Astro Skate of Pinellas Park — Local services in Pinellas Park

This is one of the worst experiences I have ever had going out for a good time with family. I came here two weeks ago spent over $200 and had an okay time, nothing special but okay. So two weekends pass and I decided to go again this time with my nephew and nieces, we waited for about 20 minutes just to get in the door due to the lack of trained staff or whatever their reasoning is(I seen a lot of staff their just doing nothing but who am I to look around and see what’s going on) it probably took 5 minutes per person for them to ring up this Saturday but 2 Saturdays ago it took less than a minute. After about an hour past I was able to get one “trainer” then two more were free that I prepaid for and was told the guy behind the counter (where you trade your skates and shoes in if borrowed skates were needed) was told I would be getting them and stood there a good 20 more minutes asking the guy behind the counter if he was told they were to go to me and all was confirmed, and remember this guy was already told by a woman that I had purchased these from 20 minutes prior that these were pre paid for and were to be given to me. When the other 2 “trainers” were finally there a group of 5 to 6 women ran up trying to take the trainers with no proof of purchase. I asked this man why he was holding onto one of the two trainers on top of the counter and not letting it go and looking in this air like the problem is going to fix itself by doing nothing. He explained he didn’t know who to give the trainers too. I said, can you please call someone so that way you’re not the bad guy in the situation because you know as well as I do that I pre-paid for these and I have been standing here before all of these other women and not one of these women have any proof of pre-payment nor are their children or grandchildren with them with the five dollar wristbands to show proof of purchase, which I did . I explain to this guy again to just call someone higher up than you and let them be the bad guy since you don’t know what to do. He ignored the comment and continue to stare at the wall above the eye level of every woman staring at him, waiting for him to make a decision or do something. I reminded him you do know who to give them to you were told who to give them to and I’ve been standing here for the last 20 minutes. These people just came up here , they have no proof of purchase and you were told to give them to me and my nieces and nephews who have been standing here for the last 20 minutes. So instead of calling anybody, he decided to look above everybody’s eye level and stare at a wall ahead of him yet again. I continued to try to talk to this man asking him to call somebody higher up than him so he wouldn’t feel uncomfortable in this situation. He refused to acknowledge anyone at the desk, and kept staring off into space as if he was extremely high on drugs. Finally 10 minutes passed by of him staring off in space Holden one trainer tightly in one of his hands and I decide to let the other 5 to 6 women fight over the two trainers who didn’t pay a thing for them and told him to not worry about it let them fight over it. I went back and got my money back from somebody else that did not know I had purchased them already but see the swept bands and explained to her how this guy was acting and then she told me not to call him stupid I told her I did not call him stupid I told you that he was staring off at the wall for a good 10 minutes ignoring everybody and would not call anyone to fix the situation. She was calling him Stupid not me. I was just explaining the situation and apparently she thought he was stupid and thought I called him stupid. All of it the kids were extremely upset about the whole situation. We all expected to have a decent time, yet we all had a horrible time. I came in today from about 10:30 AM to 12 PM. Just to give you an approximate time so you know who I’m speaking about I would most definitely have that guy drug tested. Below is a picture of the professional trainers the kids get to...

The skating rink itself is nice, although it looks like it hasn’t been renovated in at least 10 years - but for skating, that’s fine. The issue is the staff. We booked a birthday party there, and the experience was awful.

Leading up to the event, we had 5–6 phone calls with their team to confirm details. Each time, they sounded uninterested and unhelpful, but we still managed to confirm a painting-themed party. Just to clarify a both my husband and I called them separately to confirm that painting was allowed. Over the phone, we were told multiple times that paint was fine as long as we avoided piñatas and glitter. On the day of the party, when I repeated this back to the staff, the lady behind the window literally told me that I “imagined it.”

We brought in a professional vendor to handle the painting - someone who reasonably took care of both setup and cleanup. In addition, I had a professional team of vendors who do kids’ parties all the time, and even they said the staff here was literally insane with how they handled things. To make it worse, they didn’t even allow me to enter the space until just 15 minutes before the party started, so I had to rush to assemble everything at the last second.

In the middle of the painting activity, a staff member (who didn’t even have the courage to come out herself) sent a 17-year-old employee to confront us. That teenager not only screamed in front of a dozen kids, but also went up to the artist we had hired and told her to leave - right in front of the children. Before they even approached us, the parents of the birthday girl, they were already harassing other parents.

