If I could give zero stars, I would. I traveled from Tuscaloosa, AL to Fultondale, AL for my…read moreGod-daughter's 9th birthday party. The party was supposed to start at 3 pm, but when I arrived at 3:30 pm, nothing had even begun. My sister and her guests were seated in the corner where we waited for over an hour. When we finally got into the room after 4:30 pm, nothing was ready! We had to decorate the room ourselves around the guests, and the pizza took another 30 minutes to arrive after requesting it from the manager.
My daughter had turned in one of her Nike Panda Dunks for skates, but shortly after, she decided not to skate anymore. When she went to retrieve her shoe, the one they gave her was worn-out and dirty, and when they brought a second one, it was the wrong size. I went to the front to find the correct shoe, and they couldn't locate it. I waited an hour while they searched, and even the security guard got involved, asking me questions. When I pointed out the employee who took the shoe, she seemed clueless and disappeared after a brief attempt to help.
The security guard informed me that they spoke with the owner, and his solution was to keep the other shoe and give his staff until the end of the night to find the missing one. I explained that we were headed to another event, and my daughter couldn't leave without shoes. The owner refused to accommodate us, stating I was being rude for not accepting his suggestion. He hung up on me after saying that was all he had to offer.
At that point, I lost my patience. The owner took no responsibility for his staff's mistake, nor did he try to see things from my perspective. The manager made me go outside to talk, and I told her I'd be filing a police report since my property had effectively been stolen. Meanwhile, the employee who disappeared came back with her colleagues, and they took a break while the rest of the staff searched for the shoe. One of them apologized, but when I tried to ask questions, another employee rudely interrupted and rolled his eyes at me, saying, "It's not her fault, didn't we refund your party?" He clearly hadn't even spoken to me before that, as it wasn't my daughter's birthday party.
It turns out, they had refunded another party because they had been waiting just as long as us without receiving pizza, drinks, or even a greeting. The entire situation was chaotic. After the police left and I realized I wasn't getting anywhere, I gave my address in the hopes that the owner would send a check if the shoe wasn't found. With all the stores closed, I couldn't buy new shoes for my daughter, so my sister gave her own shoes to my daughter so we could still attend our dinner plans.
Thirty minutes after leaving, the manager called to say the owner had decided that if I bought new shoes, I could return the next day for reimbursement. I had suggested that earlier, but the owner dismissed it. I ended up having to stay the night in Fultondale to avoid driving an hour back and forth again. The manager was incredibly apologetic the next day, and they reimbursed me, but the entire ordeal was a massive inconvenience. The staff did their best, but the owner was rude, dismissive, and completely unprofessional. If it weren't for the manager, Caliegh B., who fought hard to resolve the issue, I doubt I would have received my money back. I will never return to this establishment. And, yes, we missed the entire party while I stood around for over an hour waiting for them to search for the shoe. All the other guests had left by the time it was over.
