1Rebel Victoria — Local services in London

I've enjoyed some of the workouts I've had here - some phenomenal! - but I would say that overall I have had some real lows with this particular location, starting with my very 1st time coming here. I honestly probably would not have kept coming if I hadn't already bought a package as it was so convenient work-wise.

I checked in at the front desk for my 1st class and they simply handed me a towel. Taken aback that this was apparently it for the interaction and thinking perhaps they didn't have a notice on their computer system for first timers, I then stated that this was my 1st time, rambling off some questions like where I should go for the locker rooms and studio, where were the shoes, any particular rules of the road, etc. (I feel like every other fitness studio or gym I have gone to has ALWAYS given me an orientation of some kind) The lady behind the desk just looked up at me and said, 'Cool. Just follow everyone else and I'm sure you'll figure it out.' Excuse me?! Luckily I have done spin/cycle classes before, just not with 1Rebel, so no, I don't perhaps need the full explanation and could just wander around to find the shoes over in the corner, the locker rooms upstairs (which is what I had to do as I was early and no, there was no one else to immediately follow), but to be so disdainful and downright negligent in making sure I was comfortable and knew what to do really threw me. I was also surprised there was no one in studio to help with setup, or explanations about the bike (though I did notice there were people or call outs by instructors to ask for help if needed in subsequent classes, but would stress that it was NOT in every one I attended - there were definitely some where there was no statement by the instructor to ask for help with setup). I really thought about just not coming back, but felt I had sunk too much money to not and at least I had enjoyed the workout once I had put the poor customer service out of my head.

I continued coming here for the rest of my package and generally had good experiences in the workouts, but anytime I actually needed something from the front desk (or even check in at times!), I felt very much like I was a bother. Another example of this was when I was checking in and remarked just as she finished and was motioning to the next person to check-in that she didn't hand me a towel. The lady in this case said I needed 'to go find one' myself, she was 'too busy' to literally reach back behind herself and take a towel from those stacked up. The other woman at the front desk looked a bit aghast at this exchange and reached back herself to hand me one.

All these interactions + the general atmosphere in the changing rooms (frenetic rush, too many women all on top of each other at peak times in the locker area), I have firmly decided I will go to other locations of 1Rebel, but not this one. I do not experience such issues at their...

First of all this location is not the easiet to find. If you google “1rebel Victoria” the St Mary’s Axe location shows up. I could have easily gone to the st Marys ax’s location thinking that it was the Victoria location for my class.

My friend has been raving about the classes here and when I had called to sign up for the class not once did the receptionist mention their strict “no late” policy or the induction for new people. She did mention how the studio is 2 stories with great sound system. So when I got to the studio at 9:29 for a 9:30 class, I was denied entry. The receptionist there kept telling me how they had sent emails out explaining the strict policy which I obviously didn’t read. I had been on numerous phone calls with different locations, bayswater, Victoria and st Mary’s Axe and not once did anyone say to read the emailed carefully and that there is a strict no entry policy for people who show up 1 minute before class or people who show up on time at 9:30. I did get about 6 emails after I signed up for 1rebel and I did check the times to see if it was booked in correctly but didn’t scroll down to read the rest of the email. The Victoria class was actually booked in for me by someone over the phone and I booked the other two classes online. When you are finished booking the class online there is no message to say don’t be late, just a prompt for blow dry apt or smoothie after class. If this is a strict policy maybe first make it strict habit of informing your new students about this. On top of it all, I got charged for a smoothie half an hour after leaving the location and I wasn’t even there. After speaking to several different receptionist at St Mary Axe, Victoria and Bayswater, the victoria location receptionist were the least sympathetic about the whole situation and a bit smug about getting there not early enough. Everyone else had great customer service attitude. I spoke to a male receptionist at Bayswater and he was very kind and when I realised I got charged for the smoothie the receptionist at st Mary axe quickly refunded me for the smoothie and credited the class I had miss at Victoria. Victoria receptionists did none of this.. After getting home I did find the email and it does say to be ready for the class at 9:25 and to be there 10 minutes early if it’s your first time.. then why don’t your just advertise the class to be 9:25? Why make it soo confusing? Why schedule the class at 9:30 when you won’t be let in if you show up between 9:25-9:30?? And make it absolutely strict?? Google doesn’t even have an address for this location when you google 1rebel Victoria! Only when you google 1reble Nova! So confusing! It’s a complete set up for not...

The bad stuff customer service is markedly worse than other spin studios - and I have been to others like Psycle, SoulCycle Let me be specific - I attended the 7.30 pm class on the 24th of March - my partner and I were using classpass with a view to potentially subscribing as members to the studio i forgot to bring my sports shorts, so bought one over there - asked the counter lady whether i could try it on, was told "this is not a sports store, you cannot try it on" - ok somewhat fair but done in quite a callous tone proceeded to buy the shorts anyway as i really wanted to try the class - tag price was GBP 26.95, realised I got charged GBP 27.95 instead; pointed this out to same counter lady and she said oh, oh well its just a pound as matter of principle, I asked for the pound back, she fiddled with the machine and proceeded to repeat that she couldn't do anything and "oh well it's just a pound" shrug and then served other customers - while it is a small amount, the sheer indifference and condescension was really poor customer service, in fact it weighed on me during the class after (i did ask my partner and she did feel the same way) if she said sorry we don't have any change, i would have said that's fine, but it is not ok to treat your customers as above music was really loud, compared to other studios couldn't seem to find other weights beyond 2kg at the shelves in front

The good stuff now there are good things to write about, to be fair the other counter lady was happy to shift us to closer to the front seats even though we were class pass users the bikes are great and seemingly of higher quality and with more linear response compared to that of other studios instructor was really high energy and she was super good at getting the class in the mood and riled up; i got a better work out and it showed as climbing the stairs after was tough! washrooms are nice and decor is overall "cool" which we liked

To management - I won't need to reach out to you to discuss, it is what it is, and i really wanted to like it given the convenience of the location. GBP 1 is a small amount right :) Maybe i might still come back, but I would rather not, given the negative customer experience. We come to spin for the full experience and want to come out happy, i wasn't because of the poor customer experience, and thus I...