Skatetown — Local services in Knoxville

I reserved my daughter’s Bday in Jan via their reservation line. One question asked is how old is the party person, I said she will be 4 so they knew it was for a younger kid. Once I get there I ask to go ahead and pay for all the skate (walkers) for the kids, she says they don’t have those, which baffled me because all the other skating places I’ve ever heard of have them to rent for people who are beginners and need some help. When I scheduled this, maybe they should have mentioned they don’t have skating aids for small kids like other place and ask if I’d still wish to proceed. Many other rinks have them, so I thought it was a safe bet the only skating rink in Knoxville would have them. Then when we asked the ever so rude younger blonde girl at the skate check in if she could tighten the small kids wheels to help them from falling and injuring themselves she rolls her eyes and tells me they don’t do that? Again, I was baffled as other places are happy to help the little ones by adjusting so they could all have a good time. Most of the kids were scared and crying bc they were falling all over the place and getting hurt, including the bday girl. From the beginning it was a disaster. Then you see them carry in take & bake mama coz i pizzas Aldi that cost $6 and charge you $22 a piece for them. 😳. With all the pizzas and kids, I previously paid a $50 deposit and at the door paid another $167 and that included the pizzas, that were price gouged like crazy. We had to go ask them when the pizzas were expected several times after being there over 1.5 of our 3 hour window. Finally, they just toss the pizzas up on the rail and they were over cooked, boarder line burnt. I got 4 pizzas and each one of them had barely been cut, I had to take the plastic silverware to cut them enough to pull the pieces apart to serve. Finally my husband went up and asked for something to cut them with and instead of saying oh we’re sorry please bring them up here and I’ll be happy to slice them better, nah, she just throws the pizza cutter his way and we proceed to cut all of our own pizzas instead of enjoying the time with our kid and guests. They wouldn’t allow us to get anything more than 4 cups with a pitcher- so we didn’t even have enough cups to give everyone a drink from their overpriced $9 pitcher of soda. Then around 230ish we are attempting to do presents when they turn out all the lights. I understand they do dark skates, but by this point we have paid over $200 for a reserved spot with a time slot that they required us to be out of 30 minutes prior to our scheduled ending time of 330. Why did they not have lights over in the party area that could stay on for them while the dark skate was going on? We couldn’t see we had to use the lights on our phones to open gifts with so you can rest assured we got not a single photo of that moment. Each employee that either myself, my husband, my sister or any other adult in my party spoke with was extremely short, rude and just plain unprofessional. Lacking any ounce of customer service skill set. At one point my sister asked for extra napkins but was told we only got the 8 that were paid for in the package. It also states we couldn’t bring in outside things or we would have brought in our own napkins, pizza cutter, cups and what not. Then we are trying to clean up our area and get out of there since it states we had to be out 30 minutes prior- right as we are doing this the lady comes back up to me and says I owe another I think $80 for 4 additional kids which I knew about from the beginning and told them and gave their names. The older lady said so you’re ok with paying over and I said yes. I was under the impression the payment at the front door included all the extras I mentioned upfront and assumed she was charging me for them then. Everyone felt this was a terrible experience especially considering we paid over $300 for very very sub par to say the least. I’m sure just to skate that place is fun but the party aspect of them needs real work! Will...

This has been a slow down-hill compiled mix of dissatisfaction over these few years that tonight has taken the cake. We are no longer allowed, as an adult in our OWN skates, to step outside ON their oning, NOT gravel, and then reenter, without removing your skates first. Let me repeat: im not talking about rental skates, YOU MUST TAKE OFF YOUR OWN SKATES. Mind you this place has NO SERVICE INSIDE. This has been the first time in ALL of my years, as an adult AND many years not, that I have EVER heard of this rule. Not to mention, I have a UMBILICAL HERNIA, and I came out tonight JUST TO SEE if I could still be okay to skate because I’m very much a dedicated skater. And to be met with even more difficulties than I have already, not wanting to explain to a TEENAGER just exactly WHY it might hurt to take these bad boys on and off just for a few seconds outside, JUST wanting to do the ONE THING that makes everything better for me? Rocks? ROCKS??? COMING INSIDE IS THE REASONING?

