Great teachers!
Kathrin has been an amazing teacher for the last year... Very friendly and engaging with the children and able to lead the lesson so that all the children get to improve and have a good time.
4.2
Great
879 reviews
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💬Hasn't replied to negative reviews
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Review summary
Water Babies receives consistently positive reviews. Customers particularly appreciate professional and service, though some mention concerns about customer service and expensive.
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Based on reviews, created with AISee what reviewers are saying
Excellent introduction to water no matter how young your baby
The swim instructors are fantastic, we had 2 in our time with water babies. From our first lesson when my little one was 6 weeks old to my last session when she was 8 months old. They were kind, helpful & most of all kept us safe in the water whilst having fun and bonding with our babies. It definitely helped my confidence & my little one has always loved the water & isn't scared at all. The only reason for 1 star short of 5 was the venue, because it is a private school it wasn't catered for the usual public swimming. So the changing facilities weren't set up with cubicles, showers, changing tables for babies etc. However, it was very local for us, so we were happy to compromise on this. We could have had lessons further afield with a more formal changing facility but this wasn't practical for us to travel.
Toria the waterbabies instructor at…
Toria the waterbabies instructor at jethen house is absolutely amazing!! She goes above and beyond to make parents and children feel comfortable, supported and heard. Nothing is too much trouble and any concerns you have regarding swimming with your little one is always taken into consideration and the support you didnt even know you needed is alway's given to make you feel confident and ready to swim with you baby. You can really tell the passion she has for waterbabies not only as an instructor but also as a parent who has been through it twice. Im so so glad I chose waterbabies and im so so glad we were put into Torias class.
Progressive and fun
Lessons are progressive and so much fun for me and my daughter. We have been attending since she was 12 weeks old and have no intentions to stop. The confidence gained in just 14 weeks is incredible. Lessons do tend to run late meaning we start later than expected, and this obviously will happen when dealing with children! but I have noticed that our session is occasionally cut five minutes short which is disappointing considering each session is over £20 for half hour.
Company details
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Contact info
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Website
www.waterbabies.co.uk
All reviews
879 total • Write a review
Showing 741 - 750 of 875 reviews
EB
Very bad experience with Water Babies
My son started his Water Babies lessons when he was two months old; we then stopped when he was 9 months and had to take a break after a very inexperienced WB’s teacher told my husband to perform an underwater swim with my son without preparing him for it - from that moment on my son was terrified and scared to go swimming again! When he turned 1.5 we decided to give it another go and try these lessons again but first we went abroad to visit some family and I took my son to very similar to WBs toddler swimming classes - he absolutely loved them, lover the trainer and it was a hard work trying to get him out of the pool! :) so when we returned I was ready to renew our WBs membership who reassured me my son will be joining a new group with other toddlers who didn’t have much experience and will learn swimming skills from scratch. We went to one class and my son didn’t enjoy it, he was terrified again and the teacher did nothing to help him settle into water OR explain to me how to do it. The next class was cancelled (a very normal and common scenario with Water Babies, their classes get cancelled all the time and they send you a text the last minute (sometimes a couple of hours before the class) when you already planned your day with your baby!!) anyway, after the second class got cancelled we received an email that the WBs are closing for a month (something they forgot to mention when I asked to renew our membership…) A month later, we were finally able to join a swimming lesson but found out that 80% of the class were toddlers who have been attending WBs lessons for ages. The teacher was asking them to perform quite advanced skills (for toddler level), and didn’t bother to demonstrate for us or help me explain them to my son. The class was the worst experience I’ve had and I couldn’t wait for it to finish. The teacher paid no attention to us whatsoever… Another really unpleasant thing about WBs is that water in their pools is always cold and pools themselves are often dirty and hygiene is often missing as they tend to rent space in primary schools over weekends or other areas. To cut long story short, when I contacted WBs and told them I would like to cancel my membership they didn’t care or react to ask about the reasons behind my decision. They sent me an email acknowledging cancellation and then told me they would charge me £76 on the same day for the next month’s lessons due to notice period. When I asked about at least a partial refund and told them about my very poor experience, they refused and told me they would encourage me to continue lessons and, as a gesture, they would offer me a lower fee if I continue into the next two months. I found this approach an example of really poor customer service as they did nothing to correct their mistakes and, instead, tried pushing me to continue to pay for their really bad quality service!! I would never recommend WBs to anyone - there are plenty baby swimming pools out there and many gyms offer group and 1-1 lessons for toddlers. So please choose wisely!
