Chuck E. Cheese — Restaurant in North Bethesda

When we arrived early for our party as instructed, we were then forced to stand there and wait for 30 minutes while our space was being prepared. This was a huge inconvenience considering we adhered to your early set-up policy, and then needed to wait due to your facility's poor time management skills. Once we were finally shown our party space, the table was not only set up with your decorations - which I had specifically requested you not to do - but the table was also set up for the wrong number of children. I was informed that this was a "system error," but how can that be when I received a confirmation email FROM your "system" that reflected the correct number of guests? To me, it sounds like your staff just did not make any effort to double check their reservations prior to the party date and update the sheets of paper they printed accordingly. I was extremely stressed out at this point, considering our guests were arriving on time, and our table was not even set up due to your staff not accommodating my requests to use our own decor. We wasted time and had to take everything off the table just to set it up properly all over again. A female manager came over and kept getting in my face about wanting to "help" me with my issues that we were experiencing. I informed her that I would like to enjoy my daughter's party, and if we could please speak AFTER the party was done. She proceeded to argue with me, and continue to push and get in my face, insisting on helping me right then and there instead of leaving me alone to finish setting up for the party, which SHOULD have been done 30 minutes ago. I repeated myself about five times, asking her to please leave me alone and let me enjoy my daughter's party, and that we can speak after the party has ended. She proceeded to then roll her eyes at me, and walk away from me mid-sentence. She made zero attempts at coming back once the party had ended, and in my opinion, needs to either be retrained on proper customer service, or fired. During the party, I was also very upset that one of the other managers told my older daughter that she was not allowed to play one of the games because it was, in his words, "only for toddlers." I informed him that I paid for my older daughter to have an "All You Can Play" pass, and she was going to utilize it. I was under the impression that Chuck E. Cheese totes the mantra that nobody is too old to have fun, but apparently your ageist managers do not share that philosophy. Imagine going to an arcade and being told that you cannot play a game that you paid for. Overall, my experience was very disappointing, and I ended up getting needlessly stressed out by your incompetent staff, which then - due to my own health issues - caused me to become physically ill and experience horrible chest pains for the majority of my daughter's party. After my Husband and I shelled out almost $600 for this monstrosity of a party, I feel as though we were overcharged and improperly compensated for our poor experience, and harassment/bullying of your staff. I feel as though we are entitled to a refund of AT LEAST half the total cost of our party. I remember having my birthday parties at Chuck E. Cheese many years ago, and they were the best memories of my life. Now, however, you have apparently chosen to take the fun and humanity out of the brand, as we were put through a needlessly large amount of stress and inconvenience, and then had to suffer at the hands of your poorly trained, bigoted...

I was invited to the birthday party at this location today, and let me tell you, the customer service was absolutely unacceptable! This is coming from someone who has lived in the U.S. for 24 years, so I know bad service when I see it. It all boils down to poor training and a lack of education. Instead of just focusing on making money for the past century, how about implementing mandatory training—at least for the store manager?

Here's how it all started. I arrived a bit late to the birthday party because, as a top producer Realtor in the DMV area, my schedule can get hectic. But I made it!

My 7-year-old son got thirsty, so I asked the host—who is my friend—where I could find water for him. I noticed there was a pitcher, but guess what? No cups! Naturally, I thought I could just grab a cup from the front desk. I approached someone there and politely asked, "Can I have a cup for water, please?" The response? "Sorry, we ran out of cups for water." Really?

I asked, "How can we solve this issue?" And she told me I needed to buy a cup first. At this point, I took a deep breath and reminded myself to stay calm. "Be calm, Romina!" I mentally repeated. I know my son is thirsty, but I’m determined to handle this.

So, I asked to speak with the manager. She said, “Sure, I’ll get her.” When the manager arrived, I calmly requested a cup for water again. Her response? "You should ask the birthday party host." Seriously?

I went back to my friend, the mother of the birthday girl, to get a better description of the host so I could find him. Ten minutes later, after searching the entire venue, I still hadn’t found him, and my son was still waiting for water. This is when Mama Romina transformed into a BEAR MAMA!

I marched back to the front desk and demanded to speak to the manager again. This time, my friend stepped in to help me get a simple cup for water at Chuck E. Cheese in Kensington, USA. When the manager arrived, she immediately had an attitude. "Whose party are you at?" she asked. I took a deep breath and said, "Sophia's." Then she told me I needed to talk to the birthday host for cups. We’re talking about a plastic cup here—not a golden chalice!

She raised her eyebrows as if I was the problem. I'm still trying to stay calm, but enough is enough! She told me I'd either have to buy a cup or wait for the host to provide one.

I said, "Ma'am, this is not for me—it’s for my 7-year-old son! He can’t wait 30 minutes just for a cup of water!" My friend, realizing I was unhappy, tried to intervene. I told the manager, "My friend has spent thousands on this birthday party, and you can’t even provide a cup for water!" Finally, she agreed to get me a cup.

But when I asked her to get it right away, she flatly refused. "No, I won’t!" she said, just because I said "now." Reminder: My 7-year-old is still waiting for a cup of water! Does she care? Not at all! Does she even have kids? I doubt it! If she did, she would understand that kids don’t have the patience adults do!

Why does the CEO of Chuck E. Cheese hire a store manager who clearly doesn’t care about kids or understand their needs? The manager walked away, and the problem was still unresolved. I finally grabbed a used cup from someone else while the birthday host arrived out of nowhere, offering me a clean cup after about 30 minutes. This whole experience was beyond...

Went here June 25th for a small birthday party get together for my son. At first everything was wonderful but as 8:30pm approached I started to redeem my sons tickets in the machine. Unfortunately 1 ticket machine was broken out of the 4 in the restaurant. So it was a bit challenging and time consuming to redeem tickets while the other kids were using the other machines. By the time we were finished putting all the tickets in the machine it was 9 pm the restaurant was closed and we went to the counter to get a prize and I assume it was the manager at the prize counter. Apparently that night he seemed to have an attitude when we gave him our receipts saying “can I just add up the receipts” (rude tone)to my son. I said to my son get whatever you’d like I’ll pay for it. Then the manager said I needed to pay exact cash no credit card😑 ok that’s fine. As I watched my other kids pick out their prizes the manager just continued to have an attitude. We weren’t even taking long at all. By the time we left it was 9:15pm I left in a jacked up mood and now know exactly why my mother HATES Chuck E. Cheese. I’m never coming back here again in my life I’m so grateful we got rid of 95% of the tickets we’ve saved over the years. As for the rest of the tickets saved in the house they’re going straight to the trash can. Bring back the old manager that use to work at this location his customer service was amazing and he always made us feel welcomed. I’m willing to spend any amount of money for my kids happiness I spent $200 alone that night and regret it. Should’ve gone to Dave...