“Very poor communication, receive interesting email 6/8 re adult crash course lessons (very interesting in my own situation) used the "drop message" option to request more info the same day.
7/8 get an automated email back directing to website (that makes no mention of the course) and asks to leave a number for a call if questions not answered. Well, definitely not answered so left details, a request to leave message if no answer as not always possible to answer call...and....no calls after 7 days.
Don't get me wrong, I wasn't expecting a call the next day - but for what suggests to be a busy promo - no call Mon-Fri, directing to website that has no details up - really poor. This may actually be the 2nd time I've tried to get info/book with these folks (unsure re situ the first time) but after this - they obviously don't need the money- unsubscribed and going elsewhere”
“You have to pay a not un-significant fee of £35 for a 'taster' session. They took this in advance and I then had to wait for over 4 weeks to be scheduled into a session by which stage I had already given up and scheduled another instructor elsewhere. I had to cancel the taster session at late notice. I was then offered another session with no mention of another charge, only to be told a few days before the session that I would have to pay another £35. I would have no issue paying the fee if this had if been explained when the session was offered. Rather than apologising for the lack of transparency, your customer service rep, Gareth Mills, got incredibly defensive on the call and then hung up on me. Terrible service all round!”
“Shocking!!!!! , pool used not fit for purpose asked for a refund but they refused, didn't even bother going to any of the other lessons I'd already paid for”
“Absolutely shocking!!!
Charged £270 for what I was told was 6 sessions 5pm-6pm twice a week, I can swim but wanted to learn the front crawl technique, arrived at my first lesson to discover I was only getting half hour lessons totalling 3 hours, the lesson took place in a pool about 10metres long 3 strokes and I was at other side, can't refund me and I won't be waisting my time going to the other 5 sessions. CRIMINAL”
“Despite emailing a few times and calling on phone, no one got back to us and we have not taken any lessons yet. However we have received this survey to rate our lessons! Disappointing!!”
“If you want consistency you won’t get it. Bad communication and customer service. My instructor was hard to get ahold of. I had 1 lesson in a month while repeatedly trying to book lessons. Asked for my money back, waited 5 working days. When I enquired about the refund I was told that they forgot to do it. So I have to wait another week. Would not recommend. I should not have to chase someone who is providing a service.”
“The lesson did not happen. I was told that they would contact me with a new date. It has been more than three weeks, I have not heard back from them. I will have to get my money back.”
“After waiting for months for a taster class that I had to pay for…I still have managed to get my daughter onto a set class…instead get offered on off classes where someone as cancelled.. how is a child meant to learn if no consistency.”
“I am fed up with being told you must learn to swim. It may save your life it's good exercise. I hate water we are land creatures
I wont drown as I dont go near water. I can exercise just as well on land. It costs too much tobe able to practise on a regular basis
That's in addition to the cost of lessons.
I will firmly stay on the side of the pool drinking my cold beer. I'm nearly 70 and have managed this long without swimming no reason to change.”
“Good swimming instructor.but poor management team.You are 'punished'for circumstances that you cannot control which i find very inconsiderate to women and the health professionals.”
“If you are a lady and chose to take lessons with swim now.think again before you pay for expensive swimming lessons.They expect 24hour notice if you intend to miss a payed lesson which is understandable,but will not consider natural occurrences such as having your monthly periods or death which may occur in your line of duty.
This happened to me and they still counted this as lessons missed despite me trying to reason with them.
I was told that i should have put on a tampon!”
“I booked an assessment session for my two children, a 3 and 8 year old. I had been very clear from the beginning that both my children had zero swimming experience and had never been in a pool. Also my eldest was afraid of the whole swimming idea. Hence why I wanted to book these one to one lessons. However, when we turned up to Sports Direct (Manchester) for my children’s swimming lesson it was a completely different story. The pool was 2.2m deep and the instructor advised she wasn’t going to get into the pool with them due to an injury. My children introduced themselves and sat down by the pool. My 3 year old got arm bands and my 8 year old didn’t. She then said she was going to get them in the pool, she picked my 3 year old and dropped him in. He obviously didn’t know what was happening and went head first, panicked and was flapping around. However, he was able to push himself towards the edge and climb out. My 8 year old saw this and refused to go in, it completely put her off. I asked the instructor if she would at least hold my little boys hand and try again, which she did but my little boy just didn’t like it and pulled himself out of the pool. With my little girl refusing to go in, we decided to leave. So the session only lasted 10 minutes and not only did those 10 minutes cost £40, I paid to have my children hated the idea of swimming even more. I’ve spoken to various people, friends and colleagues and they’ve all said that you don’t just drop a 3 year old in to do his own thing, that’s not professional. I just think it comes down to the instructor that you get as I chose Swimnow because of the good reviews, unfortunately not for everyone.”
Dear RAkhtar,
I'm very sorry to hear about your experience with us, this is certainly not the type of service we are looking to provide.
We would be more than happy to refund your payment in full, or give you a free assessment with a different teacher who could try another approach.
Unfortunately the issues you experienced were simply a result of bad timing, our teacher had an operation that week and was teaching from the side of the pool, instead of in the water (for one week only)
We made the decision to try and keep the lessons on to build continuity rather than cancel. I can see how in this instance it might have been a better idea to put your lesson back to the following week. That's my fault, I apologise.
Please feel free to come back to us if you'd like to try one of our other options.
Kind Regards, Alistair Mills, Owner, Swim Now Uk
Im sorry you feel our service warranted a 1 star review.
We make it very clear at the start, you need to attend regular lessons to learn to swim without missing/skipping appointments and cancelling at short notice.
We offer a 14 day moneyback guarantee which is clearly stated in our terms and conditions, so if you're not happy from the outset we offer a refund.
Our teachers are very committed and we are more than happy to complete your remaining lessons.
Kind Regards,
Alistair Mills
Swim Now
