Up Your Alley — Attraction in Schererville

Yesterday (1/17/2021) I went to this establishment to celebrate my nephew birthday. We arrived around 2pm and instantly put my name on the waiting list, upon doing that I asked the woman at the desk was there a good chance that we will get the lanes since I know some people reserve them online. She told me yes and there were 5 parties ahead of us. So we went and enjoyed the other attractions they had to offer and also got a table and ate and played again. Now during this time around 3:30pm I went to check again on the status of the waiting for the lanes the same clerk told me there were now 3 parties ahead of us, so it seemed as if things was moving at a steady pace. We were not in a hurry to leave since the kids were still playing in the arcade area. Now I am sitting at the at a booth in the dining area and I call into the establishment at 5:41pm to check the status of the wait for 2 bowling lanes. I was told by Meghan in the office that 2 lanes were going to be available around 6:15pm. So around 6:10pm I go to the counter say something to the clerk about the 2 lanes and she tells me that there are not any lanes available at that time and she can not give me a time as to when I would get any lanes. So I explained to her that I just called in and was told a time of 6:15pm, she says she do not know who I spoke with "but when she works in the office she do not give out times." At that point it didn't matter to me what she did when she worked in the office, it just mattered to me what the woman in the office told me. She later stormed off mid conversation and the GM Ross was standing not to far away hearing the conversation and my issue as a customer unfold. Once he took over the conversation he basically repeated the same thing the clerk who stormed off told me they do not give out a time in the office, its like he did not give it a second thought he was 100% sure that I was basically not telling the truth. I asked him to go to the office and ask her did she tell a customer a time, and really didn't want to go ask her in his words "if I go back there and ask she's going to tell me no." So basically the customer is in the wrong, when in fact when he walked back there and talked to her she told him "she didn't tell anyone 6:15pm but she told some people she cant remember who 6:30pm." So not only is someone from the office giving out times but she also does not remember who she told it to. That's a major problem within itself that causes conflict and tension amongst customers and workers. Instead of the GM Ross being so quick to forejudge he should've listened and took everyone involved into consideration and not be quick to say what someone would and wouldn't do, as the employees are human too since her giving out times may have just been a honest mistake. An apology was simply due just for the miscommunication on the establishment end. Don't make me feel like I'm doing something wrong for the information that was given to me from someone...

I brought my family here for the first time because it seemed like allot of fun with brand new equipment, flashy bowling lanes, food, drink and there was something for everyone. The quality of the services provided were decent if you are able to enjoy them; the quality of the patronage is disturbing. First, we rented one lane (60 dollars for the lane is ridiculous by the way); the other patrons using the lane next to us literally had 3 generations worth of people flooding both theirs and our areas. We could hardly approach the bowling lane without someone standing or blocking our path/seats! In no way were all of them bowling, either, most of them just came in with the rest of their party to observe, drink alcohol, and stand in other people’s lanes.Their kids were unsupervised , being allowed to run around, topple over into our seats, and throw our personal items around onto the floor without the slightest reprimand. we seldom had access to the bar seating behind us either because their entire group was hogging that area as well. While these people were friendly it was clear they didn’t know understand social cues or courtesy; I took a moment to inform the man at the customer service desk about this and was told they’d look into it but the night went largely unchanged. My waitress didn’t even come back with drinks we ordered for the kids (had to hunt her down too). I did not pay over 250 dollars that evening to become security or customer service rep for Up Your Alley. Unfortunately this place started to feel like Chucky Cheese soon into our experience. (If anyone here knows how a Chuckee Cheese on a busy weekend in the south side of Chicago feels like, then this is exactly it, AND ITS NOT A COMPLIMENT ). I will most likely not patron this establishment in the future because I felt unsafe, under managed and for the (lack of quality experience), it was overpriced.

Also, if any local northwest Indiana officials/ business sector people are reading this, know that this kind of mismanagement of a business that promotes unruliness is exactly what drives these establishments down a path of self destruction and reflects poorly on the community around it. Obviously it is a challenge for any business that is centered around active entertainment and alcohol to promote a safe environment through crowd control and policy enforcement , but this establishments policies are poorly enforced. You need security along the lanes and management that actually gives a damn to enforce policy otherwise it’s only a matter of time before it...

So I was not going to review until I had the opportunity to give them a 2nd chance, but here it goes. Last Friday I had my son book reservations to bowl online. He made the mistake of just clicking theu looking over the 8pm age policy. When we arrived we were greeted by security (not friendly). They explained the 8pm policy so I head over to the counter . I was greeted by a young lady at the desk. I explained my concerns because you have to prepay and asked if we could reschedule. She told me no and I asked for a manager. Her response was my manager is going to tell you the same thing. At that point I'm annoyed because if that was so once I requested the manager that should have been the end of it. Kristy came over and apologized. She kept apologizing and I explained to her that it wasn't needed. My advice was training employees on how to properly handle customers and escalations. She then went to reschedule my date and I asked if we could decrease the time span to one hour She said sure. I asked for confirmation and she told me she couldn't give any as this was a reschedule. She also told me she was working all night that day and everything would be fine. Fast forward the new day I'm sick! I'm not able to travel because I don't want to make others sick. I told my son him and his friends could have the lane. I called to confirm this would be OK and also to see if they could be late. They just got out of football practice. I spoke with Adam who was awesome. I went over details and explained as long as they were there before 8pm. We talked about time span and he explained it was still for 2hrs. I explained what I was told the week before and he placed me on hold. Kristy came back and she stated she never told me that and to add salt to thw wound she lied and said I walked off while her and I was talking that day. That's a negative and never happened. I explained to her my disappointment that she even felt the need to even make that up. I also shared that up until that point she was helpful as well. She went on to apologize about a miscommunication and policy. I asked for the general manager information and provided mine. Somethings are not acceptable as I work in a position of management. I treat people how I liked to be treated. I also share knowledge where it is lacking. I've been in management 20plus years. I am disappointed that I even had to experience this the 2nd time around. I will wait patient for a response and or a call back. I intend on Pursing this as far as I can because I'm all...