Capital Lanes

Reviews 4

A

A Private User

Ive been to this place twice now. The first time was OK. The service was reasonable, though many of the people working there had poor attitudes and were somehwat rude at times. The scoring computers and pin handlers worked as designed for the most part, with only a couple of malfunctions. That time, however, I wasnt responsible for paying the bill and therefore didnt notice the worst part about the whole thing: the prices are ridiculously high! The second time I went we first had to wait almost 10 minutes before even being acknowledged by the staff at the shoe/lane rental counter because they were too busy chatting with each other, staring at computer screens, or just milling around. The woman who finally waited on us was slightly rude, though seemed competent enough to get us our lane and two pairs of shoes. One our on a lane and the shoes costed nearly about $40. I dont go bowling that often, but $40 seems outrageous to me for two people to go bowling for an hour. Service at the bar was very slow and drinks were a bit overpriced, especially considering they were being served in plastic cups. There was one "real bartender" and another person who had come over from the snack bar to help out and seemed to have no clue about how to make half of the drinks that people were ordering. The scoring computer on our lane would keep getting out of sync with the pin handler and just injecting random scores into frames that hadnt actually been bowled. We pressed the service button on the computer, and after 10 minutes of waiting with no one coming to help I finally went up to the service counter and was begrudgingly told that someone would come to take a look at it. Their fix for the situation was to manually edit the score card on the computer so that the right bowlers turn was again synced up with the pin handler. Im glad I paid attention as this fix was implemented, because I found myself having to do it three more times during our hour of bowling as the problem kept coming up. At least I didnt have to walk up to the counter every time to get their "expertise" in dealing with the issue. Aside from that the facility seemed clean, modern and pretty well kept. I wouldnt mind paying the prices for good service and equipment that works as it should.

---

A

A Private User

My family purchased a few WCTV dollar deals - buy a $25 dollar gift certificate, get a $25 gift certificate free. We went to Capital Lanes on Fathers Day and had a great time bowling, but a terrible time dealing with the rude employees. It took about 15 minutes to get checked in, and we were the ONLY people at the counter. After reviewing the sign ON THE COUNTER that listed the various prices, we decided to bowl for one hour. With the rental of 4 pairs of shoes, I paid a difference of $11.00 (combined with one gift certificate), which we didnt feel was bad for 1 hour of bowling. Well, in having to go to the counter for a problem, I THEN noticed a sign taped to the front of the counter (blended in with about 25 other signs) that said "Sunday night special from 6 to 8, two hours of bowling with a small popcorn and pitcher of soft drink for $21.50 - tax included." I asked the manager why she didnt mention that to me when I was paying $24.95 for my one hour of bowling. She smirked at me and said she did, and while I may have my moments, Im not completely crazy. I told her she did not and that I really didnt appreciate her not making me aware of the special, since I paid her at 6:13, right at the beginning of the start of the special. Im sure the owner has directed staff that if people dont notice, dont tell them - that may be why they slap so many crappy signs around the desk - visual overload. Anyway, the few times I had to go back to the counter for various issues, I ended up standing there for at least 8 minutes, and since my hour was ticking, other people had to bowl for me so I didnt stop the game completely. Again, this was on a Sunday night when there was hardly any traffic. I cant imagine the chaos and lack of service one would receive on a Friday or Saturday night. We have a few more certificates, so we will be returning to enjoy family time, but I can say with conviction that I will probably end up going toe-to-toe with a rude staff member before the night is over. They know nothing about customer service OR customer satisfaction, nor do I think they care. When my certificates are gone, we will head over to Seminole Bowl.

---

A

A Private User

We were excited about the renovation of the new Capital Lanes and greatly anticipated its opening. I went to Capital Lanes on a Saturday night with my two children and their friend. The employee that greeted us boasted about their new lanes and fantastic laser tag room. We rented our shoes, got our lanes and started to play. The computer immediately started to malfunction and the pin machine would reset the game every other toss. Periodically, for no reason, the pin machine would just knock all the pins down and start over. We complained and, after some time, got a new lane. The same thing happened at the new lane! We complained again and got another lane; the new lane malfunctioned, but we were tired of moving and decided that it was playable. I went to the bar and ordered a draft beer. The prices were ridiculous for a plastic cup of Budweiser. I thought the pitchers would be cheaper, but they were still very expensive. My daughter wanted to play laser tag, so I took her over to get her set up. I was shocked to find out that they wanted over $6 to for one person (a little girl) to play for 5 minutes! We played laser tag and a few more games of bowling and decided to leave. We went up to the front booth and tallied up our tab. It turns out that each hour at our lane was $35! So, for the shoe rentals and the two hours that we played (which they included the time that we bounced from one broken lane to another), cost me $100 for two adults and two kids! Frankly, I feel insulted for the price, service and overall quality of the business. Bowling should be an inexpensive activity. It should not break the bank for a small family to bowl for a couple of hours at a less than mediocre bowling ally. Needless to say, we will never go there again. Capital lanes should be ashamed of themselves.

---

AM

Amaylyn Rivera

This is actually from a while back, about fives months. A few friends and I decided to bowl a couple of games on a fairly empty night. The only reason Im giving 4/5 is because our lanes kept screwing up (skipping players, skipping turns, turning off, getting stuck, et cetera), however, the rest is based on an employee who was working that night. Sadly, I cant recall his name, so Ill just call him "C" (I feel it was something like Colby or Cody). One of my friends is rather ill-tempered and impatient; she was extremely sour the whole time, even when the lanes werent screwing up. C was the only one there as one staff member was in the office-looking room, and another was behind the lanes. I explained to C what was going on and he moved us to another lane, with our game in tact. C showed me how I could go back whenever the lane skipped a turn or a player. C kept coming over to fix our lane when it went out. My friend went up there one time and I remember her interaction with C was not pleasant, as she responded to his question with sarcastic and angry tones (sorry, C). The last straw for her was when we paid for two games, and only got one (we each paid half). I was ready to go home but she threw a temper tantrum. Even though I didnt much mind, she threatened to start an argument with C so I went up to the desk and explained to him what happened. My god, was he gracious; he fixed our lane and threw in an extra game (this news was met with a deep, annoyed sigh by my friend who "only wanted to play two! Ugh!"). I thought you handled that night awesomely, C - Im sure on the inside you wanted us out of there, but it never showed and I thank you for remaining professional.

---

---

Other organizations