Technical issues with bikes last week. Switching on after scanning then shutting down. Tried everything to get the app to work, deleting, installing, switching off phone - nothing is working. App ha... See more
Company replied
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Review summary
Created with AI, based on recent reviews
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Reviews shaping this summary
If I could give no stars i would. I lived in Brentford for a few years and would always use electric bikes to get around locally. I moved away, and returned to find forest had replaced lime for bike... See more
Company replied
For months Forest' app has been unable to end rides. The camera keeps crashing the app and worse, sometimes freezing and rebooting the entire phone. This results in daily struggles trying to get to pl... See more
Company replied
Sadly, I'm yet another case of the app not letting me park due to bugs with their GPS system and being charged a fortune because of it. Clearly parked in a designated parking spot but the app seemed t... See more
Company replied
Company details
Written by the company
We’re Forest. You know, those shared ebikes in London that look like trees. We’re London’s most affordable and most sustainable shared eBike. We give everyone 10 minutes free riding time, every day. It doesn’t stop at 10 minutes though, we offer riders a way to get even more free minutes by watching ads from our conscious-minded partners. We power our operations with 100% renewable energy (which we have done since day 1). We then offset our manufacturing emissions by growing an actual forest, through local and responsible tree planting, in Wales.
Contact info
London, United Kingdom
- 02081577491
- cs@humanforest.co.uk
- humanforest.co.uk
1.4
Bad
334 reviews
Replied to 98% of negative reviews
Typically replies within 48 hours
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Impossible to use customer service in…
Impossible to use customer service in case of any issues - lines are closed, chat is a bot only, emails are left without answer. Advice to reinstall the app is not enough if you plan to scale, and didn't help in my case. Competition should move the company out of business as others are doing much better but unfortunately Hounslow council gave them a contract so they can enjoy doing nothing...
16 March 2026
Unprompted review
Reply from Forest
Hi Natalie,
Thank you for your review.
I'm really sorry to hear that you're having issues with the app, I've also emailed you directly regarding this.
I'm also sorry to hear you've had trouble getting through to our support team. You can reach us using the contacts below. Our phone line is sometimes closed due to staffing but you can still reach an agent via the live chat if you ask the bot to pass you over to an agent you'll get transferred right away.
Email: cs@humanforest.co.uk
Live Chat: Available from 8am to midnight through the support icon on the app homepage
Phone: 020 8157 7491 (Mon–Fri, 9am–5pm)
Best wishes,
Gareth
Forest Team🌳
Reply from Forest
Hi Brian,
Thank you for your review.
We're really sorry to hear you've encountered issues with bikes. We understand how important it is for our eBikes to be reliable. That's why we now ensure all eBikes receive a service at least every 3 weeks to keep them in tip-top shape. We’ll take your feedback on board to improve further. Please do get in touch ASAP if you experience any problems, and our Support Team will be happy to help. 🚴🔧 Just to let you know, you can also create a damage report in the app when you come across an issue. We then go over the reports manually and ensure the bikes are taken offline.
I'm also sorrry to hear you've had trouble getting through to our support team. You can reach us via:
Email: cs@humanforest.co.uk
Live Chat: Available from 8am to midnight through the support icon on the app homepage
Phone: 020 8157 7491 (Mon–Fri, 9am–5pm)
Best wishes,
Gareth
Forest Team🌳
Fleeced
Only used them twice. Good bikes but pricing is confusing and being charged £3.31 for an 8 minute ride is unacceptable. Rip off pricing.
Don't use them unless you're happy to be fleeced and pay over the odds.
You have been warned.
9 March 2026
Unprompted review
Reply from Forest
Hi Neil,
Thank you for your review. We're sorry to hear you were surprised by our pricing.
We apologise for any confusion caused. We strive to be as transparent as possible with our pricing. The pricing is displayed before each ride. We would always advise double-checking this before each ride.
Just to let you know we also have Minute Bundles. If you are planning on taking longer rides or riding often, I would advise checking them out. These are set amounts of minutes you can buy, they can be found on the Menu in the app. There are also no unlocking fees when using our Bundles. 😃
Best wishes,
Gareth
Forest Team🌳
Got charged £20 extra
I parked the bike at a location in Homerton and got fined for £20. I did park at a bicycle parking lot.
but I find this fine too steep. I took the bike from
Tottenham to Homerton, it wasn't accepted by the app.
Call service and the live chat wasn't working either.
Park got validated but a 20 pounds flown away plus normal fee
6 March 2026
Unprompted review
Reply from Forest
Hi Eren,
Thank you for sharing your experience. We're sorry to hear about the difficulty with ending your ride and the fine applied, we understand how frustrating this must have been.