Date of experience: October 7, 2023
V
Vee
US
Golden Lane Campus – Steer Clear (Great Teacher, Shame About the Site)
Took my baby to lessons at the Golden Lane Campus, I had to cancel due to how rude and awful the receptionists were. ("This is a primary school!!!" is their favourite catchphrase.) Yes it's a primary school and not set up for baby swimming lessons and it's clear they resented us coming in, they were very snippy and unhelpful. One blonde woman practically barked at people who forgot to sign in. The final straw was when I threw a wet nappy in the bin in reception (there are none in the changing rooms) and the same receptionist snapped at me for doing so (again, "This is a primary school!") and demanded I take it out. There are no nappy bins, the changing rooms are dirty and lockers don't work so you have to just hope your valuables don't get stolen. They don't allow spectators either, so grandparents/second parents can't come along. When I complained to the director, she didn't seem that fussed or eager to speak to the people in question. You're just made to feel on a conveyor belt, this clearly is a money spinner and they're not bothered by the customer experience. Not what you want when trying to spend quality time with your baby. I've given this two stars as the actual swimming lessons and teacher were great, but that doesn't make up for the lack of facilities and unpleasant attitude from the staff elsewhere on the site.
Date of experience: October 6, 2023
F
FM
US
Sunbury Nuffield
Sunbury Nuffield - The most horrible instructor with no people skills - she was incredibly rude to me and to my 2 year old. It felt like she just hated her job. She never asked us our names/introduced herself either which is such poor practice given you need to gain the child’s/parents trust. Went to 2 lessons as I tried to give benefit of the doubt after the first one, but the second was much worse I was horrified at her behaviour towards us - cancelled my contract immediately after the second lesson. There are also way too many kids in the class for his age group. No real lesson structure, nothing was explained it was all over the place and honestly both confusing and exhausting. My son was excelling at his previous lessons sadly his instructor moved away but he loves being in the water and I feel very disappointed.
Date of experience: October 3, 2023
N
Nicola
US
Enfield waverly waterbabies
I was so excited to do swimming with my baby at this place but she really didn’t enjoy it and it’s been a bit of a nightmare actually. Despite being at a school the changing room is dirty and not baby friendly at all. They have some hospital beds at the side for the kids that go there, but other than those, which I wouldn’t want to use anyway to be honest, the sides are so high and it didn’t feel safe at all changing my little one on them who is squirmy and kept rolling all over the place. So trying to organise myself and keep her safe whilst doing so was very difficult and anxiety inducing and I don’t think this changing area is good with that in mind. The lesson itself is extortionate 20 pound for essentially holding your baby in the water for under 30 mins… but they really catch you out on the terms and conditions… if you set up a direct debit you are actually setting up a payment authority agreement and means they can collect the payment even if you cancel the direct debit. I cancelled these lessons as I have only been to half of what I paid and as most importantly down to this unhygienic pool area, my baby caught a terrible virus from here to the point I had to attend a/e. I decided she isn't ready for swimming and cancelled the lessons only to find they took payment for another month after this one. I can understand no refunds for the whole term just gone, but the policy on taking for another month pay is unfair and ridiculous. Babys are unpredictable and this inflexibility coupled with this extremely extortionist attitude to extracting payment from parents is absolutely awful.
Date of experience: October 3, 2023
EL
Follow up from last review
I already left a review (1 star, scroll down) and was told to email complaints@waterbabies so that we can "resolve the issue". I contacted them as instructed but my email was forwarded to the same defensive angry manager as before. What was the point of that? Do you feel like you've resolved the issue just because you replied to my review? I asked to have my issue raised to a higher authority but that fell on deaf ears. I'd love a refund please. Currently still paying for lessons I can't attend until end of October.
Date of experience: October 2, 2023
RF
Won’t put any information in writing - bit of a red flag
My review pertains purely to the initial enquiry process. It’s not been great for me - no clear info on fees or booking process on their website, lots of phone calls, but very little by the way of info in regard to my questions. Sent an enquiry (through the page connected to our local pool/lessons) but for some reason it went to South Manchester(?) according to the person that responded. They called me the next day and left a voicemail & email with some generic info. I couldn’t take the call as my 6 month old was asleep & we contact nap. I went back to them via email with some questions. I was told that because I’d contacted the wrong team my enquiry would be forwarded to our local franchise and that they would come back to me. That was 2 days ago. I’ve just had another call from a Manchester number saying they were following up my original enquiry (baby is sleeping again!) but I’ve still had no information in writing on specific cost or in regard to how the booking process works. I did ask for this so I could review it together with my husband - rather than trying to juggle a baby with jotting things down over a phonecall. Best case scenario it was the correct franchise following up with me but not via the method I’d asked for, worst case scenario it was the same person following up as initially and they hadn’t even checked before calling. Find the reluctance to put anything in writing a bit of a red flag really and don’t feel enthused after seeing these other reviews! We contacted Puddle Ducks around the same time and they came back to us almost right away. I was going to wait for Water Babies response but think we’ll commit to Puddle Ducks after seeing these. Might be better suited to parents with older babies that are free to chat on the phone, especially where Dad isn’t interested in decision making process! Not the case with us.
