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Author Topic: Bowlmor, I shall not return  (Read 8691 times)

xrayjay

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Bowlmor, I shall not return
« on: November 07, 2016, 12:20:10 PM »
I've been bowling at LandPark Lanes in Sacramento, Ca for about 10 years or so. I'm getting tired of lanes breaking down every freak'n week. I bowl second shift and we never ever bowl on time. Either slow bowlers before us, or lanes break down which is happening more often. The worst part, one mechanic is on duty and if he's on lunch break, we wait a long time to get service.

When multiple lanes breaks down, or need a re-spot, or whatever it may be, we wait. We wait, we wait, we wait, and wait..... I'm just getting tired of it. It's not even half the season and I fell like leaving. But, my teammate are important to me so I'll stick it out.

I may suggest we move the league else where, but if they don't plan to move, then I'll look into going to another house and league.
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Geetaan

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Re: Bowlmor, I shall not return
« Reply #16 on: November 07, 2016, 08:53:08 PM »
I bowl in the same league as Jay and know exactly how he feels. I bowl 2 leagues at land park and it seems like every week it just gets worse and worse.

I  grew up in Stockton which is 30-45 mins away from sacramento, and I have to say I miss bowling at Pacific Bowl.

Milo I dont know how Pacific Bowl was before I started bowling there in 2008ish but I have never had a problem there, service is always good(they care about their bowlers). Pro shop guy is amazing, if the pins need to be respotted, its usually taken care of within 1-2 mins or less.  I have only had to move 1 time out of the few years I bowled there, other than that the mechanic/s have fixed everything right then and there. It could also be because Pacific Bowl is Privately own, but I have had nothing but good experience there.
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charlest

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Re: Bowlmor, I shall not return
« Reply #17 on: November 07, 2016, 09:03:18 PM »
Quote from: spmcgivern on November 07, 2016, 03:44:17 PM
Quote from: charlest on November 07, 2016, 03:35:01 PM
What Jay went thru and what you see/saw is just the beginning, unless you get a new manager. Both of my former houses are under the same area manager, a guy who got promoted from one house manager because of the money he saved instituting changes in maintenance of place, firing mechanics, not cleaning the setee areas, not cleaning the approaches, not maintaining the oil machines, not oiling, etc. For this Bowlmor promoted him.

I could give you a whole litany of things he did at Greenbrook AMF and that he's now doing at Carolier; he'll bring Carolier down to its knees soon also.

FYI Greenbrook has been begging the members of the leagues it kicked out 2 years ago to return, because their plan to live on parties and Cosmic bowling and business parties had resulted in a $10 million loss last season. This season they did the same at Carolier.


I realize you have had bad experiences with BowlMor in the past, but what you are describing is an issue with a particular person.  And as such it has made you not like BowlMor.  The same can be said of many privately owned centers also.

I definitely think BowlMor could do better in hiring managers, but too often they go the direction of money made, no matter how short-sighted it may be.  I am lucky my center has a good manager who tries to meet the increasingly difficult demands of league bowlers.  I only hope anyone disappointed with their center finds one with a manager like ours.

And if anyone thinks BowlMor will ruin league bowling in general, remember this, BowlMor has less than 8% of the centers in the country.

Look, I wish you luck with your Bowlmor managers. But I've been too abused by 2 centers, 2 very large and once very profitable centers to think it has nothing to do with Bowlmor's management psychology. What one manager has done can only be promoted and encouraged by the corporate directives. If you see another future that I am not, just telling what I am experiencing is not true won;t do it.

Since Bowlmor took over all AMF and all Brunswick owndd centers, you're telling me that's only 8% of the bowling centers in the US??
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bltbyj

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Re: Bowlmor, I shall not return
« Reply #18 on: November 07, 2016, 09:05:02 PM »
Your team would be welcomed  at AMF Rocklin on Thursday nites. We have 28 teams and should fill the house next year.
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milorafferty

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Re: Bowlmor, I shall not return
« Reply #19 on: November 07, 2016, 09:20:43 PM »
Quote from: Geetaan on November 07, 2016, 08:53:08 PM
I bowl in the same league as Jay and know exactly how he feels. I bowl 2 leagues at land park and it seems like every week it just gets worse and worse.

