“I am absolutely devastated I did not see these reviews before I paid this shambles of a company, I would give them -5 stars if possible. I’ve paid for 32.5 hours Mohammed my instructor, he says we will have it done in one week books me in for 5 full days of driving, the first day was only 4.5 hours in that time had me drive through car wash because his car was dirty, take him to sort his divorce papers out, take his daughter in Manchester while she meets friends for lunch, he has me driving on the motorway when his words “my clutch control is really not good”, surely that can’t be legal or safe. He spends about 80% of time on the phone to his friends/family in his own language which is very rude as he is supposed to be concentrating on my driving. He doesn’t teach me anything just asks me to drive constantly he’s always changing my hours around, he failed to turn upto a 10 am lesson and didn’t let me know until after 3pm, if I didn’t turn up I would of lost the whole day, I spoke to one week intensive driving they said it’s upto the instructor whether he wants to refund or not. I have asked for a refund and he doesn’t do refunds, he also says I need a further 15-20 lessons. I URGE ANYONE TO STAY CLEAR OF THIS SHAMBLES OF A COMPANY WHO RECRUIT A JOKE OF INSTRUCTOR.”
“Would not recommend this company. Just paid £1600 for intensive course and the instructor drove 64 miles round trip to another town to start the lessons on day 1 and 2 costing us £106 (£33 per hour) When we queried it he said my 18 yr old daughter was not confident to drive to another town on her 1st and 2nd day. So why take her? Why not teach her locally until she is ready to drive 64 miles. On day 3 he cancelled as he was double booked. Not had any timings for day 4. This is supposed to be an intensive course!! When we rang OWD they will only deal with emails and are very slow to respond. They think think it is acceptable for the instructor to charge to drive 64 miles per day at a rate of £33 They also think it is acceptable to cancel lessons if the instructor is double booked. They also think it acceptable not to ring you. Shocking do not use this company.”
“I found this company through google, i was looking for a no nonsense intensive driving course that i would complete within a reasonable time frame, after all thats why im paying over the odds for this specific service.
This cost me £1379, £379 payable to the company via their website and as soon as you pay the deposit you are then instructed to pay the instructor they allocate you either cash or a bank transfer for the remaining amount, in my case £1000, I instantly had a bad feeling but i decided to proceed given that i had just paid the deposit and never imagined it would blow up in my face.
i was allocated a driving instructor (Nicholas Jackson based in Holmes Chapel - ADI - 320104) who rang me the next day after being allocated to me by OWD, we arranged to start on 05/05/2019 and he asked for the money to be paid on that day which i did. From the 05/05/19 to 03/06/19 i had 4 hours over 3 sessions which i had to chase for, i have a string of unanswered texts and calls from the 22/05/19 and began thinking the worst so i contacted OWD and they informed me that Nicholas had stopped teaching and that this affected 6 other pupils being owed their money back. OWD then offered to refund me my deposit to "alleviate my financial loss"
I have had to file reports with the police and ActionFraud who are pursuing this matter as fraud.
To sum up, the way this company operates is basically as an agency that pass work onto self employed instructors that arent known to them or vetted appropriately, the system of you paying the company an extortionate amount to basically give you the name of an instructor local to you and then to find you a test date for you is massively flawed as you are essentially having someone thats been picked for you turn up to your house, handing over a large sum of cash to them and then waiting/relying on them to give you the service you purchased, its far too easy to be conned and the company OWD dont want to know and rely on the fact that the instructors arent employed by them which im being told by ActionFraud and the Police isnt true and that they are responsible.
I urge anyone looking into an intensive driving course to find a local company who employ their own instructors and to never pay cash.”
“Nothing but trouble with this company. Booked being told an instructor would be available in the area requested on the date requested.
I was then asked if I would travel to meet the instructor, yes they offered to pay but that's not the point.
They then told me an instructor was not available for the date requested so would I be willing to do another date. Later that day I was told an instructor would be happy to start on the original date requested, heard nothing from them.
I went ahead and took my theory as planned, I then managed to book at test a week later. By this point I had given up.
I then asked for a refund which was granted, however they tried to charge me for the theory they claimed to have booked.
Avoid at all costs.”
“Absolute joke of a company. All seemed well at first until I was given instructor who booked all my lessons before even speaking to me. When I didn't send payment over of £600, I was sent a text message at 23.30 one evening asking for the payment or I would need to find a new instructor. Knowing this wasnt the company for me, I contacted them telling them I was going elsewhere. They offered to fond me a new instructor but after the first one & then reading their reviews, I decided against & have gone with someone else. I asked for my deposit back of £327.99. They have refused to give it back. My terms & conditions state that I have a 14 day cooling off period which I am still well within. I was then forwarded an email with the cooling down period explained as within the t&c I already have but with an extra bit added it, making it seem I am not eligible for a refund!! Avoid at all costs!!!”
