AVOID AT ALL COSTS All the negative reviews are true. They are preying on low income immigrants in the East Boston area that do not have resources to escalate issues to authorities to shut them down. All of the negative reviews are consistent. They take money, cancel, reschedule, and reschedule again. They are unable to confirm times. They are operating an unethical business practice. I have reported them to both the Registry of Motor Vehicles and the Better Business Bureau. STAY AWAY!! read more

ZERO stars - this place is the worst ever. They cancel driving lessons often or are a total no show. They stood up my child many times and they did not have the decency to reschedule them, we had to call and fight to get the classes rescheduled. The online parent class is a joke, they take about an hour just to take attendance and confirm your child's name. They make you watch videos that don't provide much information that isn't already common sense. Parents think twice before you pay for this driving school, here is the biggest complaint I have which no one will tell you and it's not in the paperwork they make you sign, If you don't pay them to take the road test they will not provide a driving school certificate or proof your child participated in the driving school course. They will not help you get a certificate, they'll just push you out and tell you to get it from the RMV. No driving school certificate no insurance discount! I do not recommend this place at all. Remember you get what you pay for! If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is! Don't go for the cheapest because you will regret it ! read more

I wouldn't even give a star worst school ever they treat people like shift, cancel classes and the roas test without previous notification and on top of that the road test date changes and if you can not do it on the day they changed. you will still need to pay $140 to take the test. read more

HORRIBLE HORRIBLE HORRIBLE! I made an appointment yesterday for today's 10AM class and went to lobby 10 mins before. I waited until 10:15am and called multiple times until someone finally picked up and told me my appointment got canceled because I did not pick up last night when they called. I had NO missed calls nor voicemails (as they claim they left.) I made an appointment at 3:30PM so why would they call again to confirm just few hours later on the same day. The fact they lied that they called me and kept talking over me when trying to ask the girl a question is completely unprofessional. I honestly do not know how till establishment is still in business. Save yourself some time and money and do not go here. read more

estas son las personas que mas me han estafado. yo fui hacer el examen de manejo con ellos 3 veces. no lo pase las tres veces porque lo que estan haciendo estafando la gente. yo he manejado casi toda mi vida y por estupideces no me lo pasaba. hasta creo que los que hacen la prueva ni son policias. lo peor fue que cuando yo quise hacer una pruva en linea debia 105 dolares en el registro de las pruevas que habia hecho y cuando llame para reclar me dijeron que todo estaba en los carteles de la pared ojo son ratas hambrientas por el dinero me robaron $420 perras manosas. read more

1st they cancel my appointment to a date they want at 9am to make me wait til 2pm . after the wait i get a RACIST guy say finally someone that speaks english these spanish people are not easy to understand i quote in spanish . i stood quiet an continue to wait for my license as i get a there car it was a damage car with mess up brakes i ask the guy you sure this car is bad he makes me go around the corner an says we done in less then a minute . continue with his bad mood an says bye u failed . this place over charges is racist an has broken cars to make you personally fail when you ask what happen response is bye we have no time . LETS NOT GET SONIA DOES DEALS UNDER THE TABLE WHERE SHE DOES THE LICENSE AN GIVES IT TO DRIVERS FOR A EXTRA LITTLE SIDE CASH . SOMEONE NEEDS TO BRING THIS PLACE DONE AN I WILL SHOW ALL MY PROOF OF THERE RACISM AN SCAMS . DONT GO HERE SAVE YOUR MONEY AN TIME . read more

Good process and training for any age. Zoom worked well for my daughters training. Scheduling was easy

