Facenda Whitaker Lanes — Attraction in East Norriton Township

I looked up this bowling alley and from the photos it looked really nice. I called twice to see if there was a wait for a lane and I was assured that there wasn't. So I took the 30 min ride to enjoy a day out with the family. When we got there I went to the counter to get us set up...I should have left then. The short lady (I think Diane) acted as if I didn't exist. There was a tall white guy with grayish-white hair who finally asked what I needed and proceeded to be very rude. He acted as if he didn't want to help me at all. I know it wasn't me because I have a very sunny disposition and I'm always smiling and I'm polite. Eventually my personality made him a little polite but not much.

*NOTE: I read another review that said if the counter staff was rude, it was probably because it was a busy night....this was NOT the case AT ALL. There was a nice crowd but nothing overwhelming, not in the slightest way. It wasn't even full because there were a lot of lanes available.

I asked for assistance with getting a Dino and a bumper for my 2 year old. Once again he was not pleasant and had to be asked more than once about the bumpers. Thank goodness our lane was in front of the counter. During our bowl my youngest son (the 2 year old) decided he wanted to try to push the ball down without the Dino and to my surprise he did. My dad stood with him while we watched the ball go down the lane and we're all clapping for him...even other guests were cheering for him. I guess in the excitement and because he's 2 he tried to run after the ball (he's not the first kid to do it and he won't be the last) my dad instinctively goes after him and they of course both fall because the floor is extremely slick. Diane ( the short, white, middle-aged employee) yells "yo" and then gets on the mic and yells again "do not go on the lane for any reason"...how embarrassing on top of our baby running down the lane. Diane and the older white guy proceed to talk rudely about us amongst themselves, but loud enough that we can hear, then the guy comes over as if to chastise us....we are adults and it was a mistake....this was not called for. They never asked what actually happened or if they were ok. They just spoke to us as if we are children (my father is 62 years old). Other guests came over to ask if my son and father were ok and also commented as to how rudely this situation was handled by the staff. The staff here needs to learn courtesy and respect..."Respect is due to a dog"!!! The sad part is that it's a nice bowling alley, but no one deserves to be treated so rudely especially upon entering the establishment. I always say customer service has gone down drastically in general and this is just another example to support that. Unfortunately these reviews don't tend to make a difference in the service, but I would like other patrons to know what they could expect...

THE GOOD: Okay, so I have been a regular customer at Facenda Whitaker Lanes for at least 15 years of my life independently and have gone there with my parents since I was a young kid (Im 23 now)! I love the atmosphere this place offers and it is especially good for me being that the bowling alley is 5 minutes from my house and open 24 hours offering an entertainment opportunity no matter what time of day/night. I have had fun nights with friends, many dates there and have been very proud to show my friends from out of town a classy establishment of a bowling alley that we can go to locally and have some fun. The front desk staff is excellent every time I have been there, and after reading previous reviews posted under mine with negative comments about the front desk staff I can only say that you must have been there on a busy night when the staff may only have been overwhelmed, but I can assure you that the front desk employees are very nice and willing to help any guests that come into that establishment.

MUST READ THIS PART!!!

THE BAD: The entire reason I am going out of my way to write this review is for the BAD part. The 40-50 (maybe even older) year guy who runs the Steppy's bar and food window is the biggest JERK, RUDE, and all around MISERABLE guy of all times I have ever experienced in the service industry, especially at a classy place like Facenda. Like I said before I took the time to read other peoples reviews to make sure I'm not crazy and that other people have had this same experience as me before going out of my way to write this. His service was so poor I almost walked over to the front desk and demanded a supervisor because I was embarrassed at the way he acted when serving my date and I through the service window (this was her first time at the alley and made a comment about how rude he was as soon as we walked away from ordering at the window) Unfortunately this isn't the first time I had this guy act like this when serving me and I knew it was time to say something so other people don't have to experience the Extremely Poor service this guy offered, because it really brings you down a notch when having a good time and just outright makes you want to stay away from ordering food and drinks from this establishment. I would strongly suggest that management or the owner reads this post makes a comment to this guy because it is such a turn off having to experience such negativity when just trying to enjoy the all around fun this...

I would give this place 0 stars if I could. The manager (elderly blonde woman) was extremely rude and would not listen to reason, even though it was their machine error which caused the issue.

For starters, the machine was inaccurate in marking the pins that had been knocked over. When we called the employee over, he said "can you show me how it's wrong" and asked us to bowl so that he could communicate the problem to the mechanic. It occurred a few times (he came back and forth multiple times and asked us to "show him" each time) and they could not fix the glitch. They moved us over to another lane, and I thought that they would at least erase those frames or maybe even reset the game because it was still early on the game, only about 3 frames in. I went up to the front desk because, after waiting about 5 minutes at our new lane, there had been no change.

I talked with the manager and she told us that there is no way for her to reset the game unless we pay for what we bowled so far (each individual frame), errors and all. She claimed that she fixed what was wrong because only one error showed up on her computer. When we tried to explain that her that the single frame was not the only error, and also that her employee made us bowl a few times to troubleshoot, she cut us off and said, "but you still bowled." This conversation went on for a few minutes and after roundabout logic and accusatory tones that I felt were uncalled for, I concluded that this woman does not listen to reason.

I was dumbfounded by her tone and logic. She was demeaning and insulting. Heed my warning folks, at this business "the customer is...