Well I am aware that 911 Driving School is taught by fellow officers. I get it. My problem is a 911 Driving School vehicle, stopping behind my vehicle as an Officer does in a patrol car. This 911 Driving School vehicle had absolutely no one in the car except for the driver. And stopped behind my vehicle in a fairly empty parking lot near College Street. As if he needed to check out what I was doing? Minding my business, eating my dang burger! People get real paranoid when y'all keep stopping behind they vehicle like that. read more

DO NOT USE for TSA precheck. Go to Office Depot down the street instead. 911 Driving School was Absolutely Terrible. Zero customer service. Made an appt for tsa precheck, took time off work, showed up to be nonchalantly told they cancelled all appointments for the day because the person credentialed to handle the pre check paperwork was on vacation. Seriously?!!!! You offer the service, and only have one person in your office to handle? Then don't even have the courtesy to call and cancel appt giving me some notice?? And no apologies whatsoever. I went to Office Depot, where I had to fill out paperwork AGAIN and was in line with numerous people who had the same thing happen to them. One couple said they had been cancelled on twice now. The people at Office Depot were kind and handled us like pros. I didn't have an appt obviously but she squeezed me in. Skip 911 and just make your appt through Office Depot to begin with! read more

Wait time was a nightmare, they wasted my whole day for a TSA pre-check. Go somewhere else if you can! read more

My daughter just finished her last drive test today. We signed up for 7 drives. Even though she was ready after drive 5 she wanted more practice driving with him. We had Don for all 7 and can't thank him enough for all the time, dedication, and experience he has. Don made her driving fun and she looked forward to her next drive with him. Thank you for everything. read more

I really feel like I learned quite a lot. Instructor Don was beyond helpful when it came to making way for better habits in my day to day driving. I truly think these are some of the best tips i've ever received when it comes to driving. Highly recommend. read more

I only took my driving test through the 911 Driving School in Lacy and it was terrible. I had read the reviews on google prior to signing up and despite having the instructor Don, I think, grading me I had felt like I had made a wise decision. If I were able to have taken the test test in parent's car with their dash-cam, I don't see how anyone would be willing to send their kids or personally sign up for a class with Don. It was unbearable to keep biting my tongue and just say "yes, sir" as he continually yells at me throughout the exam for really no reason. A notable example was I was coming to a stop sign where I could only turn left and right so I preemptively asked "which direction do you want me to turn?, he practically screams at me in their tiny KIA that he will tell give me the proper directions in time. Like sheesh, the dude doesn't he have any decency to treat people, especially paying customers with any level of respect. I can only see how this guy gets away with it as he is screaming at teenagers who don't know any better than to speak up or are willing to confront him. I should have taken warning from the other reviews and canceled or found a different driving school when they told me I was going to be in a car with Don. At the end of the test my confidence in driving was destroyed, especially as he keeps me in the car for an extra 30 minutes to tell me everyone in my family drives like shit and continues to try to sell me his ~$100 an hour class where he will teach me how to properly drive. I had called him out for giving me what felt like a sell and he blows up and even tells me I offended him, and how I am an idiot for questioning anyone for trying to sell me a product. He even said something like "is that how you walk around life?!". By the end of our very one-sided conversation, I just wanted to put his words where his mouth was and restore some sort of honor for my family. I think this was when he gave me the only good piece of advice as I was adamant about paying for at least an hour of his class, but he told me to think about it. I am glad I did as I couldn't stand being around that guy or giving him more of my hard-earned money. The other staff seemed great, including the other instructor (Martian I think) but I have no clue how the Don guy is still employed. He had barely passed me and rightfully so as I didn't do my best. This was primarily as I just kept thinking about stopping the test early so the instructor would just shut up. If you are willing to give this place money, I could only recommend on avoiding Don at all costs. After getting my license I didn't drive for another week or so because I was left in self-doubt and was so mad at the guy. read more

Walked it 8 AM, a few kids in there ready to take their test. No greeting. No words spoken. Said "Hello!" and waited patiently, for about 5-10 minutes with this front desk lady just not even acknowledging i was standing 2 feet in front of her. Left and went to the driving school next to my house, was out in an hour and greeted and treated well. Avoid this place at all costs. read more

