Zip World Reviews 1,240

Firstly here's the email address of the CEO of SMART PARKING, the con artists behind many of the complaints on this review thread.
paul dot gillespie at smartparking dot com
Upon arrival I was directed to an overflow car park by a member of Zip World without a word or obvious signage, (if signage is adequate why are so many reviews on just this thread alone complaining about parking fines?) up a hill, in what appeared to be a quarry and some walk away from Zip World.
I appealed the fine sent by SP (£100) which arrived beyond the 14 days required showing my reg but still no signage or obvious location but received no response.
Now battling Debt recovery Plus for an escalation to £170 which has completely ruined the experience, yeah my neices are coming from Australia for Christmas and it would have been on the list but we'll do something else now.

PARKING SCAM - ZERO COSTUMER SERVICE. attended in early September for golf at Blaenau ffestiniog and received a letter from debt collectors due to a parking fee I was totally unaware of. No PCN received and I'm supposed to pay £170 within less than a week of receiving the debt collectors letter or the pursue court action!
I contacted costumer service and the brush if off as an issue with the parking company that is running a car park on their land!
Absolutely appalling!!
Also, no clear signage in the car park, at the entry of the building or inside of the building.

What they are doing is a SCAM!! Not even allowing people to appeal the parking fine and fighting for their rights!!

I took my family there on a drizzly day at the end of August. We thought it would be a good way to spend the day given the weather.
We arrived at 10:33am and the car park was pretty full so parked up next to another car. As we had not booked anything we decided to go and see what activities were suitable for two adults and one 8 year old.
It took a while to speak to someone inside as it was so busy, and given the wait times and high prices decided not to book anything.
We left the car park at 10:53am and thought nothing more of it.
Two months later I received a letter from smart parking with a charge notice of £100. I was only there for 20 minutes as confirmed by their penalty notice and bearing in mind that this place is in the middle of nowhere so it’s not as if people go there to use the parking for other non related activities. But if Zip World want to treat their customers like a cash cow and charge for parking even 20 minutes then you should be aware. I’m just glad I didn’t pay for any of their activities like some on here have. It’s also telling that Zip World do not respond to any of these complaints like many companies do when a negative review is posted. What more proof do you need to see what this company thinks of its customers.

Booked tickets and ticket protection (refund protection cost £5.50). Refund refused, I need to prove my daughter wasn’t well enough to go with a GP letter. I don’t take my kids to the GP or A&E with a sickness bug I let it run its corse for 48 hours. What an absolute scam.

Hello I visited Zip world Fforest and this was not my 1st visit but I have been twice previously and also been to Zip Worl Penrhyn Quarry 3 times. However my most recent trip on 12/09/24 has been ruined by the surprise parking fine I received post from Smart Parking at the start of October asking me to pay a fine of £100. I wasn’t aware of the changes to the parking; I have never had to pay for parking on my previous visits and there was nothing obvious I didn’t notice any signage or parking machines Nothing that would stand out or be obvious. After receiving the fine I enquired and was told you pay via machine in reception that is a very subtle way to pay no big machine in car park with a pay here sign like you expect. I was informed that it is in the email. I am dyslexic and struggle with big blocks of text and you send multiple emails mostly spam related so I scan through the ones I need I did not notice that one small text line that says Parking charges now apply. We went on a quiet day we were the only people in reception the assistant was aware we had not used the machine to pay for parking with such a big change that results in extortionate parking fines a polite “Have you paid for you parking” would have been helpful. I didn’t even look at the tablet screens in reception as I know that’s where people sign the waivers but I had already done them online before arriving I feel it is really bad form and poor customer service especially for a high end product like Zip world that is already quite expensive but worth it but this experience has just put us all off every returning its feels underhanded and sly. I fully understand rising cost means alternative ways to boost profits are needed and my issue is not paying for parking it’s the fact it is such a big change that wasn’t communicated very well as if I knew I had to pay for parking I would have. I tried to contact Zip world via the chat app on website but just had short and very sassy replies.

Unfortunately we had a rotten experience at Zip World due to terrible customer service.

We booked a Zip Safari for one adult and three children. The website booking and waiver system permitted this without flagging any issue.

In fact, Zip World had allowed us to book an activity that they wouldn’t actually allow us to participate in.

Upon arrival we were told you need one adult for every two under-18s on the zip lines. I suggested workarounds such as splitting the kids into two groups so I could accompany them both for half the trail, or booking an extra ticket for me so I could bring the third child round the next day, but we were confronted with no after no.

Everything is non-refundable so we ended up spending the £160 ticket price sending the kids round an underwhelming junior trail by themselves and I received a £15 credit for next time!

PARKING CHARGES ARE A COMPLETE JOKE!!
We visited on 11th October and unlike other reviewers we were aware of the parking fee after seeing other reviews. We duly went to reception and we asked to hire two of the red boiler suits and to pay for parking. I even inputted my car registration into a tablet. So assumed that it was all sorted when I paid (tapped my phone). Two weeks later I get a parking fine of £100 through the post (£60 if paid quickly). I then thought no problem and checked my bank account for proof of the transaction. The transaction must not have gone through as nothing on my statement. I contacted Zipworld and they said no proof of purchase nothing they can do. I asked if they could check the cctv as you will see us at reception hiring and paying and using the tablet for the reg. They said no. Without proof there is nothing they can do. I am so angry as this is not my fault!! It has left a very bitter taste and I would not recommend for anyone to visit!!!

