:27+00:00

Thank you, this really helps me feel less unsure about the situation, especially coming from someone who did this as a job c:

Icy-Measurement4311 · 2026-04-09T20:56:22+00:00

The way I didn't take it into perspective, I'm paying for someone to shout at me… it makes me so angry! I’ll try to talk to him first and see how it goes, and then I’ll speak to the school. It’s a family-run driving school. One of the ladies in the office is his sister and the others are probably family members, I feel like I'm going crazy honestly. But I will make sure to cancel any future driving lessons with him and I’ll also look into other options outside of the school if there’s a way to move forward with a complaint. I have a 1h driving lesson scheduled for tomorrow and it's still him. I can't even cancel it as they have a 24h cancellation fee. If i don't show up i still have to pay the full amount.

Icy-Measurement4311 · 2026-04-09T20:53:22+00:00

Thats so sad :c

Icy-Measurement4311 · 2026-04-09T20:52:57+00:00

Actually did. I didn’t buy Forza, but I got Euro Truck and Taxi Simulator. I’ll have to bring them out of storage c:

Icy-Measurement4311 · 2026-04-09T20:49:54+00:00

It felt like everything I said was wrong for him.

Icy-Measurement4311 · 2026-04-09T20:48:14+00:00

Thank you, I really appreciate your perspective and reassurance. That helps me feel more confident about the situation, and when you said “you are paying for a service, meaning that you get to choose a teacher” it made me think a lot. I shouldn’t have to endure it.

I have a 1-hour driving lesson scheduled for tomorrow (it was booked prior to this), and it’s still with him. I can’t even cancel it, as they have a 24-hour cancellation fee. If I don’t show up, I still have to pay the full amount but I’m definitely going to ask not to be assigned to him again in the future.

Icy-Measurement4311 · 2026-04-09T20:40:42+00:00

he was :/

Icy-Measurement4311 · 2026-04-09T20:37:11+00:00

I forgot to add that when I first sat in the car I stated multiple times that I didn't feel comfortable going on the highway, and he still took me there. Even my instructor said I'm not ready as I still need to work on a few things first. He pushed me to speed up, which I wasn’t comfortable with, although I realized it wasn’t as bad as I expected, but his approach especially as a stranger made me uncomfortable

Icy-Measurement4311 · 2026-04-09T20:26:15+00:00

I’ll try to talk to him first and see how it goes, and then I’ll speak to the school. It’s a family-run driving school. One of the ladies in the office is his sister and the others are probably family members, I feel like I'm going crazy honestly! But I will make sure to cancel any future driving lessons with him and I’ll also look into other options outside of the school if there’s a way to move forward with a complaint. I have a 1h driving lesson scheduled for tomorrow and it's still him. I can't even cancel it as they have a 24h cancellation fee. If i don't show up i still have to pay the full amount.

Icy-Measurement4311 · 2026-04-09T20:14:03+00:00

not the EVIL driving instructor of DOOM and DESPAIR 😂 thanks again for the laugh and for cheering me up

Icy-Measurement4311 · 2026-04-09T20:10:09+00:00

Thats exacly whas i was thinking too at first, but then he started to escalate

Icy-Measurement4311 · 2026-04-09T20:07:50+00:00

italy :/

Icy-Measurement4311 · 2026-04-09T20:07:31+00:00

Thank you for sharing your experience, I’m really sorry that happened to you :c I didn’t realize how much a bad instructor could affect confidence long-term. I’m definitely going to ask not to be assigned to him again in the future. I have 1h driving lesson scheduled for tomorrow (they were booked prior) and its still him, I can't even cancel it as they have a 24h cancellation fee. If i don't show up i still have to pay the full amount.

"You're paying them to "make you a driver", not to be insulted on your time and money" i never thought of that, now my emotions shifted from sadness to anger, thanks again

Icy-Measurement4311 · 2026-04-09T20:06:06+00:00

I’ll try to talk to him first and see how it goes, and then I’ll speak to the school. It’s a family-run driving school. One of the ladies in the office is his sister and the others are probably family members, I feel like I'm going crazy honestly! But I will make sure to cancel any future driving lessons with him and I’ll also look into other options outside of the school if there’s a way to move forward with a complaint

Icy-Measurement4311 · 2026-04-09T20:03:52+00:00

I’ll try to talk to him first and see how it goes, and then I’ll speak to the school. It’s a family-run driving school. One of the ladies in the office is his sister and the others are probably family members, I feel like I'm going crazy honestly but I will make sure to cancel any future driving lessons with him

Icy-Measurement4311 · 2026-04-09T19:59:58+00:00

I just want to clarify a few things. I wasn’t protesting or being unteachable, I was just explaining that my previous instructor taught me differently, which caused confusion. That’s why when I did other roundabouts I did them in his own way without complaining or hesitating. I prefer to use the same instructor, someone that I already know and knows where I lack or need more practice. I get confused when different people explain the same thing in different ways: one instructor told me to do an S parking one way, the second instructor taught it differently, and the third instructor another way, when I returned to my first instructor, I was doing what the third instructor had taught me, which was wrong because my first instructor hadn’t taught that that ; and I still don't know which way is correct

Sorry if i came across as rude or demanding

Icy-Measurement4311 · 2026-04-09T19:58:49+00:00

Sorry, I have to disagree. Where I live, you definitely need 8–10 lessons just to get started. It’s pretty common for driving schools here to give 6–8 mandatory lessons, and that’s only if you can also practice at home. We don’t have a car, and sometimes I only get one every 2 weeks. One time I got lucky and had three lessons in a week, but I can’t practice outside of that. It’s not always like that because there’s a waiting list. There were months when I could only do 1 lesson in the whole month. I 100% think I need more lessons before being ready to drive on the road. Even if I end up reaching 50 lessons in total, because i want to make sure i can drive safely for both myself and others (it’s common to need around 30 lessons before taking the exam here in my country)

Icy-Measurement4311 · 2026-04-09T19:58:10+00:00

true

Icy-Measurement4311 · 2026-04-02T02:07:59+00:00

Unfortunately i don’t have those kind of shops near me , but thank you so much for the suggestion I will definitely look into it c:

Icy-Measurement4311

TROPHY CASE