TO THE COMPANY'S RESPONSE:
If you truly recognize how crucial it is to support families with special needs, then proper training for your staff on fair treatment should be a priority. I hope the surveillance video you referenced indeed shows how I was given barely 10 seconds to chase after my daughter out of the room—a challenging task for any parent.
A simple solution, like keeping the door closed, could have easily prevented this incident. The fact that no corrective actions were taken by management to make this experience less stressful suggests a lack of customer care. As with any review, if your company handles a difficult situation well, you’ll earn a five-star rating; if not, you can expect honest feedback that reflects the experience. I think it's clear where this case stands.
I would like to preface this review by saying; if you have a special needs child or if you are going to have a birthday party here with a special needs child, please make sure that your party isn’t getting handled by a lady named Tracy.
I arrived with my three-year-old daughter. We went into this wide-open barn because she saw a 4-foot plastic cow that drew her attention and that she wanted to pretend to milk. This was completely away from any food setups or tables, as the cow was tucked away in the back of the wide-open room.
Tracy (the staff) asked me if I was here for the party and I told her, "I’m sorry I didn’t know there was a party, I didn’t see any signs and the double barn doors were wide open". Tracy said, "I’m going to ask you to leave." I said, "No problem." As I proceeded to chase my daughter because she is on the spectrum and a little more difficult to deal with than a neurotypical child. Tracy repeats, "You need to leave right now, immediately.” I said, "If you can be kinder, my daughter is on the spectrum.” Tracy said, “Yeah, that’s great, I need you to leave immediately.” I told her, "I’m trying my best." Tracy then said, "That’s great, I want you to leave right now. You need to leave immediately.” Tracy hovered her hand over my back, forcing me out and pointing at the door.
Tracy was incredibly dismissive, completely callous and unfortunately insensitive to families with children with special needs. This is quite surprising because they hold special needs events here regularly. I really hope Tracy learns to have a heart because people should not be treated like this. We were not obstructing anything, my daughter was not interested in any food, she was not interested in any table settings. All she wanted was to play with that cow, away from anything else going on in that room and Tracy was being very disrespectful.
The manager mentioned there was a sign outside which was not apparent. I suggested to Tracy and the manager to simply close the doors, this would have solved every issue.
I had asked for an apology, but management told me she did nothing wrong and that she was just being stern. Being “stern” is not a quality to defend for a person running children’s leisure activities. If they are teaching lessons, that’s one thing; but for a party or a day out at the farm, stern is not a positive. There is a difference between being “stern” and being outright rude and callous.
Please do yourself a favor and don’t subject yourself to dealing with rude staff members here. There are plenty of other local farms to visit that will treat you and your family with proper respect and kindness.
I’m sure management will reach out about this review, since they have already called me back to advocate for Tracy. However, as the manager mentioned, I am entitled to my opinion, and my
"opinion" is that I deserve an apology. Surprisingly, management didn't apologize on her behalf either, and did nothing to try and make this right. Literally, the only outcome from that phone call was "You're entitled to your opinion." And funny enough, some of the other negative reviews were about negative experiences with the staff regarding how they were treated as well, and management seems to...
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