This place is really devious I just came to find out that the $140 you pay every time you take the road test doesn't cover the road test fee charged by the RMV. so when ever you pass the road test you will have to pay $35 for each!!! time that you took the road test, in other word $140 for the school plus$35 for the road test $175 in total. I called and asked them as if I was a new customer and they told me yeah its $140 they never mention the additional $35 to the RMV would have to be cover by me ones I pass the test. I confronted the girl that answer the phone and she said well its on the signs everywhere and in the paper you sign before you take the test each time. I'm so sorry its your responsibility to pay attention. Tell me who in the world reads the documents when you are so nervous about the take the test!! No body!!!. when I called the RMV they told me its a common issue with Sonia's driving school located in East Boston. En esta escuela de manejo son muy mentirosos y astutos. Me acabo de enterar que los $140 que se paga cada ves que se toma el examen de manejo, no cubren los $35 que cobra la oficina de Motos y Vehiculos. cuando por fin pases el examen de manejo esos $35 por la cantidad de veces que tomaste el examen de manejo MAS los $140 que cobra Sonias para un total de $175 cada ves lo tienes que pagar tu despues de tu bolsillo!! los acabe de llamar como si fuera un nuevo cliente para ver que me decian y la muchacha que respondio me dijo si son $140 cada ves que tomes el examen hasta que lo pases. Cuando le pregunto y los $35 adicionales que toca pagar a Motos y Vehiculos quien lo paga? me dijo a eso le corresponde a usted. Esta escrito en todos los carteles y en el papel que firma antes de presentar el examen de manejo. Lo siento es su responsabilidad de prestar atencion! Ahora digame quien presta atencion a carteles y papelitos cuando se esta bien nervisoso y con ancias por presentar ese examen de manejo?? NADIE!!! Cuando llame a Motos y Vehiculos a preguntar si a la escuela o a mi me correspondia me dijeron que era un problema muy comun con la escuela de manejo Sonia de East Boston!!! No les recomiendo esta escuela con muy astutos y ventajosos!! read more

This place is horrible. Do not ever use this driving school. They cancelled lessons of my girlfriend's daughter at the last minute. They even cancelled her driver's test appointment that had been scheduled two months in advance. The office staff used profanity when we complained and treated us with complete disrespect. I cannot tell you how infuriating these people were. It was a total nightmare! DO NOT GO HERE. DO NOT WASTE YOUR MONEY. read more

Terrible service they start classes whenever they want like people don't have thing to do an there customer service is shit

I meant to write about this place last month. But here I am writing about this place I took one lesson with this lady. I think she is Sonia. But anyways. I was very disappointed on my driving lesson cause she was on her phone towards the end of the lesson. I wanted to get a feedback of how I did but she didn't pay no mind bout it cause she was unprofessional towards the lesson. Why would you be on your phone when you should give me your feedback bout my driving. I wanted to know if I did ok good or need more lesson. I had nothing. And paid $45 for nothing. Waste of my time and money. I went to another driving school and had a better instructor and I passed my road test! I would not recommend this place at all. read more

STAY AWAY FROM THIS DISGUSTING OPERATION THEY CALL A DRIVING SCHOOL. I wish I could give this place a negative score. Funny how yelp says they're closed on saturdays, yet are taking $140 CASH ONLY OF COURSE, for people to take a drivers test. We have gone twice, and twice have failed the drivers test. 1st time was the drivers fault, 2nd time was because the rmv rep stated the driver had stop a couple inches over the stop line, which they didn't as they could still see the line, yet it was overheard that someone else parallel parked two feet away from the curb, yet passed. Why isn't every driver held to the same standards??! It's not right, they are disgusting, taking advantage of people and pumping them for cash just to fail them and force them to come back. Don't fall for it! GO SOMEWHERE ELSE!!! read more

I scheduled 4 lessons to get better at driving. On the day of my first class they called me twice in one hour, but I couldn't pick up. I called them back 10 minutes after the last missed call and they told me my class was canceled. Despite the fact that in the voicemail message they left, they said I should give a call back to confirm, which I did and I did that within 10 minutes! This is just not a nice thing to do read more

Si van a Sonia no permitan que les asignen como instructor a Óscar Pleitez a el le encanta hacerlo sentir incómodo más que todo a nosotros las mujeres yo tuve dos lecciones con el en la primera el me tocó la mano de una manera que no me gustó pero la dejé pasar pues sentí que el me estaba ayudando a llevar bien el timón y la segunda lección que tome fue la peor me quiso tocar el cuello según el porque estaba sudando eso me parece inapropiado le aparte rápido la mano de mi el se enojo y me empezó a decir que yo no iba a pasar mi road test me hizo sentir insegura no les recomiendo tomar lecciones con un hombre así read more

