Driving school Mustangs is one of the oldest driving schools in Latvia, however it has long since lost its edge. Its website looks like it was created in the previous century and is not user-friendly.
In our monitoring we recorded active offers of 100-euro gift cards on the driving school’s website and Facebook page. Mustangs has the largest number of Facebook followers, but this was also achieved through “like & share” campaigns. We also noticed numerous advertisements on ss.lv where people tried to sell these gift cards for a symbolic (not to say ridiculously low) price (10–20 euros), yet even the seemingly “good deal” does not attract buyers.
The oversaturated supply and the lack of demand for Mustangs discounts have turned the concept of a “gift card” into a label for something without value. One student’s unfortunate experience with this “great offer” for driving training clearly illustrates the dishonest approach — more details [here].
During our monitoring of Driving school Gross we discovered that Gross repeatedly offered the opportunity to win theory training for a “pleasant price” – only 1 euro. This prize was easily accessible to any interested person, making it more of a formality rather than a real lottery. In other words – the price was loosely offered, raising doubts about the real value of the offer.
The year 2015 for the driving school passed under the sign of “this site has been hacked”. When the Google search engine shows this warning, visitors are informed that the website may not be safe to visit and that it may contain a computer virus. No one seemed to rush to resolve the situation, which created the impression that Gross relied on its brand recognition and large number of branches in Latvia without taking into account its potential and existing students.
Driving school Credo Autoprieks can certainly be considered one of the largest driving schools in the country, however its marketing practices are below any acceptable standard. Its pricing policy raises particularly strong distrust, which we discovered during our monitoring. While analyzing promotions offered simultaneously across different sources, the final training price varies; on the driving school’s website two prices are listed for category B – the full training fee and a special price available only for a limited period. However, on discount portals the “special offer” takes the special price rather than the full price as the base price and offers it for a ridiculously cheap amount.
On the discount portal prieks.lv, discount coupons for “Autoskolas Autoprieks” are still offered without mentioning anything about the alliance. This also creates misleading information, because the owners of the portal have the possibility to create an artificial impression that the coupon (service) is in high demand by entering a large number of buyers, regardless of the real number.
Driving school Krustojumi did not hold back on discounts – easily obtainable gift cards for training, free registration, a free theory course, and various coupons. When all these discounts are viewed together, the question arises – how adequately are the school’s teachers and instructors paid, and how does this reflect on the quality of training?
Free category A theory courses, considering the nature of motorcycle driving and the high risk involved, are completely absurd. Motorcycle safety on Latvian roads is a matter of life and death and should not be treated lightly.
Driving school Fortūna attracts new students with an incomplete price calculation. In its price calculation Fortūna uses the term “full package”, creating the impression that this is the final training price a new driver can expect. However, it is easy to overlook the fact that this B category “full” package includes only 5 driving lessons. CSDD regulations state that the minimum number of driving lessons required in the driver training process is 14, which means that the final costs for the student will certainly be higher.
The website constantly promotes discounts and various coupons, creating the impression that theoretical training has little value. It should also be taken into account that Fortūna’s prices vary depending on the branch.
The driving school has two websites, which further confuses new students (fortunaauto.lv and fortuna.lv), creating a misleading impression of a wider choice in the market than actually exists. The process described on the websites is very difficult to understand. The level of professionalism shown already at the administrative level is low.