Forest Bewertungen 

Very misleading advertising about free minutes and what you actually end up paying. terrible experience

While Forest offers better minute value for long commutes, almost every single operational and physical aspect of their service is infuriating—saved only by the fact that the bikes are actually intact.

​Financial & Service Traps

​The Predatory "Unlock Fee" on Top of Paid Passes: Charging a £5 unlock fee after you’ve already bought a minute pass is ridiculous. I was once left completely stranded after dropping my sister off at school—I spent the last of my money on a pass to get home ASAP, only to discover I couldn't unlock the bike because I didn't have extra funds for the unlock fee wall.

​Restricted Service Area: Their area of influence—where you can actually ride and park—is far too small compared to competitors, severely limiting where you can realistically take the bike.

​Physical Discomfort & Bad Design
​Agonizing, Inconsistent Seats: The seats are terrible. I’ve encountered two types, and both fail. The wide brown style is so slick you spend the ride gripping for dear life just to stay upright. The alternative style is rock-hard and feels like sitting on a boulder, forcing you to sit on the very back edge just to tolerate it, which compromises your steering control.

​Shallow, Useless Baskets: The baskets are far too shallow. On London’s bumpy roads, anything you put in there will bounce out—I’ve lost personal belongings because of this. Now I have to risk hanging bags on the handlebars or shoving everything into my pockets.

​Motor & Performance

​Underwhelming Assist & Heavy Drag: Riding down major roads like the A315 toward Knightsbridge is physically exhausting. Instead of a smooth 50/50 effort split, you end up putting in 100% of the force because the bike actively drags to lock you into an 18–20 km/h cap. You arrive at work drenched in sweat.

​The One Saving Grace: Structural Integrity

​Better Condition Than Lime: Credit where it's due—Forest bikes are consistently in much better physical condition than Lime. You can actually find one, and when you do, it isn't completely trashed. With Lime, half the fleet is missing pedals, seats, or has smashed baskets. Forest might give you a painfully draining ride, but at least you feel safe knowing the frame won't snap in half or lose a wheel mid-commute.

​Universal PSA for ALL E-Bikes (Forest, Lime, Voi, Bolt, etc.)

​DO NOT Use Built-in Phone Holders: Whatever you do, do not trust the phone mounts on any of these rental bikes on London roads. Between shallow holders and London’s potholes, those mounts are phone-shattering traps. I’ve personally lost a phone to them, and I’ve literally watched people drop their phones or become victims of crashes because they were staring down at their screens while riding. Looking down instead of paying attention to the road puts you at massive risk of running straight into a car. Stop off on the side of the road to check your directions—it keeps your phone alive and keeps you safe.

​Summary: If you need maximum minutes for your money and want a bike that is structurally sound, Forest gets the job done. But expect a painfully uncomfortable, physically exhausting ride with predatory fee structures.

All of this is purely from experience

I have been a user for several month and overal experience is extremely poor.

You end up wasting a lot of time dealing with bike problems and also you will pay for that time.

Renting a bike? 1 out 5 it takes > 30 seconds, the bike will light up, then go dark. The app reports the ride started, the bike wheels would be locked. Cancel the ride, try another bike.

Bikes have issues all the time. Acceleration stops working mid ride, flat tires, poor brakes.

Ending a ride is always a hustle. The parking zone is super small and even when you parked in the right place, they would not allow you to end ride. You end up spending extra minute to find a place where your gps will line up with the 'correct' zone. You will pay for this time.

On top of that even good rides end up costing you extra. It takes 10 to 30 seconds to unlock a bike. By the time the app reports bike unlocked, it already has 10-30 seconds on the clock. You pay for this.

Terrible service. No customer support. They don't respond. I equally jumped on their 30min free ride only to be charged £5.29 which am trying claim back. I strongly do not recommend

Absolutely terrible, stopped near the river for a drink and got fined without warning, we paused our time, the bike got cancelled without warning then got fined. Terrible, terrible experience.

Shocking condition. Dangerous bikes. Never again. Brakes failed, battery at 20%. Rubbish

We paused our ride for 20 minutes on one of the hottest days in London - we need a drink. 3 bikes, an honest and London based family and we were fined £20 per bike. Bikes were in a shocking state but we rented them anyway to support Forest bikes. Never again. Thieves.

