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
While we don't verify specific claims because reviewers' opinions are their own, we may label reviews as "Verified" when we can confirm a business interaction took place. Read more
To protect platform integrity, every review on our platform—verified or not—is screened by our 24/7 automated software. This technology is designed to identify and remove content that breaches our guidelines, including reviews that are not based on a genuine experience. We recognise we may not catch everything, and you can flag anything you think we may have missed. Read more
Review summary
Created with AI, based on recent reviews
What people talk about most
Reviews shaping this summary
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
Company replied
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 unst... 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
Company replied
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
341 reviews
Replied to 98% of negative reviews
Typically replies within 48 hours
How this company uses Trustpilot
See how their reviews and ratings are sourced, scored, and moderated.
Forest bikes are useless
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 hire. Absolutely useless replacement. No wonder I virtually NEVER see them around like the limes, they are either broken, out of charge or the app is compromised. Someone at the inept Hounslow Council was responsible for ensuring this useless thing replaced what was superb. As usual..
April 18, 2026
Unprompted review
Reply from Forest
Hi Laurence,
Thank you for taking the time to share your feedback, and we're sorry to hear about your experience.
Weather conditions and frequent use can affect our eBikes, but we've recently increased our Operations Team and hope you'll see improved bike quality and more frequently charged bikes soon. We'll also pass your feedback on to our tech team regarding the app issues you mentioned.
If you're open to it, we'd like to look into the specific app and availability issues you've encountered more closely. Please feel free to contact our support team with any details (locations, times, or recurring problems), and we'll investigate further.
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,
Miri
Forest Team🌳
Advertisement
Fraud and Scam
I booked an ebike for 35 mins by paying £3.99. in between the ride, the bike stopped and I tried many times to pause and restart the ride but it didn't work. So, I had to park by bike outside designated parking zone which has coated me £20 as parking fine even though it was not my fault at all. I couldn't even use my full 35 mins. I may have ridden the bike for 13 to 15 mins max out of 35 mins for which i paid £3.99. I feel scammed and cheated. This trip has coated me more than premium taxi ride. Please refund my money as I am currently out of work.
This was my first Forest ebike Ride. I took a bike from Sutton near to my home to travel to Purley Way, Croydon (distance of around 5 miles). I booked minutes bundle for 35 minutes by paying £3.99 as that was enough to allow me to ride to my destination and return home. On the onward journey, when I reached half of my journey, the bike stopped. I tried pausing and restarting the bike, uninstalling the app and reinstalling etc., but the bike didnot start. As the destination was still 2 miles away, I had no option but to park in non-designated zone, and therefore I was charged £20 fine for parking EVEN THOUGH IT WAS NOT MY FAULT. I also lost my minutes as I had only actually ridden for 15 minutes.
April 14, 2026
Unprompted review
Reply from Forest
Hi there,
We're really sorry to hear about your first experience, this isn't the kind of ride we want anyone to have, and we understand how frustrating this must have been!
We've requested a few more details from you via Trustpilot so we can investigate this properly. Once we have that information, we'll review the trip and look into both the unused minutes and the parking fine to make sure this is resolved fairly.
You can also reach out to us directly 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,
Miri
Forest Team🌳
75 quid for 15 miles and 3 hours usage
75 quid for 15 miles and 3 hours usage? Ridiculous
April 14, 2026
Unprompted review
Reply from Forest
Hello Josh,
Thank you for your review. We're sorry to hear there was confusion around our pricing.
We strive to be as transparent as possible with our pricing. The pricing is displayed before each ride. We would always advise double-checking this before each ride.
If there is a certain charge that you are unsure about, please kindly reach out to our support team and we can help.
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)
Just to let you know we also have Minute Bundles. If you are planning on taking longer rides or riding often, I would advise checking them out. These are set amounts of minutes you can buy, they can be found on the Menu in the app. There are also no unlocking fees when using our Bundles. 😃
Best wishes,
Gareth
Forest Team🌳
Mad I have to use this app
My line bike app has stopped working so recently ive been using forest instead. I can see clear differences between both apps. The positives of forest:
- The £1 for 30 minute bikes have been such a great money saver.
- Theres a lot more forest bikes in my area then when the app first came out
The negatives
- the bike compared to a lime isn’t very smooth. When I first started using it I was too scared to signal to people fearing I’d fall over. I still have this fear somewhat. I find it really unsatisfying to ride, like theres just little joy riding a forest bike compared to a Lime.
