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We had a reserved party booked today for 12 kids. Our minimum price is for 12 kids. Our heat was not working properly so the party room was cold, it can't be fixed til Monday. The kids heat real fast becasue of all the running around.

The folks that reserved complained and yelled at my husband how we ripped them off. And that we should give them a partial refund becasue only 6 kids showed up and that Chuck e CHeese was a better deal. How is that our fault?? They chose us!! OUr website shows the pricing as well as our brochures. In fact our small party states [b:1469426a61]up[/b:1469426a61] to 12 children.

I can understand the heat but that was out of our control. We even put a room heater but it was not enough for the size of the room. I would considred a partial refund had she not been so nasty.

Oh yeah, their party was set from 4-6, but they were running behind and asked up if they can start it later. They were lucky we did not have anything else going on after them that day so we accomadated. Then instead of leaving at 7pm, they lingered around til 7:30 pm, but we kicked the kids off the rides a little after 7 pm. The lady went as far as saying that her son should not have paid in advance and that she would not have paid us at all because she was so disappointed. The kids looked like they were having a good time, I did not hear them complain about anything.

They rent from us every year on our outdoor rental side and every year without fail, they complain, there is always something wrong, they want a discount ...yada yada yada.

It just seems like she was ticked because her turnout was low and she wanted to blame us. How do you tell someone tactfully that their business is no longer needed now or in the future with both indoor and outdoor rentals?? Some folks are just not worth it

"It just seems like she was ticked because her turnout was low and she wanted to blame us. How do you tell someone tactfully that their business is no longer needed now or in the future with both indoor and outdoor rentals?? Some folks are just not worth it"

When they call up to book their event, Just politely let them know that you are booked for the days or hours they request. Your right, some times the headaches aren't worth the :ranting: .

Hey Girl, I know where your coming from. I own a FEC and our party package contract says it covers the party child and up to 10 other kids. After that there's a charge of $10 per child. Sounds like the lady was embarrased :embarrassed: of her low turnout. And we know why she had a low turn out don't we. [b:57494a501a]Because no one wanted to hear her complain.[/b:57494a501a] In the last 12 years I have had only one like her. One day the lady was standing at the cash register paying for her daughters party and complaining to my wife that the kids in the next party room were too load when she was trying to sing happy birthday to her daughter. Well I had heard enough. I told her it seemed that we could never satisfy her and maybe it would be best if we didn't try any more. I also told her it bothered me that I wasn't able to make her happy and that I didn't want to loose any more sleep over it. She looked at me like I was crazy then appoligized. She stayed away for about a month but now she's a regular again and never complains.

RUDE CUSTOMERS...

Don't think you are alone. We occassionally get these types of customers. I always just act VERY nice and appologize... I even appologize that they were not able to understand our website, our party contract/sheet OR the verbal information that we gave them.

One thing you need to remember... these people most likely CANNOT afford your product and will do anything they can to get a discount. If I were you I'd mark them as "DO NOT BOOK" in your system (FYI: We do this at my facility through our partycentersoftware.com). You should NEVER book a party for this person again because they really don't want to be a customer of yours.

That being said you need to focus you efforts on those customers that will improve your business not take it down. I would stand my ground and offer a $20 discount or something small for the heat issue as it really is not that big of a deal... I'm sure the kids still had a great time and if it weren't for the parents causing trouble the party would have been perfect.

Another option for you would have been to bring in hot chocolate and coffee for free to all guest because of the heat.

I will bend over backwards for guests who are nice but then again they usually don't want anything.

STAND FIRM and let them know they are valued customers... as my father always says to people who demand too much... "I care.... Just not that much".

ALSO take this as a learning lesson for your staff to be proactive in conflict reolution or customer complaint resolution. Be up front and tell them the problem, tell them your proposed solution and then ask them if there is anything that you can do for them.

One quick way with someone like that is to offer them a full refund but they must leave immediately and NOT have their party at your facility. They usually won't take this but it sets you up so that you told them that the heat was not working and that you provided as best you could... even offering them a $20-50 discount because of the issue. They now must voice their objections up front before the party. If they compain after you can just inform them that they should have brought this up at the begining and that there is nothing you can do now to remedy the problem.

Chuck-e-cheese... Anyone who compares a private or semi-private facility to CEC is crazy... Those places are dirty and magnets for preditors... We run safe and secure facilities.

I'm sorry if I am rambling... I get so fed up with these customers... DUMP THEM... they will never do anything to help your business and can't afford your product anyways.

Sometimes you have to fire rude customers.

I get people that complain about a $300 price on a party room...My party package is for 2.5 hours...

My biggest complaint...it's not enough time...I ask...what exactly is it you're looking to do that needs more than 2.5 hours...an average formal event is 5 hours (I've been djing for 18 years...) the first hour is cocktail hour...the second is a formal meal...neither of which they are having at a kids party...I think that they know many of their guests are going to show up late...I explain...that in order for them to secure more time...they'll either need to purchase an additional time slot (cause otherwise I can't fit three parties in a day in) or choose the last time slot (I'll let them extend in half hour increments...)

