Pods Swimming

★★★★★Shara Dube

Highly recommend Pods! We hosted my daughter’s 7th birthday party there and everyone had the best time. The staff was incredibly helpful and the space was perfect for a party.

★Claire A. Wheeler

I was interested in starting my baby son for swimming lessons here, but after an extremely offputting interaction with the people at pods, I thought better of it. First off, when I asked if there was any option of a one-off trial swim before signing up for an ongoing monthly membership I was told no in a very patronizing and unhelpful manner. The woman at the end of the line seemed to think I needed lessons in how to parent. She went on about how children need to do things multiple times before you can tell if they like it or not. That there was no way I was going to be able to judge whether it was a good fit for my child based on one lesson and therefore my inquiry was unreasonable and irrelevant. #1. What?! That might be her opinion, but it is entirely subjective and honestly a bit ridiculous. Some kids take time to warm up to things, others don’t. And swim classes for one-year-olds is not like getting your child to eat or getting them to sleep, both of which are not optional and you have to push through it even if there are tears for all involved! As it happens, my son is pretty chill and likes most things and I was fully prepared to endure a little bit of uncertainty or unhappiness at going underwater at the start. But different parents may have different thresholds and want to see how their kid fares. It is entirely reasonable for someone to decide that their kid needs a little more time, and opt to try again in three or six months or even a year. I don’t appreciate some lady deciding that she knows better and parents who take a gentler approach are clueless wimps. #2. In what world are we required to sign up for a service that we have never experienced, at a venue we have never even been inside, with teachers we have never met, and pay for at least six weeks upfront? The six weeks is because of the way they bill you, so that you have to cancel a month before the first day of the NEXT month in order not to be charged. Good luck pulling that nonsense in a yoga studio or a gym. #3. How do I know what your hygiene standards are like? How overcrowded it might be, or whether the instructor assigned to my class is fun and supportive, or phoning it in, or checked out to the point of negligence? How do I know if the bathrooms are well maintained and the changing rooms are clean? All these things are part of the purpose of a trial. But on the contrary, the lady on the phone seemed to think that she was doing me a big favor by offering to take my money and all she wanted to give me was a list of their very important rules about diapers which have buttons and diapers which do not. This is not some kind of elite super-academy, that I should be so grateful to send my child to. There are other options. And in fact, we chose one of those other options – goldfish swim school in Warwick. Who were only too pleased to offer us a trial lesson, and a free trial lesson at that. Honestly pods is a little closer to our house and I would’ve preferred to go there. But I’ve learned in life that if the vibes start out bad, they don’t tend to get a whole lot better. If you’re reading this review, take the time to read some of the other one star reviews. They all mention poor program management and a lot of unpleasantness with the same program director.

★★★★★John Mainella

An amazing learning experience for our son. Miss Jenna is the best. Comfortable from our first class. Highly recommend having your child learn the basics and safety around the pool/water.

★Jessica Rodrigues

Pods Swimming was a nightmare for us. Enrollment was disorganized, and my daughter was placed in the wrong class. The teacher would not let her out of the pool to use the bathroom, even while she was crying and asking repeatedly. She was forced to do skills she wasn’t comfortable with, ignored despite another teacher trying to intervene, and left screaming and visibly distressed. This all happened because Pods enrolled her incorrectly. I did not ask for a refund—only that the remaining classes be saved as a credit. Instead, the director ignored my actual request, copied and pasted the no-refund policy, and advised me that they reserve the right to change teachers at any time—which was not what I was disputing. The issue was their administrative error and how it was handled. She ultimately stopped responding altogether. They kept our $90 and showed zero accountability or concern for a young child’s well-being. I absolutely do not recommend Pods Swimming.

★★★★★Gillian Imse DeSoiza

We are so incredibly happy with our experience so far at Pods! My 5 year old was able to swim independently and confidently all summer because of his swim lessons there! He was so proud to be able to do this and it really made a positive impact on his pool experiences. My 2 year old is also making such incredible progress. He cried for probably the first year we took him but we just kept coming back and boy was it worth it! He finally is happy and has made SO much progress. Thank you SO much to Marguerite and Jenna for always taking such good care of the kids and teaching them so well. They both are so good with kids who are crying and help you feel so comfortable even when they are. They never made me feel bad that my kid was crying or difficult.. thank you! Pods is 100% worth the time and money! And we just had a 3rd who will most definitely be doing lessons there too so I can have 3 strong, confident swimmers :)