Is iwm.org.uk Legit?

VISIT DATE: FRI 04/10/2024VISIT TIME: 14:00-18:00LOCATION: London (Lambeth)According to Wikipedia, the Imperial War Museum was founded in 1917, wth the intention of recording the civil and military war effort and sacrifice of the United Kingdom and its Empire during the First World War.The museum's remit has since expanded to include all conflicts in which British or Commonwealth forces have been involved since 1914. As of 2012, the museum aims "to provide for, and to encourage, the study and understanding of the history of modern war and 'wartime experience'."The museum is very well laid out, with information presented in a variety of formats, making it very accessible. There are braille plaques and also videos with BSL. Additionally, lots of lifts and plenty of space to manoeuvre so great for wheelchair users.It was also clean and well maintained, including the toilets, though I imagine it is busier in the summer.In my opinion, this isn't a museum to go to with young children, because you need a certain level of maturity to understand what its about and how devastating war is, especially when looking at the Holocaust, but it is a museum that everyone should visit at some point in their lives. There was a strong focus on how war impacts individuals, which ensures it isn't glorified in any way, but rather highlights how important it is that we stand together and take action when it's necessary - something I hope our Government and those across Europe will be prepared to do in light of the ongoing war in Ukraine.It saddens me that, as a species, we continue to repeat the same mistakes, focusing on nationalism and isolationism, rather than working more closely together. The museum will, inevitably, continue to expand.

I visited Imperial War Museum Manchester today and was very disappointed. The exhibition space was huge and the definition between the various sections was not well defined. The curators' approach was quite "institutional" and didn't communicate well. There was plenty of focus on guns, mines, planes, dates, uniforms and equipment but not enough focus on people. More individual stories of soldiers, their families and their experiences would have said so much more. Where we did view original letters and diaries, they were incredibly difficult to read. So I'm afraid I didn't bother. A typed transcript would be oh so welcome. If we want people to stop making wars, we need to touch hearts, trigger compassion and even provoke tears. I remember visiting this Museum soon after it opened more than 20 years ago and its limited display totally hooked me and held my attention. Now it looks like it has been curated by committee. Please think again. You have such an important job to do.

The staff and exhibits made this a very special day for me. This is a fantastic museum for anyone with an interest in aviation history. I was treated to the "Sit in a Spitfire experience", the guide Ray was brilliant, the talk outlining the history of the actual aircraft and subsequent explanation of the controls as you are in the aircraft was amazing. Overall a very memorable and brilliant day.

I visited on 5 November 2024 on my way to Heathrow Airport to return home. The seniors price was 24GBP. I asked for one ticket as my wife is not interested in aircraft and was going to sit in the cafe and wait for me. She had done this on our visit in 2018. The fellow at the front counter asked if I wanted a yearly ticket and I told him we were on our way to Heathrow as we were returning to Australia that day so it would not be required. I asked for one ticket as my wife was just going to sit in the cafe. He stated that she could not go past the entry without paying. I told him that she had done this in 2018. He told me that would not have happened and that no one goes past without paying. I told him that she had done so and again he told me this was not correct. I told him that I am not a liar and that it had happened but it made no difference. I declined to go in. 24GBP to sit and do a crossword and pay for coffee and food is very expensive. I resent him calling me a liar and his overall attitude was extremely poor. There was no welcoming smile or any welcome to our museum about him. He was sour and unfriendly. The fellow doing the bag searches was very friendly and welcoming. The one at the counter was the opposite. The IMW should consider putting people on the desk who have the ability to deal with the public in a polite manner and listen to what they are being told instead of being so could not care less. The staff member concerned is the face of the museum when a customer goes there. He needs to lift his game dramatically and the museum's pay to use the cafe policy needs looking at (if indeed it is the policy and the fellow at the ticket sales did not have it wrong). My wife could not sit outside or in the car for a couple of hours while I was looking at exhibits. There must be many women who are travelling with their husbands who have no interest in the planes and simply want to wait while their husband tours the museum. They should be catered for. In all a very unsatisfactory experience.

Went with my family after many enjoyable IWM Duxford visit. Knew it would be different. But, this seems really luckluster. While the WW1 gallery is amazing (The trenches part in particular) the rest seemed rather basic, not as exciting and thought provoking. The Holocaust gallery is also well put out but not what I'm used to, in terms of emursuve

Awesome experience today, so well organised and staff/tour guides so helpful. Highlight for me was Battle of Britain and had the Spitfire Cockpit experience. Informative insight into this machine of utter beauty!! 5*

We went to the holocaust section with a group of girls, but were denied entry as we were a large group, however we had called in prior to our visit to ensure it wont be a problem.the supervisor was really not willing to help us. It was an extremely painful experience because as Jewish girls, it was OUR grandparents who survived the holocaust, and this is an exhibition focusing on us! and our history! After waiting around for about an hour, a helpful worker from IWM approached and managed to get us in. The actual gallery was a real learning experience!

