Phonetek
01-14-2019, 01:53 AM
I'm sure most of you are familiar with your local centers and their open bowl times but if you aren't....do you just pop in? One of the most common questions I get daily as you can imagine either by phone or in person "Any open lanes?" On any given day I get 20-60+ phone calls asking about open bowl. I don't mind saying the same thing each time if we do. "Yes we have lanes available, however they are first come first serve. No, I'm sorry....we don't take phone reservations, they are only taken online with a required deposit. Reservations online must be booked 3 hours in advance with our system. In the event you come and the lanes are full you can be placed on a short waiting list."
I have learned that one of the downfalls to a small 12 lane house, regardless if the place is empty or a few lanes are in use to NEVER promise a lane to anyone over the phone even if they say they are 15 minutes away. It has bitten me in the butt more than once. I'll say "Sure we have lanes available, come on in!". Within that time of the phone call and the 15 minutes it took them to get there suddenly a Greyhound bus pulls up with an entire fraternity and unloads a full capacity crowd in the blink of an eye. 15 minutes later the person on the phone promptly shows up and says "What the? You said you'd give me a lane!" It's such an awful feeling and I have to scramble to come up with some way to fix it.
It's worse when people just pop in without calling. Many times a full house reservation or league is there and I have to turn them away. I hate doing that, especially when they have kids. I don't like that look of disappointment as they sulk and walk away. I often say "Please call ahead next time to possibly save yourself a trip or go online and place your reservation to guarantee your lane" You have to be careful how you say that though, you don't want them to feel like an idiot. I usually follow it up by saying jokingly "Of course we're packed, we are the most happening place in town right!, that said we have pool tables and video games for the kids so it's not a completely wasted trip. For you parents....the bar IS open and I'd be happy to show you what we have. =)
The most disliked pop in is the one who only checked our website and it says we have open bowl on this day and time. When they get there we have an event or fully booked with reservations. When you tell they we are full until X:XX they get angry and say "You need to update your F'ing website because it says you have open bowl right now!!" then as the manager I get the pleasure of rebutting by saying "It also says 'Open bowl availability is subject to change, please call ahead to ensure lanes are available' or a couple more clicks and you could have booked a reservation." If they try to book one during an event, it will not allow them to make one which will prompt the phone call as to why. Thus, will avoid the entire situation.
It also doesn't hurt to ask if they have Cosmic or not so if you like or dislike it, you'll know what to expect ahead of time.
I have learned that one of the downfalls to a small 12 lane house, regardless if the place is empty or a few lanes are in use to NEVER promise a lane to anyone over the phone even if they say they are 15 minutes away. It has bitten me in the butt more than once. I'll say "Sure we have lanes available, come on in!". Within that time of the phone call and the 15 minutes it took them to get there suddenly a Greyhound bus pulls up with an entire fraternity and unloads a full capacity crowd in the blink of an eye. 15 minutes later the person on the phone promptly shows up and says "What the? You said you'd give me a lane!" It's such an awful feeling and I have to scramble to come up with some way to fix it.
It's worse when people just pop in without calling. Many times a full house reservation or league is there and I have to turn them away. I hate doing that, especially when they have kids. I don't like that look of disappointment as they sulk and walk away. I often say "Please call ahead next time to possibly save yourself a trip or go online and place your reservation to guarantee your lane" You have to be careful how you say that though, you don't want them to feel like an idiot. I usually follow it up by saying jokingly "Of course we're packed, we are the most happening place in town right!, that said we have pool tables and video games for the kids so it's not a completely wasted trip. For you parents....the bar IS open and I'd be happy to show you what we have. =)
The most disliked pop in is the one who only checked our website and it says we have open bowl on this day and time. When they get there we have an event or fully booked with reservations. When you tell they we are full until X:XX they get angry and say "You need to update your F'ing website because it says you have open bowl right now!!" then as the manager I get the pleasure of rebutting by saying "It also says 'Open bowl availability is subject to change, please call ahead to ensure lanes are available' or a couple more clicks and you could have booked a reservation." If they try to book one during an event, it will not allow them to make one which will prompt the phone call as to why. Thus, will avoid the entire situation.
It also doesn't hurt to ask if they have Cosmic or not so if you like or dislike it, you'll know what to expect ahead of time.