Mission Bowl — Local services in Olathe

PSA: Owner used demeaning language regarding age & physical limitations

I just want to start by saying that my husband & I are newer to Olathe, and went to Mission Bowl for the first time on Tuesday. We really enjoyed ourselves but we had no interactions with the owner, Cynthia. The rest of the staff seems very friendly - so I see why there are 5 star reviews.

However, our experience and impression of the place quickly shifted once we interacted with the owner on Thursday. Everything was going pretty great, until I noticed that we paid for 90 minutes and it was only showing 75 minutes when we started bowling. I went up to the desk to ask why it was limited to less than 90 and Brittany (a staff member) mentioned they had leagues starting at 6 so we had to be done by 5:30 so they could prepare. This was never communicated to us, and as previously mentioned I am not familiar with this bowling alley. Brittany was very kind and apologized for not communicating that. Moving forward, from my understanding we have until 5:30 to bowl, however our time did not align with the 5:30 cut off. So I went up to the desk again and this time I talked to Cynthia (the owner). Right away I could tell she was very dismissive and I barely got a word out regarding our time before I was cut off with her saying "you checked in when Grandma & Grandpa got here.", which was rather uncalled for. For one, they are my parents and for two, they only asked her what lane we were on when they showed up, but they happened to be early. They literally just sat there and waited, no bowling, no ball, no shoes. My dad walks a bit slower than the average human due to previous health issues, which define him as disabled/handicap, so for her to just start yelling to the whole bowling alley that "grandma" & "grandpa" checked in for me and we had been on the lane the whole 90 minutes was not necessary, as they are not my grandma and grandpa. She then asked Brittany "to come deal with this.", as if I was a problem for trying to communicate around the services I paid for. Again, Brittany was very understanding and a much better representation of good service. So shout out to Brittany for "handling this".

Based on my research from previous reviews, I am sure the owner will respond saying that her name is Cynthia and she is a rude person, which has proven to be factual, and honestly kind of a bad characteristic to take ownership of, but to each their own. And that there are two sides to every story. I would love to hear hers, as my interaction with her was less than 30 seconds and she was already being judgmental, condescending, and hateful to very kind people. There may be another side to the story but the facts still remain that you discriminated and dismissed people that were just trying to have a good time at your establishment. If you do not want such business, then maybe you are in the wrong industry. We will not be returning, which I am sure will make you happy. I am not sure what happened in your past life but maybe you should work on not taking it out on innocent people that have done no harm to you. We did the opposite by literally giving you our business.

I hope this review makes others stop and think before going to this bowling alley. As well as the other reviews and the owners blatant responses to reviews she does not agree with. I wish you all luck in finding a better, more welcoming alley & happy bowling!

Response: I will not be removing my review regardless of your threats. I did nothing wrong, as all I am doing in expressing the truth regarding my experience. Which is the definition of a review.

Do you have another valid reason to start calling someone "grandma" or "grandpa"? That is age discrimination and it is quite sad you did that to such nice and kind people, as you mentioned in your reply. Post the video of your interaction with them if you'd like. But that is not the one in question, you should also post the video with my interaction (since that is what the review is about). However, you probably won't because I am...

I work with a child with autism and he was so excited to bowl. Drove him to Play, and we were turned away because bowling shoes were required. We've been on many field trips with our amazing students, and that was never an issue. As we were walking out, there were three groups of kids playing without bowling shoes. I rarely post negative reviews, but this has to be seen by others. It was sad getting in the car while the child I was with kept repeating, "I wanna bowl." I tried my best to explain, but he was too upset.

Update:

Thank you for your response. As you say that my statement above is untrue, I'm only responding back to let you know your response is false.

The child never told me it was too loud. He's been bowling many times and loves it. I stood with the child, explaining we had to go somewhere else as he watched others bowl. The only other person who was outside was someone who appeared to be taking inventory on food (i could be wrong about that). You all sat in the back talking with each other, which I assume is what you're talking about regarding informing the employee that you had special shoes. (I saw that meeting as I was walking out) No one flagged us down as we WALKED out. He never ran out. Check your cameras.

Overall, I was really calm with the worker, and she was respectful towards me in the interaction. She clearly could tell I was disappointed, but she wasn't rude. I will 100% give her credit for that. My review was a simple statement of what all happened. The ABSOLUTE main thing that got to me was what we were told why he couldn't bowl, which I get the reason, yet as we walked out, three groups of bowlers had street shoes on.

I do have respect for you standing up for your new employee, and I would do the same as you if I were in your position. I can't criticize you for that, but to say my review is not true and LIE about what we did is the only reason I'm responding.

Best of luck in the future, and I hope families can experience nothing but fun at your...

A word of caution about Mission Bowl

As a small business owner who values my customers, I have to share this experience:

One of my consistent customers had their bowling ball damaged at Mission Bowl. When I called management to request reasonable compensation on their behalf. I was met with hostility instead of understanding.

It’s disappointing when a business refuses to honor damages or even offer a small gesture of customer service. As someone who runs a pro shop and understands the importance of building trust and loyalty, I can’t help but question this approach.

Customer service matters. Taking care of loyal customers goes a long way. This is literally why people quit bowling!

Reply to Mission Bowls response.

Cynthia,

I’d like to address your recent response and clarify the situation. My intent in reaching out to Mission Bowl was not to “threaten” or “bully” but to advocate for a loyal customer who was understandably upset about damage to their bowling ball. As a pro shop owner, I take my responsibility to support my customers seriously, and I believed it was worth having a conversation to explore reasonable solutions.

To clarify: • My understanding was that the ball was damaged by equipment or an incident at the Mission Bowl by Mission Bowls machinery and equipment inside of the center, based on my customer’s account. If the circumstances differ, I appreciate the additional context provided. • My call was to open a dialogue, not to demand action or shame your business publicly.

I value the relationships between bowling centers, pro shops, and bowlers. We’re all in this industry to grow the sport and support the community. Disagreements like this are unfortunate, but professionalism and mutual respect should guide how we address them.

I wish your business continued success and hope we can all strive to create positive experiences...