That riding school shouldn't charge me for this?

Based on what you have said, I would argue my case, refuse to pay, and take my business elsewhere, but I also know this is a dying business and I'm my area at least riding schools are getting harder and harder to come by. Unfortunately the cost of the upkeep of a horse has gone up ridiculously and land is more valuable with houses on it.

When I had lessons it was normal to meet at the arena, as it wouldn't be uncommon for a horse to do 2 or 3 lessons on the bounce. It also wouldn't be uncommon for the office to be empty as there wasn't the staff to sit there all day, so people would as you did, help themselves to hats if needed then go to the arena. What was told to you when you first turned up? Why did you not go searching further when no one else appeared if you knew where the arenas were.

If they didn't tell you where to meet and you were there before the booking time then of course its on you. You are the customer, they are the ones running a business. Ignore the people saying you should have asked someone, not everyone knows what to do when a situation is different from normal and I also would not have thought to ask young children. If the business owners are leaving young children in charge then they need to train them to greet riders and ask if they are OK and sorted, not just leave people to wander around aimlessly, its a health an safety issue as a minimum and not very customer focused either

That's absolutely ludicrous!
Way to get all the mucking out and grooming done for free- Never mind the scrubbing out of feed buckets, filling water buckets, tack cleaning &c..and loading hay and straw bales when the hay lorry comes.

Sadly stables can be extremely exploitative to horse mad girls.

@Pistachiovillian It sounds a shambles. A properly run yard wouldn't have teens running things- is it a BHS {British Horse Society }approved yard?

I'd go elsewhere, sounds like they don't know what they are doing.

I agree with this. If they have put a 13 year old in charge of reception surely they should have given her clear instructions, and training on what to do if someone comes in. "Say Hello when people come in, if they are new or need anything, and you are not sure, tell them to come and see an adult up at the arena.". Seems very unorganised and not fair on the young girl or customer. If you haven't been told where to go, that's on them. Clearly, when you are new you should have been informed where to meet. If you haven't, that's their fault.

Riding school helpers generally don’t get paid. At our school they have to pay to help.

the children shouldn't just be left in the office to help random people that walk in. it's a safeguarding issue. they either work there or they don't. What if you were a new client looking to book? they couldn't have helped. Get a phone number to call or do they get the kids to answer the phone as well

I can see your point, but equally I'm not sure why you just stood in the carpark and then just left. If you where having a lesson why didn't you go to the arena when there was noone in the carpark? And why didn't you ask one of the children if they knew where the instructor was? Being children doesn't stop you talking to them. Instructors and yard staff are busy people, they don't have time to molicodle you unfortunately. Their profit margins are also extremely tight if at all so most will charge if you are a no show or cancel at very short notice and I think you waiting in one place for a while with out actively looking for your instructor in a logical place would be considered a no show.

I worked in a stables as a teenager, and I could have answered a question.🙄

Tbf, despite what I said about riding schools struggling, I equally know that a lot are very busy, and they will usually prioritise regular clients over new ones. Especially this time of year, there is a lot of demand, and they may even be turning people away- it's a very feast and famine industry (winter is often the famine) and they don't know if OP will stick with it over the winter yet...

I think when you walked in the office to get your hat you could have at least asked the kids "Who is running the office today? Or Where is the 9.30 lesson today? Maybe the adult running the office was in the loo or called to help with a horse down on the yard?
You asked for no assistance or tried to find anyone down the hill at the stables, you just hung around aimlessly then just left.....I say that's your fault. If everyone else in the group lesson was mounted and ready to go then they aren't going to wait.
If you have been there 3 times then really you have no idea what they ALWAYS do, you just assumed and got it wrong.
I think you need to pay them for their time.
Perhaps on next booking get there a bit earlier and clarify where your lesson will be.
Trust me I know how much paying for a lost lesson sucks. I've had a few on my own horse where he's walked into the arena and 2 minutes later I've realised he's slightly lame/twinged his back....cue lesson over immediately. Still gotta pay the instructor for her time as I've taken the slot.