If I could rate zero stars, I would. Do NOT go here. My child took classes here and while I admit they're good at teaching driving, that does come with instructors who make *wholly* inappropriate and misogynistic jokes. One guy in particular named Spartacus likes to push the envelope; "Don't cry to get out of a ticket, looking at you ladies" is not something you say to a room full of children wanting to learn something. Making jokes about beating up vans full of handicapped people is also not something you need to be saying to children either. Olympic Driving School is a much better option for your child. Again, please don't send your kids here. read more

This driving school is amazing and teaches you so much information to make you the best and safest driver possible, I had Spartacus and Don Stevens as my teachers and I would 100% recommend them as I became a significantly better driver every time they taught a lesson. read more

My son is going through the class in Lacey. He had his first drive with them today. When he got back I noticed his nose was runny, so I asked him how it went. He said it went ok, but I knew something was bothering him. I asked him again and he said the instructor was yelling at him and was saying are you trying to kill him. Then my son started to cry telling me this. My son never cries so this had to have been pretty bad. Hopefully he doesn't get a guy named Don again and if so I will be talking to him. Correct me if I'm wrong but we aren't paying 911 driving school to yell at anyone because they feel like their in danger. That's the job they signed up for. I will definitely used another school for my next kid and recommend other places for anyone who asks. read more

Completed my course and testing here. The classroom is the nicest that I've toured in the area. Staff is helpful & friendly

I wish I had paid attention to the recent reviews of this place before I signed my son up. Our experience here was very similar to another review regarding the instructor DON S. Do not let your teen into the car with this man. We trusted him and this school to keep our son safe and help him become a confident driver. Instead, we got someone who intimidated and belittled my 16 year old teen son to the point of tears...My son does not cry. He told me that he was afraid he might and then DON S. would yell at him for that too. It took us 2 weeks to undo the damage this jerk caused over the course of one hour. My son had not even pulled out of the parking spot when DON S. felt the need to say "How many hours do you have? Because it looks like 2!" He also repeatedly tapped him on the hands yelling "10 and 2!" The kids have been taught ... by the school ... to have their hands at 9 and 3. There was also a lot of talk about not doing what was taught by the school, but to do it "the cool way". My husband called the school and spoke with the owner. She told him that they do receive complaints about DON S. but "some people really like him" Are you kidding me?? They know this guy is a problem, but they send him out with kids anyway. Aside from our issue with DON S. there were other problems....On the first day of class your kid will come home with an entire sheet of fines and fees ranging from $50-$100. The hundreds you spent to enroll is only the tip of the iceberg. Don't think you can cancel either. Once they have your money, you won't get any of it back. We asked to be reimbursed for the terrible drive with DON S. and were told no. Their solution was to send my son back out with another instructor. The reading and study guides are poorly written and there is obviously no protocol for the drive instructors because they all seem to have their own way of doing things and those are also different than what is taught in class. Do yourself a favor and go somewhere else. Anywhere else! Bob's Drivin' School and Tackle Shop would be a better choice. read more

I had my fingerprints appointment today, that lady who done my fingerprints was very rude and very unfriendly. she literally hurt my fingers while pushing it on the screen to get my prints done. no emotions whatsoever, very rude. I would not recommend to go that place to get your fingerprints done. read more

don't go to this company for your kids driving, all the instructors are old and seem to hate teaching and their students. please never sign up and listen to all the one star reviews, the 5 star ones are all old reviews and non-recent. go to a different school, please. read more

The staff are very helpful! The class is really informational and the driving lessons have helped me so much.

As a student who went through the course, I can say that it was very good for me and I feel that it made me a better driver. My teacher was great, as well as my driving instructors. read more

This place has the absolute worst communication skills. We had the worst experience with them and it's always a long and drawn out conflict. I would highly not recommend it and the front desk staff are always very rude. I've ran into a problem with one instructor being a little racist towards others online. They tried to give an 80$ fee because they were closed on the day of scheduling then tried to tell us that there was one instructor there who we were supposed to wait for. There was no prior knowledge of this supposed arrangement. read more

I went to this school and I really enjoyed it! I learned better in the actual driving that was taught by Mr. Don. He was an amazing teacher and I really enjoyed him teaching me driving techniques that an officer would use! read more

