ComplaintsforAltitude Trampoline and Park

• Initial Complaint

  03/25/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  While in the establishment I noticed a safety hazard in an area designated for children 6 & under. There is a foam pit in designated area and small pieces/bits from the foam were all over the area. It became a choking hazard for my one year old as he continued to pick up the pieces and put them in his mouth. Each time I'd take the piece, throw it away and redirect my child. However, it isn't/wasn't my job to keep their establishment clean or safe. When I approached the staff initially I asked if they had a vacuum to clean the area and the worker pointed as if I was supposed to clean it up then said it was "probably just dust" as if I'd be concerned about "dust". He came to take a look and never returned. 30 or so minutes passed ******* any change and my child had yet another piece of foam bit in his mouth. I went back to the service desk and asked if they planned to take care of it. I was told by a "manager" that they have a vacuum but the cord would pose "another hazard for their guest". As if these children are concerned with a cord while they're jumping or had never seen their parent/guardian vacuum before. He stated that their waiver releases them from ANY/EVERY liability if a guest should become injured. Therefore I asked for a refund, which he refused, and stated I would not be back as the failed, neglected and flat out refused to provide a safe place for my child and other guests! As I made my way to grab my children to leave, he said he was now having to "make me leave". I asked him several times to stop speaking to me while I gathered my children and belongings to leave. He refused to do so after being asked more than three times. I told him that if he continued I would have my husband come to the establishment to ensure my safety as well as our children. Never once did he make an attempt to rectify the issue but took time to phone law enforcement during my departure. I'm sure they are not up to code and have violations; it isn't a safe environment at all!

