My 6-year old is taking ice skating lessons here and I'll keep taking her to the lessons, but I was disappointed with the operations. My daughter forgot her helmet and it turns out the Ozaukee Ice Center doesn't sell helmets. They sell nachos, hot dogs, horrible smelling popcorn, low-quality coffee, etc. But no helmets...or anything else useful to ice skaters, either.
So after my daughter's lesson, I put two quarters into one of those little machines that spits out a cheap toy; it was going to be her reward for following her instructor's directions and behaving well. The machine ate my quarters and wouldn't dispense a toy. No big deal. I go to the concessions counter and let the teenage girl know that the machine isn't working and I'd either like someone to pluck a toy out of it for my daughter or give me fifty cents. She goes into the office area where a couple men are sitting at desks eating sandwiches not sold at the concession counter (can't blame them for that) rather than helping at the busy skate rental counter or the busy concession counter. Girl comes back and reports that because the machine does not belong to the Ice Center and they don't receive any money from it, no one will either give my kid a toy or reimburse me fifty damn cents. She was very nice and apologetic. I asked her to go tell the sandwich eaters in the back that they just made a 6-year old cry (true story; she cried).
The actual ice skating instructors seemed great and I loved watching my daughter improve skill-wise and have fun on the ice. The getting-on-the-ice process was clusterfudgey because dozens of kids were all trying to get through the doorway while the instructors were setting up their areas. A staff person keeping it more organized would have helped.
There it is. If management would postpone their sit-down lunches long enough to help out employees during a very busy portion of the day, that would be great. If they wouldn't be so damn stingy about fifty cents that a machine they installed ate, that would be great. If they sold safety gear, that would be great (and pssst!- profitable, too). I have two kids and although I'd like to get them into ice hockey, I've got no problem changing plans if Ozaukee Ice Center is my only option. And I've got no problem telling all the other suburban mommies and daddies that the jackwads in back stole money from a child and didn't offer a damn thing in return, not even getting off their behinds to personally apologize for ruining my kid's morning. read more