Thanks for giving us some additional information so we could investigate the situation for you! With this, I was able to see that you out to us via email on 03/03 and my colleague waived the fine for you as a gesture of goodwill and replied to you.
For future rides, please do check the map before setting off. Red areas are always visible, and grey No Parking Areas appear once your ride begins. To view these grey zones in advance, you can tap on a bike on the map before starting your ride.
Best wishes,
Miri
Forest Team🌳
Terrible scam app
Terrible scam app. I ended my ride and got a confirmation but upon returning to the bike 30mins later, I saw the ride hadn’t ended and burnt all my minutes plus an extra charge.
Support isn’t compensating lost minutes. Terrible service.
3 March 2026
Unprompted review
Reply from Forest
Hi Suyash,
Thank you for sharing your experience. We're very sorry to hear about the issue with your ride not ending correctly and the resulting loss of minutes. We understand how frustrating that must have been.
If you'd kindly reach back out to us about this, our support team will review the ride and make any necessary adjustments. You can reach us via:
Email: cs@humanforest.co.uk
Live Chat: Available from 8am to midnight through the support icon on the app homepage
Phone: 020 8157 7491 (Mon–Fri, 9am–5pm)
Best wishes,
Miri
Forest Team🌳
Horrible malfunctions occurring frequently:/
Recently I’ve been experiencing glitches on my app and the bikes, two days ago around rush hour the bikes completely malfunctioned. when I started the bikes and was about to peddle there was no electrical power and this was on all bikes around London I tried at least 7-8 times with different bikes and they all powered on but didn’t peddle with the electrical power. I genuinely believed that forest bikes were better and faster than lime bikes but now i definitely disagree with that. I’m really disappointed. I am definitely not going to continue to pay monthly for forest bikes.
4 March 2026
Unprompted review
Reply from Forest
Hi Nancy,
Thank you for sharing your experience. We're really sorry to hear about the issues you've encountered with the bikes and the app, we understand how frustrating that must have been.
We experienced a temporary outage on Monday evening that affected the electric assist on our bikes, I'm sorry to hear that you were affected by this!
Our technical team resolved the issue later that day, and services have been fully operational again since. We're actively working on measures to help prevent similar disruptions in the future.
If you'd like to share any further details about the rides you tried or need any assistance, our support team would be happy to investigate further and help in any way we can. You can reach us via:
Email: cs@humanforest.co.uk
Live Chat: Available from 8am to midnight through the support icon on the app homepage
Phone: 020 8157 7491 (Mon–Fri, 9am–5pm)
Thank you again for sharing your experience with us!
Best wishes,
Miri
Forest Team🌳
I am 5ft 1 and the seat is way too high…
I am 5ft 1 and the seat is way too high for me to even attempt to ride this bike, charge me and wouldn't refund a while back after I tried to get on the lowest seat adjustment and it was still way too high for me. Wouldn't try again but this is the only e-bike service around my borough of Sutton... annoying
5 November 2025
Unprompted review
Reply from Forest
Hi there,
Thank you for your feedback. We're really sorry to hear that the bike height wasn't a good fit for you, we appreciate you letting us know.
Our bikes have a standard seat adjustment range, but we realise that it doesn't always accommodate all riders. I've passed your feedback on to our operations team to help us consider ways to make our bikes more accessible in the future.
If you'd like to discuss this further or need any assistance with a refund please feel free to reach out to us via the live chat or email to cs@humanforest.co.uk, we're here to help!
Thanks again for sharing your experience.
Best wishes,
Miri
Forest Team🌳
Awful services
Awful services, the bikes often do not work, the app is horrible, I would not recommend at all.
4 March 2026
Unprompted review
Reply from Forest
Hi Belle,
We're very sorry to hear about your experience and understand how frustrating it must be when bikes or the app don't work as expected. We're continuously working on improving both our bikes and our app to provide a more reliable service.
If you'd like us to look into any specific issues you've faced, please reach out to us directly at cs@humanforest.co.uk, we'd be happy to help resolve them.
Thank you for sharing your thoughts.
Best wishes,
Miri
Forest Team🌳
Useless customer service who never pick…
Useless customer service who never pick up!
2 March 2026
Unprompted review
Reply from Forest
Hi Adam,
We're very sorry that our phone lines were unavailable when you tried to reach us. To help us look into any issues, we’ve requested your information. If you could kindly submit it or reach out to us directly at cs@humanforest.co.uk, we'll be happy to assist you as quickly as possible.
Thank you for your patience, and we hope to resolve this for you soon!
