As a long time reviewer of just about anything and everything, I can honestly say that not all of my reviews are positive. In fact sometimes an author or movie maker, or eatery will irk me so much that I feel obliged to give them a public flogging. Generally speaking, said miscreants hide in a corner, sulk for a while, and then get on with their lives.
After one particularly horrendous dining experience my wife and I gave the restaurant a royal panning. What was their comeback? An apology from one of the chains head honchos, and an offer to make amends.
It was with awe that I read an email this morning from the disgruntled owners of some Chuck E Cheese type joint called Playtime Party Center. They have taken umbrage at a review that one of our writers published last month. Rather than try to rectify the perceived issues, they decided to go on the attack!
I enjoyed the email so such, I have decided to share it with you all. I also found it interesting that the review has been running for almost 4 weeks, yet the flurry of comments supporting the establishment only started 3 days ago. A put up job? Stuffing the ballot box so as to speak?
To whom it may concern,
While every American has the right to freedom of speech I am addressing this to the review written by Judy Williams posted on September 18th about Playtime Party Center in Wentzville. I am the owner of Playtime, have served in the United States Marine Corps, protecting your above mentioned freedoms from 1992-1996. We are trying to run a privately owned, family play center focusing on FAMILIES interacting and playing together. We built Playtime Party Center (PPC) from the parent’s vantage point not corporate.
We planned for 3 years, got together with local police departments and two security councils, developing a “new” industry with security of the families at the forefront of every conversation.
It is very disheartening to find that your “journalist” is free to write such negative criticism about a family run, Christian business. If you go to said article you will find many blogs from patrons of (PPC) stating their enthusiasm for our business. With this said I am requesting that the “Review” be removed immediately from the internet. It is posted everywhere you find PLAYTIME. If it is not too much trouble and you really want a true review of PPC, leave our patrons blogs for these are a real reflection of PPC from actual customers.
We run a very solid business and are not going under as suggested in her so called review. I am not mad at Judy for her remarks b/c it is her opinion, but to post such harsh criticism w/o even talking to management is uncalled for. I don’t think it is a true indication of how she feels b/c she did come three times and supposedly spent considerable money. Is she involved with competition as one of our customers stated in their blog? How is she focused as the parenting examiner? Just having children does not make her an expert. I don’t think she is biased enough to write a true “review” of any facility. She trashed my business in a public forum and I hope that from the 400+ people that read this before me do not miss out on the best family place in St. Charles County b/c of her malice opinion. The huge
response from our customers as to this review, gives you the ability to correct this wrong doing.
I can be contacted anytime at the below # or my cell @ 314-xxx-xxxx. I would love a follow up as to your course of action.
Thank you for your consideration, attention, and time.
Todd A. Bishop & Kelly M. Bishop
PLAYTIME PARTY CENTER
(636) 887-4244
henrythehippo@playtimepartycenter.com
Just another boring day in the life of being an editor!
Simon Barrett
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19 users commented in " Playtime Party Center Fights Back! "
Follow-up comment rss or Leave a TrackbackI am sure you guys get these types of letters all the time. People don’t like getting bad reviews. However this one has some bright points that made me chuckle and shake my head at the same time.
This guy served in the Marines, God love ‘em for fighting for our freedoms. However Mr. Marine obviously forgot what he was fighting for. Oh but wait, rewind: “While every American has the right to freedom of speech”…
Looks to me this guy forgot exactly why he was a Marine to begin with!
Secondly he mentions how he is a God Loving Christian. How dare the reviewer give a Christian a negative review!
Lastly the job of the Reviewers is to actually go into establishments and give an “honest” review of the place. Not find fault in the company and beg the ownership to right all their wrongs. Its not a reviewers place to police establishments, just to get the word out to everyone else.
Thank you Judy for you’re honestly, thank you all reviewers for standing up for the things they believe in!
And Shame on you Todd A. Bishop for fogetting the very values you fought so hard for.
not sure how you see my reply to simon as fighting back. im sure judy and i will work on the perception of PPC and come to agree to possibly disagree. That has no bearing on “fighting back”. as to taipans comment. its a shame that you took all that out of my reply and missed the entire meaning. thanks taipan for seeing the true meaning behind the words. I know what i stood for during my time in the Marines. Have you stood up for your country, defending any one elses rear but your own. You should run for some political office because you have a way of turning what is said into what you want to hear. thanks
todd
aka mr. marine
Seeing as how the article was a review and not a sound off type article, I can understand why the owners would be upset. I would take it personally if someone did not like my place and would not allow me to resolve their issues, but instead lash out in an article on a public forum.
The author did not “review” the facility, she shared her opinion on how bad the pizza was, how her child was treated by other children, and how she returned THREE times even though she was unhappy all three times and never told the reader if she spoke with management to resolve her issues.
