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
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Review summary
Created with AI, based on recent reviews
What people talk about most
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
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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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Stay well clear of forest bikes not…
Stay well clear of forest bikes not only are they rip off they have out of zone area where they charge 20 they turn off the electric so you struggle to ride and then charge you extra when u decide to walk
Use port bike or lime bike stay well away
10 November 2025
Unprompted review
Reply from Forest
Hello Osman,
Thank you so much for taking the time to share your feedback with us!
We’re really sorry to hear that some of your destinations have been No Parking Areas. We’re truly excited about the prospect of bringing Forest and parking bays to every corner of London—it's a dream we're passionate about!
However, dockless parking is subject to regulation in each borough, and the rules can vary significantly. If you find that we’re not currently operating in your specific area, it’s because we haven’t yet secured the necessary permissions from that borough. We understand how frustrating this can be, but please know that we’re tirelessly working to expand Forest’s reach!
When you first sign up and before your first ride you are also informed of this in the app.
We would always advise checking the map before starting your ride to ensure your destination is within our operational area and is not a No Parking Area. The red zone marking the outside of our operational area is always visible and the No Parking Areas within our operational area can be viewed before you start your ride by clicking on a bike on the map.
Best wishes,
Gareth
Forest Team 🌳
Ride customer service use lime instead.
What happened to the forest of a year ago whereby customer service were kind and understanding. Now I think it’s just all about the money.
I added a voucher I received in my emails to come back to forest and receive 60mins free.
Added to my account all seemed fine.
2 mins later started a small ride from Clapham to Brixton.
I was charged £7 as the code didn’t work. No worries I thought I’ll just get in touch with customer service as I have before and they seemed nice.
Rhys was rude and couldn’t care less about my issue.
Therefore I will no longer be using forest and tomorrow will actively start writing to local councils to get these bikes band for littering our streets.
That’s what happens when you are rude. £7 for 20 mins is a joke when I thought I’d use it as a £1.70 bus alternative.
Goodbye forest, you’re not the company you used to be. Lines partnership with uber seems better.
7 November 2025
Unprompted review
Reply from Forest
Hello Dominic,
Thank you for taking the time to leave your review.
We’re sorry to hear about your experience and would love the opportunity to look into this for you. To help us review your conversation and investigate further, I’ve requested your information.
Thank you in advance for your help.
Best wishes,
Ashleigh
Forest Team 🌳
Forest App Sucks
Where to start. The £5 fee, why? Lime don't have any such restriction. It's an absolute lottery going for a Forest Bike. I have been in Magdalen Lane, SW18, counted 16 Forest bikes and an absolute Forest (pardon the pun) of Lime bikes. I have gone from one Forest bike to the next, done all 16 and got re messages on them all. I have watched other come along and rent one of the bikes that rejected me. That day I had over £6K in my account and I ALWAYS have more than plenty for these rides. I always buy a 30 day package so it is hugely frustrating.
I am about to write in and ask for the balance on my last 30 day purchase back and I will go off and spend that with Lime. What pisses me off more is I have to give you one star. Your system sucks, your app sucks. Truspilot needs to look at allowing us to give MINUS stars. Forest deserve Minus 5.
6 November 2025
Unprompted review
Reply from Forest
Hello Terry,
Thanks for taking the time to leave your review.
We're really sorry to hear that you've had issues starting rides. We have emailed you directly regarding this.
On the £5 pre-authorisation hold, this was added to help prevent fraudulent rides and keep bikes safe. We know it can be frustrating for regular riders, and we’d love to be able to pause it for bundles or subscriptions. Unfortunately, this isn’t possible with our current payment processor (Stripe), but we’re pushing for a solution for the future!
The hold is released as soon as you end your ride, but the timing depends on your bank. Some banks, like Monzo, release it within minutes, while others may take longer. A credit card can also help avoid the inconvenience but we understand this is not always possible.