I  grew up in Stockton which is 30-45 mins away from sacramento, and I have to say I miss bowling at Pacific Bowl.

Milo I dont know how Pacific Bowl was before I started bowling there in 2008ish but I have never had a problem there, service is always good(they care about their bowlers). Pro shop guy is amazing, if the pins need to be respotted, its usually taken care of within 1-2 mins or less.  I have only had to move 1 time out of the few years I bowled there, other than that the mechanic/s have fixed everything right then and there. It could also be because Pacific Bowl is Privately own, but I have had nothing but good experience there.

Pacific is a good house, as is West Lane. We in Stockton are very fortunate to have two good houses and two great pro shops.
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milorafferty

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Re: Bowlmor, I shall not return
« Reply #20 on: November 07, 2016, 09:22:46 PM »
Quote from: bltbyj on November 07, 2016, 09:05:02 PM
Your team would be welcomed  at AMF Rocklin on Thursday nites. We have 28 teams and should fill the house next year.

If I lived closer, I would bowl at league at your place. Nice house, good service and friendly.
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xrayjay

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Re: Bowlmor, I shall not return
« Reply #21 on: November 08, 2016, 12:05:30 AM »
Quote from: bltbyj on November 07, 2016, 09:05:02 PM
Your team would be welcomed  at AMF Rocklin on Thursday nites. We have 28 teams and should fill the house next year.

If it's a second shift league, I'd look into it. We all know rush hour traffic on 80 east is a challenge coming from Elk Grove...
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ICDeadMoney

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Re: Bowlmor, I shall not return
« Reply #22 on: November 08, 2016, 01:59:13 AM »
Quote from: charlest on November 07, 2016, 09:03:18 PM
Quote from: spmcgivern on November 07, 2016, 03:44:17 PM
Quote from: charlest on November 07, 2016, 03:35:01 PM
What Jay went thru and what you see/saw is just the beginning, unless you get a new manager. Both of my former houses are under the same area manager, a guy who got promoted from one house manager because of the money he saved instituting changes in maintenance of place, firing mechanics, not cleaning the setee areas, not cleaning the approaches, not maintaining the oil machines, not oiling, etc. For this Bowlmor promoted him.

I could give you a whole litany of things he did at Greenbrook AMF and that he's now doing at Carolier; he'll bring Carolier down to its knees soon also.

FYI Greenbrook has been begging the members of the leagues it kicked out 2 years ago to return, because their plan to live on parties and Cosmic bowling and business parties had resulted in a $10 million loss last season. This season they did the same at Carolier.


I realize you have had bad experiences with BowlMor in the past, but what you are describing is an issue with a particular person.  And as such it has made you not like BowlMor.  The same can be said of many privately owned centers also.

I definitely think BowlMor could do better in hiring managers, but too often they go the direction of money made, no matter how short-sighted it may be.  I am lucky my center has a good manager who tries to meet the increasingly difficult demands of league bowlers.  I only hope anyone disappointed with their center finds one with a manager like ours.

And if anyone thinks BowlMor will ruin league bowling in general, remember this, BowlMor has less than 8% of the centers in the country.

Look, I wish you luck with your Bowlmor managers. But I've been too abused by 2 centers, 2 very large and once very profitable centers to think it has nothing to do with Bowlmor's management psychology. What one manager has done can only be promoted and encouraged by the corporate directives. If you see another future that I am not, just telling what I am experiencing is not true won;t do it.

Since Bowlmor took over all AMF and all Brunswick owndd centers, you're telling me that's only 8% of the bowling centers in the US??

If memory serves AMF had something like 120 centers, and Brunswick had something like 80.

8% could be an accurate amount.
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Mbosco

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Re: Bowlmor, I shall not return
« Reply #23 on: November 08, 2016, 05:11:31 AM »
Quote from: Geetaan on November 07, 2016, 08:53:08 PM
I bowl in the same league as Jay and know exactly how he feels. I bowl 2 leagues at land park and it seems like every week it just gets worse and worse.