Best wishes,
Miri
Forest Team 🌳
I just cycled for 3 minutes and…
I just cycled for 3 minutes and received a £20 parking fine for parking in a designated spot where it said I was allowed to park? Ended the ride perfectly fine. And then received this charge. What on Earth is going on with your app? Please refund me immediately this is unacceptable. I used your service all the time but this will be the last if this isn’t resolved
2 March 2026
Unprompted review
Reply from Forest
Hi there,
We're sorry to hear that!
We'd really like to look into this properly and review the parking location and the fine in detail.
Please could you reach out to our support team directly with your account details?
You can reach us via:
Email: cs@humanforest.co.uk
Live Chat: Available from 8am to midnight through the support icon on the app homepage
Phone: 020 8157 7491 (Mon–Fri, 9am–5pm).
Once we have your details, we'll investigate this and work towards resolving it for you.
Best wishes,
Miri
Forest Team🌳
All the bikes are duds
All the bikes are duds. App always logs you out for no reason. Bikes are slow. Awful company. Lime is much better
2 March 2026
Unprompted review
Reply from Forest
Hi Greg,
We're really sorry to hear about your experience and appreciate you taking the time to leave this feedback. We understand how frustrating it must be if bikes aren't performing as expected or the app logs you out unexpectedly.
Our operations team carries out regular maintenance on all bikes, and we're constantly working to improve app reliability. Your comments have been passed to the relevant teams so they can investigate further and make improvements.
If you do decide to ride with us again and encounter any issues, please reach out to our support team directly so we can resolve them as quickly as possible! You can reach us via:
Email: cs@humanforest.co.uk
Live Chat: Available from 8am to midnight through the support icon on the app homepage
Phone: 020 8157 7491 (Mon–Fri, 9am–5pm)
Best wishes,
Miri
Forest Team🌳
My son really wanted me to go for a…
My son really wanted me to go for a bike ride with him but I don't own a bike. I just used the forest bike for the first time to go around the arsenal stadium and, while I enjoyed having a go on the bike, I was shocked with the end cost for just 45mins of £15.52. I researched the bike options before and Google even said new users get 10-20mins free and the bike itself has a sticker saying 30 minutes for £1 so I found it disappointing to just be charged a flat rate after all. The bike was in a good condition and it was a smooth ride. I would not use this regularly as I found it too expensive.
28 February 2026
Unprompted review
Reply from Forest
Hi Austra,
Thanks for sharing your experience, and we're glad you enjoyed riding around the Arsenal Stadium with your son! 🚲
Just to clarify, our bikes come with between 1 and 30 minutes included, depending on the bike. The 30 minute bikes are shown in gold on the map and the sticker says ''up to 30 minutes for £1''.
We completely understand that pricing on first rides can sometimes be surprising, and we really appreciate your feedback. If you'd like, feel free to reach out to our support team at cs@humanforest.co.uk. We'd be happy to check your ride details and see how we can help!
Best wishes,
Miri
Forest Team🌳
Absolutely rubbish app that burns your…
Absolutely rubbish app that burns your paid minutes trying to end rides. If you raise this with support they don’t care or make it right giving you your minutes back.
Awful service.
27 February 2026
Unprompted review
Reply from Forest
Hi there,
We're really sorry to hear about your experience! This is not the experience we want for our riders.
Our support team takes all issues seriously, and we'd like the chance to look into this situation to make it right. Please reach out to us at cs@humanforest.co.uk with your ride details so we can investigate and make sure any lost minutes are returned.
Thank you for your feedback!
Best wishes,
Miri
Forest Team🌳
so many problems
I have had so many problems with the forest App- it’s starts rides when I’m just looking for bikes or won’t end rides. I have emailed previously to ask for support with this and have tried everything suggested. This morning I have rented a bike by accident because of a glitch in the app. I could then not find it as it no longer shows as rentable and have walked around looking for it- not being able to find it or end it. I have been charged and been significantly late for work, stressed, frustrated and out of pocket. I really want to support Forest, but this is hugely disappointing. I went to the effort to reach out for support previously. I feel really let down by your service and am now sat in an £15 Uber, I would not want to recommend this product to others due to the ridiculous unreliability. I would give 0 stars if possible and they don’t support you for what advertises itself as a friendly and supporting company
26 February 2026
Unprompted review
Reply from Forest
Hi Stephanie,
We're really sorry to hear that you've been having app issues! That's not the experience we want you to have.
We'd really like to look into this properly for you, if you haven't already, please could you contact us directly at cs@humanforest.co.uk?
We genuinely appreciate that you want to support Forest, and we're sorry this experience has had the opposite effect. We'd love to help make this right.
Best wishes,
Miri
Forest Team🌳
The worst E-Bike I’ve ever used
The worst E-Bike I’ve ever used , scammers charge you without letting u know , and won’t pick up their phone please don’t use them
25 February 2026
Unprompted review
Reply from Forest
Hi Ubyed,
We're really sorry to hear that you've had a bad experience!