I submitted my student ID and my regular id for the student discount and they proceeded to terminate my account as I was “under 18” when I submitted my id which literally shows that im 18+.
I’ve tried to contact them multiple times - their phone lines have been “down” for a week now and no one gets back to you on email. I’m unable to use any other biking service as the 2 boroughs I need to use bikes for doesn’t allow any other service in favour for Forest.
This company is a joke

Worst service , no experienced staff , no repairs of e-bikes , bikes got turn off when you sit in it after a pause of a while being away from it and app will start lagging . It’s too much headache 🤕 .

I was charged despite using a promo code, raised two ‘live chat queries’ (i.e. an automated AI system that clearly no one checks) and have emailed with no response after a week.

Avoid avoid avoid . Absolutely unacceptable ok overall . The customer service is a joke. And the bikes are the worst out there.

Very vague pricing, no clear explanation how “first 30 min for £1” claim works. I ended up being charged £13.20 for 36 min ride.
Other hidden charges that are not mentioned in the app.
This company needs to be scrutinized by ASA, asap.

Upd: Contacted company through email, chat - zero response.

terrible. They don’t answer phone answer emails or live chat is dead chat with no humans present. Three times this month they have stolen money from me with no way to contact them to get it back. Somebody has suggested chargeback so will try this. Please use lime bikes instead. this is a terribly run company snd should be closed down. The funny thing is under this and all the 1star reviews on trustpilot they reply and pretend they care and invite you to send another pointless email to them which is directed straight to their recycle bin.

I had an incredibly frustrating experience with Forest Bikes and would not recommend them.

I only used a Forest bike because I had no other option—I was on my way to an important job interview and couldn’t afford to waste any more time. I cycled roughly one mile to Dollis Hill Station, only to discover that the app wouldn’t let me end my ride because I was apparently outside the permitted parking zone.

The most frustrating part is that the app gave absolutely no warning while I was cycling. If I had been notified as soon as I entered an unsupported area, I could have turned around immediately. Instead, I only found out once I had reached my destination, by which point the nearest parking zone was another mile away. That is a huge design flaw.

To make matters worse, I was charged £30. I genuinely don’t understand how this is fair. The app should clearly warn users before they leave the operational area, especially when the boundary is so close to where the bike was picked up. Expecting customers to know the exact location of invisible zone boundaries is completely unreasonable.

It also makes very little sense that the service operates in Harlesden but not nearby Dollis Hill/Willesden. The coverage feels inconsistent and misleading.

This entire situation could have been avoided with a simple in-app alert or clearer navigation. Instead, I was left stressed, late for an interview, and charged £30 because of poor app design. I won’t be using Forest Bikes again unless they make significant improvements to how they communicate parking restrictions.

Complete shitshow. Company never pickup or respond. I will NEVER use them again.

I downloaded Forest to save money compared to London public transport, but it ended up costing way more. Before unlocking, the app promised me 43 free minutes and a £1 unlock fee. My ride took 49 minutes, so I should have been charged less than £3. Instead, the app completely ignored my free minutes and charged me £12.22!A look online shows that this is an ongoing systemic glitch where Forest's app fails to apply advertised promotions to new customers. Do not use this service if you are trying to save money. Absolute scam. I want my money back immediately!!!

Charged £16.50 for a 10 minute hire because I could not stop the ride for over 50 mins, even though bike not moving. Then unable to contact support or raise a Ticket. Will ensure I never use again, so disappointing

Bought the 500mins bundle over two weeks ago. Despite using several bikes over that period my bundle minutes remain the same and im still being charged for individual rides. Tried to contact forest via the app and on email no response. Am now going to approach my bank to see if I can recoup the costs.

It's pathetic. They have advertised that ride is of £1 for first 30 mins but at the end of ride after 29 mins they have charged £10.40. Raised multiple issues on their live chat and email but they did not reply. Their phone line is also not working. Don't fall for their false advertisement.

Atrocious customer service (or lack thereof). When the app was facing an outage and error with ending rides, it informed me that my ride was ended successfully, only to then deduct £17 from my bank account (rather than the actual £2 it should have). I’ve spent a week trying to email, call, and chat to them on their customer support bot only to receive NO REPLY WHATSOEVER!!

AVOID THIS BRAND AT ALL COSTS