A true review would not have mixed messages of how terrible it was, but then returned two more times and dropped a lot of cash each time.
A true review would have included comments on the rest of the menu, the cleanliness of the facilities, the staff (including management), the parties they host, and do kids enjoy it.
Are there a lot of other factors that go into a review?
Then again I’m a fan of the place so I’m sure my opinion does not count.
Just a note, but many reviewers will visit a location at least three times - preferably at different times of the day (lunch, dinner, weekend) to see if the issues they may have experienced were merely “bad day” sorts of problems.
Do they spend more money than necessary each visit and then complain about it in the review?
[…] Someone on the Internet got all mad about a bad review. Don’t mock Chuck-E-Cheese knockoffs run by Christian ex-Marines. Also, there will be a […]
I like how being in the armed forces means you defended my freedoms. Most of the people I know who join want the money. Boot camp hell does not = defending my freedom. Go screw yourself
I learned a few things today, if we didn’t have Todd the Christian Marine, we would not have a place for the giant stuffed Hippo to frolic.
He used his sign up bonus to better all of mankind. Thank you Todd and thank you Henry!
I don’t think Judy’s review was very good at all. Why didn’t she try something other than the pizza, I don’t like thin pizza but everything else is good. and obviously her kid liked the place enough to beg to go back and then she spent over $100 on tokens. I also think Judy was one the parents letting her child run around without her, otherwise other kids wouldn’t have messed with her. How hard is it to not let another kid take your kids candy. There have been times when I’m getting my son dinos out the machine and some kid wants one. say no and make sure you get it. Judy is whining because she let some little kid bully her around too, not PPC’s problem.
to the editor, the positive comments are coming from happy customers who are finding out that our favorite spot got an unfair rant. so of course people are going to support them.
I personally don’t see that they should have to do anything for judy. if you don’t like pizza order something else, you shouldn’t expect people to round things up for you( what kind of message is that to a four yr old) and third watch your own damn kid, there are bullies everywhere. get over it. The play is the cleanest playplace I’ve ever seen. I think its odd that she endorses a different playplace that isn’t open yet, makes you think she was bias in the first place. again obviously her kid liked it, why else would you spent over $100 the third time around.
@JBIZELL
How many parents seriously over shadow their children at these places? Everytime I have been in somewhere 90% of the kids are running around on their own. These types of places promote this type of activity.
Kids like anything that lights up, makes noise, or drops candy. Using that to back up your point was completely lame.
The positive comments flooded in all at the same time over a very short period. Its not hard for the owners to rally the troops and try to fend off this negative review. Infact if you do a search you will find 2 or 3 total reviews across the internet for this place. Obviously not too many happy customers are willing to go out and support them, unless of course the dipshit owner begged them to.
They shouldn’t have to go out of their way and do anything. I mean customer service? Who cares, who needs it!
Play time actually made a comment asking “why” the reviewer didn’t come in and beg them to fix all their wrongs. Thats not how the review world works.
Once again, another idiot drone running over to slash up the reviewer to help protect the establishments reputation. I the childish ignorant response by the owner killed any chance to save face.
Just a quick update on Todd Bishop. After the Christian Marine flipped out on everyone and tried to defend himself on many other posters that gave his company bad reviews. He also has been having customers coming forward reporting his bizzare behaivor. He has not only been snide and rude to many customers since, he also chased a customer out to her car only to chew her out about not purchasing food. Its only getting crazier and I can forsee a very entertaining update to this story soon.
This is a little crazy. Anyone who spends this much time back and forth to put down a local business is either on unemployment and needs to find a job or is just a little nutty.
I just went to playtime and had a great time and it seemed all was clean, well kept and the food was what was expected. I have seen the Hippo now at local event supporting the community as well. It is nice to a local business owner (mom and pop shop) supporting their community.
Well, I guess Mr. or Mrs. Nutty, to much time on their hands has a say, but I say let small business grow, it is what our economy is built on.
The crazy Marine also chased me out to my car screaming “You didn’t spend the minimum amount posted when you walked in”. I bought a soda and some chips and let my son run around the playground for about an hour. The sign must be posted where it’s hard to view because I didn’t see it when I walked in. He asked me not to come back and I haven’t. In fact, I sent an email out to my circle of friends telling them my story. They won’t patronize the place I guarantee that. Try Monkey Joe’s in O’Fallon or if you’re in a tight crunch, the McDonald’s PlayLand. You know what you get at those places.
Shaggy, and others.
You have proven every ones point about the internet…..dont believe what you read. We do not even have chips and i have never chased anyone out yelling “you didn’t spend the minimum amount”. The rules and regulations are posted on every table in playtime, on the brochure (located in front and back of facility), and there is a 5 foot sign hanging from the ceiling as you enter the doors. Sorry if you missed them. Obviously you have never been to our facility……thanks for showing me that these negetive posts reflect very little of what actually happens in Playtime.
