1 /5 Mark Gilbert: Booked a 2:40pm bowling session at the Finchley branch for myself and my young son. We arrived on time but were delayed by a short queue at the desk. By the time we reached the lane, there were no lightweight balls suitable for a child, which further reduced our playing time while staff searched for one.
In total, we had well under 15 minutes to bowl, despite having travelled around 30 minutes to the venue and paid for the session.
What made this worse was the attitude at the front desk - abrupt, dismissive, and completely lacking empathy, particularly given I was with a young child. There was no acknowledgement that the lost time was due to operational issues, and no attempt to mitigate the impact.
I’ve been visiting this branch for over 20 years, but this was by far the poorest experience I’ve had. Follow-up correspondence focused solely on policy rather than service, with no goodwill gesture offered.
Very disappointing experience for what is meant to be a family-friendly venue.