MFA Bowl ILKESTON — Local services in Erewash

Where to start? Firstly I would like to say I'm not a just an average Jo public bowler I have been a league bowler for nearly 27 years and broke one of the house records in 2006. How I long for those heady days but this will never be achieved again bowling at this sorry state of a bowling. Let's start from the outside. The building looks derelict, I read on one of the other review replys that there was a refurbishment planned for February of this year, it's now July and a quick coat of grey on the walls hardly constitutes a refurb. The lanes: the most import part of a bowling alley and should be tip top condition. Wrong!. It's now optional for public bowlers to where there own shoes on the approaches and they are in an horrendous state, I'm horrified this is actually allowed. Money was spent cleaning these a few months back and there now back to there previous dirty grubby look. If that's your attitude no wonder the place is going down hill rapidly. The lanes themselves need a complete overall they have not been refurbished in at least 10 years which is well over due. For someone who bowls on them regularly and pays good money to do so I expect them to be dressed properly with machiney that actually works and doesn't look as though it was dragged out the ark. The lane patterns are a joke and have completely ruined my style of bowling with there total erratic behaviour. I'm not even sure using the term pattern is the right one there they are that bad. Basically unless you are a straight bowler you have no hope of ever improving while bowling here. I feel sorry for the YBC league that have produced some amazing bowlers over the years and now anyone with any potential will probably look elsewhere to do there bowling. And I am informed actually do. The lane technician has worked damn hard in recent months to try sort out the ongoing issues with lanes breaking down and ball returns jamming, but he is working with machiney that's probably the better part of 50+ years old with no financial backing to overall the entire system. If my place of work approached there business with this attitude with key machiney to make the whole system run we would be loosing orders right left and centre, but what do management care he is just sat in his ivory tower somewhere in Kent while he fleeces everyone out of their hard earned money. One final point before signing off you need to hire a proper cleaner the toilets are a joke at times I've been to festivals with better facilities. So in summation Ilkeston MFA bowling alley should have the motto over their door "Come to Ilkeston we can make even good...

Avoid. if I could give zero stars I would have.... I tried to book online but we were unable to get on the site so I phoned and asked regarding prices and availability. The lady mentioned 2 family offers which were 1 hour £20 or 2 games £35. So i booked the 2 games for 3pm. Arrived at 2.45 to be met by a note on the main door saying card machines were out of order so cash only. This wasnt mentioned during my phone call so we had to walk to the garage to get cash. There was a sign behind the till to say booking online was cheaper which we couldnt do. Also the other £20 deal had free soft drinks which we were told we couldn't have with our more expensive deal. None of this was explained over the phone. We were booked into lane 3. The chair nearest the lanes had bolts unscrewed and were sticking up which we didnt notice till my daughter age 11 sat on it and it tilted and trapped her fingers between the seats. I mentioned this to the lady behind the desk who said ' that doesnt surprise me at all in this place' which wasnt the answer i was looking for. The floor was littered the balls were filthy and badly pitted. The whole place was just grubby and extremely tired. As a family of 4 we paid £35 for 1 hour and it was just disappointing. I wouldn't recommend this...

We visited here on Boxing Day with the family. Where do I start!! The toilets smelt of urine It was that cold that people were bowling in coats and woolly hats A chemical bottle and cleaning cloths were left on low level machines (so a child could have easily picked it up) We moved lanes as the one we were originally on kept breaking, but the one they moved us to still kept breaking. Even before I had aired my concerns with the assistant manager she offered me a free return visit. I declined the offer as we will definitely not be returning. I have emailed the head office and the reply I received was… the toilets are cleaned every night and morning. With regards to the cold venue… it’s a big building so takes along time to heat up!!! Nothing about the chemicals being left out or about the malfunctioning equipment. As for the toilets, they clearly aren’t being cleaned correctly and with the building being so big to heat, why not switch it on a bit earlier so it warms through!!!! Sorry but not a place I would recommend to an Eskimo or someone who works in the...