Peterborough Parachute Centre

After 5 attempts to jump at this airfield and 5 cancellations due to the weather I was refused a refund of the cost of my jump and of the DVD of myself jumping which cost £90. I have moved 200 miles away, I tried to jump up to the week of my move date, which the centre were aware of, but could only give me one more attempt. My ticket has now expired, they won't transfer me to another centre within my new locality, they won't extend the jump and they won't give me a refund. The manager told me on the phone that he doesn't care about my situation and that I am unreasonable, he was very hostile. From my personal experience Peterborough Parachute Centre is just a scam.

After recently Graduating an AFF course in Spain I arrived at my local DZ (Sibson). I was introduced to the CCI. He shook my hand then asked me to wait for five minutes as he was busy. After 45 minutes of being blatently ignored whilst he joked about with his mates, I left and headed straight for Langer, where Within 1 minute of meeting the CCI I was being shown around.

Perhaps Sibsons CCI was busy that day, but unfortuneatly this wasnt the first time that he had ignored me. A year earlier I was on a military raps course. During the course I decided to check Sibson out as a future drop zone and again was introduced to the CCI and had exactly the same treatment.

So in a nutshell unless you train at Sibson you will meet with a wall of ignorence and arrogance. Which is a shame because the people I met there were friendly and welcoming. Its the CCI that lets the place down.

My advice.....Go to Langer.

After being regularly ashamed at how Headcorn treat customers I thought I would try Sibson. On arrival, within 25 minutes, without speaking to staff I was approached by Mark. He was really friendly and helpful, explaining local DZ brief, kit check and docs etc. Food and drink are reasonably priced, no need to be a member to jump but discounts given if you are.

To date over 5 years jumping and many DZ's visited they have been consistantly friendly helpful and professional, looking after their customers and treating people more like friends. There are many types of jumping, load organising and instruction to get from highly experienced staff without egos.

A huge thunbs up!

Great dropzone, Certain staff made us feel really welcome. Other staff didnt!

We were made to feel unwelcome as we were not part of a 4-way FS team! We wanted to get our kit and docs checked and were asked what we were doing there as fun jumpers! Admittingly it was a GP weekend but they should have still made us feel welcome. (for other times sake) Appart from the it is a good all round dropzone

I will not go there again though!

I got to Sibson while I was in UK for holiday. I was curious to jump in England and was very greatly impressed by this dropzone. The landing area makes accidents virtually impossible. The climbing rate and altitude are very good. Tha facilities provided are also very nice and efective. The people are extremely professional and all the ambience is great.

I've only just started on a RAPS course and already love it. I expected it to be really clique at Sibson but it's not at all. The wealth of experienced guys that hang around there tell you a lot about how good a DZ it is. I don't really see how people found it un-friendly... I go there with a guy who did his AFF course in the US and they treat him exactly the same as everyone else! The staff are cool, friendly and most important excellent at their jobs. I would deffinetly recommend it to any newbies who need a place to jump...

Love this DZ, bit disappointed that I've now moved back up north so it's a bit of a trek down there.

Well run and professional DZ, with great locals and jumpers from other areas too. I was always made to feel welcome even though I'm a northern monkey.

Great big safe landing area which is easy to spot from the air, unless you happen to be wearing a wingsuit, when it suddenly disappears from view.

Very progressive DZ, with lots of FF and WS jumps going on, my DZ of choice when I start WS'ing.

Cafe now sells chips and gravy. :-)

After also completing AFF and consoles in USA, I came back to the UK and tried 2 DZs which were both ok but not especially inspiring. 3rd DZ lucky though Sibson has friendly & approachable staff, with easy going locals.
Landing area is large with very few hazards to worry about. The bar/cafe is great, especially during those english weather holds.

I have had two experiences of Sibson;

1st, as newly qualified (AFF + consoles gained in US, Sebastian), I went to try 1st jump in UK. Was ridiculed by the school there for doing the AFF course elsewhere as "not up to our standards", told would need to retake levels... too heavy... went elsewhere. Felt they were very hostile.

2nd, thought would give them another go a year later now with a 100+ jumps, got a first class DZ briefing, everyone very friendly rate it as a 1st class DZ.

If they (probably one person)can now just get their head out of their arse when dealing with AFF newbies from other DZs they might just get a higher score here !

I begun jumping at Sibson a few years back but half way through my AFF course my primary instructor left the country.
I naturally returned to Sibson to continue training. Unfortunetaly this turned out to be harder then expected. The owners and resident instructors treated me rudely saying that I was "not their student" and so had to be low priority. I was always at the back of the queue irrespective of how early in the day I turned up. Why was I "low priority" and "not their student" if I'd done all my jumps at the DZ and was paying the DZ the same money as everyone else for my AFF instruction.

They frequently kept me waiting all day and then failed to even train me for my next jump. On one occaision they forgot I was there and blamed this me saying that I was sitting in the wrong place. After that incident I finished AFF in Empuriabrava (highly recomended) and never went back to Sibson again.

Why can't DZs like Sibson realise that they're in the service industry and treat their customers with respect rather than arrogance?

I am a regular at Sibson and drive some two and ahalf hours to get there which speaks for itself.
I find it to be the safest drop zone in the UK they check every canopy opens and pick up every off landing.
I also find there is vast array of experience in its members who are all generally willing to share this if asked.
It has a very happy air about the place.
Its manifest is fast moving and second to none.
If you find Sibson is unfriendly then the problem is proberbly you.

very rude to me cos id done aff in the states...took my business to langar, much better place. However, this experience was back in '99.. :)

Chris and Co. are a breed apart. This sport gives you back what you put into it and I am lucky that not only have I found something that I love doing, but also some exceptional freinds to do it with.

The instructors are great, they're so helpful, the atmosphere is friendly, you can talk to pretty much anyone without being made to feel like you don't fit in, which is nice. they have a decent bar for those non-jumping times, and a good cafe. Go here, it's top-notch!

i am sorry, i jump with trigger, he has lost it. like a lame horse fatally wounded i will put him out of his misery...

Exellent dropzone with kicking facilities. Superb bar,bunkhouses & food,not to mention a efficient manifest & fast climbing let 13-14000' most lifts can,t wait to return as in my opinion this has got to be one of the most progressive freefly zones in the UK though jumpers of all abilities are made to feel at home.

cris allen is there, what more do i need to say? the jump tickets are 18+pounds a jump which concludeds me to surmise that there is price fixing in theUK with dz's, everywhere u go the price is pretty much equal which is hrd to justify given that there is no tax on avaition fuel nd that all of these planes are letted out from check or eastern companies relativelly cheaply, the uk is t least 10 years behind everyone else in virtually every regard in skydiving. god save the queen im off to lapalisse

done a tandam jump back in oct 01 at sibson well chuffed will be back in may/june to enrol on the AFF course just want to say that everyone at the drop zone was wicked all the instructors and camera men are brill just about worn out me vid.BLUE SKIES

P.S Glad i aint a whuffo no more LOL