  Business response

  04/07/2022

  Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2022/03/31) */ On the morning of March 24th a woman approached the front counter and said something to one of our employees about foam on the ground. Our employee told the manager on duty that she was asking if they could vacuum, because she was worried about her child eating the foam. Our team determined that there wasn't a safety hazard, so the guest was told vacuuming wouldn't be done at that time. There was foam dust on the floor from where other guests had stacked foam blocks. This happens almost every morning. The manager and other staff member went back to work and were doing their normal tasks. After a long while the mom came back down to the counter and asked if they were going to vacuum or do anything about the foam on the ground. Our employee explained that we weren't going to vacuum because that would require us to have ****s on the floor, which would be a tripping hazard. She turned around and was clearly frustrated this time and left the counter. She then came back, and at this time she was clearly angry. She was re****ing our employees with her phone, at least their voices, and asked our manager if we "were we liable for injuries to her child for choking". It was obvious she was trying to trap him in his words. The manager was very kind and at the same time explained that she has filled out a waiver, showing she is responsible for her child. She then said something about suing and that she wanted a refund. Our manager said no to a refund because her children had utilized the park, playing and jumping for the full time of the passes *** had purchased. She had another child jumping, so the one-year-old would not have been charged a fee, as children two and under are free with the purchase of a jump pass. After our manager said no to a refund, she became very aggressive and hostile towards both of our employees. She told them that they didn't care about her child's safety, and that they were "lazy a**holes" who don't do anything and that she was watching them do nothing. After our manager saw that she was clearly upset, he tried to calm her down. She then stated that she was going to start re****ing again on her phone and our manager explained, very calmly and in depth, that he did understand her and that he did hear her, but that they could not vacuum because they would have to run a **** over a large area which could be a tripping hazard issue for other jumpers. Before he could finish all his words, she said, "so that's more important than my child's safety?" Our manager said no, that's not what he was saying, but that he was saying we cannot sweep because it is a hazard. She became more upset and she started cursing very loudly and started to walk away from the counter. Our manager followed her from behind the counter trying to talk to her, but she just became more irate, yelling and cursing louder. This got to a point that our manager had to ask her to leave if she kept being disruptive. She then yelled "oh, so now you are using your privilege," to which our manager responded "I am the manager on duty and I am responsible for this building." She then responded, "I don't give a f*** who you are," and that is when our manager asked her to leave. She responded again cursing loudly and yelling so everyone in the park could hear. Most families were looking. Our manager left the front counter and was walking in her general area (but not near her) as a way to let her know they were serious about wanting her to leave. She turned around and came right back into his face and yelled "stop f***ing talking to me," and started to walk away again. Our manager asked her to leave again. She turned around and got back into his face and said "stop f***ing following me and stop f***ing talking to me, I'm about to call my husband to come take care of you". The intent of her words was that that her husband would come do harm to our manager. Our manager then left her alone. Another family came up and asked if they should get their kids and leave because they didn't feel safe, because of the other guest's actions. Our manager assured them that she was leaving. The family then proceeded to say how inappropriate her behavior was, and it was totally unacceptable because it was around the children in the trampoline park. The woman went up onto the courts still yelling. Our manager left her alone and just watched her to make sure she was leaving. Our manager then called our General Manager to let him know what was happening. The guest incorrectly assumed our manager was calling the police. The guest left, and as she was leaving through the door, she turned around and flipped our employees off and yelled "**************." Multiple witnesses and families who were there were saying she was crazy and that our manager did nothing wrong. They said they felt bad for our manager. Even a maintenance worker who was working on one of our vending machines came up to the counter and said that she went way too far, and it was uncalled for. This happened early in the morning in the presence of many children. We have other foam pits she could have gone to, and there wasn't any foam dust, except for this one small area. If the guest was concerned about her child's safety, she could have taken her child to another foam pit. In the three plus years the business has been open, no one has ever complained about foam dust, and no one else that morning complained. She did not seem like she wanted to talk things out and just wanted her money back, even though they had used all of their jump time. It seemed like she was trying to "push our manager's buttons" to try and get a response out of him, which did not happen. He stayed professional and calm and talked to her in the best way he could with her yelling and demeaning him and our other employee. We have many witnesses to her behavior and her inappropriate language. We also have cameras throughout the building. Consumer Response /* (3000, 7, 2022/04/01) */ (The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.) This is the furthest from the truth of the series of events, my actions and their staffs' actions. As it appears this is written in third person and based only on what was told to by their manager on duty. Firstly, no one ever followed up with me after my initial request to have it vacuumed. NEVER! I only approached their counter twice regarding my request for a space designed for small children to be serviced. Had they followed up with me and told me their reason, we would have left THEN! Secondly, I wasn't attempting to "trap him in his words" by asking if their waiver covered my small child choking. I was asking for clarity as the waiver was unclear about their liability of unavoidable hazards (even such as a **** hazard), outside of the obvious injuries that could happen while actively jumping, running, playing, etc. When he stated more than once that the reason they couldn't run the vacuum due to a **** posing a "tripping hazard" (in an establishment designed with soft padded floors as a precautionary) was when I began to re****. Simply because that was an absolutely absurd reasoning to give; especially since I've visited and supported their establishment on multiple occasions and have seen them run the vacuum with absolutely no problem. Also, this was between 1030am & 1245pm in the day (not early in the day as they stated and more so midday, but I digress). It wasn't until I began re****ing that he began to speak to