“DO NOT USE OneweekdrivingLTD !!
Driving Instructor: Marcia Ejezi
ADI No: 171329
I paid oneweekdriving school £620 and Marcia £970 for a 45hr intensive driving course. I only received 13hrs of this. Marcia then left on a 2 month holiday which she is still not back from and blocked me on everything.
I contacted the school and they were reluctant to help me as Marcia is self employed. After threatening to take them to court they quickly refunded me £412 of the £620, deducting the lessons I had received.
They then contacted Marcia for me, who said she would refund me once she’s back in UK as her account is blocked.
Today I have been emailed from the school saying apparently I have had all my lessons so Marcia won’t refund me!
How stupid can she be, for the last 2 months saying she’ll refund me then now all of a sudden I’m not owed a refund!
I phoned the school and they once again said it’s out of their control and it’s her choice if she wants to pay me or not.
I think it’s disgusting that the school won’t help me get my money back just cause she’s self employed! But I found them through her!! I am taking the school and Marcia to court and justice will be served for their disgusting service!”
“AVOID AT ALL COSTS!
They have made my life very difficult by not giving me a refund even though I hadn't booked any lessons with the mystery instructor. Their website is a total lie and goes against what they actually do in real time. I would give them less that 1 star if possible.”
“AVOID AT ALL COSTS!! Do not deal with this company! I have had nothing but trouble since day one! Since booking my course they disregarded the fact I asked to change area as it was wrong on booking form, they were fine with it at first but still gave me a driver for the wrong area even after agreeing they would change it and insisted I wouldn't be due a refund as it's what was on my booking form and that they allocated a driver but that I REFUSED etc. So to not lose out on money I agreed even though I'd have to travel for it, on the first day of my supposed lesson the instructor cancelled as I was on my way, and was to continue the next day, however later that night he messaged and said he had a test at the same time he had booked with me! I couldn't do any other time as I had already previously booked time off work to do my lessons once it was confirmed the week before...Now they are still refusing a refund and in the process of fighting for it, they do not know what they are talking about at all and didn't even know the instructors last name or anything! They couldn't organise a night out let alone a driving course! They are very quick to try and put all the fault on you so I wouldn't even attempt at booking with OWD! Go with a company that knows what they are talking about!!”
“Most horrendous customer service in the world. I wanted a two week intensive in order to pass quickly for a new job and they told me i could start a particular day. Driver never called. Rang the company, they moved it to the week after. Again the driver couldnt do it. Moved it again...i came to them because i wanted to learn and pass quickly and they were unable to book it for me. Eventually gave me a number for an instructor and told me to sort it out. He was great but then their admin messed up maybe four times creating more problems with booking theory and retests...The lady who answers the phone in the office, Adele, evidently doesnt give a toss about anything and wasnt interested in helping as well as being rude. TERRIBLE COMPANY.”
“I have never known such bad customer service, but from reading the reviews below, I consider myself very lucky!
Firstly we did get assigned a driving instructor, however, they cancelled 2 days before the lessons were due to start, and as they were unable to provide a replacement, I did receive a full refund. We then found our own instructor. However, they offered to continue with booking the test for me (which I paid for) - we subsequently receive a text offering us a date, which I accepted, and received a confirmation text. We turned up for the test only to find they had cancelled the test and not notified us! Luckily, I did receive another full refund for the test but nothing for my out of pocket expenses I incurred for turning up to a test that they had already cancelled.”
“Signed my daughter up for an intensive driving course with oneweekdrivingcourse.com 2 weeks in advance of start date and were told we would receive details of her instructor before the date she was due to start. After 2 emails to chase them, Literally 3 days before her start date we are informed by oneweekdrivingcourse.com that there are no instructors available and we could hang on until following week for an update. The reason we booked intensive is because we needed it for a certain date!! We are now unable to find anyone else at short notice and we leave the UK so now unable to take course or test!! We have one upset daughter who was having lessons for her birthday. No apologies, no nothing!! Steer clear! They shouldn’t be advertising that they can find someone if they are not 100% sure they can find them. False advertising as I see it. Isn’t that illegal?”
