Fun Fest Franchising Reviews 15

Terrible. My daughter was so sick after the first session

Children unsupervised and all ages mixed together.

My 4 year daughter told me that an older boy tried to pull her trousers down and asked to see her bum! She said there wasn't any staff around. This was Funfest Dunstable.

Funfest was recommended to us by a friend who sent her twins there for school holiday periods. My daughter is 4 years old and I was nervous to leave her thinking she would not stay without me as she only attended nursery so far. Within minutes she felt extremely comfortable and wanted me gone. The staff were so friendly and professional. Lots of different activities every day. She cannot wait to go back again. Thank you Fun-Fest Harrow. Keep up the good work.

My son attended. Sprained his ankle and was on crutches for next week. Staff did not assist him walking to door and did not even take his shoe/sock off to check his ankle. When emailed the manager to raise concerns she was rude and decided my son has behaviour issues. He has never had behaviour issues before and any other provision/school. This was only raised with me when I complained about lack of care. My son said the club was very boring and did not want to return. The only holiday club my son has ever not enjoyed. He has attended several previously. Very disappointed and inconvenient having to find another provider at short notice.

A great company to be part of as a Franchisee.

As a Franchisee based in the North West (1 of 20+ franchisees across the UK) being part of the Fun Fest Franchising Ltd network for nearly 6 years has supported me to grow a high quality business, delivering excellent & flexible childcare across Cheshire & South Manchester. The children and parents remain at the centre of what we do, working in partnership to deliver a service that suits local family needs. We also provide consistent employment opportunities for local businesses and seasonal work staff. Fun Fest, the Franchisor, continues to develop the core brand to support our individual franchisee needs.

Fun Fest are a very professional company to work with and provide childcare of the highest standard throughout the country - the numerous Ofsted reports are testament to this.

The best business move I ever made 4 years ago and still going strong. A really supportive and professional company to be a part of. The team support you every step of the way to ensure quality provision in all Fun Fest Holiday Clubs, from the business side of things to recruiting the exellent quality of the staff team within the clubs. A great franchise to be a part of!

Great company to be a part of. Activites are varied and children have a choice of how they spend their holidays. Opening times work well for the working parent and the children are at the centre of everything they do. My own children attended the clubs and always had a great time doing something different everyday and got to do actvities that they wouldn’t have done at home. cannot fault it but can only recommend.
High quality childcare at an affordable cost.

Super variety of activities, great opening hours, easy booking system and great to have a club that takes 3 & 4 year olds all day!

I have been working with Funfest for many many years now and have always found them a delight to deal with. Their passion for what they do is second to none and comes through in everything they do. The team are great to deal with and very professional, it's a pleasure to watch them grow and go from strength to strength.

Absolutely an amazing company to work with, we have now been working with Fun-Fest for a number of years and I find them professional and a pleasure to work with. If only every company could be as good as this one.

READ THE OTHER REVIEW of another parent… seems we know all know the truth behind what’s moving this company.

If I could leave no stars I would. My kids went there and were bullied. Questions are towards those other kids and the staff. But even if we pretend this isn’t a fact (even tho I’ve been given specific details about the abuse that took place, by my 3 kids, who were in different groups and were all targeted as they were siblings), the company should do a proper investigation. Right? Wrong.

So I called the day it happened to ask for a refund of the following visit (like, it’s common sense they should just give it to me, isn’t it, even if they don’t believe me or my kids…?). They were closed but promised someone will call me back the next morning. Not one even lame ‘sorry you didn’t have a great time’ from them. The next morning came and nobody called. Then I called one team. Another team. Nobody would speak to me. Everyone in meetings. A few people took down my number. Nobody still called me back. So I called the branch manager.

The branch’s manager who’s apparently a ‘part-director’ or whatever of this company first started arguing about the refund, saying how it can’t be proven etc. Dude, if you’re actually a director, the lease thing you should learn in business is how to speak to customers in a polite manner. And does refunding one day for a few kids really burn you…? Clearly you don’t seem to be making that much money. Next, he said that I shouldn’t say that his staff didn’t watch the kids properly because I wasn’t there. Ok, let’s again pretend I’m wrong. So if I’m wrong then how come the bullying happened? And if it didn’t happen, then why on earth did I see (yeah, I saw what I saw and he can’t say ‘you and I were not there!’ Through the gates before I left how 30+ kids were left to their own devices on the playground..??? So yes, I did see. Only a few minutes of what his staff did. So my point is proven. They were not watching the kids. Thankfully I parked in the wrong place so I actually witnessed it…..

