I went there back in 2011. I didn't learn anything about driving but I met the guy I'm dating now so I guess it's good for something.

HUGE SCAM. Sanctioned by the state of Virginia no less. Now that the state has made a specific teen "behind the wheel" class- that is very often not offered in school- a requirement for a new license, places like this are making out like bandits, literally. I paid over $200 for my daughter to take 14 sessions with the "school" and 7 were to be observation and 7 actual driving. They come and pick you up, so I thought that was great. My daughter went for her first lesson and was back in under an hour. I thought these were supposed to be two hour sessions? The second time, again she was back in less than an hour. It's a pain in general to schedule with these guys- we had one instructor who I would have to wrangle with over times and then he'd cancel and reschedule etc. Then came the real shocker. After the third or fourth outing, the instructor called me out to the car, has me sign my daughter's temporary license and announces that she is done, and that the school would send the paperwork to the DMV/court and we would receive a date for the licensing ceremony in the mail. But that was it- she was now a licensed driver. Anyway, this "school" did not teach her to drive, to park, did not have her drive on the highway, did not teach her about traffic situations, and from what my daughter told me, she nearly wrecked the car on the way back to the house from the last "lesson" and the guy still passed her! I ended up teaching her to drive myself. They do not care- they just want the money. I will not repeat the stories that some of her schoolmates had about this place in regard to the time vs money scam this place seems to be running because I want to stick strictly to my own experience. The last thing that happened was that we never got the paperwork in the mail from the court. My daughters temp papers expired, and when I called the DMV they told me Friendlys had never sent in the paperwork. They had also filled in my daughter's birthdate on the papers with the birth month as "0". So I had to go back to her school, re-obtain the classroom driving test documentation, track the teacher down, have him sign the papers, take my daughter out of school and go down to the DMV to sit for an hour and fill everything out all over again. Very, very inconvenient. If the state of Virginia had not instituted this requirement, these places would not be able to run this con on people. Why are they not doing behind the wheel either through the schools or through the state. Privatizing it has made it ridiculously easy for unscrupulous places to just collect money in exchange for a signature and a piece of paper. These places don't care about safety or teaching kids to drive safely, they don't even care enough to send in the darned paperwork. All they care about is money, and how many paying students they can cram in on any given day. Think about it: the less time a kid spends in the company's car, the more time that instructor has to rack up quantity. The whole thing makes me sick. I wish I could give a "0" rating. read more

If I could give ZERO stars, I would. Working with Friendly Driving School has been a hassle from DAY ONE. Do not do business with Friendly Driving School. They are unprofessional, disorganized, and incompetent. For proof, go read all the complaints on the BBB's website. read more

Total scam! They do not provide the number of lessons required by the state. The duration of the driving is not per state rules. They do not operate cars with a passenger-side brake. My daughter took one lesson only. She drove from our house to the next person's house. He then drove her back to our house. Lesson over! 30 minutes of driving. Teacher (Josh) was on the phone throughout the "lesson". They then stood her up for next lesson and were 30 minutes late for the next one. I then told them we wanted our money back. That was July. No money. Lots of calls from them saying they mailed it but no actual check. NAFISA SHERNAZAR (name on payment) is a crook! Save yourself the hassle and loss of money! The DMV needs to monitor more closely who they consider to be providers. Pay the county school system. They are the best! read more

Very poorly managed school overall. Had some serious issues with how the course was conducted and I asked to speak to manager. Failing to get anywhere with the manager, I asked to speak to the owner. Owner apparently is nowhere to be found. That explained a lot! After three weeks of calling everyday, when I did get through, this disgruntled owner had more issues with me registering for the class and calling his staff everyday than wanting to listen to my concerns. If you want your driving school to fly on autopilot, make sure the autopilot works first before you jump of the plane and are gone for three weeks. read more

Signed up for a class and upon showing up the doors are locked and no one is there. Called to find out why and said they had cancelled the class. Never received a phone call or any type of notification. They asked for phone number and information when I registered and I asked how the confirmation worked. Told me it was confirmed by this phone call. Would never recommend this behavior. read more

Friendly Driving School is a poorly run business. There Website is false there is no Live operator to help anyone, as a matter of fact, no one in the entire operation helps anyone. We completed classroom and behind the wheel classes in August of 2014 and to this date still do not have a driver license. The state of VA does not have any paperwork from the school the paperwork we were given was not filled out properly so the state of VA will not it. The state of VA knows there are problems and issues with this business due to fact everyone you talk to goes oh really that school. That school has problems so why does the state still allow them to operate and rip off the people of the state of VA. If you want a drivers license DO NOT USE FRIENDLY DRIVING SCHOOL!!!!!!!!!! read more

Our experience was the same as the other negative ones mentioned. The instructor, who was an older teenager himself, would forget to come to class, forget what time to pick our son up, etc. Classes were short and incomplete, and were done in only a few days. Our son learned nothing. We had to teach him everything. This company is a scam. read more