Suncoast Safety Council

This has been a devastating experience for myself and my family. I had been charged for a DUI in 2017 and it had taken us a pretty long time to pay the State of Florida the fines I owed. After I paid my fines, I enrolled in the DUI program for my one and only DUI in December 2021. My final evaluation was today (February 28th, 2022), and I received my certificate.

I was recommended additional and expensive substance abuse treatment for a problem I had 5 YEARS AGO! This is the definition of extortion through a public/private partnership. I passed all of the silly breathalyzers, my wife is 7 months pregnant, and I work up to 60 hours a week to provide. How is it that a private company can force you into drug treatment based on an ISOLATED incident from 5 years ago and revoke my right to travel if I deny the treatment?

Look at my background. Where's all of the substance and abuse? My case should be reviewed. EDIT: My evaluator kept up with this "I was like you once" charade. It was NONSTOP! She even joked about being a "raging alcoholic too." She passed serious judgement on me and I took that personal, because that isn't who I am. EDIT 3: After some careful thought and expensive therapy, my review remains the same.

I have completed my first group meeting and had pushed this issue there, as well. I am not on probation or any kind of supervision. My original legal documents do not mention additional treatment, outside of the 72-hour program. There is yet to be a response from Suncoast, so I will ask again: What authority does this private company have to mandate treatment, outside of the judicial system?

My additional treatment requirements seem to be completely unknown to the State of Florida. Once again, I am not under supervision of the courts and I had no pending traffic infraction, related to this DUI. Will you write a letter to the State, suggesting that my license be revoked for not accepting additional treatment, which was not a requirement to begin with? How does that process work without an open criminal case?

If you have to go through the process then if get Mr ivey you'll be ok he is a good instructor.

Signed up for your class. I need this for my job and legal purposes. When I paid enrollment I was told someone would call me within 5 days. Today is the 9th day counting weekends and still haven't heard from anyone. Please reach out to me as soon as you can. Thank you, Dan Young.

Extremely rude and nasty employees. Doesn't have a working doorbell but will tell you that you are late and make you pay another 75$ and when you ask to talk to their boss Melissa will lie and tell you she is the boss. Very nasty people shouldn't have jobs. edit. and the "owner is a living peice of trash" doorbell issues huh? Your trash you want another 75 bucks how bout you fix your trash doorbell and get a real job where you're not harassing people and milking every dollar you can from them for what exactly? What do yall do again? Trash

Beware is SunCoast Safety Council. I enrolled for my first DUI and I have been dealing with these liars and manipulators for almost a year. Did my initial 15 hours expected to get my license afterwards. They said I needed more treatment so I enrolled and now they tell me it will take up to 3 weeks for their supervisor to approve it! No license yet. This business is dirty and disrespectful. They threatened to put a hold on me getting my license if I don't complete their program. Stay away from SunCoast Safety Council

The DUI evaluation was a joke said I needed treatment. While currently in treatment, they did not accept my private therapist as valid wanting to push me into expensive Rehabilitation or Salvation Army TREATMENT that is based on the antiquated 12 step model The evaluation was not based on DSM 5 Substance Use Disorder and talking to others EVERYBODY gets referred to "TREATMENT " The so called "Driving Classes" were a joke she quoted the "Big Book " of AA Bill W. and Dr Bob continued to use the term "Alcoholic and Alcoholic " repeatedly and false statistics that were proven as false with a quick search.

The Straw that broke the camel's back was a false statistic regarding hereditary Pre disposition on Native Americans and Irish Americans. I'm BOTH I've had to hold my breath and keep this inside me for about 9 months out of fear of retaliation.