- safety! The amount of times this weak ive been on a busy road and the bike slows down ! I think it has something to do with the heads getting stuck but it is so so terrifying! Having to pull over on 3 lane roads, having the bike not start up quick enough when the lights change causing me to panic when cars behind get pissed off, and the breaks aren’t great either, luckily haven’t had to use them in an emergency but the day will come. I tried to ride the bike after rain one time and the bike kept slipping and jolting the wheel to the side. I know cycling in the rain is a no anyway but I can’t describe how cautiously I was cycling, slow breaking and going a medium pace.
- the £5 holding fee ! Ive taken the bike so many times this week. I guess 14 times so I now have £70 held up by forest. This is disgusting. Surely you don’t have to have a holding deposit every single time you use the bike. I can’t keep track of all that money being returned either. 5 days holding ! Surely this is to make money off of customers money, like American Express, where the money in holding earns interest before being returned to the consumer.
3- poor customer service. One thing I like about lime is how they handle bikes that won’t park, refund if you don’t go far, helping the consumer keep it moving. Forest does not do this. It gives you advice on how to sort the issue instead of having a quick fix for the issue.
Overall it’s a pretty dogshit app but them £1 30 minute rides will keep me coming back …
April 13, 2026
Unprompted review
Reply from Forest
Hi Poppy, thanks for taking the time to leave such detailed feedback, and we're sorry your experience hasn't been consistently positive.
We're glad you've found the 30 minute rides helpful and that availability has improved in your area!
We're sorry to hear that you're not finding the rides satisfying and that you've come across some faulty bikes. If a bike ever feels unsafe or behaves unusually, please end the ride and report it to us so we can report it to our operations team for inspection and repair.
The £5 hold is a technical requirement. It is released automatically after each trip, however the time it takes to return to your account can vary depending on your bank. We have passed your feedback on to the relevant teams.
We're also sorry to hear that you had some trouble with rides that wouldn't end and rides that didn't go far. If you could share specific trip details with our team via email to cs@humanforest.co.uk, we can look into these properly for you. Just to let you know, rides ended within two minutes are automatically refunded.
Thanks again for the honest feedback, it really helps us improve!
Best wishes,
Miri
Forest Team🌳
First time user
First time user, got a £20 fine for a 10 min journey tried connecting customer services but got no reply will never use again
April 10, 2026
Unprompted review
Reply from Forest
Hi there,
We're really sorry to hear about this!
We've requested your information so we can investigate this further and understand exactly what happened with your journey and the charge. Our team will then review your case as a priority and get back to you as soon as possible.
Best wishes,
Miri
Forest Team🌳
Advertisement
New Outrageous Charges are a Advertising Scam
New charges snuck in whilst still advertising up to 30 mins for a £1. This is false advertising and should be reported to the Advertising Standards Authority. Bikes now colour coded on app, and when you scan QR Code, to show if bike has free minutes. So complicated and a real scam. Only noticed it recently when I saw regular ride jump from £1.58 to £3.64!!! That's over 100% increase.
April 1, 2026
Unprompted review
Reply from Forest
Hi Nick,
Thank you for your review. We're sorry to hear there was confusion around our pricing.
Each bike offers up to 30 minutes, the number of minutes each bike offers varies from 1 to 30. This can be checked in the app before starting each ride.
Just to let you know we also have Minute Bundles, if you are planning on taking longer rides or riding often I would advise checking them out, these are set amounts of minutes you can buy, they can be found on the Menu in the app, there are also no unlocking or service fees when using our Bundles. 😃
Best wishes,
Gareth
Forest Team🌳
Avoid at all costs
Avoid at all costs. Horrible service and vague about pricing
March 14, 2026
Unprompted review
Reply from Forest
Hi Abdul Aziz,
Thank you for your review. We're sorry to hear there was confusion around our pricing.
We strive to be as transparent as possible with our pricing. The pricing is displayed before each ride. We would always advise double-checking this before each ride.
If there is a certain charge that you are unsure about, please kindly reach out to our support team and we can help.
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)
Just to let you know we also have Minute Bundles. If you are planning on taking longer rides or riding often, I would advise checking them out. These are set amounts of minutes you can buy, they can be found on the Menu in the app. There are also no unlocking fees when using our Bundles. 😃
Best wishes,
Gareth
Forest Team🌳
Impossible to use customer service in…
Impossible to use customer service in case of any issues - lines are closed, chat is a bot only, emails are left without answer. Advice to reinstall the app is not enough if you plan to scale, and didn't help in my case. Competition should move the company out of business as others are doing much better but unfortunately Hounslow council gave them a contract so they can enjoy doing nothing...
March 16, 2026
Unprompted review
Reply from Forest
Hi Natalie,
Thank you for your review.
I'm really sorry to hear that you're having issues with the app, I've also emailed you directly regarding this.
I'm also sorry to hear you've had trouble getting through to our support team. You can reach us using the contacts below. Our phone line is sometimes closed due to staffing but you can still reach an agent via the live chat if you ask the bot to pass you over to an agent you'll get transferred right away.
