Markham Bowl — Local services in Markham

Please look at all the reviews over the past year - all the same complaints: rude, dismissive, untrained, incompetent staff and management who refuse to address their poor staff issues.

Booked a party for 26 kids, with 30 attending adults. Contact early march via email with requests. Met supervisor in person on Apr 2 to discuss and sign contract. Called supervisor week of May 21 to confirm food orders, number of guests, and all other caveats including water bottles, specifics around pizza being cut, and setting up the lanes prior. Emailed June 2nd with information. Called June 2nd afternoon to confirm that email was received.

Arrived at party on June 4th. Staff oblivious - asking me for confirmation for every task that was stated in 3 previous calls, and 2 previous email. I was frustrated being that I had 20m to set up for a 60 person party. There were 4 adult workers. All seemed unaware, not briefed, unwilling to follow any plan.

They called the manager to inform her that they, 4 adults, felt unsafe with me, 1 mother. She arrived to berate me, ignore my requests, threaten to charge us extra, and demand we pay before the party had even finished.

I followed up afterwards to find out why things went so wrong. I was heated, absolutely, but she kept saying things I couldn't know - their email was hacked and they don't check emails since march (4 people received calls from me about me emailing - not one staff mentioned that they're not looking at emails; I was told to email in advance to have it set up; I was told I could bring a variety of items including bottles of water that became a "covid issue" though covid restrictions have been lifted over 1 year ago).

She also refused to listen to my arguments, arguing that her staff is young (how is that my problem? train them better), that I shouldn't have emailed (why was I told to email by 3 staff members), that I couldn't bring certain things because of covid (though I was told by staff the oppositive at 3 or 4 different times).

In addition, we had asked that someone stand at the shoe rental desk to greet our 26 kids. Nobody was there consistently, resulting in at least 10 parents asking me several times, "where do we get the shoes?" Please keep in mind that I'm welcoming, setting up, hosting games for 26 kids and 30 parents, and am still expected to direct people to shoes.

On this day, we were the only party. There were 3 other families playing on lanes. The centre was 30% filled at max, with 4 workers on cite. The cherry on the cake - when I was asked if I wanted the staff to hand out the hotdogs and fries because that's what the business does, i had 2 parents coming to me saying that staff were swearing about having to serve the children to the point where one of the mothers asked them to watch their language and close the shutters.

The entire experience was atrocious. We spent $800 at the organization, + $300 extra. We confirmed 3 times via phone and 2 times via email. We were instructed on things by the staff and followed them verbatim.

I cannot recommend this place, at all. Instead of apologizing profusely and promising to make it up, the owner kept insisting that she would "watch the video and audio footage." I contacted her 3 days after the debacle. If she had the footage and/or cared about our experience, this would have been done after the party, immediately.

Go somewhere else. Like skyzone. We had an incredible experience there for my son's 4th. Staff were trained, supported us throughout, and made my day as easy as possible. Markham bowl went out of their way to destroy my event with incompetence, excuses, and adult workers who were "scared" to do their job - enough so that swearing in front of children seemed...

we went there with 4 kids today. I had the worse experience. There was 2 staffs tonight. One of the staff a scruffy indian/south asian guy was extremely rude to us. Erroneouly the kids took on 4 seperate lanes, and they approached the kids to tell them that they shouldnt' be playing on all 4 lanes, instead of telling me. And then the scruffy indian staff approaches me and says exactly this "if you kids dont' stop playing on the other lanes we are gona kick you out" I almost dropped dead at this moment. I found this air head's comment to be extremely rude, offensive and unprofessional. I would never go back there for bowling and I will also be writting about my experience on facebook and other social media that I am involved in, so that my family and friends are also warned and avoids this place. Very unhappy with the service, and offended. I can't believe they would have unprofessional staffs such as these, how would they expect to make a profit...........

Date: Oct 6th, 2020 I just noticed your response to my ratings and comments today. There are several things you mentioned inaccurately. Our staff did seek an adult member that came with the children, however there were no adults in sight----- This is incorrect as there was always 1-2 adult designated to look after the kids while the others went for a smoke. It’s possible that you did not know whom to approach because of the large group we had. The staff did not take the time to explain to us that we would have to pay for separate lanes separately, which is why from the beginning we used 2-3 lanes at a time----Staff only approached us 20 min after the kids were already used to playing in 2-3 lanes to let us know that they are only allowed to play on the one lane. This was not set as an expectation from the beginning. Again poor communications from the staff. Had we known we would have prepared our kids. Once kids are used to playing in a certain way, it is much harder to change it later. This is something you need to consider for your next customer and be sure to be kind and courteous. Finally I want to reiterate on the behavior from your staff, which was always the focal point. Was it courteous to tell a group of 4 adults with 4 kids that “If your kids don’t’ stop playing on the other lanes, we will kick you out” Nope. Was it justifiable to use those words under any circumstances Kick us out? what are we animals?.What kind of training are you providing them with? Did you apologize to me for your staff’s behaviour? Nope. What you did is try to defend your staff’s misbehavior and rudeness with some additional misinformation about our group. You need to review your policy and come up with better practices, tell your staff not to behave the way he did, because it was utterly rude and we felt bullied by his behavior. Nobody should have to hear such words at a place where they are suppose to feel like a guest. I wish you best of luck with your practice and I hope you find ways to improve...

My recent experience at Markham Bowl on July 29 was incredibly frustrating, largely due to the deceptive and misleading behavior of "Manager” Neil.

We were initially informed by a staff member that if we returned on Monday after 8 p.m., we could take advantage of a special offer and bowl for half price. This seemed like a reasonable solution, so we made plans to come back. However, upon returning on Monday, we were met with a completely different story. Manager Neil claimed there was no such offer and insisted that no record of our previous conversation existed. We were given a range of excuses that did not align with what we were originally told. This inconsistent information and lack of acknowledgment of the earlier commitment were extremely frustrating.

The situation further deteriorated when we ordered a couple of beers and discovered they were served at an unusually warm temperature. As a group of four bartenders, we know that beer should be served COLD!!! Instead of addressing this issue, Neil informed us that the beer was supposed to be warm and that it was “just part of the ambiance.” This response was both unprofessional AND inaccurate.

Additionally, the rest of the staff appeared disorganized and poorly trained, further exacerbating the situation. For the premium prices they charge, the service was completely unacceptable. We left feeling frustrated and disrespected. The lack of professionalism and customer care was staggering.

I WILL NOT be returning, and I HIGHLY advise anyone considering this place to think twice. Good service should be a given, and here, it was sorely lacking....