Tenpin York — Attraction in Clifton Without

We went to Tenpin York about a week ago for after-dinner entertainment. Got there on a Tuesday night - the place was rammed with people. Fair enough - nice to see they are busy. However, all the racks of balls were empty and all the balls were loaded up into the packed full lanes at well more balls than needed by the number of people playing in each lane. This left us with only the balls in our lane are to choose from. Unfortunately, they were all either too small or way way way too heavy. We tried to put up with it for a while and asked for the bumpers to be put up so we could play at all. We told the girl who put the bumpers up that we couldn't find a ball and she said "yeah there aren't any , are there?"...... then walked away. Ummmm....okay.

After a full game we were pretty deflated. - it isn't fun to play as adults when you have the bumpers up. It seems nearly pointless. Given that the atmosphere was pretty grim (absolutely heaving with a pretty scroggy clientèle) and we had no access to the appropriate equipment - we decided it would be better to just go home and cut our losses.

This is where it got really bizarre.

As we turned in our shoes I asked the girl behind the counter if it would be possible to get a refund on the unplayed round (we purchased in advance 2 rounds) as they were unable to supply us with the correct equipment. She flippantly said "sorry no refunds!". I then tried to appeal to her explaining we weren't able to find any balls as all the racks were empty (this seemed to be largely the case because they don't clear them out between players and players don't put them back - nearly every lane seemed to have about twice as many balls as players). She then got very snotty: "WELL WE ARE BUSY!"

Thanks for clearing that up - apparently if they are busy they don't have to supply you with the experience you paid for.

I told the girl behind the counter that I thought she was rude asked to speak with a manager and a man came over already full of attitude (I have no doubt the teenage girl behind the counter had already told him I felt she was rude). His name was Sanjay.

He proceeded to tell me that they didn't give refunds under any circumstances. I tried again explaining the situation but he then insisted that they didn't give refunds.

I said it was fine and that I was unhappy and wouldn't return but if that was how it was - then that was how it was. Honestly, I knew I paid through Paypal and had fully planned to appeal through them when I got home. I didn't have any interest in arguing the point with Sanjay as it was clear he had a tiny nugget of power and was exercising it. Why bother if I could just circumvent him?

But then he proceeded to badger me. He told me that he would get us the balls. I pointed out we already had our shoes on and just wanted to go home. He continued to go ON AND ON AND ON. I told him I wasn't interested and just wanted to leave. I even asked him why he was still talking to me given that I had already acknowledged that he wasn't going to refund us - and that I was unhappy and there was nothing more to say. Then, he began to step into my personal space as if to attempt to intimidate. I then said very loudly for others to hear "GO AWAY FROM ME."

It was only when he saw other customers look over at him acting like a prat that he decided it was time to leave me alone and let me leave the way I said I wanted to repeatedly over and over and over.

But still as we were leaving he turned around and shouted at me as I walked away. He clearly could not let it go.

The upshot of it is - don't expect to get a ball if they are busy. Apparently being busy means they don't have to supply you with the equipment you paid to use unless you pester them. If you tell them you are unhappy they will neither refund you nor let you leave in peace.

Paypal refunded the full amount for both rounds.

To Tenpin - your manager should be ashamed of himself. Not only did he act unprofessionally - but he also acted like a complete fool.

We won't...

Had a great time here yesterday,lots of amusement games to have a go on and the bowling was very reasonable for one game with ten goes each.I was very surprised how good a price it was.I hadn't been there for years and noted you don't have to change or rent their bowling shoes anymore,that's how long it's been since I've been .you just wear your own non slippy footwear such as trainers which was good and convenient and more hygienenic to be honest.The staff were friendly enough but one thing I would say is, I had told the first female member of staff on the till that we hadn't been in a long time,when we went to the computer on the alley to put our names in it wouldn't allow for all three names.I went back to the till and the same female staff member said she would alter this, so not sure it that was a mistake on her part or ours but after I returned to the computer it still seemed to take a while for us to get set up.The place was not busy,it was Tuesday and was quiet.I enjoyed this ,that there wasn't hussle and bussle so the point I'm making is, it would of been nice and helpful, especially knowing we hadn't been for years, if the member of staff would of actually came across to the computer and help us set up our game.We had already spent a vast amount of time in traffic getting there so had been waiting a fair amount already to get there, when we finally arrived it would of been a relief if we could just start our game but I nearly had to go up to the counter Again....so the customer service was lacking a tad.The female member of staff was only talking to another male member of staff so wasn't exactly rushed of their feet.Eventually we managed to put our names in and did enjoy the actual game.The pricing is great and the second female member of staff I dealt with later on seemed more helpful, even giving me two separate hot nuts to try at the counter so I knew which to order.The choice of amusement games is brilliant, especially enjoyed the air hockey games.The pacman one where all the counters come out at you is real fun.One little slight annoyance is when we were playing the tenpin bowling there was a machine/game that kept playing the same tune in the background and though it was a fair distance away all we could hear was this same tune like an ice-cream van sound constantly repeating.It was a bit off putting.Maybe it was because there was no main music playing in the main bowling area to drown it out a bit.Other than that and the lack of assistance setting up,we really enjoyed it.I would add the tickets you collect seem a waste of time...I had 38 tickets I won at the machines and i asked at the counter what prize I got.She said that allows me One sweet??? Bit tight especially if someone has a lot of kids with them, they,ll need a hell of a Lot...

It's quite hard to give a review of this place if I'm going to be completely honest, I will have to start however by saying that this is the only public bowling alley that I know of in York, so if you want to go bowling IN YORK, I'm afraid that this is the only place that you can go.

So far as bowling alleys go, this is not the worst in terms of experience, but it majorly lacks in any kind of bowling atmosphere. If you're looking to be the next Dude, this is not the place to go bowling. You constantly are able to enjoy loud and annoying music blaring out over loud speakers whilst paying too much for anything that is available for purchase. You will also find your senses being assaulted by blacklights and lasers in the lanes, as well as the immensely annoying smoke machines that sheild your view of the pins. The facilities and equipment as I have seen other reviews talk about really are in dire need of any sort of upgrade possible; the bowling balls are chipped, the shoes, ill sized and uncomfortable, not to mention the lanes constantly malfunctioning with staff almost refusing to fix them. It seems to me that when I was younger, I remember this alley fondly, with kind and considerate staff who very much enjoyed their job, but as time has passed, it seems as though the place has become a facility without any of the things which I just mentioned. Not only is the bowling over-priced for an unsatisfactory experience, but the disgusting food shares a high price similar to that of the bowling experience.

Maybe if they focused more on the bowling and less on the arcade and laser tag facilities (both of which being much better equipped than the alleys), it would be a more pleasant experience for those who enjoy the sport and the culture behind it.

Now that I have spent some considerable time talking about the cons, lets mention the pros that it does lack in, but still have:

As I mentioned earlier, it is the only public bowling alley in York, therefore making it the best (I suppose). It does feature some other facilities, such as a more relaxed bar and pool (as in the game) area, as well as a laser tag and arcade area. It is a relatively good place to hold a party for those who are less bothered about the bowling and more about the social event. Although it's wildly expensive for normal people, I seem to remember that they do discounts for kids partys?

Anyway to kind of fully sum up shall I say? You are probably going to have a relatively fun time if you aren't too bothered about the bowling and the ridiculously high prices, but for those of you who are, I would probably recommend that you find around about 860 square feet of space and £60,000 to buy...