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🌳
Advertisement
Reply from Forest
Hi Brian,
Thank you for your review.
We're really sorry to hear you've encountered issues with bikes. We understand how important it is for our eBikes to be reliable. That's why we now ensure all eBikes receive a service at least every 3 weeks to keep them in tip-top shape. We’ll take your feedback on board to improve further. Please do get in touch ASAP if you experience any problems, and our Support Team will be happy to help. 🚴🔧 Just to let you know, you can also create a damage report in the app when you come across an issue. We then go over the reports manually and ensure the bikes are taken offline.
I'm also sorrry to hear you've had trouble getting through to our support team. 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🌳
Fleeced
Only used them twice. Good bikes but pricing is confusing and being charged £3.31 for an 8 minute ride is unacceptable. Rip off pricing.
Don't use them unless you're happy to be fleeced and pay over the odds.
You have been warned.
March 9, 2026
Unprompted review
Reply from Forest
Hi Neil,
Thank you for your review. We're sorry to hear you were surprised by our pricing.
We apologise for any confusion caused. We strive to be as transparent as possible with our pricing. The pricing is displayed before each ride. We would always advise double-checking this before each ride.
Just to let you know we also have Minute Bundles. If you are planning on taking longer rides or riding often, I would advise checking them out. These are set amounts of minutes you can buy, they can be found on the Menu in the app. There are also no unlocking fees when using our Bundles. 😃
Best wishes,
Gareth
Forest Team🌳
Got charged £20 extra
I parked the bike at a location in Homerton and got fined for £20. I did park at a bicycle parking lot.
but I find this fine too steep. I took the bike from
Tottenham to Homerton, it wasn't accepted by the app.
Call service and the live chat wasn't working either.
Park got validated but a 20 pounds flown away plus normal fee
March 6, 2026
Unprompted review
Reply from Forest
Hi Eren,
Thank you for sharing your experience. We're sorry to hear about the difficulty with ending your ride and the fine applied, we understand how frustrating this must have been.
Thanks for giving us some additional information so we could investigate the situation for you! With this, I was able to see that you out to us via email on 03/03 and my colleague waived the fine for you as a gesture of goodwill and replied to you.
For future rides, please do check the map before setting off. Red areas are always visible, and grey No Parking Areas appear once your ride begins. To view these grey zones in advance, you can tap on a bike on the map before starting your ride.
Best wishes,
Miri
Forest Team🌳
Terrible scam app
Terrible scam app. I ended my ride and got a confirmation but upon returning to the bike 30mins later, I saw the ride hadn’t ended and burnt all my minutes plus an extra charge.
Support isn’t compensating lost minutes. Terrible service.
March 3, 2026
Unprompted review
Reply from Forest
Hi Suyash,
Thank you for sharing your experience. We're very sorry to hear about the issue with your ride not ending correctly and the resulting loss of minutes. We understand how frustrating that must have been.
If you'd kindly reach back out to us about this, our support team will review the ride and make any necessary adjustments. 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,
Miri
Forest Team🌳
Advertisement
Horrible malfunctions occurring frequently:/
Recently I’ve been experiencing glitches on my app and the bikes, two days ago around rush hour the bikes completely malfunctioned. when I started the bikes and was about to peddle there was no electrical power and this was on all bikes around London I tried at least 7-8 times with different bikes and they all powered on but didn’t peddle with the electrical power. I genuinely believed that forest bikes were better and faster than lime bikes but now i definitely disagree with that. I’m really disappointed. I am definitely not going to continue to pay monthly for forest bikes.
March 4, 2026
Unprompted review
Reply from Forest
Hi Nancy,
Thank you for sharing your experience. We're really sorry to hear about the issues you've encountered with the bikes and the app, we understand how frustrating that must have been.
We experienced a temporary outage on Monday evening that affected the electric assist on our bikes, I'm sorry to hear that you were affected by this!
Our technical team resolved the issue later that day, and services have been fully operational again since. We're actively working on measures to help prevent similar disruptions in the future.
If you'd like to share any further details about the rides you tried or need any assistance, our support team would be happy to investigate further and help in any way we can. 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)
Thank you again for sharing your experience with us!
Best wishes,
Miri
Forest Team🌳
I am 5ft 1 and the seat is way too high…
I am 5ft 1 and the seat is way too high for me to even attempt to ride this bike, charge me and wouldn't refund a while back after I tried to get on the lowest seat adjustment and it was still way too high for me. Wouldn't try again but this is the only e-bike service around my borough of Sutton... annoying
November 5, 2025
Unprompted review
Reply from Forest
Hi there,
Thank you for your feedback. We're really sorry to hear that the bike height wasn't a good fit for you, we appreciate you letting us know.
