Bury Bowl — Local services in West Suffolk

I visited today with my parents, wife and 10 year old autistic son - bowling is one of the few activities that he enjoys outside of our house and we bowl regularly at Tenpin and Hollywood Bowl in Colchester, and every now and again we like to visit other alleys for a change of scenery.

When we turned up, despite the fact that my son was wearing his ear defenders and spinning round in circles (something he does when overwhelmed) we were told we had to produce our "disability living allowance" letter... I do understand that proof is required, however we have never, ever been asked for this letter anywhere else that we have been - not even the big chains. To be fair, we usually bring it just in case but today we had forgotten it, so my wife was able to show the lady on reception the latest DLA payment, which she (eventually, very reluctantly) accepted but told us that "they're being very strict" and we would have to produce the letter next time. Again, fair enough I guess... Our bad for forgetting the letter on this one occasion, but also, come on! Also they asked my parents' age to qualify for the "senior" rate... I wasn't asked for their birth certificates to prove their ages 🤷🏼‍♂️ Double standards?

When our lane became available (bang on timing-wise, fair enough), we were called over to collect our bowling shoes. Again, this may have been short-sighted on our part, but we haven't been asked to wear bowling shoes at any of the (many) other lanes we have taken our son to. In fact it must have been 15+ years since I last saw a pair of bowling shoes. As an autistic child with sensory processing disorder, different shoes are a problem for our son - as soon as he was presented with them he burst into tears (he was really looking forward to bowling but this was a deal breaker for him)... After attempting to persuade him and realising it wasn't going to happen (after paying ~£50 already) I asked the lady on reception if the shoes were completely necessary and I was told in no uncertain terms "yes, they absolutely are".

I don't fully understand the ins and outs of insurance for bowling alleys but this appeared to be the reason - this doesn't seem to be an issue for Hollywood Bowl or Tenpin so I'd be interested to hear how this works (I'm assuming I'll get a response to this). Eventually, she again reluctantly agreed that if we needed to use his regular (flat-shoed, clean) trainers then we could, but she was at pains to let us know that they call people out on the tannoy normally for this. Out of respect for the rules, I told my son that if he bowled the first 2 frames with the bowling shoes on and they were still uncomfortable (a common technique that we use to circumvent this issue) then he could switch to his trainers.

Rules are rules, I understand, but when there is a disability involved it feels like even if they were acting within the regulations set by the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 (which I will absolutely be checking), it's a bit of a strange and risky hill to die on.

With my son in floods of tears (perhaps by this point we should have relented and just cut our losses), my wife, who wasn't bowling herself, attempted to help my son along to bowl his first ball... Within seconds the lady from reception had come over - "oh she's seen him struggling and she's coming to tell him he doesn't need to wear the bowling shoes" I thought.

Nope.

She had come to reprimand my wife for not wearing bowling shoes!!!

At this point I demanded a refund (which to their credit, they gave me immediately with no arguments) and we left, never to return.

As I say, I understand that there are rules, but if it wasn't hard enough to parent a disabled child, these sorts of unaccommodating people (who work in FAMILY entertainment businesses) really do make things that much more (unnecessarily) difficult. Fortunately they are extremely rare, but in Bury Bowl we have a business (or at least a receptionist) that appears to have a profound inability to accommodate disabled...

Edit to my original review of 5-Sep: An apology, a retraction - and a challenge to the owner’s response: First and foremost, I am very sorry if the staff member at the bar was upset by what I said. The situation was not their fault, and my comments were not a personal criticism. I see I was wrong to publicly express my thoughts about the over-salting of our food. As I had no proof of the reason behind it. The manager has given an assurance, which I accept. But I am sorry, I must strongly challenge the Manager’s assertion that I was verbally abusive. This is absolutely untrue, unjust, and frankly outrageous and offensive. First, a dictionary definition of verbal abuse for their benefit: a range of words including insults, humiliation, and ridicule, and attempts to scare. It is a shame that there is no recording of the conversation at the bar. If there were, it would be shown that what I said and how I said it was nothing of the sort. But perhaps the CCTV there covers the bar. If it does, the manager should review this. Because they will not see anything in my body language that is in any way intimidating or threatening. If there was anything close to verbal abuse, it was from the person in the kitchen area. When the person at the bar eventually went to see how long our food might be, he looked directly down the corridor at me and shouted, ‘the time is up’. I cannot now remember every word precisely. But the first thing I said at the bar was ‘can I just check on how our food is coming…’. If as well as apologising, the staff member had also said ‘let me go and check for you’ then told me it will be another 5-10 minutes, I would have accepted that. But instead, their first response was just to repeat how busy they are. In effect, offering no more than to say it will be as long as it will be. It was at that point I said words to the effect of ‘but you told me that before (about being busy) and said it would be 45 minutes (and that time is up)’. Took my 10-year old here for a frame of bowling (starting 11:15-11:30). He had a great time. Overall a good experience, except for the wait time for food. Placed an order for two, just before midday. The young lady at the bar explained that they were busy and there would be a 45 minute wait. Decided we could pass the time in the arcade, so went ahead. Kept an eye on the time and returned (with a hungry child) after the time had passed. Served by the same lady. She apologised but told me again that they're busy - they had a party in, and the food was not ready. The lady was visibly irritated that I had reminded her of the time scale she had given. Only when I asked roughly how much longer it might be, did she go (stomp) off to the kitchen to check. By chance, it happened to be ready !?. I asked for some drinks, which were served. But there was definitely still an air of irritation on display. Either the venue was understaffed or the staff member was having a bad day (or is not suited to the job). But it is better to under-promise and over-deliver. As we finished our meal, the lady at the bar was telling another customer it would be a 45-minute wait for food! PS: Our chips were incredibly salty. So much so, I suspect this might have been deliberate, as a reprisal for daring to express dissatisfaction. But given the staff attitude, I didn't see any point in...

My name is Claire Gouge, I am the manager of Bury Bowl. I would like to answer the man who gave us a 1 star. When paying on your arrival didn't you think £42 was cheap for 8 people 2 games ? If you had said something there and then we could of sorted the problem out straight away. This time of the year we are very busy and mistakes can happen we are only human. The last thing we want is a customer feeling let down, that is not how we like to run things at Bury Bowl. Just to let you know you can book and pay online which you would get a full booking confirmation. The drinks situation. We are very busy and don't have time to walk the lanes asking everyone if they would like drinks or something to eat. I want our customers to have quality time with their families and friends and to enjoy the game. I always let my customers decide on what they want. Don't want anyone feeling pressured or pestered.

Again my Apologies.

Happy New Year to you and all your family. Claire...