The Princeton Indoor Tennis Center offers quite possibly the worst service I have ever come across for a tennis center. After a string of negligent and irresponsible mistakes on the part of the tennis center, we were left without the court that we had originally reserved. This experience was so bad it became funny.
Here's our story:
I called in to book a court on a rainy Saturday morning. After fence-sitting for a bit about whether there was an available court, the front desk employee told me in a dull monotone that one of the on-site coaches had "cleared his schedule" and that there was an open court. He proceeded to take down a reservation by collecting my first and last name. We then exchanged cheery goodbyes.
I thought I was going to play tennis.
I drove to the Princeton Indoor Tennis Center with my friend a while later. Upon entering the building, we noticed that all the courts were in use. We inquired at the front desk, only to be greeted by the young fellow that I had spoken to on the phone. After being reminded of my name and court reservation, the fellow forced out a cursory apology and immediately confessed that there was a misunderstanding with the on-site coach and that he should not have booked us in the first place. He told us this as if he knew about this mix-up for quite a while.
Administrative and communication errors sometimes happen. These errors can range anything from the simple and harmless "honest mistake" to the "wow...you really fucked up". Regrettably, the behavior of the Princeton Indoor Tennis Center and its wildly careless front desk employee falls more in the latter category of "wow...you really fucked up, bro". I thought "bro" was a good addition because the front desk employee was definitely way more "chill" than necessary.
Allow me to explain.
First, the front desk employee made no attempt to procure any of my contact information during the booking process. This would have made informing us about the error much simpler and could have saved us our time and gas money. I know for a fact that other tennis centers in our area (Princeton Racquet Club, for example) ask for contact information in case of emergency or a scheduling change. Also, most modern phones are equipped with caller ID, which makes calling people back quite simple. Why did they not do this?
Second, the front desk employee behaved as if he was aware of the mix-up for quite some time. This is unsettling. It's very likely that he was aware we were doomed to waste our time but did not act to mitigate our losses. The failure to even acknowledge his mistake until we showed up was irresponsible and highly unprofessional. This is why you need to collect contact information, buddy.
Next, the employee made zero effort to accommodate us or make the situation better when we arrived. After informing us that our court was taken from us, the employee behaved and spoke to us as if he wanted us to leave. He acted as if we were the ones causing the inconvenience. I don't know what the average indoor tennis facility does when they mistakenly book people, but I'm sure they at least have the decency to offer a sincere apology. That and/or they attempt to make the customer feel that they had not completely wasted their time by at least trying to accommodate.
Finally, I'm going to move on to the coach "bro". For starters, I am still very confused about the on-site coach's apparent "schedule clearing". From what I gathered, the coach finished teaching early and left the court open but then suddenly returned to the court for more teaching. Even if the coach was entitled to do that, he should have notified the front desk to make sure there were no scheduling conflicts. The careless scheduling and the lack of communication were thoroughly disappointing.
Bottom line is, we will not be returning to the Princeton Indoor Tennis Center. There are superior indoor tennis centers in the area (Winning Touch and Princeton Racquet Club for starters; Nassau and Pennsbury if you want to travel a bit farther) equipped with more reasonable staff and booking procedures. I have never come across being rejected from the court I booked an hour prior. It's ludicrous. The Princeton Indoor Tennis Center has definitely shown me a new low in irresponsible employee behavior, lack of communication and non-existent customer service.
I regret I cannot comment on the quality of instruction or of the facilities. This is because I was not welcome to actually step inside and play. read more