TeamSport Go Karting Docklands — Attraction in London

One of the marshals (maybe Zach, but I might've been given the wrong name) was incredibly rude on track, arguing with me over the barrier because he tried to stop karts without proper safety protocol or common sense being followed. He didn't like zig-zagging on yellow but was perfectly happy with people overtaking on yellows, at speed, several times.

They stopped the kart in front of me using a hand signal directed at the kart directly in front of me, with entirely inadequate notice. The kart ahead of me responded by slamming on his brakes, and this caused me to go into the back of him (though not too hard). The marshal said "this is why you don't zig-zag on yellows" as if zig-zagging didn't actually increase my braking distance (it did). I responded with "he shouldn't be stopping on an amber" since I was still unaware that a hand signal had been used (when the safety briefings repeatedly tell you to look at the lights, not some arbitrary hand signal).

Track Director claimed I was lying, despite watching back CCTV which includes no audio. Apparently responding very unhappily and venting (admittedly with one "colourful" choice of word) to another member of staff means they don’t want my business.

Track Director had a classic “I couldn’t give a shit” face and offered zero apology for his staff’s behaviour. He rejected my comments that the marshal had done anything wrong, because of course the guy hires perfect angels who can never do anything wrong.

My first significant issue with staff since I started attending and I’ve spent hundreds upon hundreds of pounds here. I also previously provided feedback to the team about ways they could improve, all of which was ignored and I was pestered to leave a five star so the team could get their incentive.

I’d been thinking of quitting TeamSport Docklands since I got pestered to leave a dishonest review, so now the true chance has come.

When I showed the Track Director and another colleague a higher level of respect than the Track Director afforded me and wished them a goodnight, I only got a response out of the colleague. Track Director was too busy being smug and almighty to afford basic respect to someone who did nothing but show him respect.

In summary: One member of track staff instigated an argument by not communicating clearly or politely The track staff could have said "please don't zig-zag on yellows" or "please watch for hand signals", neither of which were mentioned in my safety briefing, but instead chose an incredibly toxic "this is why we don't zig-zag on yellows" with a terrible tone The Track Director is an ignorant jobsworth with absolutely no customer service skills - he didn't even say hello to me or ask what my version of the events were. He had clearly formed his entire opinion based on what he had been told from the two track staff I'd interacted with. The feedback I provided several times about karts and safety was regularly ignored, usually being told "all the karts are the same" when the difference is blatantly obvious when your kart is sliding you in circles the moment you turn the wheel and the previous kart you had did not do that The Track Director believes his team are perfect angels Despite being totally honest about calling the track marshal a name (not to his face), and already saying I won't be returning, the Track Director framed me as a liar about the interaction between myself and the marshal because he watched an audio-less video of what happened. If you want to use a hand signal, make sure everyone is looking at you. We're trained to look at the lights, not to look at the hands of the people moving around. I knew the marshal was there, safely behind a barrier, so I focused on the light ahead of me and the kart which was blocking half the track.

You’re better off spending your money somewhere that cares....

This place could be great. The karts are high speed and the track is well designed. We were a group of 8 and if we had this track to ourselves for an hour or so, I have no doubt it would have been excellent experience.

In practise though, there were a few significant issues that detracted from the experience:

1. OVERCROWDING: there were a total of 18 karts in our group - the 8 of us plus another 10 people. This is way too many karts for the size of their track. For context, the track takes around one minute per lap for an average driver (and 45 seconds for the quickest drivers as per the timesheets). It's quite narrow in places as well. So with 18 people you can imagine the amount of traffic especially with a few novice drivers within the group. Note that the group size seemed to be at the venue's discretion, and we saw other groups on the day with as low as 8 people. There was no option on their website to book the track for private use.

2. TIME ON TRACK: we made one of their standard bookings which is advertised as 2 sessions on the track of 15 minutes apiece. What we didn't expect was for the clock to start the moment you stepped on the track. Find your designated kart from around 40+ units parked, get seated, wait for the whole group to do the same, then wait for each kart to be called up one by one and perform a brake test, before finally being sent out onto the actual track. All of this comes out of the 15 minutes. Add on another few minutes at the end for everyone to park, exit, etc. All lap times are recorded, so we could compute that actual time spent driving was around 8-9 minutes out of each 15 minute session. Now add to that all the yellow and red flags during each race - basically anytime 1 person (of the 18) would spin out or crash the entire track would be shown a yellow (go at crawling speed) or red (stop completely) light. With our group size at least half the time was spent under yellow/red lights. So that brings down actual time spent racing to around 4-5 minutes per session, hence 8-10 minutes of racing time from 2+ hours spent at the venue (given the requirement to show up early, check-in, wait for your turns on track, etc.). The £50 price tag looks a lot steeper under this context.

3. BAR AREA / STAFF: the staff gave the impression of not being bothered. This was evident throughout the venue but even more so at the bar. After the races it took around 15 minutes of standing at the bar before I could place an order, despite there being only 2 other customers there during that entire time. The staff behind the bar seemed to be in their own world just chatting to each other, and half the time there was no one there at all.

Overall, we had a decent enough time within our own group, but it should have been so much better. We visited on a weekend which is clearly peak time as the place was totally rammed. I imagine things would be better during weekdays but still have doubts whether I would return given the lack of control over group size, generally unbothered attitude of the staff, and management who seem to only care about...

Never Go Karted before and looked up your track as being one of the best. We are a family with an 11 yr old, so was drawn to this site being able to all race together on the family session. Really friendly helpful staff at reception - although we had to wait AGES as there was only one lady working and she was handling a large male party in front. Was disappointed at the extra charges for gloves and a balaclava that were 'essential' despite it costing £250 for 5 of us initially, then being hit with another £30+ when I arrived. But neverless I paid. Then the lady that we got that was our initial contact for the health and safety video, was brilliant, she was so re-assurring to my daughter, really put her at ease and kept telling her to do it at her speed, put up a hand if she needed help and she would be there. Honestly she was awesome and really settled my nervous daughter. The first race went well, despite having a couple of adult idiots on the track - racing too fast and not abiding by the traffic light system, BUT the lady that was our 'contact' kept warning them to 'slow down' and black flagged them a couple of times. So the first race was actually really enjoyable.

HOWEVER, when the second race came up - it was a different story - the same 3 guys raced around the track like it was their own race, with complete disregard for the children on the track, they crashed into my daughter numerous times, and kept side bumping her as they undercut her. No warnings were given, no flags, no signs, the lady that originally helped had gone - and the couple of guys that were supposed to be supervising had no interest in what was going on, they stood in the corner arguing about something with no sight on what was going on at all. It was awful. Ended with my husband driving behind my daughter to try and stop the fast racers from continually nudging her. It was crazy.

This was a family session, and there is no reason why these guys should have been allowed to race on the same track on the family session. They had no children with them, they kept looking at the fasted track races to see what time they needed to beat before they got on, so they were geared to race. Despite it being the family session. I was livid, as was my husband, and it really put a sour taste to the experience.

The staffing was the main issue, as the guys should have been pulled off, but they also should never have been allowed to race with families and children.

So disappointed. We wont be returning as there seems to be no control over a family experience. Ensuring everyone feels safe.

Other issues were - they advertise food and drink - however thats great if anyone is actually manning the bar serving. Our race was meant to be 5.35pm - but we didnt get on until around 6pm and 6.30pm. Also it advertises 15mins x 2 - but we were closer to 10mins x 2 both session.

What was booked as some birthday surprise family fun, left me...