Next, does their website make it seem like it’s all active games and fun? Well it’s not. Cos the kids watched some long cartoon there. Sorry but I’m not paying you so you can sit my kids in front of the tv. Their advertising is misleading too.

I asked the manager how will he actually conduct the investigation. He didn’t tell me the details but said I could give him any info I can to help. So I described 3 boys to him. He then texted me to say they spoke to 2 (not 3) boys about the importance of welcoming new kids and spoke to staff, who confirmed that my kids didn’t want to join in some activities and stayed alone out or inside…

Does the last part sound to you like blaming the victims? It sure does. So what kind of inadequate ‘investigation’ is this…?! If I had more time I’d come there myself. I would ask my kids to identify the apparent bullies and speak to their parents. Who would then (if they’re half-decent parents) speak to their kids and it would quickly become obvious if they did bully my kids or not. And if they did, they’d have to apologise. All 3. To all of my kids. Separately. This is how good, fair parenting is done and any good, fair investigations too. Let me tell you, this kind of rubbish wouldn’t happen in another setting with more accountability.

He also told me no email would be sent or me about the refund and I believe that this, plus him not even wanting to send it in the first place is him trying to get out of any liability in case bullying did happen (which is DID) under the watch of his staff. Who left all kids mostly by themselves as I watched them for at least 5-10 mins and I saw kids lying on the floor, doing whatever, left by themselves (some staff were further away b it nowhere near to hear, prevent, or see bullying - which is the point). Facts confirmed - the staff are inept, so is the manager/director. And not just professionally but unkind, untrustworthy as people. Very disappointing. So think before you send your kids there. Unless you don’t mind paying for little to no supervision while they watch cartoons and potentially get bullied at other times.

Unprofessional cowboys. Blamed my 3 and 4 year old for not being happy at the club. Offered me a refund only to not honour it at the end. They hire teenagers to look after children who frankly do not know what they are doing.

Below are some of my emails to them :

Dear Sir/ Madam,

I would like to know where I can find evidence of what my children are doing during the sessions with Funfest Ruislip.

I have collected my children twice now after a PM session and each time they come home empty handed with no evidence of work done. Are there any pictures I can access or what they are partaking in?

Yesterday I picked up my daughters, Exx, 4 and Sxxxx, 3. Both were in tears at seeing me and said they don’t like school club. They later told me in the car that they don’t feel welcome and that teacher is not nice. I asked one staff member at the door if anything had happened after my girls burst into tears. She didn’t even bother making eye contact with me and said (looking down at her sign in book) no they’ve been fine. Then silent. I would prefer that communication is present between Funfest staff and myself since I am leaving my children for hours in their care.

This is the first time that I am using your service and kindly request that some evidence of what my children are doing at the club is provided. Enand S are very young and are unable most of the time to relay what has happened during the afternoon. My review of your club will follow shortly.

I look forward to your response.

Regards,

Sxxx

Dear MXxxx,

I have looked at your credit note and I see there is no expiry date. This needs to be specified.

Your manipulation in stating that you are a small business did sway my decision to cancel entirely at the beginning. I see that now.

My entire experience with your company from the start, from my children not being given their work, being shouted at, my being called into change a nappy that was not even wet or soiled, to your final infantile response blaming my children so that you can keep my money is revealing about the kind of company you run.

The person at the top is not at all concerned about the well-being of the children.

I look forward to receiving the missing details on the credit note. I will also be informing the mothers from my school, where you have been advertising, on the WhatsApp group of this experience.

Have a nice day,

SXxx

AVOID this company, a bunch of unprofessional liars. Do not trust the 5 star review on Trustist on their website or the 5 stars on Google from only two people. I have added my review of zero stars on there which has not been updated. They are clearly manipulating the data to hide those clients they mess around with!