To expect a driving instructor to ring the doorbell?

I feel sorry for any future employer of this golden child, if this is his upbringing.

A total no, no these days! It was called piggy backing and no instructor should be doing that these days! I had the same when I was learning and like you I hated it.

Is DS was asleep he’d have missed most the lesson anyway. If they’ve arranged to meet outside then that’s that.

But your son was asleep. Was the instructor supposed to wait for him to get up?

I had a similar situation with a Plumb's representative who rang my phone and said he was outside and asked what he should do. I said just ring my bell. Not sure what he was expecting but I was a bit surprised. Did I say the wrong thing?

My driving instructor never rang the bell - which was good as I booked 7am lessons and had a sleeping baby at home. I would watch for him to pull up and run out the door. Once my daughter woke up at the wrong moment and it took me a minute to hand her over to my husband and my driver was about to pull away when I ran out. This is very much normal.

Nope. My lessons were years ago and instructor literally pulled up in the car and waited outside house. No mobiles so no ringing or texting. If you didn't appear within 10 mins they left

My instructor 20 years ago always had another pupil pick up/drop off, I hated it!

it is not customary for them to ring your doorbell and I do think your DS is at fault for not being out of bed. However you have paid (in advance) for the instructor’s time, so I actually think they should come to the door out of courtesy.

Instructors don’t necessarily have to get out of the car to let the pupil drive. I have long legs, and became quite adept at climbing into the passenger seat from the driver’s seat. (Obviously the pupil went round the outside.)

I could even drive the car from the passenger seat using the dual controls. It’s not possible to go fast, but it’s useful for demonstrating manoeuvres, or helping the pupil out of a tight spot. But that’s another debate…

I expect, after reading all the comments, you are now aware that it is NOT customary for driving instructors to get out of cars to ring doorbells. They usually have back to back clases (which might explain why he was 10 minutes late once ..traffic?). Your son should be up and ready for his lesson everytime, like all the other pupils. No discussion.

My son is currently having lessons and they are usually 10am, if we’re not home to make sure he’s up I drum it into him to set multiple alarms on his phone and Alexa too as I know he likes a lie in on his days off college!
His instructor never gets out and has at most text to say she was outside, that seems to be pretty standard.
So far he’s been ready on time but did oversleep for a shift at work recently as his phone did an update and turned itself off (hence now using Alexa alarm too) They have to learn to start managing themselves at 17 and taking responsibility.

I live in a rural area. My instructor doesn't come to the house, waits in town at a certain place in local town. He doesn't go looking for you. Even if he's just 5 mins late he will texts me. I'd do the same. He allows someone to cancel at last minute/not turn up without a proper reason(hes pretty reasonable) twice before he stops the lessons. He's told me about young ones not putting the effort in/caring. The ones where the parents pay and want it, more than the teenagers. Don't let it happen again, cause they aren't short of people wanting lessons.

There is a difference between the instructor being late ( due to other traffic, road accident etc ), than still asleep in bed.
Even if instructor had rung bell, your son would have to waken fully and get washed and dressed before proceeding on said lesson which would probably have cut the lesson by around 20 minutes minimum.

This! ⬆️

They always wait in the car. Does Ds expect his teachers to come and get him in school- nope! Besides they won’t leave the car unattended if at all avoidable. That’s their living they need to keep safe after all. If they knock for one every one will expect it.

They both sound pretty useless tbh! If your son was asleep then surely he'd still need time to get ready. Driving instructor probably has this attitude if he deals with many people like your son.

Ime driving instructors always wait outside, when I learnt to drive (before mobile phones were common) you didn't even get a text, you just looked out the window . My DC does get a text and driving instructor has my mobile number so will phone or text me if no reply from. DC but he never rings door bell.
But I think it would be a courtesy to knock on the door if no one comes out, if your DC needed to get dressed they could have a shorter lesson so at least the whole lesson wasn't lost which I assume will have to be Paid in full regardless

This is absolutely not the case. I'm not even sure what the insurance situation would be in that scenario.

My instructor had to park up around the corner and come to the door. If he'd pulled up on the double yellows, he'd have obstructed the traffic and snake was a cool feature on phones at that time so phoning wasn't standard practice.

If a doorbell's being used as an alarm clock, you're running too late anyway.

I've literally never known an instructor turn up with the previous student in the car. They allow time between lessons to get to the next student.

Mine never got out of the car, I just looked out the window near the time he was due.
I guess if I was the instructor I would try the door before driving off since I'm already there but it's not the done thing. If he was asleep, would he have even heard the door anyway and then be able to get up and ready in a few moments?

Even though, after the first couple of lessons they literally have to get out and get in the passenger side so the learner can drive???!!!!!

Why should he?! Your son should be ready and waiting for him.

We had this once with my daughter's instructor. She was ready but not standing staring out of the door and he just buggered off when she didn't come out (and still charged us!). I personally find it very odd that anybody meeting someone at their house for any reason wouldn't get out and ring the door bell to alert the person of their presence. Are you supposed to stand with your front door open just waiting?? What if you can't see the street from your house windows?

Mind you the music teacher thing mentioned above annoys me too. If a kid doesn't turn up I don't think it's ok to just sit there getting paid for nothing when they could go (or even phone) and ask the school office to summon the kid. I do private tutoring and if someone didn't turn up at the planned time I would try and contact them. I would never just go, 'oh yay, money for nothing'.

My driving instructor didn’t even come to the house! None of them did where I live, they had a sort of hub in town where they did all pick ups and drop offs, meant they could fit more lessons into a day as there was no travel time in between. Mine would make an exception when my neighbour and I booked our lessons back to back so he’d drop one and pick up the other. Haven’t read the full thread but your DS needs a decent alarm clock and some accountability!

Agree with this... he's not ready to take important responsibility like driving a car