Better - Kensington Leisure Centre Reviews 

I have been taking my daughter to children swimming lessons EVERY SATURDAY at Kensington Leisure Centre since beginning of Aug 21 (over 2 years). I always found the classes a total and utter chaos. This centre never had a stable working force, teachers constantly leaving and not following the swimming plan, children not assessed often enough and when they are assessed, often their performance is not even recorded on the system so what they claim that parents can track the progress online is not true. When my daughter started on the development level, in 5 months only had one assessment the day she started, during that time she was never assessed on survival skill (which in theory is part of the swimming plan but they do not follow it) and even today, that she is 7 months on the SAME level, she has not been assessed yet. I have, of course asked about this with one of the teachers and her answer was that there is no staff and she did not even give a timeline about when she will do it. I have met numerous parents during these years that took their children there and they all ended up leaving fed up and frustrated because of the lack of progress their children make. I have also complaint to Customer Services about this and the reply of the agent Marco was, to cut it short, call my child stupid never mind that every weekend there is a different teacher, never mind as new teachers come every weekend they just teach whatever is easier for them without following the plan (proof of that is that after 7 months my daughter has not been assessed in Survival skills yet), never mind that children are not assessed often enough, never mind that assessments are not recorded etc etc but according to him, it is my fault as a customer. He mentioned that it is not about the time a child spends on a level so for him, a child staying on the same level 7 months and not been assessed in all the skills in the plan is normal of course, as long as we carrying on paying my daughter should be attending children swimming lessons until she reaches pension age. After 5 months, on 16/9/23 one of her teachers assessed my child and told me that my child only needed 2 more lessons however, teacher left that day as usual and she did not record the performance so when she was assessed by another teacher 1 month later ( that never taught my daughter before) said that she needed two more months of classes, not 2 weeks. Everyone sensible will agree that there is a big difference between saying that someone needs 2 lessons and another teacher says that she needs 8 lessons ( 2 months). One would accept a minimal difference but not such a big difference. In the end, like many other parents we met, we are leaving fed up and frustrated. I have to say that by the time my daughter will leave she will have been 8 months in the same level and sadly, she will leave without the badge of completion of that level but not because she is stupid as Marco called her but because the place is a mess and the lessons are a real and true scam. Their aim is not that children make progress but to scam parents keeping them paying for an enormous amount of lessons that they would not need somewhere else where there is a structure and a stable workforce. Just to proof that, the place is not just a chaos on the swimming pool, is also in the customer service, I was told I was going to receive a refund for some lessons paid in advance as of today, they still have not even honoured that and they said they will do it within 14 days that have already gone past so no matter which department you go within the organization none of them work to a decent standard. If you want to waste your time and money then this is the place otherwise, find somewhere else for your child to learn to swim.
Update. Hi Charmaine. Thank you for your reply, however, I cannot see any form attached. I suggest you send it to me by email now that you have it. I tried to complete the refund form this morning if that is the form you are referring to but it was not working, when I clicked on next button it would not move and I informed of this to Customer services. I already mentioned about the refund amount on my email on 15/11/23 so I hope they are working on it. Thanks. Hi They are fully aware of the refund as it was mentioned in my complaint email and I emailed them today. I don't have a name as they "hide" behind a "admnistration assistant" email. I sent the email to them 15/11/23 giving them 7 days to process the refund. If they don't do it by then I will take the matter further so they are aware of what I want and how they have failed to us. Thanks

enjoying all activities, awesome staff and trainers

Fantastic had a great meeting and look around the gym still have a few medical issues but will wait for my results then I’ll start my workouts

Clean, scheduling manages crowds

I've attended Better for the past 8 years and this time I'm finding the classrooms very dirty (you can easily find hair and dirt on the floor) and so the material is dusty. I wonder if you could please take care of this as it never happened before.

Receptionist was very kind cooperative
The place is quite attractive
I like the gym hall
And the fitness classes included

affordable gym very clean and tye staff are kind

Initially the App helped for booking classes but this week I’ve experienced numerous problems as I eventually had to go into the centre for help and they advised me to delete app & re download again but by then the classes I wanted were full on a particular day

Debbie was excellent i have yet to go to kensington new pools for a session but im hoping to this week.

The centre is really nice modern and clean. Good changing facilities. Nice pool and gym. Good decor and finish. Friendly helpful staff.

The pool at Kensington Leisure Centre is getting dirtier and dirtier, with large yellow patches all over the bottom if the pool. I was informed by a member of staff that the pool cleaning machine is broken and there is no replacement being used, nor are they making any attempt to clean the pool by hand. Therefore the pool is simply left to fester, getting ever dirtier, and exposing all paying customers and local residents to dangerous levels of chloramines and DBPs as they swim which is not only a health and safety hazard, but a sign of the lack of care and respect that management of Better appear to have for the local people whose council owned facilities they are contracted to manage. There is a general feeling that the management simply do not care. Solution: take back the running of these facilities into direct council care so that they can be locally accountable.
There is also a cost-cutting policy to remove one of the two lifeguards if there are less than 10 swimmers, closing half of the pool, meaning that there is never a moment when there is plenty of space to swim.
I find the people who work there to be all very friendly and nice, just bad management.

Friendly staff, great pool for training.