Skate Galaxy — Attraction in Prairieville

I went there on 1/2/16 (a Saturday) to start out the new year with a friend. When I pulled up, there was a long line of people standing outside. I remembered that it sometimes can get like this, so we went in, got my skates (my friend bought her roller blades with her) and we decided to skate. The problem started when a lot of people (specifically kids) began to rush towards the area by the arcade and have a fight. The fight cleared and the white owner/host (I'm not sure what his position was) spoke on the intercom and said that "they can fight across the street", which is very understandable He also enforced the rule where you constantly have to have an adult who's 21 years or older to come in and accompany which was the result of another fight that happened years ago I believe (not sure when) So the host then said if you don't have an adult with you that you're going to be asked to leave. So the staff ordered police officers to come in and be stationed around the rink to try to check for any kids who don't have an adult with them, and of course some of the kids start worrying about whether they will be kicked out and it's cold outside so I can understand why. So who's going to waste gas trying to get here only to find out that you have to have an adult accompany you? no one, especially if you have to pay admission just to watch your child skate. Meanwhile, I have to use the restroom and when I come out I see this [white] staff member asks a [black] group of girls who with them is a girl who is rinsing her eye out in the sink (I believe) and crying to leave. One of the girls explains to him that another girl sprayed mace (I wonder if now there are going to be body searches. Now you can't go out and have fun without having to fear for your life). Another [host] now a white lady comes on the intercom and keeps enforcing the adult rule as mentioned before and she puts on Christian/gospel music. I guess because you can't fight with gospel music playing. But then again, it would make it seem like everyone would be heathens if that were the case, like some Christian music is supposed to do anything. I like how they want to force their religious beliefs on people just like in history, but that's for another time. But after that, my phone goes dead so I decide to return my skates to the skate rental so I can get my shoe back and as that happens. A group of kids run outside one of the skating rinks to see ANOTHER fight break out (What's with this trend?!) and I hear the host (white male this time) proudly say that "Skate Galaxy is now closed" and he makes sure to repeat himself multiple time. So my friend and I are stuck in this crowd and I hear a taser go off and people start to fall down from almost being trampled from others and my friend is freaking out so I hurry up and try to return my skates and the staff is taking their time even though they are closing this place down for the night and I finally get my shoe and walk outside. Outside, the police officers are telling people to leave so you have these [black] kids being kicked out by [white] staff even though they had some [black] workers but the white staff was doing all of the moderating. Next, the kids naturally disperse and I see them walking across the street by themselves and not everyone has a ride, including me. Because I did not have a phone, I only knew the way I came and it was around 9:00 P.M. So I had to walk 20 minutes to the nearest gas station to use a phone to call my phone. I am mad the people who decided to fight, but I am extremely disappointed with how the staff handled it. They could have easily just put the people who fought out instead of punishing everyone else and not giving any refunds. Somehow when writing this review, I noticed It happened to sound like it was pointing out racist events. I wouldn't be surprised if I saw fire hoses, they already have...

I only gave this place a one-star because that’s the lowest I can rate this place. Please be careful going here; the owner is extremely rude and aggressive.

I visited this location on 6/24/2023 and paid the $12 for my party of 4 to enter. Upon entry, my party and I went to the back to pick up our skates; however, they required us to leave our right shoes at the skate desk. We are not from Baton Rouge, and this was our first time visiting this location.

No notice was provided to the public in the front prior to the transaction that we would be required to leave our shoes at the skate desk. If there had been a sign notifying customers in the front, I would have ONLY paid for admission and not to skate. I went to the front desk asking if I could receive a refund for my skates as I would not be skating because I was uncomfortable with leaving my shoes. However, the owner said no; a sign was posted out front, which was false. There was no sign notifying the customers prior to entry that they would be required to leave their shoes with them.

After explaining that there was no prior knowledge, the owner said you could leave I’m refusing service. How can you refuse service when the transaction was already made without providing the refund since I’m not receiving the service? If service is being refused, then a refund is provided since I didn’t utilize the service. It seemed as if I couldn’t ask questions or that the owner was upset that a black woman was challenging her about notifying the public about the skates prior to the transaction. I had only been there for 10 minutes. I stated that I would leave once my party received our refund since we had only been there for 5-10 minutes, and we had paid for 3 hours. The owner refused.

I called the non-emergency number to assist with obtaining the refund. It was told to the officers that my party was allowed back in, but I wasn’t. However, when my party attempted to go back into the location to request a refund, the security guards stopped them and banned them based on association (the manager was not allowing them back into the facility, which seemed racially motivated). The officers had to intervene so that a member of my party could enter the location to request a refund.

Everyone else in my party was refunded except me. However, I went through other methods and received the FULL REFUND for my ticket that the owner didn’t want to refund. I paid for a service that was not provided. Irrespective to the manger attempt to be spiteful, I still was able to RECOVER MY FULL REFUND. INSTEAD OF THEM LOOSING $4 now they had to refund the entire amount.

I would upload the videos; however, I am only allowed to upload photos on the review page.

Please be careful when going to this place. The owner does not have business etiquette and is very rude...

I was kicked out of Skate Galaxy this past weekend because I refused to apologize to the manager Kade for LEGALLY recording a conversation that he and I had back on July 30, 2022 that was centered around the fact that Kade had charged hundreds of people a $12 entry fee that night despite knowing that the ENTIRE SKATE FLOOR WAS SHUT DOWN inside.

As my children and I were exiting the building on the evening of July 30th, having been unable to skate, I noticed multiple families at the front desk asking for their money back because their children hadn’t been able to skate at all either. While the entry fee is affordable for me, it’s a lot of money for a lot of people and I’m the kind of person who vehemently stands up for what’s right so I began recording audio and began asking questions of Skate Galaxy management.

I have audio footage of the manager, Kade, admitting that he continued to charge hundreds of people the full-price admission fee despite knowing that he was not able to provide the services rendered and without notifying customers about the situation inside.

I advised every single person in line that if they had paid their entry fee with a credit or debit card they should dispute the charges with their bank for services not rendered.

I’ve reported Skate Galaxy to the Better Business Bureau, a media contact, and am in the process of reporting them to every single consumer agency in the state. I have sent Skate Galaxy a small clip of my recording but I have additional footage that I’m hanging onto for now.

One thing I don’t stand for is liars and people who defraud the public. Especially when I have stood in line at that place and had to watch parents “change their minds” about skating just so that they could afford to take their kids in.

Additionally, after the way I was bullied this past weekend for simply refusing to apologize because I did nothing wrong, I don’t care if the owner would literally get on her hands and knees and beg for forgiveness like she should. I’ll never set foot in that place again and...