Lo peor de lo peor piénsela por favor antes de solicitar los servicios. No te la dan la información correcta y luego cuando uno llama a preguntar y decir porque suceden las cosas te responden súper mal!!!!! read more

Español abajo The worst driving school in the entire area. Not only is service slow and horrible the staff is rude and never answer phone calls. When you ask them why they don't answer they get mad at you. There are plenty of driving schools in the east Boston area that are better at providing service but also speak Spanish for those that choose Sonia's because they think their is a language convience. Their instructors are not even that great. I've had more than one instructor that used his phone the entire time rather than actually instruct me. For the service they give you would expect it to be cheaper than other driving schools yet the price is at the same level. Over priced and low quality service. Isn't worth a single penny. If you need a driving school in East Boston you're better off with an other school. Ask around to your relatives and friends. Ask them about their experience with Sonia's and let yourself find the truth. And for those that choose it because they speak Spanish, there are many driving schools in the area both in East Boston and surrounding communities in the area. Esta escuela de manejo no vale la pena en ningún aspecto. La gente quien trabaja ahí son rudos y se enojan cuando uno tiene preguntas o no está satisfecho con algo. No solamente nunca contestan el teléfono pero se tardan en regresar la llamada. En East Boston hay mejores escuelas con precios que de verdad valen la pena. Yo tomé clases ahí. No lo recomiendo a nadie. En varias ocasiones el instructor que venía con migo se puso a jugar juegos en el teléfono y no enseñarme. Los carros son antiguos y con varios problemas. Pregúntenle a tus conocidos que han tomado classes con Sonia's y vean lo que ellos dicen. Especialmente hoy que el gobierno de Massachusetts ha aprobado las licencias a los indocumentados vayan a buscar a otras escuelas. Hay bastantes escuelas que hablan español alrededor de East Boston y dan un servicio bueno. read more

I'm having a panic attack going back to Sonia school for road test. The main reason is that I was waiting there in cold weather an hour and half, when I took the test I couldn't feel any part of my body. FROZEN. Prior my test instructor Mike asked me what I was waking for?? Excuse me??!!! It's Saturday 8am and you are asking me what am I waiting for with other group of people? I have nothing to else to do Saturday morning but to go wait in the street watching people taking their road test? I failed because touching breaks which I didn't feel my legs at all since they told me to be there at 8am I took test a bit after 9:30 am. After I got home it took me 3 hours to DEFROST!!! I hate that day of my life and experience was horrible. They take easily money without carrying that you have to wait another full two months to take another test. Disgusting. It's all about money!! Also note that I do have driving license in another State and I do know how to drive. read more

They seem nice when you call, but in reality, they are highly unprofessional. They make you pick up and drop off other clients during your driving session that you pay for. They scheduled me for thanksgiving and then canceled last minute. The driver barely watches you drive and is on his phone the majority of the time. I would not recommend read more

muchas gracias por ayudarme . es una excelente escuela es muy recomendable

This place is horrible very irresponsible as fuck they dont call back when they say they is they dont care about you gettin your liscence just the money Ive been waiting for my last class to get my liscence and these dumbass kept canceling and never answer the phone read more

They cancel on short notice and are very unprofessional. One of the instructors was texting while driving us to pick up another student. Definitely don't recommend this place. read more

