Started private swim lessons here for my daughter in February. Things went sideways quickly: the original instructor was repeatedly dunking my daughter's head under the water without our consent. We requested a switch, but by then the damage was done -- she now refuses to attend at all. Over February through April we were billed about $1,160 for very few classes she actually felt safe taking. Cancellation is straightforward (drop confirmed today). The owner I spoke with was professional, but the 30-day-notice policy combined with the auto-bill-on-the-25th model means you keep paying weeks after your child won't go anymore. Refund declined despite the safety reason for stopping. One star: lessons are real, billing model is not consumer-friendly when something goes wrong. read more

My 5 year old son had the best birthday party here! He loved it and had so much fun! Highly recommend. Arabelle was the party host and the whole team was a big help! read more

Saf-T-Swim - Swimming Lessons/Schools Near Me - Bellmore, New York

Sad-t-swim is pretty dingy, the instructors are kids and the parents are behind this thick glass that you can't really hear too much about what's going on. But you can tell that half the time the instructors (bunch of teenagers) "teaching" the kids are talking about their weekend or whatever. And honestly, the issue isnt the teenage instructors acting like teenagers, it's that there's no oversight and no competition for business so the place is run terribly. We had an issue that was fairly serious with our child being told something very personally negative that was uncalled for. This happened in front of a "manager" (18 year old kid). First they all denied it, then the instructors admitted it. The owners offered us nothing and frankly once I spoke with the owners and realized they didn't care at all other than the concern of that maybe we would try to take legal action, I wanted nothing to do with them. They did nothing illegal, just an instructor speaking to my child in extremely negative ways. We Go to Goldfish in Farmingdale now. We originally avoided going there because they didn't have 1-1 instruction each time. It's almost a blessing though that Saf-t-swim did something so over the top ridiculous to a my 4 year old though. Goldfish is Much cleaner, much better oversight of instructors and children and more of a defined program for each kid each session. I originally avoided Goldfish because they do group lessons and my kids are all under 5. But they spread 1-3 kids in a group and there are 1-3 instructors per group + a lifeguard for the pool as well as an adult oversight manager so I'm never worried about anything. Also, the kids learn a lot from watching each other. Also the place is so clean and brightly lit. Plain fact is Saf-t swim didn't care when we had any issues and once a new swim school opens near this place saf-t-swim will probably go out of business. Right now there's just no other option. read more

Save your money. First off let me say to try and get an instuctor you want is difficult to start with. I have 2 girls who want female instructors. There system they have with booking is confusing to begin with I dont even think the people who work there know how it works. I did what they said and booked WAY in advance like 6 months with 2 female instuctors. Then luckily I called about a month my kids were suppose to start to confirm and make sure we are all set and guess what my kids are not with the instructors i booked with. Come in really whats the problem. Ok so i do it all over again with them and we get it all straighten out and reschedule them. Wouldn't you know every my kids have a different insructor. The kicker is the instructor my daughter is supposed to have is in the pool with another kid. Wtf. This place is horrible. Dont aggravate yourself. read more

We love the team at Safe-t-swim Bellmore. They always try to accommodate as much as they can. If you need help signing up just ask Barbara as she will figure it out for you. All the instructors go out of there way to help.Our 19 month old can get himself out of the pool by himself and stay a float! Thank you team!!! read more

Non Organized place , they keep changing the Instructors , the whole idea is to get a stable instructor to your child , which is not there , every couple of weeks , your child will have a new instructor who knows nothing about your child , and take time to get in track with your child , then again left the place , and you have to start with another one. This leads to build up make ups , which at the end will expire , in clear speech you pay money and be ready that they will be gone . My daughter for the last 2 yrs and still in level 3 . don't go there. AN UPDATE , I contacted the Safe-T Swim corporate office : I Asked for any responsible person to inform with my claim , the reply was , no one here to take this complain . Corporate office , that has no one to even talk to you about the problem you have it with the branch. Just pay little more money and go any where else. read more

To say that this place is unorganized is an simply not enough. I am a very schedule oriented person so I planned lessons far in advanced. Each week we would arrive and simply not know who my 2 year old's instructor was. I would take her into the pool area and all of the teen instructors would look at each other completely unaware. No one ever knew who they were teaching... never knew which level my child was in, never had a clue. There was one day the "manager " came out: he was basically the only adult there and simply yelled at the swim instructors in front of everyone. They cancelled so many classes on us... they also seemed to alway loose customer files. Needless to say i found a new place that is excellent. Do not bother coming here. Run away! read more

