Lakeside Karting Reviews

Absolute pants! (and I'm being kind) This event was bought for me as a present from my children! through 'Activity Superstore'. Don't have a problem in naming names, when you make a cock up like this one I think you should suffer the consequences. I attended the 'Grand Prix session' on October 28th at 6.00 pm as instructed. We were instructed to do 3 heats and upon qualifying (ie. start grid position etc) get to race in the final. I did the 3 heats, I didn’t ‘qualify’, along with a few others at the same event (they weren't happy either!), and subsequently didn’t get to race in the final. I don’t mind coming last, someone has to, but just to be excluded is not what I expected. I wasn’t going to ‘hang around’ and watch everyone else race while I just watched on the side lines and suffer further humiliation. I handed back the clothing and helmet - nice walk of shame that one. Found the exit round the side, got in my car and drove home. No bye, leave, thanks for coming, come back soon, we value your custom. Nothing! Suffice to say I am disgusted with the way I was treated. As it clearly states in 'Activity Superstore' literature and on Lakeside Karting website. ‘Practice, 3 x 6 lap heats, and an 8 lap Final for all drivers’ ‘For all drivers’ - obviously not this time. My children clubbed together with there own money to get me this activity as a Christmas present. Thank god they weren’t there to witness such behaviour. Imagine if it was the other way round and you had a young teenager subjected to that ‘exclusion’. This was a gift and meant to be pleasurable. Or haven’t we grasped that concept yet?

Went to lakeside for 30min enduro staff were good but a little slow to react but that said we had brand new karts helmets could do with renewing good ghallenging track my main gripe would be the price another well known karting provider does a 40 min race plus 5 min practice for £62.50 on a 900 meter track.But had a great day but price will keep me away shame.

Visited Lakeside Karting on Junction 30/31 M25 Thurrock 20/11/2011 We were in a group of 16, the day consisted of 5 minute practice, two 10 minute races and a final 20 minute race. I am very dissapointed with this particular Karting centre as their rules around failing to stop on a red light with real mittigating circumstances were extremly harsh, one lap into the first race and they disqualified me, all other places I have been to would bring you off and make you sit sit out a few laps or the first race and let you back in, as these centres are not advertising for pro Karters but for amatuers wanting a good time with their friends. It cost £85.00 with no refund policy, very strict rules for amature Karting, it takes all the fun out of it, to top it off there was a lot of stop starting with serious accidents that went un noticed and were handled poorly, much more dangerous in failing to see a red light on the first two corners, very un enjoyable experience for those who have driven karts many times before. I will never recommend this Karting centre and having read various other reviews, I am not at all surprised.

Avoid at all costs! Absolutely rubbish, poor staff with attitude. Really bad value for money, to much stopping not enough Karting very inexperienced race stewards. Never recommend to anyone!

As a mum of two, i'm always looking for things to do with my children and although rather apprehensive about karting, we went anyway. I must say i had nothing to worry about, the staff were sooooo friendly and very helpful with the children, even taking the time for a little one to one chat with them. They had a fantastic time!!! AND it seems they do childrens fun days during the summer holidays with paintball included. I'm sure we'll be spending lots more time there in the future as my son is a budding Lewis Hammilton now! Highly recommended 5*

I have visited Lakeside Karting on a number of occasions over the last few years and have really enjoyed it every time. All of the staff are exceptionally helpful and always make you feel welcome, and last weekend was no exception - it was a birthday treat for my son and they really went out of their way to make him feel special. He hasn't stopped talking about it since and I wanted to say a big thank you to the whole team, they are a credit to the place. We have been to a couple of other circuits in the south east but find Lakeside Karting by far the best - great track, great karts and great staff - keep up the good work! (The loss of a half star is just for the price; it's not cheap. But I guess you get what you pay for! We'll definitely be back soon.) Steve Wilson

I booked Lakeside Karting as part of a stag do and, being the best man and responsible for the entertainment, was quite anxious about the whole event (I also knew some of the other lads would be fearsomely competitive!). I needn't have worried, the whole team put us at ease and it was professionally organised from start to finish. In particular, Graham, the race director, made sure we were well briefed and put at ease before we set out on circuit with a good mix of helpful instruction and light-hearted banter. Wow! What an experience - I loved every minute. And even though I certainly didn't break any lap records I felt like I was driving in the British Grand Prix! Thank you guys for making our event the most memorable part of the whole weekend (that may be partly due to the copius amounts of alcohol consumed over the remainder of the trip).

Booking process - Simple to book, had no problems. Safety Briefing - All too much to take in within a short space of time, the different flag meanings need to be explained more clearly, and we should be given more time to revise them. Track experience - The track itself is OK, but when my kart spun out and I was not able to get back on the track by myself, I was left waiting a long time with my hand in the air waiting for someone to come over to me, as nobody was paying attention, which wasted a lot of my racing time on the track. Race suits / Helmets - Race suit was comfortable, but I couldn't find a helmet with a clear visor, which not only is it annoying to have many scratches in your view while driving, it is also a safety hazard. One of the visor's even had a speck of blood on it! Facilities - Changing room had a very bad smell. Karts - In my practice session I had a fast kart and was happy with it, but on the second (actual race) session, I was given a kart that was very very slow, which made me really angry as I just got used to using a kart (it was my first time karting ) and then I was given a ridiculously slow one on the real race. I complained to staff at the end and they were useless, and tried to blame me for not pulling over during the race to explain my issue. None of us was informed that if we are not happy with our kart during the race, pull over and inform somebody. I didn't want to waste even more of my racing time having to complain about my kart and not knowing the definite outcome (if they would change it not), so I just suffered the whole 15 minutes with the rubbish kart I was given. If I wanted to go that slow I would have asked for the batman kart. Customer service - Disgusting. From the moment we walked in to the moment we left, everybody was rude/ The female receptionist had attitude, and one of the guys said to me ''are you gonna be much longer cause we're gonna start without u otherwise'' with a really bad attitude, I was shocked at his treatment to customers. Perhaps if CLEAN helmets with clear visors were provided, I wouldn't have taken long to search for a half decent one! Value for money - For what I experienced, from customer service to poor quality karts, I definitely feel robbed of my money. Will not be returning and definitely recommend elsewhere to friends.