Having re-read the OP it sounds as though it's a group lesson, so the instructor presumably couldn't just leave all the other horses and riders to wander off and look for OP. She could have sent a helper up to the office/yard to look though, just like OP could have asked one of the kids or gone down to the arenas herself rather than just walking off. I'm calling 50:50 responsibility here so I think OP's had a reasonable outcome by getting a 50% discount on the next ride. That's the thing though, you say 'surely' the school wants to keep a new customer but unfortunately I think demand for riding lessons, particularly for adult beginners, far outstrips supply, most schools around here have a waiting list, quite a few have closed or converted to livery only or to kids lessons only (kids lessons and kids ponies are usually cheaper to run) so the ones that remain don't have to (and usually don't!) particularly exert themselves to please clients. Of course they could whack prices up and then probably fewer people would want lessons and they would then have to offer generally better customer service to those that do, not run the place on a shoestring and the voluntary labour of kids for instance, but personally it's an expensive enough hobby already that I wouldn't like to see that happen, it would price all but the extremely wealthy out...

I’m team OP - they are providing a paid service at the end of the day and OP is a customer/client! And a new one at that…surely you’d be doing everything you can to keep a new client? If the horse was all tacked up and the instructor waiting at the arena, why the hell didn’t she think to go to the ‘reception’ area to look for you after 10 mins or so, especially knowing you’re new?

I also wouldn’t have thought to ask a bunch of 10 year olds what was going on - I would have assumed they had just finished their own lessons or something so were nothing to do with me and certainly wouldn’t assume they worked for the stables!

I'd refuse to pay and rip them like a lead balloon

I do think that you could have asked them about the lesson, yes they looked/were young but chances are that they would have known where to go or what to do. I grew up spending my time on a yard from being 13, the kids on them know more than people think.

I do think that they could come to an agreement this time though and let it slide.

I'm sorry you had a tricky experience, and I get that it can be difficult to ask children in this sort of circumstance. I do also agree that ideally riding schools would have better customer service.

That said, I know how much of a shoestring riding schools are run on- the ones that survived covid have eaten all their reserves, and this winter was horrendous (bad weather leading to increased costs and lost revenues etc). Two local to me are unfortunately having to sell much loved horses to try and generate funds as there is nothing else they can do.

It sounds like things have worked out okay, and I hope you have a better experience next time. It sounds like they are (reasonably) proactive answering emails and messages, so perhaps next time email in advance and confirm where to meet?

I would have asked someone, not just driven off!

It does sound very disorganised, OP. Yes, lots of riding schools are cutting costs to the bone to survive but there has long been a tradition of exploiting horse-mad kids for free labour and they don't give the best customer service! At the very least, the RI should have warned them to look out for you and to send you on. But I am glad they have resolved it for you. Don't be afraid to speak up for yourself as it sounds like the sort of place where you need to be a bit pro-active.

I was all on your side as you made it sound like there was NO ONE around to ask. But you didn't even try

Also sounds like the yard isn’t well run. New people at our stables have to have a 1:1 private lesson to assess ability and then they are allocated specific sessions they can book on - vi an app. Only volunteers would be taking the horses and ponies back to stables to untuck etc. Or some riders who they know well and who have attended sessions around tacking and un tacking etc (such as the kids who go to pony club or other stable management sessions).

I wouldn't have asked a 10 year old for help, assuming they looked like someone waiting and not helping.

I agree they can be very disorganised! We've turned up to cancelled lessons before (weren't told they were cancelled).

Try and ask all the questions now...e.g. where do I go, if there's no one there what do I do, if there's a number to call and no one answers, what then.

Hopefully just teething problems until you get the run of the place.

So at the stables we attend the volunteers can be as young as 14 and some of the instructors are 18 year old apprentices. We found it tricky knowing where to be when we first started as the emails had the Covid protocols on saying wait in the car too you’re collected but that never happened. Lol. Another stables one of the kids goes to from ours allow volunteers from 10. You can still ask them though and if they don’t know they might get someone for you.

I’m not surprised you were charged though as they still have to pay their staff for that session. Ours has a cancellation policy.

Totally agree with this. I would have looked for an adult instead of going home in a strop without making any enquiries. It’s a bit … juvenile

I think people are really being unfair on the OP. If the teen was manning the office it is her responsibility to greet anyone who comes in and ask if they need help. If she isn’t capable of doing that, she shouldn’t be left in charge.