I also had a customer this past summer...We got there and my guys called and said they didn't feel comfortable setting up on top of tree roots and dirt...so I had them tell the customer we couldn't setup...They called back...and called me every name but a child of God...so I told my worker to load up the truck...and I told the customer...that instead of finding a way to work this out...I would do something I never do...I would reimburse their deposit in exchange for never hearing from them again...because as two grown adults...this level of immaturity is uncalled for...and if the person that did this for you last year...didn't have a problem setting up...why did you call us...

She changed her tune real quick and tipped my driver $50.00...They eventually found us a concrete pad to put the bouncer on...

Well, she also told my husband at the end while she was walking out, she was going to tell everyone about how crappy it was, we just thought, hey that's good becasue if they are anything like you then we don't want them.
And you are right, they probably could not afford them because they lived in a bad part of town. We also rent to them as well in the summer so we are familiar with their area. I treat everyone equally and we state our policy up front and I would have given them a partial refund for the heat thing but she was nasty, loud, rude, you name it and in my opinion we don't reward that kind of behavior. Had she approached us a diffrent manner then we may have done something for her.

So, we decided to dump them and refer them to another company that we don't like. HA HA Just joking.

Would she have felt ripped off had everyone shown up?? HMMM I wonder?? Oh yeah, she trashed the party room too, I expect a mess but not a disaster area.
I also did researchon chuck e cheese and I guess they offer a refund up to 4 no shows, ut their party package is not allthat great. The kids only get enough tokens for about 10 minutes worth of play, that is where they make their money is off the tokens. SO, we are the better deal.

Some people just don't deserve to be our customers You did what you could. You can give people like that a full refund and they still won't be happy

Cheryl

<a href="http://www.partyzone-sales.com" target="_blank">PartyZone</a>

I'm sorry that you got to experience some nasty people too. I have only had a couple but one was pretty funny. I had a lady throwing our most expensive party. She paid her deposit and took all of the party paperwork home. Of course, we charge tax on the deposit (&#036;5.25). Somehow this lady thought that she prepaid all of the tax. The party was &#036;500.00!!! I showed her the copy of her deposit receipt, showed her the outstanding bill and she still didn't understand. I tried showing her on a calculator, still no understanding or as I suspect...not enough cash. She screamed and argued for 15 minutes until I told her that if she was not satisfied, we could cancel. She got friends together and gave me the cash.

I had one other woman and her two girls never behave during Open Bounce time. My employees talk to them all the time and I have talked to them on more than one occassion. The last time I went to talk to them I got mom and the girls (ages 7 & 9) together and went over the rules for flipping down the slide. Mom nodded her head through my whole little speech but then after I left told the kids they didn't have to listen to me. She went to my night manager and told her that she didn't know who I thought I was but her kids could do whatever they wanted because she paid for them to be there. The next time she came to play I was waiting at the register. I told her before I took her money I wanted to make sure that the girls understood the rules because if I asked them to leave I would not refund her money. Mom was nodding again and I told her that I would be monitoring playtime. Then I got, "well who the he** do you think you are??? I am going to call the owner on you!!" I said ok and handed her the phone and said "my husband's telephone number is ........." She called me all kinds of names and walked out!!!! It is funny because she has gone passed the front window of our store and looks at the ground everytime.

Sorry this was so long but I wanted to let you know that you are not alone and sometimes looking back it is kinda funny. Good thing is that most customers are fine and their kids can be alot of fun!!

Thanks, it is tough to try and please everyone. So, I state my poilcies and explain to the person throwing the party is that our attendants are here to help the children follow the rules, if they can not follow the rules, they have to sit out. Never had a problem with that so far...

It just kills me to think that there are people out there who think they are enititled to get their a** kissed. We strive for good customer service and have always been reasonable but I will not allow ourselves to be pushed around like this.

If we misrepresent ourselves due to poor communication, I will be the first to say I am sorry and let me correct my mistake.

Also, the last thing I want to get around is if folks like the ones I dealt with thinks by bullying people will get them a discount, than word will get spread that we can be pushed around.