My review will be similar to Scott G.'s but I want to write a more recent favorable review. I was apprehensive because of the recent one star reviews and comments, but had also seen similar reviews of other schools nearby. I had called into the office a few times and seen all the folks taking driver's ed classes, compared it to the number of negative reviews and figured the old saying that people only share negative experiences to be true, so I took a gamble. I only needed to pass the road test as I just had to convert a UK license. I took two road lessons before my test. Both times the school called me on the day to remind me. The instructors were on time, polite and spoke English well (some reviewers commented on thick accents, but I didn't find that with my two instructors). I was shown the test route and told what to expect on the test. Both cars were clean and in good mechanical order. On the week of the test the school called to confirm my time of 8:30am. Unfortunately things went downhill here. I went at 8:15 to find a whole bunch of folks also waiting. I was given a ticket with a number of my position in line. There were 24 people ahead of me (although I did hear that the previous week's test was cancelled and scheduled for this week, so maybe there were double the usual amount of students). I had read previous reviews saying somebody had to wait 4 hours for their test on the day, so I did kind of expect to wait around, but it would have been better if the school had told me what to expect on the day. Luckily I hadn't made plans for 9am or else I would not have been so receptive. So a positive experience: good instructors, clean cars, competent office staff. Plus the price of $35 a lesson is one of the cheapest around. What more can a person ask for? read more

Instructor wearing a mask over his chin during a lesson. Doesn't seem very safe to me...

I know a few people that had road tests here and they failed them for bogus reasons. So I went on their website and it's funny that it says it's closed on Saturdays, but holds driving tests and it's cash only. Sounds like a scam. Local news stations should find this interesting. read more

These guys are really good at what they are doing. They teach you actual practical skills rather then just passing the test skills!!!

If you want truly terrible service, this is the school to use. My driving test was cancelled twice at the last minute. Both times they did not even have the courtesy to let me know until I called them a few days before to reconfirm. They don't call you back and most times there is no one to answer their telephone. They wasted more than 8 weeks of my time. Now I will apply for my test direct with RMV. read more

I just took my road test and passed. I had a great instructor (Jairo). I took a total of 3 classes with him He was patient and gave me good tips. He showed me the potential routes where the road test would be held. Sonia made sure that we knew our hand signals the day of and also how to align your tires up or down the hill. I'm giving them a 4 star because I don't think her office staff is that efficient. When scheduling and confirming classes they seem to lose track or simply have no idea what they are doing. The lady that answers the phone in the morning isn't the nicest either. But overall pleased with the service I received at Sonia's. read more

My 16 year old is going here and the instructor is consistently 30-40 mins late for the classroom sessions. We shall see how the on road lessons go, but for now it is extremely inconvenient. She had to cut back on her work hours to be there on time and the grown up instructor/ owner can't give her students the same consideration. read more

Absolutely unprofessional. I agree with all of the poor reviews. Save your money and go somewhere else. The communication between their staff is HORRIBLE and nonexistent. First off, I was not prepared for the road test my first time, I had a rude and impatient instructor, I was asked to confirm a road test FOUR days before it took place and was forced to either pay a $70 cancellation fee or keep the $120 road test. Their policy states that if you cancel before two weeks, you're exempt of the cancellation fee. This was not the case with me. After I recently passed the test, I went to RMV hoping to pay for my test when I was told that I had to pay a no show fee for an August road test that I cancelled way in advance. The only reason I'm giving them one star is because I finally passed my road test, but if the option of zero stars were present, I'd totally choose it. I will let everyone I know how unprofessional my experience was and hope they will be smart enough to choose a different driving school. read more

Do not come to this school. They cancel your driving lessons if u do not return there call in 10 minutes ( most people are at work cannot answer phone calls immediately also leaving voicemails in Spanish or no message at all very unprofessional ). You have to call 5 times before someone finally picks up the phone. Very stressful dealing with this school glad I'm done with them. If you can go to another school you'd be better of they also charge more than most driving schools for the road test read more

My experience with this School was okay, i took overall 3 classes with them. 2/3 were meh, not great. my first class i took it with a young guy with glasses, but i didnt learn much with him, he was mostly in this phone the hour that i drove with him. The second person i had was a woman, Sandra is her name, SHE WAS GREAT!!!!, no complains whatsoever with her, she knows what shes doing and she taught me lots of things, as for my third class request i had asked for her, but they didnt follow my request, i guess they dont communicate. When The third guy showed up it was an older guy, i dont know if he saw that i was prepared enough or something but he didnt teach me anything. I schedule my road test with them, the first time it didn't happen, they had to reschedule, then the day came, i was there by 9 am, waited 1 hour until the RMV employees came, there was 2 of them, one super nice, the other one NOT, well thank God my turn was with the nice one, i drove for 3 minutes, parallel park and passed, and the other lady looked like she wasn't passing anyone. I would recommend them for the price, and because its not as horrible! It may be different for every person. Try to schedule with Sandra if you can. read more

