We have a birthday ritual for our kids- we go to Chuck E Cheese for supper on their actual birthday no matter what else we got going on. Now, Chuck E Cheese is to birthdays what Wal Mart is to me for grocery shopping. Both places try to compete on price, have ok products (but you can certainly do better at say Pizza Ranch's Fun Zone which has way better food or HyVee for meat and other products), and minimal service. Actually at both places, it's almost like you're an interruption as a customer. But you can't really complain, because why you are dropping some serious change, you're being fed and your kids get to play. At other places, the price you pay at Chuck E Cheese just gets you fed- the playing is extra. With 4 kids, we might as well go stay at a hotel for that money.
Things were different on our most recent visit- the staff was happy and helpful, the food was hot if not better, and Chuck E even came out and danced with all the kids- not just the ones who booked the birthday party! I thought, wow, this is good, this is better, until I saw the 'suits' were there. All of the positives I saw were because corporate was there! In fact, as we were eating, the manager- a kid who looks like he's 16- came up and asked how it was going. First time that's ever happened at Chuck E Cheese. And here's what he said- "Hi I'm the manager here and I just wanted to see if there's any problems?". What? How bad must it normally be for you to start out an inquiry with a customer that way?!? Instead of asking how it's going, how the food is, or what we're celebrating (because you see the cue of balloons and cake!), you ask if we're having any problems! Telling.
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