We understand how quickly the holds add up, and your feedback really matters to us. Please know we’re aware of the impact and are working to improve this
Best wishes,
Gareth
Forest Team 🌳
Mostly hit, sometimes miss
When these rides go well, they are great. And when they go wrong, they are not...
When I started using Forest to cycle to work earlier this year, I did have some issues with the bikes themselves. However, there have been various new ones that have come out since and they are Much better; comfortable, lower seat with better seat adjust mechanism. Once on, I find they are much faster than Lime bikes and the basket fits everything I need it to.
The (android) app has mostly been ok. I have had problems ending and starting rides and do have to open and close it quite a lot. One morning I realised I was walking towards a bike showing available on the app that was definitely being cycled away! My biggest peeve is that the option to report damage is not the first thing you see after you end a ride - you have to remember to do it afterwards - and there could be many more options to choose from to describe the issue. It would also help make it much less likely to hop on a damaged bike, though thankfully this hasn't happened too often.
The main thing that makes me want to chuck the towel in - and what has prompted this review today - is the new "low speed zone" that I pass through every day, twice a day. Nearly every week there is a bike that does not seem to register that it is no longer in the zone and I am capped to half speed for the rest of my journey. Infuriating and exhausting. At the very least, you should only be charged half price for the time spent in the Slow Zone. The slower I go, the longer it takes me, the more minutes I use and the more money I am charged..
6 November 2025
Unprompted review
Reply from Forest
Hello,
Thank you so much for taking the time to share such a detailed review. We really appreciate your thoughtful feedback. It’s great to hear that you’re enjoying the improvements with our newer bikes and finding them faster and more comfortable for your commute.
We’re sorry to hear, though, about your frustrations with the low-speed zones and the occasions when the bike hasn’t returned to normal speed after leaving them. That definitely shouldn’t be happening, and we’d really like to look into the specific rides where this occurred so our team can investigate what went wrong.
Could you please get in touch with us via cs@humanforest.co.uk
and share the email linked to your account or a few ride details (such as dates or bike numbers)? That will help us review this further.
We’ve also taken on board your comments about the app, especially around the reporting flow and speed of updates, as we continue working to make the experience smoother for all riders.
Thanks again for your patience and for helping us improve. We really value you being part of the Forest community.
Best wishes,
Gareth
Forest Team 🌳
Will never use these bikes again
Will never use these bikes again, and will tell all my friends and family not to. Apparently every time you rent regardless of purchasing prepaid minutes, expect a charge on your bank account every time you rent. Just blame your bank for holding the money as pending because forest said it’s their way of making sure the bikes are safe. Great job. So if u ride average of 20 rents per day, expect a total pending charge of £100 on your account that u may need for the day but can’t anymore because of their renting policy.
28 October 2025
Unprompted review
Reply from Forest
Hello Aldrine,
Thanks for taking the time to leave your review.
The £5 charge you see is actually a temporary pre-authorisation hold that we place on your default payment method each time you rent an eBike. This is just to confirm that your payment method is valid and has sufficient funds for the ride. The hold will appear as a "pending" transaction on your bank statement but will not be charged.
We cancel the transaction on our side immediately, but the time it takes for the hold to be released depends on your bank. This is typically within 5 working days, though it may vary. If you'd like an exact timeframe, we recommend checking with your bank about their policies on pre-authorisation holds.
The £5 pre-authorisation hold was added to help prevent fraudulent rides and keep bikes safe. We know it can be frustrating for regular riders, and we’d love to be able to pause it for bundles or subscriptions. Unfortunately, this isn’t possible with our current payment processor (Stripe), but we’re pushing for a solution for the future!
The hold is released as soon as you end your ride, but the timing depends on your bank. Some banks, like Monzo, release it within minutes, while others may take longer. A credit card can also help avoid the inconvenience but we understand this is not always possible.
We understand how quickly the holds add up, and your feedback really matters to us. Please know we’re aware of the impact and are working to improve this
Best wishes,
Gareth
Forest Team 🌳
Fly-tipping all over London everyday!
