“My water avoidant 6 yo has had 2 fantastic teachers so far, 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.”
“Description states pools which are used are ‘uncrowded’ - this wasn’t the case, the pool was very busy, with seats surrounding it so people are able to sit and watch. Not a comfortable setting for someone who is trying to learn to swim and nervous in the water.”
“Pool was at Hilton hotel so facilities was very nice however as I am hydrophobic I was expecting lesson with some supports like discs to give me some water confidence. The instructor said they do not generally recommend this and I was not told any particular helpful tactics to overcome my phobia. I think the idea of not using supports scared me . The high cost of lesson did not justify the input given and to be fair for a person like me who needs may be so many lessons I didn't feel any difference in the teaching provided here /by another instructor in another pool”
“I was very hopeful when I booked my child onto the 3 month swimming option with a promise that my child would be swimming by the end of it.
It's very very expensive but I was willing to invest if it was to get my child swimming. No such luck. Every week I watched while my child was taught basically nothing. Stuff that I could do myself aty local baths. Very disappointed, hundreds of pounds worse off and back to square one.”
“So sorry but very very expensive for a difficult and unstructured end result , booking was hard work and the environment is not conducive to the expense - nothing private or exclusive about it”
“First starter lesson was very good. Teacher was great with the kids. The after service and organisation is very poor for swimming lessons that come at a high premium.”
“Communication very poor except for the initial phone call. Didn't hear anything from the coach prior to the lesson and attempts to get answers to questions were met with automated responses. I cancelled the lesson and my money was refunded promptly.”
“Although I wrote a previous 5* review (starting with “I started swimming lessons aged 24...”) I thought I should add the negatives now that my lessons are nearly over. This is in no means discouraging people from the tutors as they are still good. Just the business lack of communication can be frustrating sometimes, as they will contact you beforehand to ensure you sign up, but then one lesson got cancelled 45 minutes before the lesson (due to venue issues). Then when I missed a lesson due to unforeseen circumstances, and informed them the night before it was still charged (£45! Per 30 minutes), and didn’t receive response to my message or voicemail. This can be frustrating especially considering the amount you pay for them. A few lessons were also cut short by around 5 minutes or so 😁, saying that’s all we have time for. But it made up that I stayed in the pool and practiced on my own for a bit. If the mishap with the lesson which I wanted to cancel didn’t occur I probably would’ve recommended SwimNow to 2-3 other family members, but this makes me not want to anymore. So gained £45 but lost out on repeat loyal customer and possibly 2-4 new ones! Customer experience is key. Still I’m
Happy I took the lessons and learnt to swim and hope this is taken on board as constructive feedback.”
“Had 6 lessons. Made very little progress. I feel in time I could however I need 121 lessons and the high price and possible high amount of lessons I need have meant I have had to give up on my last hope of learning to swim.”
Good Afternoon.
Thank you for your helpful feedback. Could you expand on where you think we can improve?
We are constantly working on the psychology of swimming to try and tackle water phobia. Are their any specific points of feedback to help us improve our service?
A 2 star service is certainly not what we are looking to offer, if we can correct this by working on the issues somehow, please tell us.
Kind Regards, Alistair Mills, Swim Now
“What started out great for my son as a very underconfident water person, it soon went down hill for me as there is just too much going on in one lesson for my liking, the aim I was hoping for by the end of this 12 weeks was that he would be able to swim slightly especially for the cost of the sessions. Instead he is a crying mess after each lesson as I personally think he’s trying to teach him too many techniques in one class! Can’t wait for the 12 weeks to be over as I know dread taking him.”
Hi Vicky,
I'm sorry to hear that your son didnt respond well to our lessons. Peter is a fantastic teacher and is usually able to get the best from most pupils.
For a small percentage of children the 1-1 lesson environment can be a bit daunting, we'll keep trying to get the best out of each lesson.
Best wishes, Alistair Mills, Owner, Swim Now
“Feel should reconsider the use of DW Fitness gym - clientele looking for fights in the changing rooms, facilities terrible (pool floor felt like it had bubbles in it, length of pool too short).
In all honesty, didn’t feel like the teacher was as prepared for someone who has a decent base level of swimming.
Left with a bad taste after spending £50 for an assessment.”
Adam,
We cant find any details of you on our system.
We don't offer lessons at any DW fitness gyms. (never have done)
Our assessment lessons are £30 (not £50)
We can only assume a mix up with companys.
