Golden Lanes Bowling Center — Local services in Mauldin

I recently visited Golden Lanes to celebrate my birthday with a small group of friends. We didn’t book an official party package because, as adults, we simply wanted to bowl, have drinks, and enjoy ourselves without the standard party setup. Unfortunately, our experience was completely soured by the staff’s rude and unprofessional behavior.

Two of my friends brought small gifts, and when I began opening them, employees aggressively approached us, loudly stating that no gifts were allowed unless we had booked a party. There were no signs or prior warnings about this policy, and instead of addressing it professionally, the staff was openly hostile. A simple explanation would have sufficed, but instead, we were treated as if we were trying to break major rules.

To make matters worse, despite plenty of open lanes with no reservations, they refused to let our group of six use two lanes. It seemed purely retaliatory, as we were forced to cram onto a single lane, making the experience rushed and uncomfortable. The entire encounter felt punitive and unwelcoming, which is the last thing you expect when choosing a business for a fun night out.

On top of that, the bar service was nonexistent. The bartender was rude, inattentive, and more interested in chatting than actually serving guests. Getting a drink felt like an inconvenience to them, and the lack of basic customer service was beyond frustrating.

This situation could have been handled with basic professionalism, but instead, the hostility ensured that none of us will return. If they had treated us with respect, we likely would have stayed longer, spent more money, and recommended the place to others. Instead, we left with a bad impression and will be taking our business elsewhere. I strongly recommend finding a bowling alley that actually values...

This place is a joke. To start off the food is disgusting and extremely over priced! Even the bowling staff will order food off of Door Dash and Uber Eats before they will eat their own food. Then when others try to do the same they complain and kick them out because of it! On top of all of this the management likes to talk bad about people’s mother and grandmothers and call them all sorts of slurs and then when someone says something about it they decide to ban them because of their insecurities. The lanes haven’t been replaced since the 70’s and don’t even think of buying a new ball here because they have no pro shop! The General Manager and Staff Manager decide that it is completely okay to be intoxicated while bowling in the bowling alley and while working leaving everyone else at risk when they decide to let their temper control them. The Manager likes to get into peoples faces and spit on them while yelling at them for standing up for themselves and others that they truly love. Take your money and go to Spare Time, Bowlero or...

Me and a friend went to Golden lanes the Sunday before Memorial Day to enjoy a few hours of bowling, two hours to be exact was what we paid for.

During the course of the two hours. We had to call for ball retrievals between 20 and 30 times, in some cases taking 5-10 minutes or more to get balls back!

This all happened on lane 29 and and also on lane 30 to the people bowling beside us.

Finally I ‘nicely’ asked the young man with the beard behind the desk if he could at least give us 30 additional minutes since we had paid for 2 hours and had so many delays.

His response was that “this was normal and that he had been bowling for years and it’s just normal”…

This is literally crazy and I’ve been bowling for over 40 years and have bowled all over the US and even the world and have never encountered such rudeness, unprofessionalism, poorly maintained lanes and equipment.

I will NEVER go back and if I were you. I...