“For 380 quid they booked my theory. Soon as I passed it, nothing. Been waiting close to 3 months to do this intense course. 10 hours worth of lessons and the practical. BIG SCAM. You ring the company who'll keep putting you to a dead line, when you do get hold of them it's your job apparently to sort it all out. But with a driving instructor that you've never met who's phone always seems to be off. DO NOT GIVE THIS COMPANY MONEY”
“Don’t go anywhere near this company. I booked an intensive course for my son months in advance and days before the start date I got an email to say no instructor was available but they were confident they could get one for the following week. The same thing happened the following week so I got a refund. Unfortunately we are now unable to get an intensive course with another school until August. Such a waste of time, I really wish I’d read the many terrible reviews before booking with this company.”
“Terrible service! Waste of money, quicker and easier to arrange everything yourself. Very slow at everything and the instructors are unprofessional and rude.”
“Please listen to all the bad reviews this company are not to be trusted. My son is currently waiting to hear if he can take his test at 2.32 today and has yet not heard anything from this company. They still owe us 5 hours driving as my son first test was cancelled due to the weather the re booked it for today and promised they would get us a earlier date on there website they are still booking people in and we ghave been waiting 7 weeks to get a date and now the day has come we are still let down. They will not speak to you on the phone only corespond via email. Laurie Carter the manager is no help whatsoever. They have totally ruin what should have been ean exciting experience and as yet I have received nothing back from them. Please do not use”
“I have been completely ripped off by this company, do not use them!!
The deposit you pay is an absolute scam, this money is NOT towards your lessons or anything other than basically 'commission and VAT'
The communication provided with this company is such a joke, they really have no clue!! Firstly the company provided me with an instructor who failed to contact me (apart from one phone call from an unknown number which I didn't return as I get a lot of these) when chasing up with the company I was told I could not get a refund but they would assign me another instructor. Then preceded to assign me the same instructor several times! Finally I got assigned an instructor who contacted me but I was on jury service so unable to take lessons until after this finished. I informed the instructor of this and we agreed to start lessons once I finished jury service. On my first lesson with the instructor I was told the company had booked about 50 practical tests for me without my knowledge, I understand the tests are booked at short notice but I hadn't even been taking lessons and had not been asked which test centres/ times/ days were suitable! So ridiculous!!
All I wish is a refund from this company and nothing more to do with them it has been a nightmare dealing with them every step of the way do not use them!”
“Probably one of the worst experience dealing with any company, only short of dealing with the instructor they provided. When I had issues they were very slow to respond. The company did not care that the driving instructor was refusing to give me the hours I paid for nor did they condemn his behavior. The made no effort to help me get my money back from the instructor and I am currently in the first processes of small claims court. Avoid oneweekdriving ltd and especially avoid Mohammed Butt/ learntodriveuk”
“Extremists
The driving instructor Abrahim spent more time preaching about the Quran than actually teaching me to drive. Said that women in this country deserve to be raped as they dress inappropriately, and a number of other inappropriate comments. He was constantly ramming his views down my throat. He was a disgusting individual. I would never ever use this company again. They have no intentions of booking you a test at the end of the week!!! Avoid at all costs!! He booked a test for me which meant I was unable to book my own and then cancelled it in December. This has caused me a lot of stress. I know that the test booking is lost as per terms and conditions but I could have been informed and been given the option to pay for the booked test. The joke is he had booked my test for the 19th Jan 2018, but had my one week driving course in October!!! Can’t ever get through to anyone on the phone. SCAMMERS!!!!! This company needs to be shut down!”
“If you are assigned a driving instructor by the name of George Farrell (Northampton), ADI Number: 161305 I suggest you request another immediately.
I paid £400 cash to him on the first lesson, took an initial assessment, then he failed to show up for the next 5 lessons, giving only frivolous excuses at the last minute. I requested a refund from him following this, and it has now been 2 weeks with no refund in sight. He basically took the money, spent it, then couldn't be bothered to show up for the lessons.
While I was able to get my deposit refunded from oneweekdriving.com, this meant very little as I was unable to afford to pay for a replacement instructor without the money back from the instructor. I believe the company terms and conditions are unfair as it is implied I would be assigned a reliable instructor, and I was given no such service. I am now pursuing legal proceedings, as well as a complaint to the DVSA against this instructor. It may also include a complaint to trading standards as I believe the company is partly liable, and cannot simply wash their hands of the situation.
Absolute daylight robbery - steer well clear of instructor George Farrell.”
“Had a really bad experience, as a result a lot of my confidence in driving has gone. I paid over £1000 pounds to be told a day before that the test that I wasn't ready. I only got 21 hours driving time out of the 30 hours that I paid for. Please avoid as both the company and the instructor deny responsibility.”
