Lakeside Lanes — Local services in Manchester

We came here on a Sunday with a group of 8 people for the 2 hours of bowling deal. We got there before the doors even opened to make sure we could get 3 lanes, we had 3 children and 5 adults. we were told we could only have 2 lanes making it hard for everyone to play. We actually go quite often and get 2 lanes for my kids and husband and I so we didn’t think it was unreasonable to ask for 3 lanes with an extra 3 adults with us.My husband and I decided to sit out and just let the kids and their grandparents bowl. There was an empty lane we were told was “possible my being used for a party” and that we’d have to wait an hour to see if they were going to use it. About 5 minutes later, in walks a family of 3 and guess what lane they were put on?? Yup- the lane we were told we couldn’t have. We have always loved bowling here but the way we were treated today we will will never be back. The owner was very argumentative and not willing to do anything to rectify the situation, even from people who he knows go there on a regular basis. He didn’t seem to care at all when we said we wouldn’t be back. Id much rather pay a little more and be treated with respect and spend my money where they appreciate your business. We had actually just decided we were going to try to bowl every week or every other, and I was thinking about booking my daughters birthday party here. Not anymore. If I could give zero stars at this point, I would. The coupon says a minimum of 2 bowlers per lane. 8 people, 3 lanes was apparently too much to ask. *Yes, it does say to call ahead to check for availability. We’ve tried calling before 12 when they open and no one has ever answered the phone. So we started showing up before 12. The people that were assigned the lane we were told we couldn’t have “called ahead” -well so did we and no one answered so I don’t see how that was possible. They just didn’t want to give us the extra lane and...

Caveat: we did NOT bowl here, this review is based ONLY on customer service, and does not discuss the bowling experience.

My party of 4 arrived at Lakeside Lanes just after 6:30 on a Wednesday night, we entered and asked for a lane and were told that the league event had just started and that there were no available lanes probably for the rest of the night. Crestfallen, I asked if there was anything that could be done as we had driven 45 minutes to give our foreign exchange student (leaving in 2 days) this quintessential New England experience. Kevin seemed to really want to help and consulted with another employee to see if there was any way for us to squeeze in a game. There was not. Kevin then took it upon himself to CALL FOUR OTHER PLACES (competitors) to try to find us a lane. This small act earns this business 5 STARS in my book. We drove to Exeter, bowled, our exchange student was thrilled, and we owe our thanks to Lakeside’s Kevin for his kindness in going above and beyond. The next time I want to bowl, I’ll go back to lakeside (but I’ll call first to make sure there are...

Went there for a glow bowling outing with our kids. Everything was fine until my daughter (4yo) slipped while silly dancing with her brother and smacked the back of her head off the tile floor. She was screaming and it was dark inside so I rushed her outside to take a look at her head to make sure she wasn’t bleeding, calm her down and not cause a scene for the other bowlers. Some blonde woman in a Lakeside uniform came out and scolded me (WHILE MY DAUGHTER WAS SCREAMING ABOUT HER HEAD) for wearing the freaking bowling shoes outside. Didn’t ask what happened or if she was okay just scolded me for a rule I didn’t know about and went back inside. We immediately went inside (because technically we were breaking the rules by being outside), stopped our game, paid our game in full and left. Salem bowling lanes are more...