Lee Valley Riding Centre — Attraction in London

Really bad, unfriendly and unprofessional!

We bought a weekend have a go lesson for our niece on her birthday treat, then we wished we hadn’t.

The staff were very rude and unhelpful. When I called on the phone to book the lesson the lady on the phone ( gave me her name as Sue) was eager to get me off the phone ,seemed she had something more important to do and kept trying to redirect me to the website to book and said they did not confirm days/dates over the phone for customers.

I then explained that according to the information provided on the voucher I had purchased we should be able to book over the phone or the website. In the end I just booked it online for Sunday the 20th of May 2018 at 3:45 pm.

We got there on the Sunday with plenty of time to spare, the booking was for 3:45 were there at 3:15 , when we approached the lady at the desk we were advised to come back 5 mins before for boots and a hat.

We did exactly this but were left waiting for over 5 mins and everyone had already gone in. One member of staff Sue could see we were waiting and that the lesson was about to start but avoided eye contact, she had just been giving another customer general information for quite some time and was in no rush to help us or direct us towards someone that could, knowing that we were now getting late. We finally managed to find someone who helped with the hat and boots.

Once in the arena again there was nobody giving instructions and we were being completely ignored. My wife then asked the instructor very politely if our niece should walk towards the group, to which she literally bit my wife’s head off in-front of all our children and other parents. Her words were ‘NO SHE CAN STAND OVER THERE’

Stunned by her manner and tone we ignored it for the sake of the children and waited patiently for our niece to be included in the lesson.

After a few mins she called our niece over and at the same time berated my wife, who is pregnant, for having rested a drink and leaning on a partition wall as she waited with our niece. We of course were going to sit on the seats once our rather nervous niece had been acknowledged!

At this point my niece’s mother asked her to not be so rude and that there were polite ways of speaking to people. The instructor proceeded to respond very loudly (almost shouting) to which we asked her to calm down as children were present. In the end we had to walk away to the seating area and comfort our children who were understandably saddened, whilst she continued he rant.

The Instructors name was Isis. And the lady at reception was Sue.

On finishing the lesson we wanted to ask for details of whom we can lodge a complaint with. Sue (again) was busy on the phone and it’s clear she was the only one at reception. However, she again made no eye contact and we waited nearly 15 mins (!) standing right in front of her until she eventually asked us what we needed! She was very slow on the phone and there was no sense of urgency which made us feel somewhat invisible!

I have made a formal complaint to management and am...

DO NOT COME HERE - DISCRIMINATION & FRAUDULENT ACTIVITY

I recently had an incredibly disappointing and distressing experience with Lea Valley Riding Centre, which I feel compelled to share. As a person of colour and a Muslim woman who wears a hijab, I was shocked and saddened by the discriminatory treatment I received.

Upon arrival, I was the only person singled out and asked to weigh myself in a public space. This was not only humiliating but also deeply distressing, especially as the scale displayed an incorrect weight, leading to my exclusion from the activity. Despite being within the weight limit, I was denied access, leaving me feeling embarrassed and singled out.

This incident was not just a policy issue but a clear act of discrimination against me as a Muslim woman of colour. No one else in my group was subjected to such treatment, making the situation even more discriminatory and isolating. It's clear from other reviews below that this is not an isolated incident; several customers have highlighted similar experiences of mistreatment and discrimination at this establishment.

Moreover, it seems evident that LVRIDING does not consider people of colour as their main target audience, which results in neglect and mistreatment. This lack of inclusivity is deeply troubling and suggests a systemic issue within their organisation.

I contacted LVRIDING over a month ago to address this issue. My complaint was "forwarded to management," but I have yet to receive any meaningful response or resolution. It seems the management does not take these concerns seriously, which only adds to the sense of being disregarded and disrespected.

This experience was not only discriminatory but felt fraudulent, as the company failed to deliver the service I paid for under false pretences. Discrimination and exclusion have no place in any business, and LVRIDING urgently needs to address and rectify their policies and practices.

I will also be reporting this to consumer protection agencies, as there is clear dishonesty and fraudulent activity involved. I strongly urge potential customers to consider these issues before choosing to...

Please don't waste your time and money here. The instructor is very demotivated and rude. I went to Lee Valley to learn BHS stage 1 course about 2 weeks ago. Before I join this course they asked me to pay nearly 60 pounds to do the assessment. The instructor was nice. He said I can join the course but if I want to pass the exam I need to do some private lessons. So I joined the 12 weeks course on 11 of September, the instructor for this course was Isis.

In the middle of the session Isis told me my stirrups were too long so I need to adjust the stirrups while other peoples are riding. I was asking her to help to adjust it, as when you were sitting on a horse it’s quite hard to do it. Beside I already tried nearly 10 minutes to do it. But she said you just need to practice. Eventually she came to help to change the hole of the stirrup, but she couldn’t adjust it as well. The riding session was 1 hour, it took me 10 minute to try to adjust the length of it.

After the first week course, Isis told me that I need to take some private lessons or some other group lessons with her. So I bought a private lesson with her on the following Monday morning. Just before this private lesion, she said she already discussed with the reception that they need to move me to the beginner’s class. I said it still have 3 months time until the exam, so I will do whatever I can to improve my riding skills in this 3 months. What she said really shocked me. She told me that even if I work hard in 3 months time, maybe you will improved a bit but still not good enough to attend the exam. And I wouldn’t be able to attend the exam even if I paid the exam fee. It’s so unprofessional. She wasn’t supportive as an instructor and demotivates me.

Eventually I dropped the course and I will never come back even though it’s very...