I came in as a 25 year old getting my license for the first time, and they were amazing with me. I was a hot nervous mess, and they helped calm me down, refer me to a few videos I should watch before I took my test, and all around helped me have a good experience while taking the test. read more

I would recommend the classroom portion of their training, not so much the driving part. I was told by my teen that they really don't drive the full time they are supposed to, and spend considerable time in fast food drive up lines waiting for coffee, snacks and hot chocolate for the students. Also, multiple complaints of the driving instructors yelling at the students. Please don't take their advice to have your teen take the state driving test soon after the classroom and driving lessons end. We followed their advice only for their instructor to fail our teen and yell at her ruining her confidence. We rebuilt the confidence over several months and passed the states driving test easily at another driving school. read more

I have sent my three oldest teens here prior to COVID and during COVID. The training was good both times, whether it was in classroom or Zoom. Crazy Craig always gets the students' attention and explains real-life scenarios and how to properly respond. Their cars are in good condition that they take the students out on the road and the instructors are police officers that will let your teen know why they would pull someone over and they explain the traffic rules from their viewpoint. Scheduling is a little hard as their phones are always busy so you need to be a little diligent in calling back to schedule those drives. I could have sent my teens to a place closer by, but I didn't want to risk getting lower quality instruction. read more

Please look elsewhere for driving instruction! in the midst of a worldwide pandemic, they are showing utter disregard and no compassion for their students. My daughter enrolled and paid the initial $200 deposit, attended ONE online session (that was supposed to be in person classroom instruction, but with the health risks, it was understandable to change to online learning.) My daughter lost her job days after her first/only class and is now quarantined due to exposure to her boss with + COVID. When my daughter made her initial payment, she was emailed a list of policies. The refund policy states "there are no refunds after you attend 2 classes". My daughter called to explain her circumstances and requested a refund and the lady who claimed to be the manager was extremely unprofessional, rude and showed ZERO interest or compassion for their cusromer. My daughter was crying when she got off the phone. I called back and tried to advocate for her and this woman was a nightmare and I am really not sure how she is working in a customer service position. I pointed out the refund policy and asked for my daughter to be refunded. She raised her voice at me, spoke to me in the most unprofessional way and was downright nasty to me. Clearly, she is a miserable person who has no common courtesy, or professionalism. I asked for the name of the business owner and contact information. She refused to give me any contact information or a last name. She stated the owner's name is Scott and she would have him call me "shortly". She then went on to attempt to intimidate me by saying he works for the sheriff's department. No bother, I'm also in a law enforcement position. Lady of you are reading this-you totally failed at that intimidation tactic. But thanks!-You just made it easy for me to locate his contact information for the purpose of trying to resolve a violation of policy occurring at the business he owns' since his hired help is incompetent and inadequate. I'd like to add that when this lady told me the owner would call me "shortly", I explained the word "shortly" was quite vague and she became angry and raised her voice another notch. I pressed her on the issue of when I would be receiving a call from Scott (the sherrif and owner). She started mumbling and spat out the words "24 hours". She then reminded me again that he works for the sheriff's department. I'm sorry lady but I am a highly educated woman, so your ridiculous interaction with me have made it clear that you are not. Treating others poorly says SO much about a person. You mentioning that your business is struggling because of COVID was totally inappropriate in this context. Do you even think before you speak? My daughter has already disputed the charge on her USAA credit card and has sent the bank the copy of your return policy, and she was instantly credited due to a clear violation to your own written policies. In the midst of a worldwide crisis, I was not expecting such nasty, disrespectful "service". Its OK lady, my daughter got her money back from her bank and her bank will recoup it from you. The BBB will also receive a complaint about this in the next day. I wish there was an option to give zero stars. read more

This is for the Tumwater, WA location. Overall class room and drives were well taught, but he front office is terrible for communicating and scheduling drives. We had a horrible time scheduling before the Covid-19 issue and it only got worse. Finally completed the program and scheduled the drive test and were informed we needed to use the schools vehicle due to the safety measures. Completely understand, but since they are charging the extra $40 fee to use their vehicle and not disclosing the added charge when scheduling, I feel this is poor customer service. With the cost of the classes and everyone trying to navigate around the issues presented by Covid, you would think they would waive the extra $40 fee. Nope. If you don't like it, wait until we are able to perform tests in your vehicle. Really to bad the management has this attitude. Such a great program using police officers to teach driving skills only to have a poor business practice and what seems to be greed drag it down. read more