This is the WORST place to learn how to drive. I have signed up twice to start the drivers ed classes and they have never emailed me a link to join the class online. I've called more than 10 times a day and they never answer. The worst part of it all is that I have already made a payment and nothing is happening. Please save your self from this place. I don't why these people haven't gone out of business yet... read more

DO NOT GO TO THIS DRIVING SCHOOL!!!! The staff is horrible, they always have an excuse for something. They cancel your road test and classes at last minute. They don't try to help you at all!!!! Not a professional place!!! If you really want to get your license go somewhere else!! read more

The worst- save your money and go elsewhere. Very unprofessional and the individuals teaching are not very nice to the students.

This driving school is so unprofessional. I scheduled my road test and 2 days before the test they told me they forgot to put me on the list

Horrible place to do business with. They waited 4 months to schedule my road test and after it was scheduled they kept rescheduling. The excuse was that I there was something wrong with my paperwork, but they couldn't tell me what, so I could fix it. Called the office millions of times and they would rush me and tell me that they would call back, but never did. I had to call back. The person I spoke on the phone was very rude and she has no clue of what she was doing. People if you don't want to waist your money, don't go to this place. They are horrible and all they do is give you excuses. HORRIBLE PLACE. read more

I went to Sonia's because of it's proximity to my house. I had heard and read some reviews that weren't very good and I was apprehensive. BUT... What a great experience. I had great instructors, especially John. So good. Gave me the confidence I needed. And such a nice guy. The office staff was great too. Called to confirm appointments, and they were always so nice. I would recommend Sonia's. I passed the driving test easily. The examiner was impressed with my ability. Thanks Sonia's!! read more

This is the worst driving school. Please save your money and spare yourself the hassle. The business is literally run by children. The receptionist couldn't of been any older that 16. The driver instructors accents are so thick you can barely understand what they are saying. The school cancelled my lessons unannounced and they changed the instructor on me several times when I specifically asked for the same instructor. They are highly unprofessional and disorganized. They are rude when the speak to you. Terrible experience! read more

After taking my driving test with metro driving school (Lynn armory), and failing I was very nervous to try again. I had bad anxiety with driving and it took me a long time to feel comfortable. Sonia's let me take many extra lessons. I will say the instructors probably aren't best if English is the only language you know. It is stressful driving and having to clarify what someone is saying. I read all the reviews before taking the test and I was fully prepared to be waiting for a long time. There was a long line, but I got there early and was 7th. Luckily they just take you around the block, have you parallel park and do the 50 ft back up. The lady in the back along with the instructor in front were very nice and even helped me while I was parallel parking! It was so much easier than when I took it at the lynn armory and definitely helped boost my confidence with driving. read more

agree 1000% with massiel g. Boston, MA The place is a joke i guess you get what you pay for my son failed 2 road test before passing really what did i pay for i had to take him out before his 3rd road test and teach him everything i paid Sonia's to teach him they should not be teaching our children to be behind the wheel i wonder how many other people have had these same things happen it sounds all to familiar to me This lady shouldn't even own a business!! They over book, they don't call to cancel, and when you call to ask why they didn't pick you up they say you never made an appointment!! when they do show up the cut the lesson in half no wonder my son never learned a damm thing had this same exact experience taken from massiel g. Oh and best of all if they can't find your street they will not pick you up!! I was driving and we were looking for an address for the next student, we couldn't find it (hello GPS aren't that expensive) so he calls the office and says "well if I don't find him just tell him I can't pick him up"!! Completely ridiculous and unprofessional... the secretary will forget to put you in the schedule and no one will pick you up, then she will be rude to you to top it off! then when you call to complain Sonia is never there and will not return a phone call PLEASE DON'T SEND YOUR CHILD HERE ITS A BIG MISTAKE IF YOU DO! you can teach them to drive better on your own read more