2 Mar 24'
"I was extremely disappointed with this course that I bought as an 18th birthday gift for my grandson.
Described as a ‘beginners’ course, my grandson, who has no experience of woodwork but was keen to have a go, found himself in a group with three older men who all had considerable experience.
My grandson was totally out of his depth and there was no consideration of his being an actual beginner.
Having expected him to come out with a small memento of a pleasant day that he could keep as a reminder of his special birthday, he is totally disillusioned and has no interest in taking his interest in woodwork any further.
This course is not inexpensive so I regret having wasted time and money that would’ve been better spent in any other way. "
Paul Hannaby Creative Woodturning responded:
"The course is aimed at complete novices and no prior knowledge or experience is assumed or required and I have been running these courses for nearly 20 years without a single complaint for both adults and children. Actually, two of the other three people were complete beginners, the third had limited experience in other aspects of woodworking but none of the three would have booked the beginners course if they were "considerably experienced " as I offer more appropriate courses for people at that level. Had your grandson completed the day, I'm sure he would have gone away with the small memento but instead, he gave up. I offered your grandson additional support, which he declined to take up and I also emailed you to offer time for your grandson to return to complete the course, potentially with additional one to one support (as he was obviously struggling on the day) but I received no response. The offer is still open if you wish to contact me directly to discuss."