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Maruti Driving School Trivandrum - Stopped before proceeding!
July 29, 2007
Driving simulation, lady teachers for ladies, clean looking cars, eye catching advertisements, an overall professional look - these were some of the images in our mind when we thought of checking out Maruti driving school for my wife.
She had a drivers license, but it was a few years since she had last driven a car in India and she needed a refreshing of her India driving skills. We had been in the US for sometime and she had gotten used to the automatic Accord and US driving conditions.
The receptionist at the Maruthi Driving School explained the options we had. My wife could do a 22 day regular course for about Rs. 5000 or do a 8 day refresher course for Rs. 2000. MDS teaches driving in one of 3 cars - Maruti Esteem, Alto or Wagon R. The cost for the Esteem course was slightly higher than that for the other two. The 22 day course would have 3 theory classes, 5 simulation classes and the rest would be on road teaching.
We decided on going for the 22 day course with Esteem. The receptionist mentioned that the next batch was starting on the coming Sunday and the first class would be a theory class. She asked us to call on Saturday evening or Sunday morning to find out the exact time for the class.
So far the experience was OK, but this is where all the trouble began.
When I called the school on Saturday evening at around 6:30, the person informed me that all the instructors had already left and I can call the next day at 6:30 in the morning to find out the time for the class. So the next day I call them at 6:30 AM and the lady at the other end has no clue as to when the class is to begin. She tells me something like "T3 is at 3pm - is that what you are asking for?"!! Well what is T3? I had not clue, but I guessed it might be Theory Class 3.
Once I explained my situation again, she asked me to call at 9:00 to know the time of the class. When I call at 9, the lady who answers still has no idea of when the class is to begin. She however takes my phone number and promises to call be back.
She calls back in about 20 minutes and it was my wife who answered the phone as I was driving. The lady tells her that there is no new batch starting that day. So my wife wants to know when the next new batch will start. The lady seems to take a guess and say "Wednesday". However, she wants us to go to the school right away and register.
When my wife informs her that initially we were told that we needed to join only on the day the class was to start, the lady asks her to come and register on Tuesday. Why on Tuesday? They wanted to give the schedule. Why can't they not give the schedule on the day the class starts? The lady gets irritated and says curtly "OK, Come on Wednesday".
Since the classes were not being scheduled as they had mentioned why should we pay fees upfront and wait indefinitely?
So here is the bottom line - The Maruti driving school is not professionally run - the people there have scant idea of when the classes and batches start. The people you interact with does not have the courtesy of even talking to you in a professional way. Avoid Maruti Driving School, Trivandrum
Posted by liveit at July 29, 2007 6:17 AM