The good:
The lady operating the rig was nice, and the kids got to play some games.
The bad:
1) The truck was NOT fully operational and had to be plugged into an extension cord from my house because they forgot to charge the generator from a party the night before.
2) Because the generator wasn't working, neither was the truck's wifi, lights, music, or the AC!!!
3) It's the first weekend of June and the AC isn't working. The truck was a sauna- so hot several kids didn't stay, the ones who did played in puddles of their own sweat. These kids were so hot, they barely even ate. We ferried waters, but drinks weren't allowed in the truck.
4) Because the wifi wasn't working, the kids couldn't battle each other and only had 4 games to play. (Mario and Tetris-like games.)
5) Because the generator was busted, there were no fun lights, was no dance party, no singing games, and no back ground music until my husband (who also thought to plug the truck in via extension cord) used a blue tooth speaker and his cell phone. Eventually the lady operating offered some dated music via CD.
6) No mention of even a partial refund and no call or apology message from the owners. I don't know if the driver of the truck was an owner- she could have been? But she too was unapologetic.
7) Not a deal breaker, but this truck needs way more than 60 feet of space. If my neighbors hadn't moved their car out of the way, the driver wouldn't have been able to back in as close to the driveway as she did- even then, she was diagonal to our driveway, and just barely blocking the road. It's a normal size street and a huge cul-de-sac. Firetrucks and garbage trucks have no problem maneuvering on this street even with cars parked on both sides. Even without cars parked on my side of the road, the truck still wasn't parked against the over 70 feet of curb, but it was parked diagonal from the driveway into the middle of the road and beyond.
8) It didn't completely ruin my kid's birthday party because he's pretty easy-going and he did play one of the 4 games that were available for 2 hours.
(First shooter/mass killing games were offered even tho they were on the restricted list. In this house- mass killing and first shooter games are considered inappropriate for kids under 10 yo. I know to each household their own, but these types of games were specifically on the "do not allow" list, yet they were offered up because the owners didn't charge the generator and there was nothing else. We quickly declined- so still- only 4 games were available/allowed.)
The driver offered to leave without offering a refund, but this was literally an "Ultimate Game Truck" birthday party, and I had no plan B... why should I have? So no, the kids were going to play in the sweltering, hot box of a truck if they wanted to... while we charged your generator for free. My husband paid the balance due. Why?, I'm not sure.. but he did. None of the parents stayed around the truck because it was soooo hot, so my husband and I did what we could to keep the kids cooler, entertain, serve, and be delightful hosts.
9) My son's birthday party goals were: a dance party, karaoke, and to be able to play epic battles against groups of friends. None of this happened because The Ultimate Game Truck came without an operational generator.
None of it was my fault, yet I still had to pay in full, the owners were unapologetic, and they have made no attempt in 3 months to reach out to me about the experience and that they didn't supply the service I paid for.
Bad business ethics. read more