(I left on Day 1)
This was a retreat in the UK at the East Anglia centre 'Hilltops' on 20.12.10, the Course Leader was 'Donald' and the Dhamma Teacher was an American man 'Richie' perhaps - although I think he had a non English name.
The first day, Day 0, was largely non-eventful, we arrived and waited and saw to our rooms. The first gathering was in the dining where the Coure Leader read out the rules etc... He hadn't prepared it and kept stopping and starting and saying this didn't apply to us, and this doesn't apply to us, etc... etc... (most of the rules didn't apply to us) and it was quite a non-event as a speech goes.
What I did notice was a vast amount of noise coming from the kitchen where the old students were chatting away about Christmas and noisily working in there slamming cupboards, banging dishes, charging about etc...
At the end of Day 0 we moved in to Noble Silence after listening to a taped teaching from Goenka.
Well the noise was just terrible after Goenka's talk. The old students were audible from within the Dhamma Hall and from the lobby (also used as a meditation area) chatting away in a continuous drone from the old students' (facilitators) areas.
The next morning I was in the Dhamma Hall at 9am, after breakfast, just me and another new student meditating in this break period, when suddenly the door slammed open and the Dhamma Teacher rushed in and started noisily moving things about. Following him the Course Leader came in and started calling out to the Dhamma Teacher across the Hall (the Hall with students meditation in it during Noble Silence !). It was hard to believe actually - this was the Dhamma Teacher and Course Leader.
This carried on, and finally I spoke out to the Course Leader expressing to him the noise he was making, reminding him of Noble Silence, and indicating also that there was an audible chatter coming in from the facilitators (old students) from next door. He walked up to me and started defending the noise 'they have to make that noise to prepare food', and 'the old studetns are not meditating, they are here for you' etc... (which is very strange to me because normally the facilitators are working meditatively and have their own program - not here.) Anyway after trying to justify the noise he very condescendingly looked into my eyes and said he couldn't answer my question over and over. ... ?
Later I was in the lobby with many of the new students meditating at about 10am, and the facilitators and Course Leader were audibly having many discussions in the lobby - some hushed, and some not hushed. And this Course Leader Donald would regularly walk up to students who were meditating in the lobby and interrupt them by bending over and talking into their ear ! I kid you not. You after appreciate these were new students practicing what they were taught last night and being disturbed from their practice by the Course Leader.
Anyway, at 11am I summoned the courage and asked to leave and was told to see the Dhamma Teacher - I did. I got a good impression from him and I told him that I would stay for a further day to see how it would go - at which he gave me a wide mouthed grin - which I didn't think was appropriate actually.
The noise continued and after a few hours I realised that :
these people have nothing to teach except mindlessness. And although perhaps having a massive breakdown realising that even in a Dhamma Centre just unbelievable mindlessness exists could have value, there was nothing to trust here, and I needed some trust to do that work.
So I left at 2pm the same day. On the way out I look through the glazed door marked 'No Entry' to see the Dhamma Teacher surfing the internet on a laptop. Remember : this is an intensive retreat conducted in silence where all phones, electronic equipment and wallets are handed in to storage ... and the Dhamma Teacher is on the internet

?
Also the facilities. Well we came out a long way (7hrs on the train) to the furthest reaches of East Anglia to a lovely outdoorsy centre in the middle of a forest. But the student were not allowed to go into the forest ... and were restricted to the car park by a blue rope marking the boundary. ... so what was the point of coming so far to be in a car park ??
The Course Leader called me a cab and walked out with my valuables in a clear bag held between thumb and forefinger aloft like they smelt bad, and when I took them he turned his back and walked away. (I wonder if he was trying to show me that he knew how to be silent ?)