Our area Kensal Rise/Queens Park NW6/W10 is littered daily with illegally parked bikes from this company which I report daily get a reply then they DO NOTHING to remove them NOR FINE the riders leaving them:
1. Blocking FIRE exits to public and private building
2. Blocking bin room doors
3. Blocking front gates to homes
4. Blocking cross walks
5. Blocking bus stops
6. Knocked over in PILES in middle of pavement
7. Left in street
8. Impeding the visually impaired and the elderly
9. Blocking wheelchair users
10. Blocking parents with baby prams
11. Blocking cars in street
12. Using PAYG car spaces
13. Blocking legal bikes
14. Thrown in canals
15. And many more...
They are a hazard to every citizen in London, and we MUST remove this company from our city!
24 October 2025
Unprompted review
Reply from Forest
Hello,
Thank you for taking the time to leave your review.
We’re really sorry to hear about the issues these bikes are causing. This isn’t the behaviour we expect from our riders, and we’ll take appropriate action against those who disregard our parking rules.
If you could let us know the location or share the 5-digit bike code (found next to the QR code) by emailing cs@humanforest.co.uk, we’ll arrange for the bikes to be relocated as soon as possible.
Best wishes,
Ashleigh
Forest Team 🌳
Forest stole two of free advert watching minutes
I watched nine adverts to get 9 minutes. In the minute history it shows 9 minutes free but on my app it only shows 7 minutes free.
22 October 2025
Unprompted review
Reply from Forest
Hello Asia,
Thanks for taking the time to leave your review.
Our Ad Minutes do have an expiry time, which may be the case in this instance. You can check the expiry of your minutes directly in the app, but if you email us at cs@humanforest.co.uk, we’ll be happy to look into this further for you.
Best wishes,
Ashleigh
Forest Team 🌳
They know how I feel
They know how I feel. What idiot decides the boundary for use is across the middle of a heath and cuts off an entire Borough from one of its most significant sports centres.
£22 for a journey less than 10 mins form my home. No warning only found out why by nagging customer service.
17 October 2025
Unprompted review
Reply from Forest
Hello Des,
Thanks for taking the time to leave your review.
We try to be as transparent as possible when it comes to our map. The Red Zone is displayed in the app both before and during your ride. It highlights areas where parking is not permitted. This information is shared during the sign-up process; in the welcome email, the onboarding carousel, and an in-app pop-up that must be closed before you start your first ride. Additionally, if you ride outside the Forest, a red banner notification appears in the app as a reminder that you are outside the permitted area. When attempting to end a ride, you’ll also see several warning pop-ups.
Unfortunately, we don’t have permission to end rides in these restricted areas, so we have to take appropriate action when riders do not follow these rules.
Best wishes,
Ashleigh
Forest Team 🌳
Started using Forest when I moved to…
Started using Forest when I moved to London, it was great then (over a year ago), but now? Broken bikes..pedals, breaks, alignment, seats. The question is, what works? Oh and the price increase? Absolute joke.
4 October 2025
Unprompted review
Reply from Forest
Hello Luke,
Thank you for taking the time to leave your review.
We're sorry to hear about your experience and we have passed your feedback on to our Operations team. If there’s a specific ride you’d like us to look into, please feel free to email us at cs@humanforest.co.uk with the details, and we’ll be happy to investigate further.
Best wishes,
Ashleigh
Forest Team 🌳
The service is absolutely terrible
The app is absolutely terrible. It freezes all the time. The bikes are awful.
13 October 2025
Unprompted review
Reply from Forest
Hello Nicholas,
Thank you for taking the time to leave your review.
We’re really sorry to hear about your experience, this isn’t the standard we aim to deliver for our customers. App stability is very important to us, and we’re constantly reviewing and releasing new versions to resolve any issues.
If you could get in touch with more details about the specific error you encountered, we’d be happy to troubleshoot this for you. For any ride-related issues, please feel free to email us at cs@humanforest.co.uk with the ride details and we can investigate further.
