Absolutely the worst driving instructor…
Absolutely the worst driving instructor I’ve ever come across. please avoid Harry Debling!
I wish there was an option for zero stars. This experience has left me shaken, completely knocked my confidence, and made me dread ever getting back into a car for lessons.
I first messaged Harry Debling at the end of July 2024 because I needed automatic lessons. From day one the communication was appalling. It took him days (sometimes more) to reply to simple messages. Because of his slow responses I didn’t manage to start lessons until 20th August, wasting almost an entire month of my time.
The lessons themselves were awful. Right from the first minute he spent ages talking himself up and putting down every other instructor and driving school in the area. Then he started asking very personal questions and making strange, uncomfortable comments about my family (including my mum, who he has never met). There were also repeated racist remarks that left me stunned. Throughout both lessons he shouted, spoke to me in a condescending and belittling way, and showed absolutely no patience at all. I gently reminded him that if I was already a perfect driver I wouldn’t need lessons, but it made no difference.
He claims he’s brilliant with anxious and disabled drivers. In reality he has zero compassion and zero patience. He just seemed interested in taking the money.
I had booked weekend lessons because of my work schedule. After just two sessions he went back to ignoring my messages again. On Saturday 20th September I sent a polite reminder in the morning about that day’s lesson. Five minutes before I was due to start he texted saying his car had warning lights on; fair enough, cars break down. But after that: nothing. For weeks I messaged and called trying to rearrange and get some clarity. Complete silence and excuses!
I even saw him in person at Westwood Cross shopping centre in early November. I waited politely while he was on the phone so I could ask about my lessons, but when he finished the call he just said “I’m busy” and walked away without another word. I still have all the screenshots of me chasing and chasing while he ignored everything.
In the end I lost over two months, my money, and every bit of driving confidence I had, and all trust in him. Starting again with someone new feels really hard now because of how badly this affected me.
Harry Debling is unprofessional, rude, disrespectful and, in my experience, completely unreliable. Harry has now contacted me asking to remove this review, and I have the messages as proof. It’s confusing that he reports reviews as “fake” yet still sends requests to have them taken down. This only reinforces the same unprofessional behaviour I experienced throughout my time dealing with him.
Please save yourself the stress and heartache, choose literally anyone else.








