Nightmare. Not for new students.
I hate writing negative reviews, especially about small places in my neighborhood, but I am having PTSD after my experience. I am especially conflicted, because a friend highly recommended Hipline to me.
Over an hour before the class, I tried to create an online account and sign up for childcare. No matter how scrupulously I followed the online instructions (adding my kid as a family member, etc) the online system kept telling me that I had not satisfied the "prerequisites" for childcare. I copied and pasted the prerequisite notes into a separate window, so that I could follow them to the letter. No dice. Maybe my kid needed to take algebra?
So after spending around 30 mins trying to figure out their sign up system, I call. Old school, I know. The person on the phone assures me that it will be no problem for the 10am class and childcare if I just show up a little early and take care of everything in person. There is plenty of room, she assures me.
So I take the time to get my kid ready and to change and coax kid into the car. I circle the TJ parking lot. I go up around 15 minutes before the class. I am filling out the paperwork, and the front desk person tells me that, oh, actually the class is completely full. But two people may not show up. Given the time and energy I've already put in, I wait. They had me stand around and gave me a "tour." Then they tell me I can join the class.
But wait, I need to fill out yet more paperwork for the tiny childcare "room" before I can go in. And the childcare person is dealing with an unhappy child who is screaming nonstop, and it takes time to even get the paperwork. My kid is not excited to be stuck in the small room with the screaming child and stranger.
So I have to go into the class late. I wait outside the closed door, as instructed by a sign outside the door. Then I go in. The room is like spandex-clad sardines in a can. There is a tiny space by the door. I am standing there uncertainly and a person nearby screams at me over the loud music "THAT IS NOT A SPOT!! THAT! IS! NOT! A SPOT!" So I look around, and a person waves me to the very back of the room. I go to the back of the room, and the person next to the waving person yells at me that I can't stand there. There is no place for me, and people are yelling at me in between swinging their arms. So I end up running out of the room trying to dodge elbows.
And when I get home after wasting *hours* of my morning on this nonsense, I check my email. I now have multiple emoji subject line emails for the hipline "reservation system." Looks like I am signed up for their email list. They also emailed me the receipt for my first class. Let me review my "horrible experience" checklist: yep, check, check, check, check, check. read more