Why??? cause they might have to sweep a little more? Trip hazards? In comparison of the inconveniences costumers face every time they visit here, they want to act like us stepping out for two seconds with OUR OWN BOUGHT AND PAID FOR skates, on is an issue? I took a video of their oning, and the ONE rock there? TOO BIG to get stuck in a skate. If there were rocks in your SKATE you couldn’t ROLL, let alone skate far enough to drag the rocks inside . And to add a perfect PERSONAL example to the uselessness of this rule, MY KID spilled the nerds candy available at the concessions on the floor (don’t worry we pick up our messes) and how did I find them? WITH MY SKATE. Multiply that by every kid in a busy night, I would BET MONEY those come up on the floor more often than I have EVER seen rocks Inside.

A month ago(April 5th) for my sisters birthday party we RENTED out the rink, they didn’t have this rule I am upset because physically it HURTS me now and takes so much time to do those motions repetitively for a simple two hour Skate window; removing the skates cuts into my already drastically limited skate time. AS DOES HAVING TO WAIT AROUND and then teach my daughter how to kindly ASK THE EMPLOYEES TO SERVE YOU BEYOND THE TICKET BOOTH. (Not that that’s their fault if staffing is wonky, but come on now! Again, your customers Compromise For You, the business THEY CHOOSE to continue to support for YEARS. Maybe compromise for them and not threaten employees they will be fired if they don’t enforce this petty and POINTLESS stuff…this has been the final straw.

Being a customer since I was 9 years old( I am 28 years old now), this honestly breaks my heart for ALL of my fond memories here. I was (or tired to be) very nice to your young employees, I tried to offer understanding of the matter, asking understanding in return and blamed long finger nails instead if my health; but after this, we will not continue to pay outrageous prices for less windows of skate times, be UNDERSTANDING to your business and employees as customers in our wait times at concessions to be met with such ridiculous new rules that show you do not care to compromise for the ones that wanted to keep you here as long as you all have been. Evey visit has done nothing but give me more and more reasons this just isn’t fun enough to want to pay this much and be treated like teenagers.

This is fully a business-run issue, Not these poor teenage employees they have to push these new “stipulations” and have to deal with more disgruntled folks like me. I do hope these “little things” that break the customer’s hopes in having that safe but still fun and enjoyable aspect, can find a medium being useful annd reasonable instead of just down-right petty. I hope they show us our opinions do actually matter to these owners so they can find better solutions to accommodate the people who kept them in business for so long before another part of all our childhood nostalgia is pushed to non-existence because business just...

01/26/19 - This is Skatetown, the spot for kids from Jacksboro to Powell. So expect huge crowds as the night gets late. They also host daily birthday parties for multiple groups of 10 people each, Fridays & Saturdays being the most expensive. My biggest gripe is that seating runs out early & there people's stuff Everywhere! They need more seats, lockers & coat hangers.

It's $10 for one entry, cash & card. $5 for one skate or blade rental. They should give you one ticket per person at the door, which is run by high school seniors. Make sure your skates are TIGHT, almost to the point of discomfort. The size scale meets Converse Chucks pretty closely.

EVERYONE FALLS DOWN, so don't give up. It just takes practice until your body understands the momentum. There are some who've been here for years and look like naturals. Once you get good at skates, feel free to try out the speed skates aka Rollerblades

Lastly, there are hourly events for fun. ~8:15 is for the pros, leagues & employees to show off. ~8:50 is Green Light, Red Light, winners get a small concession snack or drink ~9:30 is Roll 'n' Glow where you Must have a glowstick or something alike. The sparkle pacifiers are surprisingly popular a again, but are cheaper online. Unlike food, you can bring those inside. ~9:50 is the Race, Rock & Roll that starts with youth and goes up, winners get a small snack or drink. ~10:30 is the couples skate, then the singles are next. ~11:00 is Turkey Tag. It's a weird elimination game where the staff tags out as many runners, and the last few get a prize. ~11:45 is...