I wasn’t impressed by my visit today, hardly anything to do with the Cold War, next to nothing about the gulf war or Afghan, Northern Ireland and the Falklands was a total joke. It’s supposed to be a museum about British wars and I’m afraid the holocaust shouldn’t be in this museum. You can’t whitewash our history.

I visited the War Museum in London with my grandson and wife and that was a good experience- however the restaurant was awful. You are supposed to be able to order by app but you can’t because it doesn’t work. Cold greasy tomato soup, a coffee, smoked salmon bagel and a pizza for £36. If the food was adequate I could live with it but it was awful. Needs attention as it ruins what was otherwise very good

Terribly unpleasant, unhelpful, and rude staff. I also spotted at least ten different members of riot police who intimidated the patrons in the waiting room of the museum. The gift shop also does not seem to take the severity of WW2 seriously as they sell ornaments of Santa on a fighter jet. I do not recommend for the £30 ticket.

I drove 50 miles with my Grandson for his first visit to a museum..Took 20 minutes to look around and could be done in 10 . Absolutely appalling. What is a very large building is mostly empty space . Very few exhibits and what there is are unimpressive. So disappointing for a first visit for my Grandson. A complete waste of time and effort.

A great museum, but let down by staff. I have an e membership and therefore just have a digital pass. On a visit to Duxford there was a large queue to get in. When I finally got to the front of the queue, the attendant just held out his hand. He didn't look up, just held out his hand. He was expecting me to hand over my phone so he could check my membership. Normally I'd object to this type of thing, but I'd been stuck in a queue for so long.

You do not shop online if you are living overseas. I placed a order online and the price was 35€ with delivery charges, they advised you about the taxes you may have to pay buy.What a surprise when the item arrived and they charged me another 28€!!!

Removal of the Troubles Exhibition or at least a warning notice so that veterans who were involved in the Northern Ireland conflict, especially those suffering with combat PTSD are aware of how biased towards the IRA this exhibition is. I took 10 veterans, 4 of whom had served in Northern Ireland. Every one of our party was disturbed by the fact that the British Army involvement in the Northern Ireland conflict was glossed over. It seemed that Craig Murray was more interested in glorifying certain members of the IRA than giving an unbiased perspective of the conflict.

ABSOLUTE CON ARTISTS Parked in their ‘ticket less’ car park which clearly states 4 hours £5 only to be charged £15.80 by NCP. This was Trafford IWM. Absolute rip off stay clear park elsewhere if attending. You lot should be ashamed!

Do not order from the online shop, ordered a £300 coat and did not receive my parcel. The website would not let me contact directly about this issue and had to do so via PayPal. The delivery driver called me and was threatening towards me and claiming that someone had signed for the parcel. I explained that nobody was in to receive the parcel so it was impossible for this to happen, and as stated on the IWM website that somebody would have to be in or they would not deliver it. It seems that delivery driver left parcel in an unsafe place and may have gotten stolen. It took weeks to get responses from IMW customer care but was told there’s nothing they can do.Not only did they basically steal money from me, the behaviour of the delivery driver was unprofessional and intimidating.

Very poor customer service as regards an online purchase in the museum shop. Order placed, paid for and acknowledged, then no goods arrived in over 3 weeks' time. Inquiry placed via e-mail and response received to the lines of they can't trace the payment. I had to contact my credit card provider (45 min wait time on the phone) who assured me that the payment had left my account. I supplied this information and screenshots to IWM and no response to date. Attempts to contact them via telephone not successful as there is no phone number for the museum shop customer services on their website, and the reception number just goes to voicemail with no subsequent reply. The credit card provider now advises to submit a chargeback claim for refund. Very disappointing, in particular as we are members and long term supporters of the IWM. Such poor customer service ruins a great cause. What a shame.

I have visited most of the IWM locations and they are very well-maintained and full of useful information. My most recent use of the IWM relates to their online shop that contains all kinds of products relating to the history and their sites.The website I find to be rather out of date and clunky, and finding your way to the wishlist shouldn't involve scrolling to the bottom of the page and going through account settings. I also think it would be useful to have an 'add to basket' button under the product inside your wishlist rather than having to click the product and then adding to the basket from there.Other than that, the process from payment to delivery took 3 days and all of my products arrived undamaged and as expected. Unfortunately for my wallet, my wishlist is still full of excellent products that I would like to have including posters, a wallet, a watch, books and a few keyrings.

Excellent displays and information. I would highly recommend visiting any time that you have the chance.The admission is free, so there’s no excuse not to go if you are in the UK.

Date change for tickets was needed due to Covid (website stated that was no problem). Was told to rebook and send the new booking ref for a refund. No response to numerous emails, no refund.