I also want to know why anyone would fabricate such lies about a “mom and pop shop” that is offering so much for so little. What did we do to make people so negative? Are we competition to you? We have been in a recession for the last 16 months of the 22 months of operation and we are still open….we must be doing something right, but some of these posts would suggest we would have closed long ago if the events accually happened. I try to be very respectful to those patrons that do not meet the minimum $6.00 purchase per family. They usually did not know b/c it was there first time. I always tell them its O.K. but for the next time they now know.
Its $6.00 per family people, not per person—You can not go anywhere for $6 per family. I will not make a seen for something that trivial. May 2008, I did tell a woman and her friend that they need to purchase “something”, “anything” b/c it was their 4th or 5th time with a play group and everyone in the group with the exception of one purchased something…..I eventually informed everone in the group. I did it outside so as not to embarrase the guests. Try running a business were 10 moms and their 12 children come in and play and the entire group spends a total of $8.39. The only people that get mad about it are the ones that abuse it.
This is a wonderfully owned, private establishment in our community. Those who visit go back, not only bc of the great service, but bc it’s clean, well run, and in this economy, important to support small community businesses. We visit monthly, if not more often, and all 3 children enjoy themselves imensely. Thank you for having an business such as this in our community.
$100 on tokens! Judy is just pissed cause her kid sucks at video games.
I had many positive experiences with Play Time Party Center, but now they charge an admission fee and I think that is crazy. I have not returned. During the summer we often go there once a week because it is within walking distance of our house.
I have had many conversations with the owners and they have always been kind to me. My positive attitude about the establishment changed drastically when a close friend of my visited and was treated horrible over the replacement of a hot dog that her son dropped. I was amazed that she was treated like scum b/c she asked for a new hot dog b/c her 5 year old son had dropped his. Are you kidding me? I understand that Play Time if family owned and operated, but they seriously freaked out about replacing a hot dog. I am sure they buy in bulk and would have cost them a few cents to replace the hot dog and kept customers. It’s simple customer service. She wasn’t looking for handouts.
I will not return to this establishment with my family. I will choose Incredible Pizza or Chuck E. Cheese. They are worth the drive.
And I have NEVER wrote a review, but felt it was my responsibility to WARN other parents. To the owners, you are still in business in a recession (as you told me) because you charge for EVERYTHING. As you said, in order to be so cheap you have to charge for everything? I guess I would feel better if you charged a little more for some things and made a conscious decision not to nickel and dime people to death! Let me tell you of my experience. We paid admission to get in the door even though my kids did not touch a game or play on playground (parent paid admission also)=$8.00, paid for 4 people to skate=$21.00 (1 inline skate, 2 walkers since my children are just learning to skate and need them, and locker for mom’s purse) $28.00 total and I am only there for 10 min. so far. What if I would have eaten what they want to call food…lets say $20, that is more than fair considering if I got a med pizza, 1 soda, and maybe app….I’m at $50.00. I did make 1 good decision and ate next door at Caddy Shacks for 15.50 for GOOD food that included 3 meals AND 2 drinks. Here’s where I decided to put my foot down and decided to complain, 1 of my children after having her skates on was thirsty and wanted water. We were on our way to the water fountain that is inconveniently by the restrooms and has a sign that says NO ROLLER SKATES beyond this point. I have 3 children with me….10yr, 5yr, and 4yr….I decide to go ask Kelly, 1 of the owners, for a cup of TAP water, she says .25. I decide after my 5yr old also tells me she wants a drink that we will just go to the fountain and take our skates off until I sat down and realized this is ridiculous! I have to take 3 skates off in order to go to the fountain for a drink of water? I went back up to counter and asked for an empty cup, she replies once more .25 that’s when I decided to tell her what I thought. She gets a cup of water, slams it down in front of me and turns around. I decide to walk away and deliver the 1 cup of water. I sit down and see Kelly telling her husband Todd about the incident (waving her hands around and giving me dirty looks) so I decided to send my kids out to skate and give him a mother’s point of view of how inconveniently I would have to go to my locker get my purse out and give them more $ just for a cup of water or empty 1 at that….or other scenario would be to take off at least 3 people’s skates to get a drink at their water fountain. The only reason these people ARE in business is because they are taking your money for everything! Todd told me that people don’t normally bock over .25 for water or a cup. He said usually kids get a soda for $2.00…so right there they are making a killing on fountain soda (reffillable? doubt it) and for every person that just wants some water .25, wonder how much they make in a day? They and everywhere else we patronize are only going to keep charging for everything if we allow it. Come on people! I can afford .25 no problem, it’s the principal as well as the inconvenience AND the confrontational service. I am in business myself and know reputation is EVERYTHING! Good luck with these business tactics Todd and Kelly! I have told at least 10 people not including this post I felt so compelled to complete. Like they say, word travels fast when it’s negative.
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