We have been year round loyal customers for over 2 years now, but after we finish this session we will no longer be using this business. This past spring my daughters time slot was given away mid session (something that is guaranteed not to happen when you prebook sessions which includes a deposit) to a returning family that was returning and wanted her teacher after taking a break (yes they were treated with more respect than year round customers, great business practice!) we weren't specifically attached to this teacher so it was more the losing the time slot that upset me. After multiple calls and an interaction with Barbara at the front desk which was unpleasant (she said there was nothing she could do and I was talking in circles). I finally heard from Leslie the manager and she did finally secure us another teacher at that time although there ended up being more miscommunication and someone called later that week to confirm our "new" time slot (talk about disorganization!). I am also baffled that we were offered nothing but an apology to make up for being treated so poorly. BTW the teacher we had we only saw once or twice more with another child at our time slot and now is no longer there so looks like that worked out real well for them. I am good with the teacher our child has now it's not his fault we have had a crappy experience with management, but I will not be returning after our sessions are over and I would never recommend this company or more specifically this location to anyone. I did tell 1-2 families to try this one a long time ago bc I liked them originally and they did and they were not pleased for other reasons including last minute cancellations with little notice, poorly trained instructors etc. hence they did not return either. I also got friendly with other families at my time slot and watch them pull a similar stunt on another family with taking away their time slot after 10 years of going there! My husband and I also feel that unfortunately these instructors are not pushing kids very hard to swim independently hence progress is extremely slow and you think you have to stay longer AKA pay longer. I know someone who switched to another swim school and watched their child's progress blossom after only a few weeks of lessons. I honestly just want people to be aware that just because u pre book sessions doesn't mean this school will honor it and don't even get me started on trying to book makeup sessions it's nearly impossible for a working parent. If I didn't speak up I would of lost our slot and been screwed over without a second thought and at the end of the day no one at this location really seemed to care about making it right except me. That's how u lose good customers. read more

I can't believe this place. We have been coming here every week for over a year, with two kids. We have invested over $3,000 in this place. In 2014, the pool has been closed over 10 times for "accidents". This means that someone's kid crapped in the pool. The swimmers are required to wear two diapers, which means there are some parents who aren't following the rules. So this closes the pool for several hours, canceling all swimming classes. There are 10-15 kids every half hour, so you do the math. So now you have to make up the class or classes you lost. And might I add these "accidents" are not random. We have a morning class, and the accident only happens before we arrive for the pool. So, they can pretty much track it down to the half hour of 15 kids that the accident is occurring in, but yet nothing has been done. The problem with these make-ups is that they won't add these missed sessions onto the end of your 10 week session, you have to find a time where you can be "fit in". Well, that doesn't happen. Myself as well as many other parents have stacks of "make up" slips that we can't use. And yes, I have complained to management, wrote letters, and apparantly nothing has changed. So, thanks to the parents for not following the rules, and thanks to Saf T Swim of Bellmore for not enforcing the two diaper policy. For this, you get my 1 star review. read more

Every week my daughter and son see Cameron, I make my appointments for classes far in advance and have no problem getting in with him for the season. If we couldn't see him the other instructors are also great. The front desk is very helpful and organized. Most importantly, my 3 year old is on the verge of being able to swim on her own! Its clean, fun and my children will not be afraid of the water. My children were both apprehensive at first but he worked with them and we have had a great turnaround. I think it's worth every penny, but you have to be ahead of the game in securing your classes with whomever you request, it's not rocket science. We love Safety Swim. read more

It is very difficult to book a good instructor.All good instructors are booked 1 year ago. Also, they comes and goes so often. It is just waste money if your kids are younger than 5 years old. read more

Many months ago, the establishment had a few errors on staffing that led to some parental dismay. However, most of this problems have been handled and now we can get back to the business of teaching kids to swim. The stand alone fun was the party: consider an indoor pool big enough to hold 15-20 kids where the staff creates. Safe environment with courteous staff. I know many parents would disagree with the last statement but I am here to tell you year round heated pool instruction is definitely the way to go. "Why no five?" I not only believe in improvement but also we are still dealing with a bounce back moment. In a few months if all stays clean and clear I'll bump up my rating. read more