I  grew up in Stockton which is 30-45 mins away from sacramento, and I have to say I miss bowling at Pacific Bowl.

Milo I dont know how Pacific Bowl was before I started bowling there in 2008ish but I have never had a problem there, service is always good(they care about their bowlers). Pro shop guy is amazing, if the pins need to be respotted, its usually taken care of within 1-2 mins or less.  I have only had to move 1 time out of the few years I bowled there, other than that the mechanic/s have fixed everything right then and there. It could also be because Pacific Bowl is Privately own, but I have had nothing but good experience there.

Is Landpark comparable in size to Pacific Bowl? If so I would suggest the problem with service isn't that there's only 1 mechanic during league, but probably that they aren't taking care of the machines when it isn't busy. At PAB we only had one during league, but two guys during the day were always doing upkeep, fixing respot cells, etc. so it would run smooth at night.
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itsallaboutme

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Re: Bowlmor, I shall not return
« Reply #24 on: November 08, 2016, 06:16:00 AM »
I'm still trying to figure where the $10 million lost figure came from. 

In a 48 lane center that is 3 full shifts of bowlers per day, 365 days/year that spend $38 each every time they bowl.
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Geetaan

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Re: Bowlmor, I shall not return
« Reply #25 on: November 08, 2016, 07:18:01 AM »
Quote from: Mbosco on November 08, 2016, 05:11:31 AM
Quote from: Geetaan on November 07, 2016, 08:53:08 PM
I bowl in the same league as Jay and know exactly how he feels. I bowl 2 leagues at land park and it seems like every week it just gets worse and worse.

I  grew up in Stockton which is 30-45 mins away from sacramento, and I have to say I miss bowling at Pacific Bowl.

Milo I dont know how Pacific Bowl was before I started bowling there in 2008ish but I have never had a problem there, service is always good(they care about their bowlers). Pro shop guy is amazing, if the pins need to be respotted, its usually taken care of within 1-2 mins or less.  I have only had to move 1 time out of the few years I bowled there, other than that the mechanic/s have fixed everything right then and there. It could also be because Pacific Bowl is Privately own, but I have had nothing but good experience there.

Is Landpark comparable in size to Pacific Bowl? If so I would suggest the problem with service isn't that there's only 1 mechanic during league, but probably that they aren't taking care of the machines when it isn't busy. At PAB we only had one during league, but two guys during the day were always doing upkeep, fixing respot cells, etc. so it would run smooth at night.

Land Park is the same size as Pacific Bowl 32 lanes. That's the way it should be, during the day upkeep and fixing stuff, so it runs smoothly at night.
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spmcgivern

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Re: Bowlmor, I shall not return
« Reply #26 on: November 08, 2016, 09:06:20 AM »
FYI

Quote
Bowlmor AMF Corp. is the largest ten-pin bowling center operator in the world, with 304 centers the United States, eight centers in Mexico, and three centers in Canada. The centers have an average of 40 lanes compared to the U.S. bowling center average of 21 lanes.

Bowlmor AMF’s US centers represent 8% of the country’s 4,400 bowling centers. Its nearest US competitors in size are Bowl-America, Bowl New England, Lucky Strike, and Main Event Entertainment, each with around 20 centers. Most of the other bowling centers in the United States are individually or family-owned.

And here is the 2015 financial statement

https://www.bowlmoramf.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/FY2015AuditedFinancials.pdf
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bradl

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Re: Bowlmor, I shall not return
« Reply #27 on: November 08, 2016, 12:43:42 PM »
Quote from: milorafferty on November 07, 2016, 09:20:43 PM
Quote from: Geetaan on November 07, 2016, 08:53:08 PM
I bowl in the same league as Jay and know exactly how he feels. I bowl 2 leagues at land park and it seems like every week it just gets worse and worse.

I  grew up in Stockton which is 30-45 mins away from sacramento, and I have to say I miss bowling at Pacific Bowl.