Best wishes,
Ashleigh
Forest Team 🌳
My email is being used with the website…
My email is being used with the website for purchases and I cannot get hold of anyone on the phone or email.
I have phoned and emailed many times and no response.
Just an update- apparently email addresses are not verified when you sign up so anyone can use. Managed to get through to someone. This really needs to be verified to stop scams.
8 October 2025
Unprompted review
Reply from Forest
Hello,
Thank you for getting in touch and sharing your feedback.
We use phone verification during the sign-up process to ensure there is only one account per person, in line with our Terms of Service. However, we will definitely pass your comments on to the team for review.
Best wishes,
Ashleigh
Forest Team 🌳
I have just joined forrest and not yet…
I have just joined forrest and not yet had a chance to use them but what I will say is everyday they give you 3 videos to watch if you watch these videos you get 1 min a video there for 3 mins a day I have been watching these videos for the last 5 days 3 a day which if I am correct should work out as 15mins yet they have only gave me 7 mins so there fore I would say that this is false advertisement so they need to be carefully they are not sued
4 October 2025
Unprompted review
Reply from Forest
Hello Davey,
Thank you for taking the time to leave your review.
Our Ad Minutes do have an expiry time, so this may explain what happened in your case. If you could email us at cs@humanforest.co.uk, we’d be happy to look into it further for you. 😃
Best wishes,
Ashleigh
Forest Team 🌳
Have become expensive, inconvenient, greedy with zero customer service
After being a loyal customer with 655 rides, I deleted my account today.
The constant price increases are insane, the lack of transparency in pricing is not ok (cannot believe they still have ‘10 free minutes’ plastered on bikes), their customer service has become appalling, parking areas change constantly, and their app has no way of accurately telling you if you can park at your destination.
You check, all looks fine, you get to an area within the zone, you park in a parking bay and then they slap you with a £20 fine.
Lime is now cheaper, more readily available and convenient, and has a much better app.
Goodbye forest!
4 October 2025
Unprompted review
Reply from Forest
Hello Jazz,
Thank you for sharing your feedback, and we're really sorry to hear about your recent experience.
We appreciate you taking the time to highlight your concerns. This isn’t the experience we aim to provide, and we will pass your feedback onto the team.
We’d like to look into the specific ride and fine you mentioned. Please email us at cs@humanforest.co.uk with the details, and we’ll be happy to investigate further.
Best wishes,
Ashleigh
Forest Team 🌳
RUN AWAY DONT WALK
If I could this company 0 stars or even minus I would.
The bike quality is terrible, most broken or the electric assist doesn’t work, customer service are more interested in money than customer care.
Do yourself a favour use Lime or Beryl avoid Forest like the plague.
2 October 2025
Unprompted review
Reply from Forest
Hello Sade,
Thank you for taking the time to share your feedback.
We’re sorry to hear about your experience with our bikes. If you could email us at cs@humanforest.co.uk with more details, we can look into the issue and assist you further.
Best wishes,
Ashleigh
Forest Team 🌳
Not many positives now….
I used to use Forest a lot. But the steady price increases over the last year or two - both in actual terms and by stealth - (eg free minutes can no longer be used with bundles), the adding of and pushing up prices of daily service fee and unlock fee etc, and now the final straw is the £3 bundle is £3.99.
Granted it now comes with 40 minutes but I don’t actually need that extra time.
I get that businesses have rising costs but I genuinely don’t see who would now choose Forest over Lime anymore as Line Bikes are simply better as is their app. Or for that matter, just taking a bus or the tube.
With all that having been said I will end on a more positive note: I do feel that the costs ARE transparent, you do know what you’re paying if you bother to look, and customer services have always been good on the rare occasions I’ve contacted them.
1 October 2025
Unprompted review
Reply from Forest
Hello James,
Thanks for taking the time to leave your review.