I remember renting 1 cotton candy machine to a local event planning company. This lady was getting everything from my competitor. I rented in hopes of opening up some doors. This veteran planner and several of the staff were trying to run the cotton candy machine on 300 to 400 feet of extension cord. I found this out nearly 1 year later when I ran into the dj at this event. This lexus driving witch attempted to tell me that "the kids were so heartbroken that they couldn't have cotton candy." She also stated the machine never worked. Hmm odd, the day of the party when her coworker calls, she said the machine was working fine but had stopped heating up. The head would spin, but no heat. I asked if anything changed the way it was plugged in when it was working fine. She said no, and I called the company I subrented from for help. They said there mechanic had just replaced the heating element. The whole weekend were thinking that it was our fault. I picked up the machine Monday. Took it back to subrent store and they made cotton candy just fine for over an hour. This witch was emailing me to get out of paying the rental fee. I had some good fun and secretly passed along her emails to others in the business. This was one _itch from hell. When the DJ came later in the day and plugged in his gear the power was shot. I still had to pay the subrent. She emailed and emailed me. Finally I called to talk with them. I gave up after 15 minutes of them telling me it was my fault. They hung my company and another company's reputation to save there's. I told them to never call me again, this was a pain in the ass. Get everything from one source. The store I subrented from and hassled, I brought those guys pizza and pop. Don't play like your going to do business with my firm, renting small stuff, that we don't have the time to do. This same event planner sent me a letter stating that my company couldn't join a local special events group, since there already was another company like mine in the group. Some years later my competitors which I get along with great. Asked me why I didn't belong and I said they said no. This same event planner came to me at a business to business show and got in my face and said that she never said that, and she would like to see the letter.

Get this, this same event planning company was using a company over 100 miles away from us at a event this year. This company had to subrent from us a &#036;3000 ride. I personally did this job, and boy was the local 2 faced event planner surprised! Luckily with my companys scope and size it's hard to get around us. She was embarressed, because she lies right to your face and my wife.

I remember some Olive Garden employees who found a park. They had no water, no park permits, no electricity. They tried to say it was our fault. I now have a disclaimer, water is not included. I never have heard from them again.

Bad customers, you don't need them or want them, they drag you down.

[quote:e7259fa22a="vslg1"]I get people that complain about a &#036;300 price on a party room...My party package is for 2.5 hours...

My biggest complaint...it's not enough time...I ask...what exactly is it you're looking to do that needs more than 2.5 hours...an average formal event is 5 hours (I've been djing for 18 years...) the first hour is cocktail hour...the second is a formal meal...neither of which they are having at a kids party...I think that they know many of their guests are going to show up late...I explain...that in order for them to secure more time...they'll either need to purchase an additional time slot (cause otherwise I can't fit three parties in a day in) or choose the last time slot (I'll let them extend in half hour increments...)

I also had a customer this past summer...We got there and my guys called and said they didn't feel comfortable setting up on top of tree roots and dirt...so I had them tell the customer we couldn't setup...They called back...and called me every name but a child of God...so I told my worker to load up the truck...and I told the customer...that instead of finding a way to work this out...I would do something I never do...I would reimburse their deposit in exchange for never hearing from them again...because as two grown adults...this level of immaturity is uncalled for...and if the person that did this for you last year...didn't have a problem setting up...why did you call us...

She changed her tune real quick and tipped my driver &#036;50.00...They eventually found us a concrete pad to put the bouncer on...[/quote:e7259fa22a]

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We only offer 1 hour of play and 45 minutes of party. All our competitors offer 2 hours (1 and 1) We can get 2 extra parties in a day if we limit the time like this. We charge the same as our competitors but offer a much better product and experience.

My thought is that if the kids leave wanting more they will WANT to come back. YEs people complain but they keep booking their parties and they still get more than they pay for. I guess we've trained our customers for theh last 8 years... plus we give them an option to extend their time by buying an entire extra party slot. They almost NEVER do this because of the cost.

Anywho... They will always complain about more time no matter if you give them 1 hours or 5 hours.

You've all raised some very valid points about customer's from hell. I wouls like to point out however, that if most of us brought our kids to a facility we were paying to have a party at, and the heat wasn't working, it is likely we'd be pi&#036;&#036;ed too. A call forewarning the customer about the heat situation may have went a long way towards difussing this mess.

I agree with Ed.

You are right about the heat, but we did have some heat in the room, we had put a room heater in there and nobody else complained but them. We made an honest attempt to make a temporary fix that, the play area was fine as far as climate was concerned. Honestly, I did not think it was that cold but I am not the customer. The heat had broke on Friday, so we had no choice but to wait til Monday. We had open plays come in, and nobody complained. We had a party earlier and they were happy.

LIke I said, we would have gladly worked it out but they are repeat customers from the outdoor side of business nd they do the same thing to us there. We run a good operation, we are not perfect and we do our best to correct our mistakes but we also know there are people out there who will juice you for everything they can becasue they feel like it. Also, when they complain to us on the outdoor, it is because they don't have enough electricity and circuits were tripping. We explian to them what is required in advance and we are not repsonsible for lack of electricity and they sign off on it. One instance, they complained becasue theie circuits were tripping, they rented concessions from another place and tried to plug them in without units and they have old electric from old houses. But it was out fault that th unit would shut off, I told them they can share that circuit, but they would have none of that.

She was mean, nasty and rude, there was no reason for that. I would have given her a discount but she also took advantage of us too. So she got her money's worth.
I can reflect on what could I have done to avoid this, but the only thing I can consider was cancelling the party due to no heat and I don't think they woulld have gone for that. But i am always open for suggestions and that is why I am here.