Our bikes have a standard seat adjustment range, but we realise that it doesn't always accommodate all riders. I've passed your feedback on to our operations team to help us consider ways to make our bikes more accessible in the future.
If you'd like to discuss this further or need any assistance with a refund please feel free to reach out to us via the live chat or email to cs@humanforest.co.uk, we're here to help!
Thanks again for sharing your experience.
Best wishes,
Miri
Forest Team🌳
Awful services
Awful services, the bikes often do not work, the app is horrible, I would not recommend at all.
March 4, 2026
Unprompted review
Reply from Forest
Hi Belle,
We're very sorry to hear about your experience and understand how frustrating it must be when bikes or the app don't work as expected. We're continuously working on improving both our bikes and our app to provide a more reliable service.
If you'd like us to look into any specific issues you've faced, please reach out to us directly at cs@humanforest.co.uk, we'd be happy to help resolve them.
Thank you for sharing your thoughts.
Best wishes,
Miri
Forest Team🌳
Useless customer service who never pick…
Useless customer service who never pick up!
March 2, 2026
Unprompted review
Reply from Forest
Hi Adam,
We're very sorry that our phone lines were unavailable when you tried to reach us. To help us look into any issues, we’ve requested your information. If you could kindly submit it or reach out to us directly at cs@humanforest.co.uk, we'll be happy to assist you as quickly as possible.
Thank you for your patience, and we hope to resolve this for you soon!
Best wishes,
Miri
Forest Team 🌳
Advertisement
I just cycled for 3 minutes and…
I just cycled for 3 minutes and received a £20 parking fine for parking in a designated spot where it said I was allowed to park? Ended the ride perfectly fine. And then received this charge. What on Earth is going on with your app? Please refund me immediately this is unacceptable. I used your service all the time but this will be the last if this isn’t resolved
March 2, 2026
Unprompted review
Reply from Forest
Hi there,
We're sorry to hear that!
We'd really like to look into this properly and review the parking location and the fine in detail.
Please could you reach out to our support team directly with your account details?
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).
Once we have your details, we'll investigate this and work towards resolving it for you.
Best wishes,
Miri
Forest Team🌳
All the bikes are duds
All the bikes are duds. App always logs you out for no reason. Bikes are slow. Awful company. Lime is much better
March 2, 2026
Unprompted review
Reply from Forest
Hi Greg,
We're really sorry to hear about your experience and appreciate you taking the time to leave this feedback. We understand how frustrating it must be if bikes aren't performing as expected or the app logs you out unexpectedly.
Our operations team carries out regular maintenance on all bikes, and we're constantly working to improve app reliability. Your comments have been passed to the relevant teams so they can investigate further and make improvements.
If you do decide to ride with us again and encounter any issues, please reach out to our support team directly so we can resolve them as quickly as possible! 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,
Miri
Forest Team🌳
My son really wanted me to go for a…
My son really wanted me to go for a bike ride with him but I don't own a bike. I just used the forest bike for the first time to go around the arsenal stadium and, while I enjoyed having a go on the bike, I was shocked with the end cost for just 45mins of £15.52. I researched the bike options before and Google even said new users get 10-20mins free and the bike itself has a sticker saying 30 minutes for £1 so I found it disappointing to just be charged a flat rate after all. The bike was in a good condition and it was a smooth ride. I would not use this regularly as I found it too expensive.
February 28, 2026
Unprompted review
Reply from Forest
Hi Austra,
Thanks for sharing your experience, and we're glad you enjoyed riding around the Arsenal Stadium with your son! 🚲
Just to clarify, our bikes come with between 1 and 30 minutes included, depending on the bike. The 30 minute bikes are shown in gold on the map and the sticker says ''up to 30 minutes for £1''.
We completely understand that pricing on first rides can sometimes be surprising, and we really appreciate your feedback. If you'd like, feel free to reach out to our support team at cs@humanforest.co.uk. We'd be happy to check your ride details and see how we can help!
Best wishes,
Miri
Forest Team🌳
The Trustpilot Experience
Anyone can write a Trustpilot review. People who write reviews have ownership to edit or delete them at any time, and they’ll be displayed as long as an account is active.
Companies can ask for reviews via automatic invitations. Labeled Verified, they’re about genuine experiences.
Learn more about other kinds of reviews.
We use dedicated people and clever technology to safeguard our platform. Find out how we combat fake reviews.
Learn about Trustpilot’s review process.
Here are 8 tips for writing great reviews.
Verification can help ensure real people are writing the reviews you read on Trustpilot.
Offering incentives for reviews or asking for them selectively can bias the TrustScore, which goes against our guidelines.