Date of experience: September 22, 2023
LH
Absolutely disgusting company!!
Absolutely disgusting company!! Wow where do I even start with this. When I wanted to book the lessons they rang me every single day to book it without fail. Now i’m wanting to cancel there no where to be seen! I couldn’t turn up to one lesson so I tried to ring to say I wasn’t coming because I was promised if I did I could extend it for a week and then the lady at the pool said that wasn’t possible! I rang several times, no answer so i left multiple voicemails expressing how i wanted to cancel and for them to call me back, to which I got no call so I rang up again myself, again no answer! Then a week later I finally receive a phone call to which the lady said I owed them money even though how?? Funny how they can ring me about that. I questioned about how I owed them money and all the lady on the phone said to me was ‘I’ll call you back tomorrow because your account has a few bits I don’t understand and we’ll talk about cancelling then’ and i never got a phone call back so i rang again a few days later and shock no one answered so I left another voicemail and i’m still waiting on a callback now😂😂 it’s been 2 weeks! The lessons was repetitive, all we did was swim about with them no learning skills, the pools heating system was broken so all us mums in the pool was shivering and babies had to wear full body suits! Even the instructor said it was unacceptable but what can she do🤷🏼♀️ One lady even refused to come in because of it. They express they have a ‘hydro pool’ for babies but it was almost like swimming in the sea! it was freezing. They took another £70 for the lessons, i don’t know how many more times I can say I don’t want their lessons then they had the cheek to say they can’t get ahold of me!! Absolutely disgusting. If you want your pockets rinsed I couldn’t recommend a company better for the job😂😂
Date of experience: September 21, 2023
AB
Changed lesson time, won't refund the months payment.
Changed our lesson time which made it no longer convenient for us. Failed to provide an alternative suitable lesson time. Refused to refund the lessons that we were unable to make due to their changes. Even refused to return the lesson credit for the future lessons that will also be missed. There wasn't much notice re the change of time.
Date of experience: September 20, 2023
GR
Terrible
it was an absolute shambles. They’d send us to the wrong pools, to the wrong times to the wrong classes. He was one or two at the time and we’d be sent to classes of much older kid’s learning to do the back crawl and then when we raised it they’d just say “oh he will be okay” or the class will have finished or be no classes that day. Some of the swimming pools didn’t have adequate security, busted lockers. No locks or doors on changing rooms so I’d have hoped that’s improved. don’t believe we were ever reimbursed for all their mistakes or shoddiness we just cancelled.
Date of experience: September 20, 2023
K
Kirk
US
Avoid, this company is a joke and should be avoided
Update - since writing this review, Waterbabies have replied and asked that I contact their complaints department via the email supplied. I have done this, and with numerous emails sent, and I am still waiting for a reply. Absolutely shocking. Do not use this company, they are an absolute joke. I signed my child up for Waterbabies back in April 2023, and our start date being the 24th June. For the first couple of lessons, things felt good, however I started to notice all the lessons weren't lessons, just splashing around and 'filler'. . So I decided to give them a chance and see it out, have the remaining 'lessons' that were initally purchased and then call up and cancel. Things didn't improve, continuous 'filler', and nothing that was advisertised 'life preserving skills', etc.I'm not paying £19 for 30 minutes a week, that's crazy, especially after it is nothing like how it was advertised. When I came to cancel, I was hit with the news that I had a pending transaction of £90 for Septembers 'lessons', that is non refundable even if I don't want to continue attending and will not use the service. Not only this, but I will also be hit with a £54 charge in October for that month's 'lessons'. Both charges are non refundable, regardless of if I agree with the service provided, or if I attend or not. This information is hidden in there Ts and Cs. No communication was made (verbally or via email) when I signed up, just included in a document. I've been reading reviews left by other parents and there are so many that have had a similar experience, it is disgusting. Don't get me wrong, in future I will study Ts and Cs after this, but for no communication to be made outlining this, for such a crazy price for what you get, is horrendous. In conclusion, what an absolute joke, avoid this company and anything they provide. Take your child to your local swimming pool. You and your child will again more from that and save an considerable amount of money. Avoid, Avoid, Avoid.
Date of experience: September 16, 2023
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