Maritime Roadwise & Defensive Driving School-MRD

Negative experience: I think this is a scam. I emailed them about the course. They emailed back saying to send money without providing any details and for months now I get really strange emails from them about being a “long lost lover” definitely weird

Fantastic experience: Both the classroom instructor and the in car instructor are amazing at explaining things in an easy to understand way, and were very helpful whenever I had a question. They were very calm whenever I made a stupid mistake, and didn’t make me nervous enough to keep messing up (that was a problem I had when practicing with other people.) I only have one minor complaint, which is about wait times. after you finish the in class lessons, there is about a 2-3 month delay to book in car lessons on the website. It is because they are booked up, so I get it, but still a bit of a dent in the overall experience. Another thing future customers should know, which applies to ANY driving school, is that Driver’s Ed (or at least the minimum 25 classroom hours and 10 in car hours required for the certificate) is NOT enough to take a complete beginner to road test ready. You WILL need someone else to practice with quite regularly (who is not a bad influence). If you want to make the most of the lessons, take what you learned in one lesson, and master it with someone else before the next lesson. That way, you can be ready to move on and you won’t be stuck on learning how to turn properly for three lessons. This is not a complaint, this is just overall advice to people considering Driver’s Ed. I passed my road test first time. The instructors at MRD were a huge factor in that. I practiced with my neighbour as well, and my parents. They taught me certain things that are either outdated or not allowed on a road test. The instructors here noticed things nobody else noticed, and taught me things nobody else thinks about. The biggest thing that they helped with, that I feel I could not have learned elsewhere, was all of the expectations and methods for maneuvers on a modern road test. Overall, it was worth the money. I can now drive to school, to work, and to pick up my girlfriend. I can now go anywhere, and can travel at 20x the speed I could on foot, while listening to whatever music I want, in a car alone where nobody can judge me. It’s nearly a superpower. I could not have passed the road test without them. I am now planning a summer trip to the Cape Breton highlands thanks to them. Mike was my in car instructor, he was great. Really good at explaining things as I said, and very calm when I made a mistake. He was completely honest with me, while remaining as professional as possible. He told me when I wasn’t ready for something, and even though I disagreed, looking back, he was right. Also, the Jetta I got to drive in was quite nice. Amanda was my in class instructor, she was great too. Good at explaining things and answering my (sometimes stupid) questions. Just remember, you WILL need other sources of practice. I’m giving five stars because I believe it does not deserve the 3 star average it currently has. I’ve read some other reviews. Maybe they used to have issues, but they have clearly ironed them out since. If I’m being honest I’d do 4 stars because of the wait times.

Negative experience: Instructors did not show up for in-car lessons, pre booked in-car lessons were canceled without reason, driving lessons to high schoolers only offered during school hours. Have been trying since July to get 8 in-car lessons completed. It’s now almost November Have sent more than 10 emails, 20 phone calls and no one has responded. They did however respond to this post. Business is not located at the address provided.

Negative experience: Terribly managed, my child's road test was delayed by over a MONTH due to poor scheduling on MRD's part. We tried everything we could to accommodate this unreasonable experience, but in all it was hardly worth the money. Have been seeing many similar horror stories from other parents in the community, so this is clearly a common issue with the business. On top of poor and at times outright rude communication, I witnessed an MRD INSTRUCTOR, not a student, make an illegal and dangerous passing maneuver around a school bus that was stopped to let off children. Frankly horrifying.

Negative experience: We enrolled our child for a August 2022 summer session in the Sackville location. It was delayed for a month. Then after the month we were told that Sunday sessions would no longer be transferred to the Fall river location. Start time of course was pushed back a few more weeks. Sessions finally started in October (2 months late). Child had Covid symptoms the last day of course when they were supposed to write the test. We were told it could be rescheduled no problem. The following week we were told he could not write the final test until the class after him were writing, furthermore we were not allowed to book any driving sessions until classroom session was done. Finished the course in December. Told we couldn’t book sessions until the end of January. Did first session tried to book second. Got the runaround from the Driving instructor. Finally booked second session. Then we were put on ignore for weeks. Finally decided to complain to owner. Was told by an employee they were in Mexico for two months and they would be in touch “Whenever they checked there email.” Following week got an email from owner saying “They were sorry we weren’t a good fit with the driver and they were going to put us with the owner, to book through his Calendar” Told them it wasn’t that we weren’t a good fit, it was just not possible to book anything at all with them. Got ignored again. Trying to book sessions now, can’t book any before June (is currently April 3rd.) Road test was scheduled for this month back in December. By the time we are all said and done it’s going to be close to a year to complete a 5 week course. The owners don’t seem to have any interest in doing even the bare minimum to meet their obligations. This is a 1 star review as Google wouldn’t allow a zero. Avoid this place at all costs, once they have your money they are literally off to Mexico.