Go bowling here. AMF Boulevard Lanes, 8011 Roosevelt Blvd, Philadelphia, PA 19152, (215) 332-9200.
Don’t go bowling here. Thunderbird Lanes. 3081 Holme Ave, Philadelphia, PA 19136, (215) 464-7171.
Because if you walk into Thunderbird Lanes with a group of brown kids from your church’s youth group on a Sunday and they tell you all the lanes are booked, even though there are clearly 20+ lanes available, you’ll need a backup plan.
And when you tell the manager and his employee, both who are clearly panicking at the influx of brown kids, that you called yesterday and they said they don’t take reservations and that it’s first-come, first-served and it shouldn’t be a problem and they shake their heads, you’ll need a plan. And although the lady on the phone said it’s never a problem to bowl on a Sunday, lanes are always free, they shake their heads and you realize something’s a bit off. And when they say, “Sorry! our bowling league is practicing today” and you look around and nobody’s there except for some families in the corner who are all staring at you, you realize you’re not welcome. And that it’s time to find a new bowling alley.
So save time. And money. Go somewhere else. Because I guess Thunderbird Lanes doesn’t need the $200+ we spent at the other alley.
I’m from the NE. :(
But seriously, you should register a complaint.
It it were me, I would have taken note over everything, the name time, the time, etc etc. And as I left, I would have said:
Good luck getting our and our friends’ money in the future. Oh, and by the way, I’ll be sure to send complaints to the appropriate channels. If the owners share your mindset and don’t mind the loss of business during these times, good for them. But you can be damn sure they will hear about this.
Let everyone know. I’ll be sure to tell the people I know to avoid the place.
You would think prejudice is over…I guess not. You did the right thing to leave.A place that look at skin color should be shut down. I agree with the other person that left a comment. Tell the news cast. It will be a big STORY. That alley will lose A LOT of business.
Thanks for letting US know .
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I agree with LT. Too bad yours is a church group. Otherwise you could all pray that something terrible would happen to the place.
I too will spread the word.
oh northeast, how you never fail to shame me.
That really makes me angry even though I wasn’t there. It’s so weird hearing about something like this in a city like Philadelphia in 2009. “The more things change, the more they stay the same.”
Wonder of wonders! Thunderbird Bowling Centers has a web page: http://phillybowl.net/default.aspx. which, in turn, has a “Contact Us” section. I’ve already left them a message asking them to comment on Phillygrrl’s post.
It might be interesting if everyone (and all of everyone’s friends) let them know how you feel about this.
Wow, that’s crazy. You never really think about how this kind of stuff is still around until you experience it yourself. At any rate, in this economy, they shouldn’t be turning anyone away.
Thunderbird Lanes, 3801 Holme Avenue has never turned away business based on color, creed or any other reason. We have a diverse customer base and staff. We do however, have leagues who bowl at the center and their lanes are oiled and kept for them 1/2 hour before they arrive. We make every effort to accommodate all people.
Time: 12:30Pm
Front desk girl “Are you are here for open bowling?”
Us: “Yes, we called yesterday and this morning and were told we could bring our group here and lanes would be open.”
Front desk girl: “Sorry, the lanes won’t be open until 3PM unless you have a reservation.”
Us: “We were told we wouldn’t need a reservation. May we speak with the manager?”
Manager: “All the lanes are reserved for our leage.”
Us: “All of them? We were told differently over the phone.”
Manager: “You can wait and see if something opens up.”
Us: “Do you suggest we wait?”
Manager: “You can do whatever you like.”
Given that nobody at the establishment made any effort to retain our business or appease a group of angry customers……
Its unfortunate that this miscommunication happened, however it had nothing to do with race, creed or any other reason other then incorrect information. It certainly could have been handled better. Please contact the bowling center directly so that we can rectify the situation ASAP.
Was there or is there any signage indicating league night or a policy regarding the reservation of lanes for leagues versus public access?
“You can do whatever you like”
How sad that this is what passes as customer service these days.
PB, my guess is it was more rudeness than not.
at the risk of speaking poor french on a family blog, fuck that weak-ass racist shit.
i will never patronize thunderbird lanes.
looks like someone’s feeling the heat too: ” It certainly could have been handled better. Please contact the bowling center directly so that we can rectify the situation ASAP.”
I will blog and link to this. Grrr, this burns my white-guy ass right up.
No signage that I noticed, PB. If so, it wasn’t prominent. Either way, signage isn’t going to help someone who’s phoned in.
When it comes to customer service, all I want is someone to pretend they care. A simple “I’m sorry, etc etc” would’ve been fine at the time. Not sure how a situation like this could be rectified, exactly. I don’t intend to go again, so a voucher isn’t going to help matters. Just to make sure I wasn’t dreaming, btw TL, I called right before I posted this on Sunday and asked for three lanes. Guess what the front desk told me. “Not a problem.”
Thanks to the readers of this blog who let TL know of this situation.
And if TL wishes to contact me directly, my email is listed on this site.
Funny that they jump into your comments rather than contact you directly.
I have the information on the company that owns the place. It’s called Next Generation – II, Inc., located in Willow Grove, and the treasurer is listed as Norman Brumberg. Also associated with the company are David Zeitz and Edward Zeitz, who hold the fictitious name registrations for a couple of the Thunderbird locations, including the one where you were turned away. All of the information above is from the PA Department of State website.
I’ll note in passing that there are laws in Philadelphia prohibiting denying service to people on the basis of race, ethnicity and national origin. Those laws actually do get enforced sometimes, with pretty serious consequences to the people who break them.
Maybe someone from Next Generation – II would like to contact PG and apologize before the Inquirer gets this story.
