Last Saturday my daughter hosted her daughter's 3rd birthday at this facility. It just so happened that Detroit had just been through a major power outage where multitudes of people lost power - including Kidz Kingdom. So, my daughter and her children arrive to find that the place had no heat. When my husband and I arrived, we were also informed that there was no heat, and somehow this was attributed to the power outage. So I go to the rear of this facility to find my daughter, and outside of the "party room" there was a refrigerator with no door and shelves just hanging in there. The walls in and just outside of the party room are filthy. The cost of the place, I found out, was $250.00 from 4pm until 6:30pm, and yet there's no heat, the walls are dirty . . . and you have a very disrespectful and unprofessional owner to deal with. So, let's get into that! At some point I'm walking from the main play area to the party room where one of my daughter's guests was holding her child; his lips were shivering - the child was cold. At that point I asked my daughter if someone had called her to let her know that the facility did not have heat, which would give her the option to move the party to her home. She said nobody had called. I asked her to get someone that I could speak with, because this was just not a good situation. The owner had left, but there was a man there. Now, I don't know him or her - don't know their set up - don't have any idea of who is who or what responsibilities belong to whom. He comes back and I ask him if anyone called my daughter to let her know that there isn't heat - he didn't know. I asked if anyone had offered her a discount - he didn't know. He said his cousin had left and he was the only one there, to which I asked if he could call her. About ten or so minutes later the woman - the owner - walked up on me and started saying - over and over - that we should not have waited until she left to bring this up. I let her know that after seeing the shivering child and getting more information from my daughter about what had occurred it only felt right to speak with someone and it just so happened that she left. She continued to repeat the same thing over and over and over . . . until finally I told her that we need to move on to the issue, and that scolding me about who I spoke to was not the issue. She continued to bring it up even after my daughter joined the discussion. At one point I told the woman that we were not going to do the scolding thing any longer, and that she was not listening. Finally, she apologized and said that someone should have called. At that point I, thinking that the situation was diffusing, told her that when my husband and I first walked in I told him that this was really a nice little business idea - and then upon meeting her it's nice that a young woman is the owner. Well, Angry Woman launched into a rage again . . . "un huh, so my business is just a little business and I'm young . . . " Ok, I was floored and just told her that we could end our communication because she's simply operating in offense, and to please go speak with my daughter to arrange for whatever discount she would receive. From that point on the owner was horrible. She was distant, curt, unprofessional (well she had already been unprofessional), unkind, sarcastic . . . it was not good, and I had never witnessed a business owner behave in such a way.
Ultimately, kids don't really know when things are out of sorts as they were . . . they were able to play, and my daughter fixed a really nice meal that everyone enjoyed. The angry, unprofessional owner gave my daughter $50.00 off of $250.00. The place is way over priced, as they didn't provide any food, treats or snacks - just the space and play area. The young man there maintained professionalism and kindness from beginning to end, and should probably be the face of Kidz Kingdom, since his cousin/boss/owner is clueless on how to interact with people - with customers - or even how to conduct business. She was thinking solely of herself when she didn't call to let my daughter know that there was no heat and the building was cold.
I would not recommend this place to anyone I know. Had the owner simply been amiable and polite - professional, courteous, and respectful - we never would have gotten to Yelp with a negative review. The circumstances were bad, but what made it intolerable was the manner with which we were treated by the owner. There is a new business opportunity for someone in the area . . . to open up an indoor party center in the Detroit Metropolitan area . . . who will respect customers, desire their business, respect the power of "word of mouth", and who genuinely want children and families to have a good time. This place would be no competition for a real kid-friendly, adult-friendly, party center. read more