“I’m afraid I have had a very poor experience with SwimNow UK . The lessons for my grandson, at Killerby Hall, near Scarborough, timed to coincide with his visit to us were cancelled at short notice and I haven’t had the £330 reimbursed even though I’ve telephoned and emailed the company. Be very wary.”
“Rubbish. After 3 lessons no teacher available telling us they are looking for teacher. They are not reliable. In their website stated that they have places for lessons but it is lie.”
“I initially signed up for a silver plan worth £419 per month after my positive taster session. During my sign up, i felt rushed and felt i made an impulsive decision with the sign up. I then called Donya, and advised that i would like to downgrade to a bronze plan which would have been a great choice due to my circumstances and also will be financially better. She then said to me how can someones circumstances change in 24 hours. I said it can. She didnt belive me when i tried explaining my reasons. I got very emotional and she must have felt bad. She then downgraded me to a bronze backage. However, i felt like the service i got from Donya was disgusting. I sent an email off to cancel the whole thing. Wouldnt recommend then at all. Dosgusting service and no compassion at all from the agents.”
“Avoid this company. I lost almost £500 on swim lessons and had a terrible experience. To be fair, the trainer was okay, but the manager was awful to deal with — unhelpful, unprofessional, and completely unsympathetic.
The whole situation was handled very badly, and I feel seriously misled and let down. I would not recommend this company to anyone. Please be careful before spending your money here.”
“Don't use this company. I booked a lesson which they cancelled and offered to refund. It's now a month later, I've chased them twice and I'm still waiting for the money to be returned. Rip off merchants.”
“Swim Now cancelled 6 lessons in four months! At almost £50 a lesson, it was too much to lose so I asked for a refund. Swim Now refused to refund me and I was told I would be given an hours lesson to make up for the missed lessons. However an hour proved too long for my daughter and she gave up after 45 mins. I was then told I would have to gift my remaining lessons to a friend!!! Also the communication between Amy and the instructors is non existent…. The poor instructor didn’t even know about the “hours lesson”.
I would avoid this company at all costs, at least the HALIFAX BRANCH as Amy will pester you to get you signed up and then ignore you when she owes you money.”
“I feel very scammed by this company. I made an enquiry about swimming lessons for my twins, and was bombarded with texts and calls from several different members. When I spoke to one (L, let's call him), he was very slippery about packages and costs but I said I needed a price to decide whether to book and managed to pin him to £45 for a taster lesson for the twins and £50/lesson for them for 6 lessons going forward. He even emphasised that was their price for 2 to 1 lessons. He wouldn't put anything in writing though, despite me asking over text and on the phone to have a written quote. I told him that was the top of our budget so I would consider it with my partner.
We decided to go ahead and then there was more dodgy scam-feeling vibes as I struggled to get hold of yet another staff member to book. I went over prices again with her and made the booking - she only let me book the taster and said someone would be in touch for me to book the real lessons after the taster. This should have rung alarm bells.
The lesson was really well taught, the teacher was amazing, and unfortunately I might have been a bit too effusive with my praise because the next thing I knew the 'area manager' had called me with a whole new set of prices, quoting £60 instead of £50 a lesson. He was absolutely insistent that this was their prices and kept dodging my questions when I asked if they had changed since I spoke to his colleague. He just kept repeating that these were their prices. I feel as if luring me in with the taster and the verbal quote and then whacking up the prices when you really book is part of their MO. It leaves a really nasty taste in the mouth. I would like my children to work with the brilliant teacher they contracted but I feel very scammed by the whole thing. Approach with caution.”
“I made an inquiry with swimnow about swimming lessons. I did not find the Customer Service person helpful at all. She said for 30 minute lessons per week for a whole month it cost £199.00 and them if wanted 1 hour per week it would cost £370.00 and said there was nothing in my local area for lessons.”
“SwimNow booked on a taster session at a pool which was known to be closed at the time they did the booking and remains closed. I have requested a refund but Swim Now have not responded to either my email, voicemail or WhatsApp. Very disappointing.”
“They are scam. V bad experience with Swim Now. They were calling me every time from different numners. I paid 40£ for the trial class. But I got headache and fever. That's why couldn't join. I was trying to call them on their numbers and I sent them email to change the day and to reschedule my session but nobody attended my call and I didn't get any response from them. The next morning they were calling me again for reserving the trial session. I asked them to book me for a trial class as I paid and couldn't join but they didn't book neither they refund my money. But they were saying me to book another session and to pay again 40 pounds for it. Its really disgusting and ridiculous. They are scammers.”
“Today the 4th January was a first trial lesson of 30 mins for £40.00. We prepared him as he is always excited to play in the water, unfortunately before half we called Sue and Liz for an address that doesn't show on the receipt and we got lost. We called both of them and asked for the refund but Sue said it's non refundable. This was a XMASS gift for my grandson but 😭 lost it while other activities were signed for him said if unable to make it it will be refunded. I wish them all the best and a happy future. We have signed him with another place.”
“I had a disappointing experience with SwimNow. My baby wasn’t ready for the lessons, and despite multiple attempts, they didn’t happen. When I tried to contact the office to request a refund for unused prepaid lessons, no one responded. Ultimately, they refused to refund, which feels unfair given the circumstances. Poor communication and lack of flexibility made this a frustrating experience. I wouldn’t recommend them for parents needing understanding and adaptability.”
“Very forthcoming to book me in but ghosted me for months. I’ve requested for a refund multiple times and they have not processed it - £40 is a lot of money to not return to a customer you did not serve. Please do not give these folks your time and money.”
“My water avoidant 6 yo has made some progress, but the management change has been shocking in terms of losing flexibility. We have been going to Liverpool on a weekend day but it's still a 40 min journey, so not something that could be made up on a school day.
- The 1 week notice for absences is very much unfair as, you know, kids don't get sick with 1 week notice. Then you lose £50.
- We tend to go away for holidays and half terms to visit family abroad. Before the management change we could accumulate 4/5 planned absences and then freeze 1 month payment because, as I said above, it's hard to make up lessons on other days.
Current manager refused to restore this possibility for us so, well, I cancelled.
A little bit more flexibility would go a long way in terms of retaining customers.”
“I purchased a swimming lesson package for my son at Brighton, with 6 remaining sessions. However, I am considering discontinuing the lessons due to poor communication and service. Throughout the course, there have been issues such as teacher changes without notification, unexpected teacher absences, frequent pool closures, and scheduling discrepancies. This lack of consistency is disrupting our planned activities and affecting the overall experience. I had hoped for a more organized and professionally managed program, possibly from a school with its own swimming facilities. I have tried to address these concerns by requesting to reschedule sessions to align with our original agreement, but have not received a satisfactory response. This level of service is disappointing and falls short of expectations.”
“Really poor service from one of the "Leadership team". After initial taster session, I tried to book in for my 2 kids in the Newcastle area but was met by a very rude/condescending member of the Sheffield (not sure why the different city) "Leadership team". Intermittent communication and awful attitude. AVOID”
“Been waiting months for a female instructor who is off sick in Sheffield. Spoke to Alistair the owner who rang me last week and offered me a taster lesson for free due to the long wait and inconvenience. I agreed to travel out of the area for the free taster lesson which was promised to me last week, with the intention to book with swimnow going forward, for him to now turn around and say he cannot offer it for free as he was under the impression I had already paid? How is this offering a free taster lesson? Literally gone back on his word and changed his mind, he was FULLY AWARE of my whole situation and how I had not signed up yet. Literally been waiting around for months. Really unfair and dishonest. This is from the owner himself. Disgusting.
This is the first negative review I have written 👎🏽”