me as a professional would speak to their customer. Prior to my re****ing he spoke in a very demeaning and condescending tone, speaking over me and acting as though I was asking too much of him. Practically laughing in my face as I am visibly concerned about the safety of my ** month old. When I think about it all, it seems as though the additional hazard of a **** was not the real issue. The underlying issue was that they were understaffed and managers do not have the time to provide a service their loyal, paying customers. ******************************************************************** I did become slightly irritated that he only wanted to speak calmly and give a more of an explanation when I started to re**** yet still had no intentions on honoring my small request. And yes, there were other areas that I could have had my smallest child play but those areas had much larger children playing with no regard for a one year old (as they should and I was not going to require another persons child to "play nice" when I could take my child to a more suitable area), which is why we continued to redirect to a less busy area of their courts; hence why I had to go back to their service desk a second time. At the point that I realized I wasn't going to get the necessary results, I told him it was alright because we planned to leave (our time honestly was up anyway) and I had other things planned for our day. You can hear me state this in the re****ing and I began to walk away and you can hear him following me and continuing to talk at me. I stated several times that it was okay as I walked away & made my way to gather my other children and our playmates so that we can leave, as you can hear in the video and he continued to follow me and harass me. As a woman who felt uncomfortable by a much larger man stalking her, I asked him countless times to stop following me. He continued to follow me and as he continued, I got louder to bring attention to those in the establishment as it was visible that I was very uncomfortable being there and attempting to leave. It was then that I did become very loud and demanded that he stop ******* following me, yes! He continued following me and talking at me and as his actions persisted, so did mine! Had he let the conversation settle at the service desk, it would have died there as I simply didn't plan on coming back again. I then called my husband as any married woman would do in a situation where they are being harassed by another man after asking multiple times to be left alone. There should not have been a reason for me to feel the need to call my husband over running a vacuum, I was there to enjoy myself as I've done numerous times before! And to be to be clear, I did not say nor call my husband to "come take care of him" I asked if I needed to call my husband to handle the situation bc he was a man displaying inappropriate behavior and I am a woman. If anyone was trying to provoke anyone and cause a scene, it was the employee! Until others attention was called to the incident, he never honored my request to be left alone so that I could leave. After that I went and gathered my other children, my stroller with our things as well as our playmates on the courts and proceeded to leave quietly. I did go back once more to the courts to take photos for my re****s before exiting and giving him the finger he deserved. I find it funny that they had such a concern for the children once I drew attention to us but not when my child was eating foam bits. If the establishment will provide the tape re****ings of said incident, I assure you that they will align with my recollection! Our neighbor/playmate is a witness to all that occurred on this day! My husband was also on ********, after my audio re****ing, and saw him continuing to follow me & it was only then that he stopped following me but continued to shout at me about it being private property and to leave. Please note that he stated I needed to leave AFTER I made it clear that I was leaving because we have a trampoline in the backyard of our home and I didn't HAVE to be there if they were too busy/understaffed to be accommodating to their guests! Nobody ever physically went to ask him if they needed to leave as it was obvious that we were leaving. Their manager went over to two guests that were seated in the lounge area to converse with them about the commotion. And I assure you that if they were aware of how he was speaking to me and harassing me, they would've understood my frustration and realized how crazy it was of their staff to not honor a very small request. However, my concern is NOT what strangers think of me when I'm showing concern for my children whom I'm responsible for. I take the safety of my children and even others children very seriously especially when paying for a service! I, however was approached outside by guests who had also had smaller children playing in that area and they too felt it was unsafe but continued to play there not only because they had paid their money but because it was the designated area for children 6 & under; please note that my children are 5, 3 & 1 year olds! I bring my small children out during times where most older/larger children would be at school or very limited. Another guest was leaving and asked what happened and when I explained, she felt that their actions were subpar to a place that should have better customer service skills. She was astounded to hear that all the fuss was over a ****! She too saw him continue to follow me and signaled for a gentleman who was in her area to come and help if I required assistance. She noted that his behavior as a man to woman and manager/employee to customer was very passive *********** and I'd have to agree! I suggest that the establishment invest in a ****less vacuum so that situations relatable to mine do not continue to arise. It also seems like a good idea for the establishment to schedule their staff more appropriately to properly accommodate their guests rather publish a ton of excuses. Another suggestion since he can be heard stating "we'd be cleaning that up every 10 minutes" is that they remove the foam from that area completely and replace with balls or more *********** instead. As the foam is definitely a choking hazard in an area designated for smaller children. I am also requesting that they provide the video re****ings from each angle from my initial request up until my departure. And you all will see, as I stated above, that it aligns with my recollection of the series of events as well as how their manager continued to follow me after I asked him to stop talking to and following me numerous times. I have to note that I was told by several membership holders that they actually do have a ****less vacuum on hand as they have seen them run it times before. They did not even offer to sweep it up which would have sufficed yet he made the decision to go back and forth with me over a ****. I truly don't even want a refund. My peace of mind is priceless and they do not ever have to worry about me stepping foot on their property ever again after their lack of customer service skills, unprofessional behavior, unsafe environment and refusal to take responsibility for all the above. Understand that this complaint is to bring awareness to their unfit establishment, I want nothing from them and never ever stated anything about suing them, I don't have that kind of time nor energy on my hands to do such! Thank you.

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