We'd like to look into what went wrong and see how we can make things right. Our phone lines are generally open from 9am to 5pm on weekdays, but can sometimes be closed due to staffing. Would you kindly reach out to our support team at cs@humanforest.co.uk? We are also available via live chat from 8am to midnight every day.
Best wishes,
Gareth
Forest Team 🌳
Random Loss of Power
I've found the bikes to be in better condition than limes. and I find they have better avaliablility in my area because less people use them. However I've had at least 5 bikes that will just lose power randomly down to 18km/h or even 13km/h and then go back up to normal randomly. which I've found to be dangerous having random speed jumps. Obviously a software issue.
25 February 2026
Unprompted review
Pain of my life
This used to be a solid 4, but your services have deteriorated so much. Not only do you greedily increase the rates and prices, but the vast majority of your bikes are in such poor condition, and you do nothing to ensure proper maintenance. So many mornings I’ve started having to go from bike to bike until I can finally find one that doesn’t have a broken brake, a broken engine, a broken seat, or a flat tyre, wasting so much time. I give you the feedback, and what do you do? Give me back the minutes I wasted? Nope. “Please ensure you check the bike before you start the ride”. How am I supposed to know the engine is broken or a brake is not working without actually starting the ride??? If you are going to increase the prices, AT LEAST invest them in properly maintaining your bikes!!! Thank you for convincing me to buy a bike so I never have to use this horrible service ever again, and I hope more people do this as well until you realise you are just not doing enough or even the bare minimum. Not to mention the lagging app. I’ve put a 2 just cause you could provide a good service if you wanted to and a 1 is always a silly protest rating. This rating is meant to be genuine with positives included in that it is convenient and when a bike works it is great (but they almost never do). I hope you actually take this feedback into consideration.
24 February 2026
Unprompted review
Reply from Forest
Hi Antonis,
Thank you for taking the time to leave such detailed feedback. We’re really sorry to hear how frustrating your recent experiences have been and to hear we haven’t met the standard you expect, and that genuinely matters to us.
On pricing, we understand how changes can feel frustrating. At Forest, we aim to keep our pricing as sustainable as possible, balancing affordability with the need to ensure the viability of our service. When we do make adjustments to our bundles or pricing, it's only when the previous structure is no longer sustainable for us as a business. We understand how valuable the balance between competitive pricing and accessibility is to our users, and your feedback on this topic is genuinely appreciated.
Regarding bike condition, we're really sorry to hear you've encountered issues with bikes. We understand how important it is for our eBikes to be reliable. That's why we now ensure all eBikes receive a service at least every 3 weeks. We’ll take your feedback on board to improve further. Please do get in touch ASAP if you experience any problems, and our Support Team will be happy to help. 🚴🔧 Just to let you know, you can also create a damage report in the app when you come across an issue. We then go over the reports manually and ensure the bikes are taken offline. This year, we will be expanding our fleet, and we're hoping to have a high number of new bikes on the roads.
We’re also sorry to hear about the app lag; that’s not the experience we want anyone to have. Improving reliability across both hardware and software is a major focus for us.
We truly appreciate that you highlighted the convenience and the positive experience when a bike works well. That’s exactly the level of service we’re working to deliver consistently. Your feedback has been shared with the relevant teams, and it does help shape improvements.
Best wishes,
Gareth
Forest Team 🌳
Horrible app
Horrible app, Horrible bikes, dont get cycle to work plan you will be stuck with them.
9 February 2026
Unprompted review
Reply from Forest
Hi Jack,
We're really sorry to hear that you've had a bad experience!
We'd like to look into what went wrong and see how we can make things right. Would you kindly reach out to our support team at cs@humanforest.co.uk?
Thank you again for sharing your feedback, we're always working to improve both our bikes and our app!
Best wishes,
Miri
Forest Team 🌳
I would like to share my experience…
I would like to share my experience which I have recently experienced by Forest e-cycle. This is so EXPENSIVE. To start I scanned barcode for 1 time then it didn’t work. Then, again I had scanned barcode for 2nd time on forest cycle to ride it but e-cycle didn’t start to ride it. However, it’s charged me £12 I was shocked though, I didn’t ride even for 1 minute but only for 5-7 minutes paused situation. This is so strange. I don’t want to use again Forest e-Cycle. But Never Mind if it’s felt not good.
Thanks,
9 February 2026
Unprompted review
Reply from Forest
Hello Musthaq,
Thank you for taking the time to leave a review.
I'm really sorry to hear you had issues on your first ride with us.
Would it be possible if you could kindly reach out to us via email at cs@humanforest.co.uk regarding this, and we can help you out right away.
Best wishes,
Gareth
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