Aztec Lanes — Local services in San Diego

Canceled child bday-

I’ve been coming here for years and regularly sign my kids up for the Kids Bowl Free program. However, my most recent experience and interaction with the staff was disappointing enough to warrant this review.

I had booked a reservation for my son’s birthday party, signed the contract, and made all the necessary arrangements. Unfortunately, we arrived a little late due to the notoriously difficult parking and unforeseen circumstances. Before I parked, I sent the kids inside to check in and get their shoes to save time only for them to be rudely turned away.

When I finally got inside, I was met with immediate attitude and was told that the reservation had been given away. Rather than offering any understanding or compromise, the staff blamed me outright and told me tough luck. They claimed they had called and left a voicemail, after looking into it, I found that while they did attempt to call, the number showed up as a “U.S.” number with a “+” in front of it something that typically signals a robocall or automated message. No fault of theirs, but understanding how I didn’t pick it up. However we did verify with staff, there was no actual voicemail left.

I’ll admit, I gave them a bit of a hard time in the moment something I now regret, but I still feel like they put in the bare minimum effort to reach me. Canceling a child’s birthday party at the last minute should be a last resort, not something done so casually. A second call or even a simple text could have made all the difference with minimal effort. (maybe less than 5 minutes to do both). I get that these are college kids and this is probably just a get by job, but at the end of the day they’re still the face of the organization and the only human contact between the alley and customer. What I did find out though was that their text message reservation system has a lot more redundancy than their contractual reservations. A different start to the conversation would have changed this...

Let me be clear this is a one-star review, not because the bowling alley is bad but because the service and policy there is absolutely horrible. The bowling alley itself is very nice and the prices are great. However, they have very strange policy regarding wait lists and claim that there are people waiting and that there's an hour wait when there are five Lanes open. This is now the second time that I've come to this bowling alley and this issue has happened. There is a problem with the training of the staff and the policy being implemented at this bowling alley. Management needs to understand that if somebody is on a wait list and they don't show up for 15 minutes that their spot should be given away. I understand if a bowling alley is completely full and there's a wait list and you can't get in. But this is not the situation happening. Please management: train your staff properly and implement better policies...

I love bowling! But I've been having a difficult time finding a good bowling alley near me; some are crowded and noisy, while others are expensive. Then, if you're a serious bowler like, you have to find the right oil pattern on the Lanes as well. Fortunately, I just discovered San Diego's best kept bowling secret! Aztec Lanes, on the campus of San Diego State University in the Conrad Prebys Student Union. A gem, that meets all my requirements.

The right size, only 12 lanes = not crowded or noisy with people running around everywhere. It's not expensive; SDSU students pay $1 a game and $3 for shoe rental. Non students can bowl there as well; it's $5 a game, and $3 for shoes. I bowled 4 games and paid $20. A great deal, because elsewhere it's $30-$45 per hour. AND, the oil pattern...