I was very disappointed when we had my son's birthday party recently at Jumping Jacks.
First, there were no employees supervising the kids jumping. Other places, like Pump It Up, have someone in the room ensuring that only one kid goes down the slide at a time, etc. Not here - it was chaos. This was especially dangerous in the one room which is dark. During the 30 minutes we spent in that room, we had three different incidences of kids bumping heads and tears.
Second, the payment. I had scheduled a Sunday Special Party which was $239 for 15 kids. However, as my RSVPs came in, I quickly had 22! So, I called and switched to the $289 party which was up for 30 kids. Well, a friend's child broke her foot the morning of the party and we had several no shows, so we only had 14 kids. I expected the manager Paul, to reduce my package back to the Sunday Special, but no. He informed me that if I had called a week before and changed, he could have accommodated that. What? How was I to know that a good portion of our guests wouldn't be able to come last minute? Then he says that they set up the room for 30 kids with the tablecloths. I had paid $16 additional to Jumping Jacks for three tablecloths (which, from their extremely ragged edges, were clearly from a huge roll,) plates, and a dozen balloons. How did that cost them extra money if I didn't have the extra 7 kids show up? After much back and forth, Paul gave me a $20 credit, but told me that he couldn't do that for everyone because it would "ruin his business." I think his "policies" are going to ruin his business first. So, I paid an extra $30 I didn't need to on an already expensive party.
Third, while there were no employees in the three jumping rooms, there was a teenage boy in the party room who cut the cake. When I was paying, and after our back and forth about his "policies," Paul informs me that he suggests tipping our teenage cake cutter 20% of the total party cost. That is ridiculous. I would have been happy to cut the cake myself had I known the expectation was to tip someone $58 to cut cake for 30 minutes. I gave him $10.
Other thoughts....
When I initially looked into Jumping Jacks and went through the scheduling process, I had to agree to their terms which included not bringing in any "messy foods." Please tell me what kind of food isn't messy when kids are eating it! I called Paul and he took down this ridiculous agreement.
I brought cake and bottled water for my party. Paul told me if I brought any other food in, I would have to pay a $10 catering fee since I wasn't buying their pizza, juice, and soda. Note: I am already paying almost $300.
The kids had a great time jumping, but I won't be back and based on the few reviews this location has received, it seems I am not alone. read more