I have to say all my kids go to this location! From my 16 year old down to my 1 year old. Barbara at the front desk is amazing and always helpful to reschedule, do make ups or anything she can accommodate you with. I'm writing because so many people only write when it's negative and never give anything when it's positive. Cameron , Leslie and Alyssa are just a few names to throw out there that are amazing at what they do. They have patients that go above and beyond. If you bring ur kid and expect them to be swimming in 2 months then your expections are Unreasonable. But I highly recommend this facility. Thanx for listening Tara S read more

We have been bringing our kid here for years and most of the instructors have been great and are really good with children. I would recommend this place to anyone. The only complaint would be the young kids that they hire to work the front desk. Some are fine but some are just too immature and/or rude to work with the public and need training in customer service. read more

Great place to teach your children to swim and learn all the safety procedures affiliated with swimming. Good instructors...

My 5 year old has been taking lessons for 4 years now! We started with a mommy and me class and then he moved on to individual lessons! He looooves his instructor and has become such a good swimmer! You can't live on long island without knowing the life skill of swimming and we are so glad we picked safe-t-swim in Bellmore to invest in his life skill! The staff is so nice and accommodating! The water is always clean. I've recommended swim lessons here to many and will continue to do so. Our one year old is starting lessons now too! read more

I have to say our experience wasn't good here at all. My daughter started when she was just 4 months old and we continued until she was 3. We originally started at the Levittown location and then moved to Bellmore to follow our daughter's swim teacher who was changing locations; at that time my daughter was turning 2. Unfortunately, our daughter's teacher ended up leaving b/c he got another job. We went through about 4 teachers b/c of the high turn over rate. My daughter never progressed. All of her teachers always seemed tired, bored, yawning, and didn't engage with my daughter at all. All the instructors just held the children and just talking to each other and not the kids at all. To be honest, they all seemed hungover. Many times my daughter's lessons were cancelled, either the pool was shut down or her teacher would be absent. I was never able to get a makeup. The woman at the front, Barbara, was never helpful. One time I came out to make a payment, I didn't get a chance to even open my mouth to say anything and she goes "no! There are no makeups." I said "ok, but I'm not here to ask about that." Barbara was always hit or miss. But I was never able to schedule makeup's. So we made the decision to leave. My daughter currently goes to Goldfish swim in Garden City since the summer and she's doing amazing. She's actually swimming on her own and has moved up a level in just 4 months. That's another thing, at Saf-T-Swim my daughter never made it pass level 2 in the 3 years she was there. Don't waste your child's time here. Goldfish swim is very professional and they interact and engage with the kids. read more

My experience has been the complete opposite of what most of the reviews are saying. We are completely satisfied with way they run this place, the instructors are great, they engage with the students, they try their best with the difficult kids. I used to go to the location on Oceanside and East meadows, the Bellmore location is way better! read more

My daughter has been coming to Saf T Swim in Bellmore for 4 years. She is 5 and just passed Level 7. My son is 2 and is passing Level 1. There are so many good instructors there and they make it very easy to schedule make ups when we miss a lesson. Over the years we have been with several instructors all who have been very good. The best instructor for my 2 kids is Jen K. who has been absolutely amazing. She is so sweet and puts them at ease. She makes working really hard fun and that is priceless. Level 7 requires about 17 laps and 4 minutes of treading water and my daughter was able to do it because of Jen K. My husband and I can not thank her and Saf T Swim enough for teaching our kids these valuable life saving skills. Please Saf T Swim do anything you can to keep Jen K there! The staff up front is also nice and pleasant especially Leslie who we see most often. She always interacts with the kids and is such a nice person. I've also heard she is a great instructor. To all those parents with negative reviews I would just say that you can not expect the first instructor your child sees to be the perfect fit. Sometimes you have to try several instructors to find a good match with your child's personality. The staff up front is super easy to talk to and is willing to switch your child's instructor if you are not happy. It is extremely rare for the pool to close down due to an accident in the pool. It has happened maybe 5 times to us in 4 years. I look at these situations as something that is inevitable when you deal with young kids which is unlikely to happen if the parents follow the guidelines set by Saf T Swim. I am grateful that they care that much about keeping the pool clean and safe for our kids. I highly recommend this place to anyone. We live on an island and being a good swimmer is a valuable life skill. read more