My wife scheduled and paid for class for our granddaughter. She changed her mind and just did driving test instead. The class was canceled within the 3 days and the refused to refund any of the $595 for the class. I would never recommend this company. read more

Let me start by saying I wish I could rate them zero stars. I like many others have enrolled my child in their program only to get to the written test and have so far had to have my child take it 6 times at an additional $25 per test and not pass. Now I know you'd initially jump to my child not paying attention or seek to blame him but I've hired tutors, I've personally gone over all the practice test questions and even had him take online practice tests in which he passed with flying colors. When I call there they have nothing to say, can't help, won't help. I'm almost $1000 into this and still no where. I would save your time and money and look at south sound driving school where I took my other children who passed all tests with flying colors. This place is a joke, seriously go elsewhere! read more

I was a student here, and it was quick and painless while still providing all the necessary information I needed and more. The instructors are kind and care about your experience. Nothing bad to note. read more

This place is beyond unorganized. My daughter took her drivers ed through this place. Not once was anything on time her drive test was to be at 10 and wasn't able to start until 12 due to understaffing. The people are nice but just unorganized. read more

Awesome place to take your test . What ever you do don't go to Cascade Driving School that's the worst place to go

Awesome service and really great teachers. Our son enjoyed every step of the way and was very comfortable with each class and drive...

As far as the driving instructors, they are top notch...customer service, not so much. Two of my sons have gone through 911 driving school and I have been pleased with the results. The instructors really work hard to train the kids and I like that they teach them defensive driving techniques they learned as police officers. The instructors are very personable and likeable to the kids. I think it is crazy that they charge you $10 for a Student Driver sticker for your vehicle when you already pay so much for the class itself, you should get one free. read more

Great school and instructors. I had twins going through at the same time...both had good training.

I hate seeing all the horrible reviews on here some I get but others it's like c'mon people!! Now having my son learning from them I am so thankful I pick and choose through my reviews always. My experience with them has been amazing thus far. I signed my first one up it was very simple to do. The communication with the staff has always been great I have even had a ton of questions never once have I been treated like I was asking something stupid when even after I was given my answer I was like...duh to myself. Got some incorrect information from my child about the needing of 50 hours (with what we thought was in a 30 day period) turns out we have almost a year till he turns 16 so we have plenty of time. Thanks to Michelle for talking this mom off a bridge as I was in meltdown mode trying to figure out how to squeeze 50 more hours out of myself somewhere this month to get this all done. From my sons point of view he is loving the class and learning things, he isn't much of a talker and he has literally chatted my ear off all the way home after each class about all he has learned. He is loving his instructor Rob who seems to engage with the students with stories to help them remember things and stay focused. These being actual law enforcement and retired law enforcement is one of the main reasons I chose this one for my son as I figured this would be how they kept the students attention and he would be able to learn more this way. So far my plan is working. Only bad thing I will say is that now every little thing I am doing wrong gets pointed out but hey at least the kid is listening lol. Thank you all and keep doing what you are doing I am so glad I placed my child in your hands to help him learn the roads. Now if you can provide support groups for the parents that would be great too...I do not know how you do it. I only have one...you are putting yourselves in vehicles with multiple a day!!! Bless you people!!!! Thanks, Sara read more

The instructor instilled confidence in my student driver. He made sure that she was ready for her test. Her test was with the same instructor that she studied with. Because she was comfortable, she was able to focus on the test rather than her nerves. read more

This 911 Driving School sent me an unsolicited emailing asking to rate my experience, so I'll oblige and share my experience, though I have never been a customer nor inquired about any of their services. I applied to work for 911 Driving School and had communications via email back and forth with an employee. Then suddenly, the correspondents ended with no explanation. No, "thanks but no thanks," "we're not interested," nothing. Based on the other reviews here citing customer service, I would say this is about right for their track record. They corresponded with me long enough to copy down my email address and send me unsolicited surveys, so here's my review! read more

