Ball Factory Indoor Play & Cafe

Reviews 3

KE

Ketan Mody

I am very disappointed with the Bday party we had at ball factory last weekend on April 9th. It was my two year olds bday. First I want to say that the kids did love the place and had a great time. I am disappointed with the service I received and how the manager handled it. The week of the party we had filled out the forms online for ordering food for the adults and extra food. We then talked to someone at Ball Factory about the ordering of the food. We had ordered 8 pizzas, salad, and a fruit plate. The day before the party we called in to ask if we could add on two more pizzas and a salad and a second fruit tray. They told yes that we could definitely do that. I again on the phone confirmed that now there were going to be a total of 10 additional pizzas (in addition to the slice per kid that comes with the party package), 2 salads, and 2 fruit trays. The person on the phone confirmed it and said not a problem. On the day of the party everything was fine until it was time for food when one of our hosts (btw both hosts were very very good) informed me that two of the pizzas from the original 8 ordered didnt make it but the two from the previous days ordered did. So all food was there besides two pizzas. We had one hour of time left in the room and I asked what was going to be done about it. I suggested they order the two pizzas ASAP and pay for it. He went to talk to his manager. He came back quickly and said she said no problem. WE start to eat and get the kids finished. 45 minutes later (15 minutes before I have to give up the party room), the manager comes to me and says we arent going to order the pizzas because now you have 15 minutes and the pizzas cant get here in time. I was upset that I was told they would get ordered 45 mins prior to that. I was also upset because she blamed me saying, "well i sent you the invoice yesterday by email and you should have seen that the pizzas didnt get on the invoice". Couple things. First I think someone was lying because they knew i ordered online the two mushroom pizzas that they didnt send to the pizza place, then they said i should have known it was on my invoice. I told her that I talked to someone on the phone twice about confirming orders, before i added additional food and after and both times, the person confirmed that those two mushroom pizzas were on the order. At this point, I dont feel i have to keep checking what you sent me when you verbally confirmed an order to me less then 24 hours before the party. SHe says she on the phone didnt mention the two mushroom pizzas. SO at this point she basically called me a liar or was telling me that I dont understand English properly. I called her out on this and she then said "well it looks like you had enough food, sorry, have a good party" and was done with me. This is not how you treat people who were paying 600 plus dollars to have a party there plus the additional food plus tip totally over 900 dollars. If she had simply said, we totally messed up, we ordered the two pizzas on us and said sorry would have been fine. If she said from the initial when the host told me about the issue that hey we messed up and we apologize. We cant cover your two pizzas but can order them, how do we make this right. I would have been okay with it. I do not expect a place i pay money for to mess up my orders and party confirmations and blame me. Unacceptable. I dont know who to call at ball factory to resolve this and talk to, because I dont know how to get a hold of the owner.

SH

Shay R

Great concept, not 100% executed as well as it should be. The place is clean, but ride on toys need to have maintence as most dont function properly. Also, children that are too big for ride on toys should not be allowed to ride them. Back in the day while I was in college I worked at Discovery Zone, that had a similar format. However, we were well trained, expected to enforce rules, and had management who intervened when visitors (no matter age or size) were not following safety rules. At the Ball Factory, it doesnt seem to have any leadership with teens/young adults that work at this establishment. Employees that were on the "floor" with children did nothing more than stand around. Employees need training on how to provide a safe play environment for ALL kids. Bigger kids were running up and through tunnels while pushing the smaller kids down, out of the way, and taking ride on toys from them. Employees need to be active in enforcing rules that are displayed throughout the facility and keep kids from running, pushing, etc. Each area needs to have at least one employee stationed at it to ensure safety for ALL. Largest slide needs an employee at the top to supervise and enforce all rules, as it is just complete chaos and dangerous for all kids, but especially those that are smaller. This place says no age limit but really is designed for children between 2-10, older than this and they are just destructive and wild. Lastly, parents are all tending to their children, BUT park districts that are allowed in did not have enough chaperones per child. Are there not any requirements for this? As a teacher with almost 2 decades under my belt, I would NEVER let my children attend a field trip within the 2-12 age range without AT LEAST one chaperone for every 5 kids. They seemed to have about 40 kids each from 2 different park districts and MAYBE 4 chaperones for the entire group, who were really just teenagers working for the summer. These large groups of students need to have ADULT supervision, as well as employees enforcing rules, and rules explained when they first arrive and are greeted in their private room. I will NOT be taking my children here again until they are on the older end so that my 4 year old doesnt need to play in the tots area to feel safe from the chaos! Would not recommend this establishment until changes are made.

ST

Stephanie Bass

I wish I could do 2.5 stars. I give the place 5 stars for activities for kids. The kids had a blast and as they advertise its great for kids of all ages. The toddler area is fantastic. My only complaint is that there should be an age limit (maybe 3 years old?) in addition to their height limit for that area. There were far too many big kids knocking around little ones that were allowed in because they were short, but they were clearly 5 or so. My issue revolves around up-keep and safety. Its definitely worn down a bit. They need to close the doors for a week and do some up-keeping. Such as painting walls. But the worst of it was how they appeared to have taken safety measures but those measures are starting to break down. They either need to redo it completely or just remove the items. For example, in their ball launch area, there is a broken launcher. They took off the launcher itself but the base is still there. Inside the base is electrical equipment. They put padding on the top and put some packaging tape on it. My 18 month old took it off in two seconds exposing the electrical equipment. They need to either fix the launcher or use something more than packaging tape. Then there was a hose by the tractors torn in half and they attempted to tape that too and it doesnt work. Then there is lots of padding around ... thats falling apart. They could use some new netting in lots of places. You can see that they do try to fix it, however, there are still gaping holes in some places. Its like they have good intentions but they arent trying to make sure it holds up. For the price of admission, they should be doing a better job of up-keeping. If 100 kids go there in 1 day, they make $1,400 per day. Thats on the low end. There are definitely plenty of kids on the weekend. And most of what Im referring to isnt costly besides doing a better job. I would go back but if they still dont address the safety issues there might not be a third time.