Kilkenny Activity Centre — Attraction in The Municipal District of Kilkenny City

I was part of a group booking on the 1st of August. Mostly children 11 - 18 and 5 adults. Accompanied by 2 older relatives in their late 60’s who did not take part.

Our day started off well. We played splat ball. We all enjoyed and had a good time.

We then moved onto the assault course. This activity had advertised that there was a large water slide into a mud drop. This was not available to us on the day. The staff present told us this was due to COVID-19 restrictions. We were only given this information as we started the activity. No information was emailed to the organiser or shared on our arrival.

The removal of the water slide seriously reduced the fun that could be had in this activity. It ended up being a walk through an obstacle course. Which was also ended 20 minutes early.

I did not take part in the obstacle course. This was because of the staffs extremely threatening, hostile and aggressive outburst at the two elderly women in our company.

Before the obstacle course started both older women with us (65 & 67) were not satisfied that we had not been informed before booking that the water slide was not available. They spoke about this between themselves and felt it was unprofessional not to have informed us before booking.

The staff member present overhearing this stopped all the activities. He raised his voice, waved his hands back and forth and in an extremely aggressive tone said the whole thing is over!!! As he tried to end the booking early he also confronted the two elderly women. He got very close to them. Shouted at them and continued to use intimidating and unprofessional behaviour. He said “I don’t need to put up with this”; “I have put up with so much already”; “I have already given you a discount” (note discount appreciated however agreed without knowledge of the water slide not being in use); “I want you to leave now”; “Tell her to leave” (directed at one of the older women in our company).

During this outburst some of the young chidlren present were unsure what to do. There was a feeling of being unsafe and an unpredictability nature.

I asked the man to please stop. That we were here for a kids party and that he was being very unprofessional and ruining the vibe of the party. He then addressed his now very visible anger at me. He again shouting and waving his hands said “I have done so much for you already”; “I gave you discount”; “You can leave too if you are going to be like that”. I didn’t say anything else because I felt anything more would provoke him and I already felt his behavior was unpredictable.

He agreed to continue activity with the children 11-18. And the younger group wanted to continue.

He insisted that the two elderly women in our group leave the venue and they did. Both women were noticeable in distress and shook after his aggressive behaviour.

While the obstacle course was happening a very drunk man stumbled out of the bushes. He had two pallet board in his hand and was ranting. He shouted at the small group of adults sitting down and then walked away. Did not feel like a secure place for young children.

After the activity was ended 20 minutes early. The staff member present was asked why and he said “I expected those two women to come back and apologies”; Put all this in your review”; “I’ll do a review too”; “I gave you discount - I could have charged those adults full price but I didn’t”. It was offered to him if he wanted to remove the discounted price that we would pay but he declined.

We were extremely shocked by the level of unprofessional and I would not recommended this place to anyone. We felt unsafe and intimidated by the staff.

Thankful we had more to do that day and we celebrated properly for the rest of...

Response to Eddie

Thanks for your reply Eddie, as now others can see exactly the piece of work we had to deal with.

I categorically repute that any of us were drunk, yes alcohol had been consumed, on your premises, under the instruction of your staff.

I also categorically repute that we were rude, irate yes, after paying €900 I think this is understandable.

I am also annoyed at myself for not having read reviews before booking as it is clear as day that a lot people have to deal with your ill manners.

The issues with the cleanliness would have been brought to your attention.

Absolute SCAM —— You specifically advertise to stag and hen groups and it’s safe to assume that people on stags and hens will be drinking. Therefore, if you have a zero alcohol policy, you should make that clear during the booking process.

During a call with one of your staff members we were told we could consume alcohol during the Cube activity but not whilst participating in the Sports Day, which we agreed. Upon arrival we settled in and Dale encouraged us to have a drink and get the fun started. We took a break after the Cube to begin the Sports Day.

We were surprised to learn that we would be unable to partake in the sports day activity as we had been drinking. The policy is absolutely understandable as it’s down to insurance reasons but if we had known in advance then we could have planned accordingly. It was also very unfair that we did not receive any refund as we had paid in full.

Eddie tried to say we had arrived drunk, which was absolutely not the case as the majority of alcohol consumed by our party was on his premises and as said above encouraged by his employees.

There was a stag group there at the same time who were experiencing the same situation as us which indicates this is a common issue.

I suggest you make it very clear during the online booking process that participants should not consume any alcohol prior to participating their activity. I currently see no mention of it. It might be included elsewhere on the site or in an email but clearly that isn’t sufficient.

If these simple changes aren’t made, then it’s fair to say the miscommunication is intentional and a way to scam honest customers.

In addition to the above the absolute rudeness and ill manners displayed from Eddie were disgraceful. I have never been spoken to or experienced such poor customer service as we did from him.

How he spoke to our mothers is something that will stick with me for a long time. I was embarrassed and appalled.

I would not recommend this place to anyone. Aside from what happened with Eddie, we were shocked from our arrival to the most run down, filthy and unhygienic standards we were presented with.

We will be taking...

I went to this activity centre on Thursday 16/10. Everybody was very excited, I was too, as I had gone in September the year before, and it was very enjoyable. Everybody got ready, and lined up to be put into different teams. As soon as we entered the paintball area, Eddie, the instructor was very vexxed, and his tone was far too aggressive for 15-16 year olds. He immediately gave out to two girls for glancing at each other, accusing them of talking, and when they said they weren’t, he realized he was in the wrong and got very stutter-y, and seemingly very embarrassed.

He explained to us the rules of the paintball, and then handed us our guns. Everybody did their jobs in the game, or tried to, and had fun. Everybody put their guns on the floor, then took their masks off as instructed. Some boys were playing with/picking up their gun, and granted, the instructor gave out to them, but was far too aggressive, going as far as to curse at them, and when one boy fought back, Eddie said “Get the (curse) out.”

We continued on to the next game and all was fine, but I got shot in the mask, so once my gun was on safety and everyone else had their guns on the floor, Eddie said “Mask ON.” But considering the fact that I had a mask covering my ears, I misheard, and thought he said “Mask off.” So, obviously. I went to take my mask off, and he immediately started yelling at me. Repeatedly telling me to keep my mask on, I replied telling him that I will, that I was fixing it. He continued to repeatedly scream to keep my mask on, and considering the fact he was having a meltdown the equivalent to a toddler getting his favorite toy taken away, I told him to calm down. Since he didn’t like that, he used his big grown up powers and told me to “Get the (curse) out.” I agreed and walked off, then refused to participate.

I don’t understand how this man is a manager, but what I understand even less is where this man gets off yelling at teenagers. It isn’t cool, and I hope the power trip he gets for an hour is worth it when he goes out...