Don't go here. Go to cascade driving school in Olympia. Prices are much lower and service is much better. Written exam is $25 and you get 3 tries. 911 charges $25 for 1 try. Hourly rate for practical driving is also much lower at cascade. Hours of operations are better suited for you as well. read more

My husband needed to get a US driver's license to replace his Canadian ID and I was very frustrated to find out that we could no longer do the testing at the dol. It's sad to see how we've privatized such an important system as this which regulates the ability to drive in this state, a skill that puts the lives of other humans in danger. The 911 facility in Tumwater was a pathetic joke. The woman at the front counter (black hair, big attitude) was rude and her customer service was terrible. She was very rude to my husband and acted like we were idiots for not having paperwork/ID #s that should have been given to us at the DOL (no one mentioned paperwork to us EVER). She then proceeded to shit talk the systems they use for interacting with the DOL, the staff at the DOL, and other test takers who had failed the exams. So unprofessional!! Test results, including names of test takers and their scores, were clearly visible to anyone who walked up to the front counter. The owner's wife (or one of the teacher's wives) walked in just after us and this same receptionist turned away from us and others in line to gossip and gab while we waited for them to finish their conversations. She finally stepped away from her personal conversation long enough to find my husband's record so he could do the knowledge test ($25) and when he was finally set up to do the test they took him into a large closet/break room looking area which was right next to a classroom full of screaming/cussing/crazy acting teenagers. To make matters worse, the receptionist and the wife stood in the doorway, not 5 feet from my husband trying to take his test, and continued to gab loudly so everyone in the business, including the long line of people hoping to do their own tests, could easily hear the gossip of their lives. They were distracting to my husband and negligent to those waiting patiently in line. These are the people that we are entrusting to regulate who gets behind a wheel of a car and drives 70mph next to us?? My husband passed his test, barely, even though he couldn't concentrate and although he was pissed. When they asked us if he wanted to do the drive test, we just left. This place is a far cry from the government regulated systems of the DOL. It could have been an improvement. No one likes to wait in lines at the DOL (even though you still have to go there to get your actual cards made) and no one likes to deal with grumpy DOL staff, but this 911 place was worse. WAY WORSE. They were so unprofessional and so lacking in customer satisfaction skills.I work in retail and I know how much it can suck to do customer service all day, which is why it's so frustrating when I can't even get mediocre service, especially when it involves something so important and serious as a license to drive. They were rude and inconsiderate and they facilities for testing were very unprofessional. It scares me to think that young 16 year old drivers are being passed into legally driving next to me and my family by these unsuitable, incompetent amateurs. We will never go back if we can help it. I only hope the other driving schools we are now required to attend for testing aren't nearly as miserable. read more

Unprofessional. Customer service is dead and that couldn't be more true with this company. When I told someone of my complaints she said," then you'll have to go to (different drive school name) and they are no better." That is their attitude, if other places suck than they can too, apparently. Now for my legitimate complaints. They rarely answer their phone, they changed the start date of the class without my permission after taking my money, they say its walk in for a written test but then make you wait 90 min. Instead of just giving you an appointment. Also when I brought these problems to their attention, the lady said its the states fault. Then I spoke with her a little while to see if it was truly the states fault that they are under staffed and that they changed the class start date and of course she was not telling the whole truth. She's rather blame the state instead of taking responsibly for the company she works for. I'm glad she doesn't work for me. read more

I am soooooo not impressed with this company. One hand does not know what the other one is doing. Some of the instructors are rude and unprofessional. My son went through the whole process and at every step there were issues with this place. He went in to pay for his $40.00 drive and he hand the lady a 50 dollar bill. She doesn't have 10.00 change. WTF. how can you operate a business without being able to make change. Then after I go on to pay they then tell us "oh he has to take the written first so you better do that Wednesday so you don't lose your money. " we had to reschedule the whole thing. This business is ran with no leadership and no communication to other employees. My son also had a "waver" one employee told us he didn't have to take the written. Then we were told he had to. No one knew what the hell was going on. Save your money and find someone who actually gives a rip about customer service. read more

excellent staff felt at ease even though i was very worried,the driving tester was excellent at making me feel at ease .even made the test comfortable read more