Nova Driving School

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Provided quality services to assist my wife in getting her Illinois drivers license.

My instructor was named Marcelo. He was always prompt, always friendly and courteous. He was patient and thorough and helpful. There was one instance where one of my lessons had to be reschedule, and the main office called me well ahead of time and were very courteous, as well. My overall experience was excellent and I would recommend them to anyone.

At the beginning, the instructor was late, not a lot , just a couple of minutes. Afterwards she let my daughter start driving from the start. It went okay for a little while but as time went on, there were points where the instructor wasn't very specific in what she wanted and as a result, she thought my daughter shouldn't take the driving test. After my daughter not having her social security card, she had to come back home and get it along with recent mail (which was hard to find because she is an out of state college student). This went past the 2 hour lesson and the 2 hour allotment for the test. Needless to say she passed but the whole process could have gone better. It wasn't bad but it wasn't great. We scheduled the lesson/testing with enough time that had we been informed about the documentation requirements it would have reduced the amount of time involved and the extreme cost overruns. The language difficulties with the instructor were a problem.

11-9-2012

Just got an email from NOVA that they are abadoning the student described below. This review in no way reflects poorly on the instructors. I have spent time at NOVA waiting on my driver and have been impressed with their attention to detail and being engaged with their charges.

The customer service however is terrible. Several times, the schedule was rearranged. I paid for 12 classes and was misdirected on 5 of them. The owners claim they offered to pick my student up South Side as a courtesy, but in reality my understanding is the instructor lived close to my student.

That being said. NOVA does train well. But they can not handle customization. First, after some 5 emails and 10 or so schedule reschedule calls, they could not grasp I was not the drivers father. Extremely frustrating. Second, of course picking up the student South Side is great for the student. It isn't what I paid for. I paid to be able to leave work and go up Western and meet up with the student or drop them off so I could be included. Ok, so why don't I just drive south?? Well I would of except they kept telling me one thing and doing something else. It is really because they could not understand I was not the students father nor able to talk to the student as I work in the interior of a hospital. Literally I was blindsided and each time this happened, I was dismissed . Finally the last time I drove in traffic 1 hr in the worng direction and now that I complained the owners send me an email telling me the are abandoning the student.

They really don't care. It isn't that I would not accept different locations, it is just they never told me and after multiple requests that I not be sent to the wrong place...they break the ever so important continuity of training.

I know for most people that have kids and tlak /text constantly this would not be a problem and obviously adults would make their own schedule and for them its great and the instructors are excellent. For me, it was about trying to help a kid ger a license and not driving pell mell to the wrong place.

I did , however , find an alternative school whose owners understood that I am not the students father and only needed it told to them once and that if they make a change they'll shoot me a text message (not while driving ;) ) to keep me in the loop.

Really too bad. I had high hopes for NOVA, but in the end no one listened and I was just a an ATM.





So, I have a student. This is one of those kids that you know right away if they had the same opportunities as other will go far.
This student need to learn to drive to get a car and get to work and back and forth from school
Student has ZERO experience. I have just over 900k under my belt in all sorts of conditions but I don't want this student learning my habits.
Was not looking to quick drive this student. I firmly believe I have a responsibility that if I provide this, it has to be complete.
Hired NOVA for 3 8 hrs sessions and insist that at least 2-4 hrs be on the freeway and 2-4 hrs be at night.
Told student we would not help get an actual car until they return to NOVA in Jan/Feb to be trained in winter conditions as well as working with a mechanic to show how to change a tire, safety check lights bulbs, warning lights etc. (thats another review) . No drivers test until 24hrs complete like it or not exuberent teen or not.
NOVA has been accomodating. The instructors can be a handful and have gone around my schedule which required a serious discussion with the operations person. BUT the quality of care is there. I did spend a good time watching these guys and have been impressed with their attentiveness and that they are engaged with the student. Not reading a newspaper while eens run pell mell through the streets.
They seem really busy and do take some time to get back to you.
Pricier than other schools, but price to quality is spot on.
They are hectic in their service but not in the delivery. A+ all around. To be honest I compared them to the show MASH. No uniform process, a little hectic, but dead on in service....sort of like driving in the big city... a little crazy, surely not uniform, and hectic and they have earned my trust to keep this teen level headed on the mean streets. If you want your teen to drive like Lawrence Welk...go to the North Shore schools.
And how am I so sure they are doing their job and putting this students best interest forward? Because this student now actively and accurately critiques my driving with comments like and quot;Did you notice the posted speed limit?and quot; and quot;This is a school zone and even though after hours kids may be playing?and quot; and quot; Jack rabbit starts cost fueland quot; and quot; etc.

see above

They tell you the rules of the road. Then they accompanied my stepfather for his driving exam. If you don't pass the first time, you can continue to use the classes and tools until you are ready to pass the exam. Their services were great.