Skateworld of Vandalia — Local services in Vandalia

I have been taking my grandchildren skating at Skateworld Vandalia for 3 months or so. They enjoyed our outings there so much that I bought them skates and decided at my oldest gbabe request to have her birthday party there 12/15/2019. It was $15 a per child (min 10 - max 20) I have a lot of great nephews and nieces (they do not get the opportunity to do a lot) so this was going to be a wonderful time for family and friends. I called ahead to confirm 20 + adults for the day of the party :(.. The business had booked 3 birthday parties for that day. We had no where to seat all the people. As paying customer $300 in, I had hoped for a bit of customer service. The elderly man that owns and manages the operation is in the lamest terms the most rude, mean and unprofessional human I have ever met in my 50 years. I was so embarrassed by the way he talked to the parents of my gbabes friends from school. This was true for the young lady that assisted him in the gaming area and the person that worked the skate rental area. They talk it up in saying let us take care of everything, you bring the cake, and we will do the rest. HA HA (NOT EVEN FUNNY)! The barest decoration white paper table cloth with 3 regular size balloons. My heart just broke. For that much money one should not have to worry that people are being treated in a hostile way, that there will be room and inviting for all that attend, and that your experience should be a worry free and amazing gift for any child. on a scale of 1 - 10 I am calling as I see it and as I experienced it - (negative 100%) Take my advice go to a different skating rink or use the money to take a small vaca. You go to a motel with a indoor pool and have really nice dinner etc... This should and could have been so much more then what it actually was. Customer service, the offer and the facility are not something I would ever refer another person for. Extremely disappointed, embarrassed and feel robbed on ever level. My advice to the owner and their staff, if you cannot offer what you advertise or even being kind and genuine, get out of the business. You are greedy and feed off of the dimes that many people work hard for. But most importantly it's for the children and you should not be in the business if you are unwilling to treat them as customers who are deserving... ESPECIALLY ON THEIR BIRTHDAY WHEN THEY HAVE PAID FOR SUCH RESPECT, REGARD AND PROFESSIONALISM!

REGARDS, 1 VERY UNHAPPY CUSTOMER WARNING...

Good place to skate, BUT. My friend and I have skated there for over 2 years consistently. We enjoy and have fun there and only skate on the family skate days. Though just recently she decided to skate on Saturday night. (I wasn’t there) she experienced spills on the rink floor, teenaged kids breaking the rules, the lights were too dark (especially if you’re an inexperienced skater just skating in the darkness) yes, it’s easy to say she could have asked for them to brighten it up but who wants to be THAT PERSON? The worst of it was, she posted her experience on Facebook there that day which wasn’t hateful, or crude but just on honest experience she wasn't happy with skating at night which I see no reason why she can’t say that? The next day at least 4-5 staff members were letting off on her and blowing up saying some pretty negative things, sadly they deleted some of their comments that I can’t show (no wonder). I personally liked skating there, I went there because to me that was FUN. Now I feel unwelcomed, hated, and not the way I used to anymore even though it’s not about me. Might have to move on and save the 1000$ a year and go...

Pros: I love the small kid rink they have. It helped my first timer feel less overwhelmed. They do offer snacks and have some arcade games. It is clean for sure and updated. They also play good skate music which is something I wish Kettering did :)

Cons: We went on family night. I hope skate world staff considers that when marketing an event this way you will appeal actual families. We likely won’t go again on this night. It was mostly overrun by teenagers and it was hard for the kids just learning to not be overwhelmed by the speedskaters. I know this is petty but also there were two employees, one in his late 40s or 50s that’s I’m nearly sure worked there when I was a kid and another that was questionably of legal smoking age and they were just making out all night on the rink. Idk if this girl is even old enough to be getting handled by this guy but they def were employees and just not place or time for it especially on a family night. I’m sure it’s a fine establishment but I just don’t recommend family night if you’re looking...