JOIN ME AND MANY OTHERS WHO ARE NOW BOYCOTTING ZIP WORLD AFTER RECEIVING £100 PCNs WHEN THEY GOT HOME.
NUMEROUS PEOPLE ARE STILL RECEIVING PCNs FROM SMART PARKING LIMITED OVER 3 MONTHS AFTER THE CAR PARKING CHARGES WERE INTRODUCED.

The number of LOW rating reviews on Trust Pilot for Zip World continue to grow.
I have asked my MP to raise Smart Parking and similar companies with the appropriate Minister. Google "Trust Pilot reviews for Smart Parking Limited" and see the number of bad reviews they have.
I have also had input to an article in Wales Online News, and raised it with the BBC to investigate.

I have no objections to paying for car parking but as can be seen from the numerous reviews of the car parking issues raised not only at Zip World but nationwide UK that Smart Parking are reknown for issuing PCNs. Also see their website for what their own staff think of them.

Date of experience: 18 September 2024

Absolutely ridiculous parking charge. this was my 4th time to visit this place i Paid £450 to go on zip line for our family. they have no option to pay by phone as i dont have a smart phone. I WILL NEVER VISIT THIS PLACE AGAIN !! Absolutely disgusting..
I didn’t want to leave a 1 star review as that’s too high. Zip world needs to acknowledge what they are doing to their customers as they won’t have any left soon.

Absolutely ridiculous parking charge. Paid £500 to go on zip line for our family. We took 2 cars. We paid the parking charge on both cars but the ‘app’ assigned one of the cars to another zip world car park. We appealed as parking charge was paid, but was rejected. NEVER VISIT THIS PLACE!! Absolutely disgusting..
I didn’t want to leave a 1 star review as that’s too high. Zip world needs to acknowledge what they are doing to their customers as they won’t have any left soon.

Such an incredible adventure destination! The attractions are thrilling, and the coaster is a standout experience; pure adrenaline and stunning views all the way down. The staff is friendly and safety is a top priority, making it a perfect spot for families. Highly recommended for an unforgettable day out!

Parking fine after spending a lot of money on the Fforest Coaster rides.
I have a holiday rental business and will advise my guests against using these ripoff merchants. I will also warn the holiday booking company that I am with (largest one in the UK) to warn other owners of holiday accommodations to let their guests know of this scam!

OMG 4 of is spent £500 here, zip line, videos and bar… then retrospectively we get £100 parking fine. The collusion between the parking company and Zip World is utterly disgusting… its ENTRAPMENT . The signs aren’t in plain site, Zip World aren’t highlighting on arrival they have this SCAM in place… you arrive in the middle of nowhere and obviously the only thing you care about is getting a good look at the zip lines… SCAM SCAM SCAM! I was going back in a group of 20, I’ve cancelled for Go Ape… which tbh is MORE FUN ANYWAY!!!! Ban Zip World & Watch Dog here comes our complaint….

The staff at Zipworld are lovely, friendly and helpful. We went on Velocity 2 which is a 'flight' on a smaller zipwire then a 'flight' on a longer much higher up zipwire. They were both very enjoyable if a little overpriced. A few months ago my partner and I went on aero explorer which again, was fun but overpriced but at this point the parking was free.

Today we were surprised and tbh, disgusted to find that not only had we paid an arm and a leg for the ride but we also had to pay for parking. It's not a huge amount but to force people to sign up to an 'app' that they don't want, provide their personal information when they didn't want to (you have no choice if you don't want the hassle of fighting the fine you get slapped with if you don't pay)and then charge an extra fee for the 'privilege' is disgusting, not to mention unethical, they could have at least provided a machine at which you could pay cash minus the extra fee.

I've enjoyed many of the Zipworld adventures, I will not be doing any more!

I’m extremely disappointed with our recent experience at Zip World Wales. We spent over £200 for a day out, only to be slapped with a £100 parking ticket despite having a blue badge for disabled parking. There was no clear signage about parking fees, and it seems we’re not alone – the news and many other visitors have echoed similar frustrations.

Being charged £100 for missing a £3 parking ticket feels like a blatant rip-off. It’s especially upsetting when we already paid a considerable amount to enjoy the day. Zip World needs to be more transparent and accommodating for all visitors. Sadly, after this experience, I can’t recommend Zip World, and I certainly won’t be returning to any of their locations

Good activities. Some staff great, others not so friendly or helpful..
Activities are expensive, and it adds up for families, or multiple activities, so I was very disappointed (and surprised, given the location) to see the car parking charges when I visited last weekend. I used to just visit the cafe previous - I will not anymore. It will also put me off visiting any of the zipworld sites. Plus, the £5 booking fee. Just keeps adding more and more to the adventure

Watch out for parking fees £100 fine and there customer service don’t care, we spent over £700 on separate visits and received £200 fine.

I just read the problems about parking at zip world in wales. I was planning a visit but this parking nonsense infuriates me. You cannot even pay cash in a parking machine, its download an app and pay via card..no thank you. Not worth the hassle.

Too expensive for what it is. Massive price increases along with expensive customer parking.

Went to zip world for 3 hours, paid around £300 , was no mention of parking on website or by staff. Received £100 fine from smartpark , and a £40 fine from car rental company for administration costs.

Zip world know exactly how to screw money out of people. ..will never return.