It seems the team is completely unaware of some basic standards: you don’t scream in front of kids, you don’t try to kick someone out who is just doing their job in front of kids, and you don’t ruin a child’s birthday party. They didn’t create a welcoming or fun environment for a celebration at all. A dozen parents watched this unfold and said they would never bring their kids there after seeing how the staff behaved.

And after the conflict? They completely shut down. They didn’t organize any games, didn’t even call out the birthday girl, and made no effort to create a festive atmosphere. It honestly felt like they were trying to punish a child for something she had nothing to do with.

To make matters worse, when I asked about booking the entire place for the party, they said no. So I went ahead and booked every available party spot. Then, just one day before the event, they called to say they were reducing the number of kids allowed. No explanation, just another example of how they do whatever they want.

Throughout the ordeal, they kept mentioning a “general manager.” I insisted multiple times to speak with this manager, but the person never showed up to work. Instead, they left the situation in the hands of a 17-year-old and a staff member who preferred yelling from behind a window. Eventually, when I did get the woman behind the window to talk, she was rude, dismissive, and inappropriate.

They claimed painting wasn’t allowed, even though there was zero damage and it was a simple, harmless activity. When I asked why it was fine during their camps but not for us, the answer was: “Because we can do whatever we want.”

The rink itself is okay, but the staff try in any way possible to ruin a happy occasion - obviously they didn’t succeed. The owner of this place and owner of the chain should read this carefully - your team behaves as if they make up the rules on the spot and can treat customers however they like. Unless they completely replace the team, I would strongly recommend to anyone not to celebrate a...

Customer service and standard human decency was heavily lacking.

We went for a birthday party. Checked in easily at the front and things seemed to be off to a great start. We went to get skates and thats when the lack of organization and communication began. We asked for a trainer and were told the kids needed wrist bands, no problem. My husband went to the litte window at the front to pay and we were pleased to find that the trainers were included with the party. He came back with wrist bands and we got the kids set up. We then requested skates for ourselves, got laced up and went to help our kids on the rink. The very second my husband stepped on the rink, he was approached by the staff skater who asked if he had a wrist band. He didn't and it was explained that they were required. Again, not a problem, except now our littles (6 and 7) were falling all over the rink and we couldnt go get them because we didnt have wrist bands so we were immediately separated from our children. We went back to the little window where a woman with longer, blonde hair (who also ran the DJ booth) was. I explained that we were there for bands so we could skate with our kids. She said we had to sign the waiver and pay $8. Not a problem. I explained that it would have been helpful if the guy at the skate counter mentioned it bc he just gave us skates and said nothing. She said she would talk to him. I also suggested that upon check in, they should ask party parents if they planned to skate with their kids so people could be prepared from the start. (We were there for a party, the process wasn't evident as we were checked in by staff with a clipboard, not at the main window.) Apparently, suggestions are offensive and not welcomed at Astro Skate because this woman became incredibly rude. She snapped that we should have known to mention it when we checked in and said "you can take your skates off if you have a problem". I explained that we had no problem with the waiver or the cost and I was only trying to offer a suggestion. She looked me dead in the eye and rudely with a snarky smirk and a tilt of the head said "I hope your day gets better". Admittedly, i returned the sentiment and she said "Oh, Im having a GREAT day. I work at a skating rink". I was completely shocked to be treated this way by someone who appeared to be a lead staff member. If we weren't there to celebrate a sweet 8 year old's birthday, we would have gotten our kids and left immediately. Did we have fun skating with our kids? Absolutely! But my experience with this woman sat with me for the rest of the day and I was constantly on guard that somehow our interaction would be taken out on our children.

Additionally, it would be nice if they reinvested in the facility. The carpet was filthy and wrinkled (trip hazard). The bathrooms were unkempt and there were no paper towels and some stalls had small puddles. There were no insoles in my husband's skates so his heel was met with 4 or 5 screw heads. On a previous visit with school, my son was given skates that were broken (the shoe portion was separated from the wheels).

Positives: the party seemed to be well organized. Tables were set up nicely. Staff appearred attentive. Check in staff member directed us to the proper table color and was friendly. Announcements were made over the sound system when the pizza and cake were ready so we knew to head that way. The kids had a blast... and that's what the day was intended for.

I would have given 4 stars if not for the negative interaction. (After reading other reviews, it's clear that it's...