Groups beware!

To preface, I am typically the planner friend. The one who thinks of every scenario possible so I can prepare my guests. I like to make sure I give them a proper budget and explanation of what to expect.

A few weeks prior to celebrating two friends of mine, I called top golf and was told I could walk in with 12 guests and request two bays next to each other as long as it wasn't super busy. I was told 6pm isn't normally busy so we planned for 6:30. On the day of, I called to ask how many checks and payments are allowed. The first person i spoke to had to put me on hold each time i asked a question as if maybe she was training or something. She told me the bays would be charged on one tab and they could take three different cards for that check. She also said that the food and drinks would be individually charged with their own check and card (since everyone wasn't playing) .. i didn't feel confident with her answer so I hung up and called back again. This time, I spoke to a Patricia who seemed to have had an attitude for some reason. She told me the check could be split and that food and drinks were separate but once I said we had a party of 10 (two canceled) she told me there was ABSOLUTELY NO WAY that my party could be seated together unless we had a reservation. I found that to be strange, especially if we go when it's not busy. So I asked, "theres no way we can be seated together? No matter the time?" She said no and that we would be on separate floors. It sounded more like someone who was trying to go out of their way to make sure we aren't seated together just to make a sale and make us spend more money by reserving two bays.

I hung up and proceeded to Top Golf anyway with the hopes that it'll all work out. We had some issues seating since some of our group wasn't playing but the manager offered us a hybrid lane.. with a couch and a high top behind it. That was very sweet of her.

As we sit, waiter told me that the food can only be split three ways which is NOT what I was told. I explained that i had called and was given different information. We were told that the customer service people live in Texas and essentially don't know what they're doing.

The manager then offered to take up to five split checks, meaning everyone had to double up with someone, which was fine and we were thankful to at least get a total of five checks.

We immediately put our orders in and once the food came, our time was almost over so our waiter basically suggested we either need to hurry up and finish eating or add another $15.50 for 15 minutes. My group was still eating so we extended the time but now the group stopped playing bc we were too focused on having to shove food down our throats. All of that, just for them to have us wait for about an hour to give us the check smh. Some of the people in my group were missing their drinks and food so the manager Gaby helped comp that. We truly appreciated her willingness to help us. But we were also very disappointed; some of my guests felt nickled and dimed and RUSHED. As the host, I was embarrassed.

I would never ever do a birthday party here again or any large gathering (more than 6) .. there's just too many factors and people giving different answers.