We’ve recently had to make some changes to our bundles, including a pricing increase. That said, we’ve also increased the number of minutes included with each bundle. However, we understand this may not suit everyone, and we appreciate your feedback.
Regarding the app issues, app stability is a priority for us. If you have any specific feedback or examples you’d like to share, please feel free to email us at cs@humanforest.co.uk.
Best wishes,
Ashleigh
Forest Team 🌳
The prices keep going up and the bikes…
The prices keep going up and the bikes are getting worse. No more value for money. Soon it will be cheaper to drive :)
30 September 2025
Unprompted review
Reply from Forest
Hello Dariusz,
Thank you for taking the time to leave your review.
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 our recent Bundle changes, we’ve seen that riders are cycling more often than before, even on gloomier days. With that in mind, we’ve reshuffled our bundles. While the prices have increased, we’ve also added more minutes to each bundle. This way, you’ll still receive the same great value for money, but with extra time included so there’s no need to rush your rides.
We’ve also introduced a new way to ride 30 minutes for just £1:
- No daily fee
- £1 unlock
- 30 free minutes (must be used within 90 minutes).
- Over 1,000 available each day, clearly marked on the map.
- Have a bundle or subscription? You still get 30 free minutes on these bikes and won’t pay an unlock fee..
If you’ve got any further questions about our new bundles, just let us know and we’ll be happy to help.
Best wishes,
Gareth
90% of the time the app either won’t…
90% of the time the app either won’t start or won’t let you end a ride. You spend so much time trying to get the thing to function it’s usually quicker to just walk.
26 September 2025
Unprompted review
Reply from Forest
Hello Sam,
Thank you for taking the time to leave your review.
We're sorry to hear about your experience. App stability is a top priority for us, and our tech team is working hard to ensure the best possible performance.
If you could email us at cs@humanforest.co.uk with details of the specific rides affected, we’d be happy to investigate this further for you.
Best wishes,
Ashleigh
Forest Team 🌳
Absolute sham of a company and…
Absolute sham of a company and should've shut down straight away. Their users keep crashing into parked cars on the street and dumping their bikes on top of vehicles causing criminal damage and the company refuse accountability.
Edit- reply to company- I did email and I was told you won't help... I wouldn't mind speaking to the CEO though. Your bikes are a nuisance on my street.
20 September 2025
Unprompted review
Reply from Forest
Hello,
Thank you for getting in touch and bringing this to our attention.
To help us look into this for you, please email us at cs@humanforest.co.uk with more details. Our team will be able to assist you further.
Best wishes,
Ashleigh
Forest Team 🌳
I would be giving 0 if I were able to
I would be giving 0 if I were able to. They are scammers, they are charging you with implicit charges. Never ever use it
11 September 2025
Unprompted review
Reply from Forest
Hello,
Thanks for taking the time to leave your review.
We aim to be as transparent as possible with our fees. These are displayed in the app before you ride, and are also explained in the welcome email and the onboarding carousel when you first sign up.
If you could email us at cs@humanforest.co.uk
with more specific details, we’d be happy to look into this further and assist you directly.
Best wishes,
Ashleigh
Forest Team 🌳
Unclear pricing and recent price hikes…
Unclear pricing and recent price hikes not highlighted. App laggy and GPS recognition awful. Bikes often broken and can't end ride. Stupid joke messages when waiting ages for ride to end. Stands unstable so often see piles of bikes due to gusts of wind. Price rises now make Lime bundles same price and more reliable.
22 September 2025
Unprompted review
Reply from Forest
Hello Stephen,
Thank you for taking the time to leave your review.
I'm really sorry to hear that you find our pricing unclear, all pricing is mentioned before starting a ride on the pre-ride screen. 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.
I'm also sorry to hear that you've had issues ending rides. In future, if you encounter any difficulties ending a ride, please do not hesitate to contact our Support & Community team right away. We’re here to help, and can assist you in ending the ride promptly. 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 🌳
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