Am new here so hello everyone.
I haven’t long been in from night shift so please excuse any spelling mistakes or general banging on.
This thread is directed at Peter Smyth, or anybody who knows his company well enough to answer some of the questions i have.
Ok so earlier this week i had sort of a bad experience with a local training center and i get a sinking feeling that am dealing with a bunch of clowns and now am really thinking about doing it the Peter Smyth way instead.
Am not here to name and shame but it all started when i turned up at my local training center to start my assessment drive, after paying the receptionist i was directed into a waiting room where 2 instructors were sat, almost immediately they started calling each other names in fun, using the F word and the C word, this lasted only about a minute until they then started talking about their ■■■■■■ exploits in great graphic detail, way too graphic for me to explain about on a site such as this one, all of this was right in front of me, a paying customer who they had only met 4 minutes earlier, i could only sit in silence and stare at the wall the entire time, now you can maybe expect to hear that kind of talk down the pub but you don’t expect it in a professional business.
Anyway, after however long that lasted for one instructor went to to get the lorry i would be assessed in, and for me the final straw came when i was near the end of my 20 minute assessment drive when my instructor was talking about his career, he said " i have been here for 3 months now " to which i replied " what did you do before working here then ? you worked for another training center ? " he said " no i was a used car salesman… but i drove lorries in the army " so he could probably sell his granny if need be.
Now i know its nothing major like my instructor crashing the lorry into a wall while getting the vehicle ready for me to drive but its all left a sour taste in my mouth, am not sure how many instructors this company has but i think 100% of the ones i met are not very suitable for teaching, one is very young ( 26 max and very Jack the lad-ish ) and likes everybody to know in graphic detail about his ■■■■■■■ lifestyle and the other highly inexperienced at teaching, i don’t want to be taught how to drive LGVs by either of these two instructors but i just know i’ll get one of them, or possibly both somehow.
Now the company itself seemed ok to me, its a private company and not a broker, the premises are nice enough, the receptionist and doctor are very professional and polite and they have modern lorries that also seem to be well maintained so i wonder if they just have a few rouge instructors working for them, nonetheless its put my right off going with them if am honest as am on a budget, its not like money is no object, i will be spending more money on training than i spent on the car am driving around in.
So now i have really started to think about training with Peter Smyth as his reputation speaks for itself but i live over 120 miles away, the way the crow flies and over 140 actual driving miles so i wanted to ask a few questions really about category C training.
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Would i qualify for free accommodation living this far away ?
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Is training 1 on 1 ?
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Are they Full days training ?
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Would i need another medical if i go with Peter Smyth ?
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I have already paid and booked my theory and hazard perception so i’d like to know the cost of only, practical training, test, and CPC module 2 and module 4 please.
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Would i need an other assessment drive, i really don’t want to travel all that distance to do a quick assessment drive and then drive back, if absolutely necessary i could make a Saturday or Sunday appointment at 11am the earliest but weekdays are really a no go due to work and distance involved.
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How much would the assessment drive cost and how long will it last for ?
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