The Dinner Detective True Crime Murder Mystery Dinner Show - Fort Collins, CO — Local services in Fort Collins

I originally planned to only share this feedback with Dinner Detective privately in hopes that the constructive criticism would be helpful, but after being ignored for almost a week and then receiving the SAME canned reply as the prior reviewer, it feels that they do not care and I now want others to know. Here is what I emailed (shortened because it's too long for Google.):

My husband and I and 2 close friends all left disappointed and I think there are some things that you could improve upon in the future so that others don’t have the same experience.

Food comments:

First, one of the appetizers ran out before we got any (there were 2 types) and it took awhile to be restocked. Staff could have been paying more attention, as we thought we were out of luck. Second, the salads that were sitting on our tables had already wilted and were not appetizing at all. I’m not sure how long they had been sitting there, but it looked like it was too long… The main course was the most disappointing for me. I ordered the vegetarian option and it felt like such cheap cafeteria food. The veggies did not seem fresh, the curry sauce was really gross, and the rice seemed like minute rice. Very little protein, too. I could barely eat it, but tried because I came so hungry. My husband's dish was more appetizing than mine (the pasta with pork sausage), but the sausage was REALLY skimpy. It only had 4 tiny thin slices. Not at all what he expected. We had a couple at our table (not from our party) who ordered the chicken who voiced that it was disgusting and so dry that they couldn’t eat it. My husband was grateful he got the skimpy sausage pasta meal and not that one… Desert was probably the best part, but still felt like less-than-fresh cheesecake. It had a thicker layer over the outside like it was leftovers from the day before (or probably frozen Sara Lee). It was at least edible, though.

Show/entertainment comments:

I had been to a mystery dinner before and it was so very different than this one. The audience members were not singled out/called on repeatedly like this show, so that part immediately caught me off guard. As someone with some social anxiety, I couldn’t enjoy myself and truly wanted to hide under the table after the show started. Even the interrogating of our table members was uncomfortable for me. I felt like all of this could have been more explained online. We would have never signed up, though, so maybe that was strategic on your part. It was my thinking that only those that paid extra for the “suspect” treatment would be more part of the show. Not every single person in the room. I couldn’t wait for the night to be over and had absolutely no interest in trying to solve the “crime”. I could tell that the actors put forth effort, but also could have done without some of the crude humor (humor about sex/female genitals and shooting up drugs and other things that could have been left out). I know most folks love that stuff, but not all of us need that to laugh.

I almost left this review on Google, but didn’t feel that was a fair place to start for a small business. I thought sharing my experience/thoughts with you first was most appropriate. For $327 for 4 people, this show was the most overpriced/worst $327 I think I’ve ever spent. I hope you can take some of my thoughts and use them to improve.

To save DD effort in replying, here was their canned response:

Hi Amy! Thank you for reaching out, we appreciate your comments. The Dinner Detective is very different from a traditional murder mystery theater performance, and we are sorry the event was not to your liking. We will pass along your feedback to our venue and work with them to improve service. Thanks again, and we hope you have a...

The actors and story were great. The food was very good and filling. The only reason I didn't give it 5 stars is just for some minor confusion. They told people to arrive 15 minutes early but there was no one to greet us or tell us where to go. It's in the Hilton hotel and there are no signs directing you to the conference room. We stumbled onto a table with "hello my name is" stickers and a paper with instructions from the dinner detective murder theater to create a clever name which several people did. Some people tried to enter the conference room and were told to wait at the bar. I don't think anyone was scheduled to bartend at that time but the hotel sent someone over ,and eventually the thirsty confused guests got drinks. Finally the host came out and playfully chided people for filling out names already. They marketed the event as covid friendly which it definitely was not. We were instructed to gather in a hallway very close. Our tables accommodated about 10 seats, so we shared tables with other families. I get it covid sucks. The other issue was I think we were supposed to talk to other tables and mingle? It was unclear and awkward. Do you interrupt someone as they're eating? It would have been nice for the hostess to interact and instruct more. Or for the audience plants to...

For the record, I never saw the "show" so I can't honestly review that part of it. I only write this review for others like me. People with social anxiety issues. My husband bought me tickets to this show for my birthday after searching for "dinner theatre" in this area. He knows I love the theatre. It was a really sweet gesture. We came in expecting an interactive experience type show with actors in the audience, clues being hinted at so you could guess at the ending and some audience back and forth. Instead, minutes in the host gave us a list of instructions with a questionnaire and told us to wander amongst all the other guests asking questions. It was like a social hour...not a show. Unfortunately, this is my worst nightmare. When my husband left the room to get me a drink, and people began swarming around me, I had a full blown anxiety attack. We ended up leaving before dinner was even served because I couldn't calm down. If you struggle with anxiety for anything similar to this, don't spend the money. I only wish we had known what to expect, I could have seen to it that I was better prepared for the night, or skipped it all together. Again, I want to emphasize that it may have been amazing. I only write this so people like me are...