Nice work, Mithras. TL should not be let off the hook. The company, as well as the specific employees involved, should be compelled to acknowledge their discriminatory behavior in this incident and/or accept whatever legal consequences this reprehensible behavior might be due.
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Geez, one person writes a story that is all “he said, she said” with no facts or details and everyone is so quick to jump on this bowling center. Isn’t it just possible the lanes did have leagues coming in, and like the manager said, were holding their lanes? I am a long time league bowler, 20+ years, and I know the importance of not having open bowlers, especially kids, messing up the lanes after they are finished before a league comes in. Kids tend to walk out on the lanes and mess up the oil. As a center, they are managing a league, which could be made up of 50 or more bowlers – and those bowlers are in every week for 36 weeks or so. So who do you think the center should cater to – guaranteed business for 36 weeks, or a one time bowler who walks in off the street?
Ford: I’m not sure if you read the blog, but I believe it can be said to contain both “facts” and “details” almost exclusively. (If you want help with those, allow me to suggest dictionary.com).
And for reference, us 24-year-olds don’t really think of ourselves as kids. Because, you know, we’re not. And, as a group, I would say we’re pretty capable of not running up and down bowling lanes and messing up your oil.
Please die soon,
-Don Bito.
Ford: Can you say the word, “irrelevant?” Cause if you can there’s a possibility you just might understand its meaning. And if you understand its meaning, you should then likewise understand that all of what you say in your post falls under the “irrelevant” category.
As heartwarming as your “league bowling” tarradiddle might be, it has nothing to do with a group of people – who just happen to be, people of color – being told one thing regarding TB’s customer policy over the phone (where, and in TB’s defense, skin color can be difficult to identify), then having that “one thing” contravened by a representative of TB, when those very same people appear – live and in color – at the lanes. But I’m certain you don’t see that action as being racist, do you Ford? (You wouldn’t, by any chance, happen to be a board member at The Valley Club, would you?)
My only regret is Phillygrrl’s group didn’t get all legal and shit with TB lanes. A little national publicity along with a discrimination law suit, might have been just what the doctor ordered for you TB league bowlers – as well as your swell oiled spiffy bowling lanes, of course.
Hey Don, I did read the blog, and I still don’t see facts. Not facts that could be proven in any kind of court, you know? What I see is a sensationalized blog, for readers amusement, and a “he said, she said” story, one person’s recounting of what they say happened. Doug, just because someone was turned away, that does not automatically mean it was because of their color. Although that seems to be an all too common complaint nowadays by minorities – if they don;t get what they want, then it must be racism. In some cases, it might be the case, but its not always true. If you think you have a case, I encourage you to take it up with the courts and the authorities. That is certainly your right. But when you can’t prove your claim, will you say the courts are racist, too?
Actually, Ford, I’m fairly certain that “the courts” are more inclined to be simply corrupt than they are racist (except in those cases were those two forces may overlap): the Vince Fumo’s sentencing is a recent and painfully dramatic example of this sort of pervasive [power based] corruption.
But, having said that, I do agree with you (and I suggested as much in my previous post) that Phillygrrl’s group should have registered a formal complaint with an appropriate agency (perhaps the PA. Human Relations Commission). Thunderbird Lanes should have been placed under a much broader public microscope.
As for all the rest, it seems pointless to argue the permeant existence of both subtle and active racism with someone who subscribes to your more or less naive beliefs on the topic. Suffice to say, that I know Phillygrrl to be a person of impressive intellect and laudable integrity – as well as a hell of a reporter, so I’m willing to accept her account of what happened that afternoon, as you, of course are entitled not to accept it.
Regardless, I’m now going to sit back and eagerly await for the inimitable DonBito to respond to your post in that writer’s equally inimitable style.
”
But, having said that, I do agree with you (and I suggested as much in my previous post) that Phillygrrl’s group should have registered a formal complaint with an appropriate agency (perhaps the PA. Human Relations Commission). Thunderbird Lanes should have been placed under a much broader public microscope.”
Absolutely, Doug. Absolutely. Hindsight is 50/50.
Dear Ford,
I would be very interested to hear your definition of the word “facts.” Are facts spectres that dwell exclusively in the domain of the courtroom? Do newspapers contain facts? Which ones? Do speculations BECOME facts when uttered in a courtroom? Do the facts presented by the losing side revert to hearsay status when the verdict is read?
You know what, instead of answering those questions, perhaps you’d simply like to take us on a whirlwind tour of the “Reality of Ford” in which observations only become facts when stamped with the proprietor’s seal of approval. (Whirlwind tour in video only, please. None of this “he said, she said”!)
Given that we are both human beings (presumably) and possessed of the knowledge and ability to post comments on this blog, let us say that we are, for all intents and purposes, equal (leaving aside for the moment that I lack that ignorant douchey edge you seem to have perfected). Ergo, that mysterious power you wield over the observations of others declaring them definitively “factual” or “non-factual” must be one with which I, too, am endowed.
Seeing as you have made some observations here, trite though they may be, I, exercising my aforementioned power over the observations of others, hereby declare everything you have said or will ever say in this comments section UNTRUE, NULL and VOID.
Obviously everything you have typed has only made you more of a jackass. You can call that unfair or untrue, but really, until we have the opportunity to have this conversation in a court of law, who can say?
Finally, in view of your unwillingness to comply to my command that you die soon, I must conclude that you are a social delinquent and will therefore not tire myself trying to explain to you how racism operates in American society. You’re just not at that reading level yet, sonny.
Peace and Love,
-Don Bito.
Don Bito, you are my god.
Don Bito, you rarely – if ever – disappoint.
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