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| - About a month ago, we were looking for a place to host my daughter's 7th birthday party. Looking for something different, we decided to look at bowling options. It was pricier than I expected but not out of line when compared to similar places. We choose the mid-range package that was advertised as being $19.99 per child. For 10 kids that equals $199.90. I booked online via their web-site. My first warning should have come when I went to pay for everything and I was shocked by the additional charge of $35 (it was roughly this amount... I didn't think to take a screenshot). When you click on "what is this charge?" it basically states that it is a charge to pay for the party coordinator, so you don't have to worry about anything - including tipping - at the end of your event. Sounds great, doesn't it? The next problem occurred when I went to increase my headcount by 3. I was told that it would be an additional $76... WAIT!? What happened to the $19.99/kid?? Wouldn't that be $59.97? Nope, they ADD on that event fee as a percentage of each child so it isn't 19.99/kid but closer to $26/kid. Ultimately, we had to add 6 kids to our original 10 for a total cost of over $400. You read that correctly! My kid was so excited about it that we were in it to the end and it sucked. All the while, I'm dealing with a Brittany Furnari - who apparently works for corporate in NY, NY. While pleasant, she was completely unhelpful. If I could give her and the corporate office just 1 star, I would.
Now we come to the day of our party. I arrive 20 minutes early just to make sure everything was good to go. Boy am I glad I did that!! While the location - AMF McRay Plaza on Ray Road in Chandler - knew that we were coming with a group of 16 seven-year old's, they were not prepared for us at all. The tables we were told would be right behind our lanes weren't set up. In fact, there were ONLY 3 EMPLOYEES in the entire center until towards the end of our party. And the bowling alley was PACKED with people. The manager, Marcus, (super nice but still) was setting up the party as my guests arrived. Because of how busy the bowling alley was, it took forever for all of my guests to get their shoes. When I checked in I was asked when I wanted the food. I told them to please set it out at 2pm (party started at 1:30 and Brittany had left me with the impression from the FAQ sheet she sent me that there is no party room and that the kids would eat while waiting for their turn to bowl). The food pizza wasn't even put in the oven until 2:30pm and we didn't get it until closer to 3pm. We were also told that our plan came with unlimited soda, water, and lemonade. Yet all they initially brought us was water. When I asked about the soda for the parents who stuck around, 2 of the 3 employees (with a 4th who had agreed to stay and help after coming in to check her schedule for the week) looked at each other in shock. I actually felt the need to apologize for asking. Apparently none of them knew the package came with unlimited drinks. At the end all we received were 2 pitchers of soda and some water.
We were also under the impression that we had a party coordinator - I mean, we paid nearly $60 for one according to the bill - yet no one was around to help us unless we hunted someone down and asked. We asked at the very beginning that they put the bumpers on the lanes - these are recently turned 7 year olds by the way - that didn't happen until we had been there nearly 30 minutes into a 2 hour party. It occurred to me as we were leaving - without tipping because that was what the charge was for - that the event fee likely went to this random Brittany person who didn't do a darn thing! That "tip" should have gone to the hard working workers who were there.
The SOLE reason why I am giving this business 2 stars instead of 1 (and I am really torn on that I think this place is more of a 2.5 star business) is due to the workers at the center. While they were not prepared for us and we often had to track them down for help, they worked HARD. And they did so smiling and apologizing the entire time. It was obvious that they knew they messed up somewhere and they were doing their absolute best to make it up to us. Their hard work once they realized that things were spiraling out of control (they didn't expect to be so busy on the day we went) is why I will likely go back - but just as a family, never as a party.
One last thing - when Brittany realized that I was upset over the pricing she threw in a cookie cake for free. It was a nice gesture, but it completely backfired. They didn't bring this cookie cake out until almost the end. Then they put this weird white film over it and whipped cream around the edge of the cookie. It looked disgusting. The most nasty looking thing ever. They put it in a pizza box for us to take home. We tried it - nasty - and threw it away. It was burnt badly.
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