I have to give Brandy Howard and the staff at Suncoast Safety Council a 5 star rating. I acquired a DUI and had no idea on how to go about my situation as well to progress with the mistake I made. Brandy really stepped up and immediately called to help me to keep moving forward in the right direction. I truly admire great customer service as we all know it's getting harder these days. I can't thank you enough for all that you do to help others, job well done. Sincerely, Mr. Alexander

Before the final day of class, I receive a phone call that class will be cancelled. Due to the fact that an individual in class was knowingly COVID +. They are very quick to test your alcohol level prior to class, but do not check your temperature prior to being in a small classroom with 10 people for 8 hours? Many businesses have implemented this easy prevention method since the pandemic.

In addition, after notifying me of this I was told "I'm sorry, you can go get tested if you want". Perhaps they could have the courteousy of providing resources and available testing if desired. Also, "we're not sure how we're going to make up the 8 hours remaining, we'll let you know". Highly unprofessional.

Make sure you get all of receipts and keep all of your paperwork. On 2017 i had to take a class to reinstate my drivers license got my license back and discovered two months ago it was suspended due to me not taking a class. I spoke with someone in the facility and i dont remember her name but ahe stated that i dont have to take the required class because i already took it in the past.

She dos not ask me for paperwork. So i assumed i didnt have. To do anything else. Wrong. I payed for everything and my license is still suspended. Now i have all my proof that i took the class and now i jave to wait to get my license due to an employee who made a mistake. The supervisors there are pleasant and friendly but they need to retrain some of the employess on how to provide better customer service because some are rude

Selecting a good company that can help you refocus on driving training is important. There are many to choose from. The course was very informative and our instructor, Rosemary was very good. She made our class feel at ease and used used her experience to help explain the valuable lessons we can take foward. I would highly recommend taking this class, and see if you can get Rosemary as your instructor. Mike

My actual instructor was extremely considerate and helpful through this difficult situation however my evaluator was very unprofessional showing signs of aggression towards me and fishing for answers I did not have. I felt immense discomfort and a sense of being attacked during the evaluation. No to mention she was training someone to do evaluations and this is the example she set. Left a complaint with one of the supervisors here and hope it's taken seriously.

This should really be a - 5 very rude people totally unprofessional no consideration that your livelihood is in their hands and the state has become a nanny state with their counseling and their schools this is a complete overreach of government this facility I should be shut down I would highly recommend not using them as a driving school they don't need any more money

Try to get in Mr. Daly's group. Great instructor. Positive environment. Course sucks, but he has a great way of helping everyone through it!

Because of their monopoly in Pinellas County with the courts. This will explain the rude arrogant customer service you can expect. Often your driving priviledge is held hostage by these unethical extortionists. Disguised as a non profit the fees charged are astronomical. I calculated for example a 2 day DUI course with 37 students brought in a gross of nearly $10,000.00 with over head costs of 1 instructor clown.

Maybe 150 xerox copies.and of course the building.which should be mortgage free based upon its age and deteriorating condition. Upon completion of your DUI class will come an evaluation. I am not sure why it is called this because it takes only 4 minutes for Tammy to conclude you have drug and alchoal issues that require further counseling. Fully 99.9 percent "evaluated" need further counsling.

This is because they recieve referral fees and can extort you out of more money. You must use their approved list of counslers. Your paying for it so being prudent I did some research only to discover without exception everyone on their list fails miserably with poor ratings and reviews. Multiple reviewers complained of a joke of treatment and being required to take never ending group classes.

Expect to pay another 1000.00 to 1500.00 for this part. You can not complain to anyone. Brandy Howard the director will never your call. When you go to their building after an exhaustive wait finally her assistant may come out and stand defiantly in front of you hands on her hips and give you her spiel.she obviously has given 100x before. Dont expect real answers to real questions.

Just short snippy answers before she sucks in her teeth and says. Were done now.leave before I call the police. Wow.just wow. I was nothing short of professional.but I guess she did not like my questions. I have gone and independently taken both a urine and blood test which proves the only thing in my system pure. As I have had no need to take so much as an asprin in 6 mo.

As well as the testimony of my family and friends that I rarely consume beer or wine and like never hard liquor. I have had to spend more money on attorney fees and have an appointment with the Judge next week. Clearly you can see this place for what it is.