This company is run by kids who have no idea what they're doing. My son has been going here for two years and in that time he has had at least 20 different instructors and they have confused his schedule endless amounts of time and prevented him from learning more since which each instructor he starts from scratch with them. I've continued because of the benefits the water has on my son and the convenience of the location to our house but no longer. This is a waste of your money. The kids teaching your kids spend most of the time talking to each other then paying attention to your child. Its a joke of a company. read more

We have been swimming at Saf-t-Swim for the past ten years. This should be enough to tell you that we are extremely satisfied. The instructors take pride in their work, and in teaching the children the important message about water safety. Their prices are fair. The staff has good knowledge about child development and uses good teaching strategies (structured sessions, reinforcers, and repetition). They accept all children with varying abilities which says a lot about a facility! They work with families to meet personal goals. They set goals for their students and acknowledge their achievements. All instructors and office staff are very approachable and work with families to accommodate schedules as best they could. The environment is cheerful and clean. The waiting room has double-sided mirrors which allows you to watch your child's session without distracting them. Instructors give feedback after each session and are always available to answer your questions. The office staff is wonderful. They make you feel like your child is the most important child they have, they answer the phone promptly and do not leave you on hold for an extended period of time! They understand that our time, as parents, is valuable! read more

Management care less about any concern you have after you signed up for a full session.Had a horrible experience there today,spoke to John at the front desk and he would not even look at my face while I was talking.Avoid this swim school. read more

Terrible. Please don't even bother going here...I signed my daughter up for individual lessons bc she is a little shy when it comes to big groups. She loves swimming goes in the pool everyday and the ocean so it's not that she doesn't like swimming. When we were there she didn't want to go in the pool and her instructor did NOTHING! He didn't even talk to her, he stayed in the pool and waited for her to go in. There was no interaction at all. I have been trying to get in touch with management for over two weeks now and she doesn't return my phone calls and doesn't come to the phone when I call. I am not happy with the instructors or management there. Don't waste your time or money your better off finding someone who is a certified swim instructor!! read more

THey advertised for the babies to swim free ages 2-6 months. I started my son at 3 months. The first thing said to me by my instructor was ," we were only trained to work with 6 months olds" - that made me feel extremely confident sending my son into the water. So I asked that maybe she just hold him in the water for exposure. I obviously know a 3 month old isn't going to be an Olympic swimmer but It seemed more like he'd be leaving with a fear of the water rather than actually enjoying it. I respected that she obviously felt uncomfortable so I switched. Got another girl who was like talking to dry toast. Not trying to be rude. Just keeping it real. Go somewhere that is trusted and a place that lives up to their advertisements. I've heard great things about other sites. Not this one though. I read the reviews beforehand and still went with it because everyone's experience is different - but for next time- I'll believe what I read. read more

Our daughter, now 3, has been swimming here since she was 6 months old. Currently she swims with Jess who we absolutely love although all of her teachers have been great. I do think some are better than others but overall her swim lessons have given her so much confidence in the water and most important to us is that she has no fear whatsoever. The place is clean and everyone is friendly. read more

My two year old daughter has been attending Saf T Swim in Bellmore for 7 months and we LOVE it! At first, like most toddlers, she cried during her lessons... but the staff was patient and worked through her fears with her. Now she literally asks me daily if she's going "swimming today?" The staff is friendly, the instructors are great with the kids, the locker rooms and pools are always clean... I really can't say enough positive things about this establishment. We are very pleased and satisfied Saf T Swim clients! read more

I have three children and never have I ever experienced anything as awful as I did with my youngest at Saf-T-Swim. During my daughter's first lesson there, which was with Anthony, I was upset when I heard him telling my daughter - who is 2 - to stop crying and that "Momma's not coming back." I wish I had gone in and removed my girl from the lesson right then, but I had too much trust that this "professional" knew what he was doing. It got worse. Thankfully, because there was no one else there, we were able to hear what he said next, which he repeated multiple times (we thought we HAD TO have misheard him and wanted to listen again. He told my 2 year old that if she didn't stop crying, she was going underwater!!!! What kind of person THREATENS a baby?!?! We burst in and removed my daughter from the lesson, who was in the lesson for under 10 minutes. What bothers me most of all is that, while our money was refunded without argument, Anthony still works there. How could a company keep an employee who said such a thing to a child when his job is to work with children? I am completely disgusted. Never, ever would I go to this company again. We had $100 gift certificate I used. That could not be refunded, so I lost it. But I would never bring my child there, even if it were free. STAY AWAY from this place!!!! read more