Milo I dont know how Pacific Bowl was before I started bowling there in 2008ish but I have never had a problem there, service is always good(they care about their bowlers). Pro shop guy is amazing, if the pins need to be respotted, its usually taken care of within 1-2 mins or less.  I have only had to move 1 time out of the few years I bowled there, other than that the mechanic/s have fixed everything right then and there. It could also be because Pacific Bowl is Privately own, but I have had nothing but good experience there.

Pacific is a good house, as is West Lane. We in Stockton are very fortunate to have two good houses and two great pro shops.

Pacific Bowl is definitely a good house. From the times I've been there, and that was roughly 8 - 9 years ago, it was a really nice house. Kim Terrell did an Ebonite Demo Days there, when I went there, and really liked the place. Clean, roomy (compared to Mardi Gras and Country Club), and the pro shop was great. At the time, the PSO there also ran the PSO at Fireside, before Gary and Leanne took over that one. Glad to hear that Pacific is still going strong.

Quote from: milorafferty on November 07, 2016, 09:22:46 PM
Quote from: bltbyj on November 07, 2016, 09:05:02 PM
Your team would be welcomed  at AMF Rocklin on Thursday nites. We have 28 teams and should fill the house next year.
If I lived closer, I would bowl at league at your place. Nice house, good service and friendly.

I'd think about it as well, and I'm out in Rancho Cordova. But if you think I-80 is bad, try going up Sunrise Blvd. during rush hour.. Absolutely brutal.  :-\

BL.
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xrayjay

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Re: Bowlmor, I shall not return
« Reply #28 on: November 08, 2016, 01:00:06 PM »

"I'd think about it as well, and I'm out in Rancho Cordova. But if you think I-80 is bad, try going up Sunrise Blvd. during rush hour.. Absolutely brutal.  :-\

BL."

_____________________________

I was a traveling Rad Tech and I've used sunrise as one of my routes, it does suck. but not as bad as Seattle traffic and trying to make it to Secoma lanes by 6:30...

I bowl Thursday nights at 9:30 (it's actually 9pm) and if you go, there are lot of open lanes.....Geetaan will be there too...
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bltbyj

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Re: Bowlmor, I shall not return
« Reply #29 on: November 08, 2016, 02:48:08 PM »
I'm out in the Cho as well but I drive from Downtown to Rocklin after work and I'm off at 5. I have also gone down sunrise and it really isn't that bad.
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bltbyj

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Re: Bowlmor, I shall not return
« Reply #30 on: November 08, 2016, 02:57:48 PM »
Quote from: bradl on November 07, 2016, 05:39:19 PM
Quote from: milorafferty on November 07, 2016, 03:10:10 PM
Quote from: charlest on November 07, 2016, 03:01:00 PM
Quote from: milorafferty on November 07, 2016, 02:21:52 PM
Come on, didn't you guys know this is all USBC's fault??  :o ??? ;D

"Milo",
If you went thru what I did with these Bowlmor situations in 2 completely different houses in 2 different areas, this wouldn't be a joking matter. Bowlmor is f*cking with league bowling in MAJOR way, here in NJ and with bowlers in XrayJay's area.

I'm in XRayJay's area and have bowled at LandPark many times. The place has always been kind of a dump, even before Bowlmor. Bowling in the Sac area has gone down hill and there were houses like AMF Alpine that closed down before Bowlmor took over. If I remember correctly, AMF Crestview closed before Bowlmor as well.

Two different weekends in October, I bowled a tournament at AMF Rocklin and it's a very nice place. Same owners, different management.

Crestview closed at least 2 years after I moved here, and that was in 2003. so maybe 2006 at the latest. Alpine Valley was .. I want to say 2007. Whatever year the Track Animal came out, Alpine Valley closed.

But I agree: bowling has really gone downhill in Sacramento, and I was wondering if I was the only one that was seeing that.

BL.

Crestview didn't close till after 2010 and Alpine closed cause of location and they weren't the only business on the property. LandPark on the other hand is all by it's self on the property. Sorry to hear it's not going well there cause that's where I started bowling. Oh and by the way people have always complained about something at landpark from the time I started till now.
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