Time: 5:01 PM
Day: February 20, 2009
This is the third day in which I attempt to contact Thunderbird Bowling Centers. I go to their website, where I have already filled out a complaint and come upon the number of their corporate office.
Thunderbird Bowling Centers have been in business in the Philadelphia region for over 50 years. We pride ourselves on our personal service to all of our customers. Each of our bowling centers features day, night and weekend bowling leagues for women, men, seniors and children. Each of our locations is handicap friendly and can accomodate several customer needs. Along with our committment to our league bowlers, Thunderbird Lanes also features a fantastic birthday party program, corporate bowling program and company recreational program. You will find as thousands of others already have that Thunderbird Bowling Centers is the FUN place to be!
Our Corporate Office is located at:
1130 North York Road
Willow Grove, Pa 19090
(215) 659-1715
fax (215) 659-9460
Here’s how it went down. I wish I had been able to record the conversation, it was so unbelievable.
Me [incredibly polite as always] : Hi, I’m calling because I had a bad experience at one of your bowling centers and I wanted to leave a complaint.
TL guy: Well, you realize this is the Willow Grove bowling alley?
Me: Yes, but on your website it’s listed as being the corporate office as well.
TL guy: Okay, but everyone’s out for the weekend. If you give me your name and number, I will be sure to leave them a message.
Me: Sounds good, no problem. [Starts spelling out her name.]
TL guy: [Midway through PG spelling out her name.] Wait, wait. Is that really your name?
Me: Excuse me?
TL guy: You know what I think? I think somebody’s playing a joke because nobody can really have a name like that. I think you’re just playing a prank on me and I’m going to hang up right now.
[Hangs up.]
Me: [Spluttering in disbelief, certain someone is playing a joke on me.]
I call again.
Me: Excuse me, why did you hang up on me. That really was my name. This isn’t a joke.
TL guy: Look, stop calling here. I will call the police and have them trace who you are.
Me: Go ahead, because you know, not everyone has an Anglicized name.
TL guy: I don’t know what you’re saying. Goodbye!
Me: !!!!!!!
Tell me what I can do to help.
I got this, thanks though! The CEO of TL gave me a call an hour later after I emailed him.
I’m sorry, but reading this made me laugh! Maybe all of the TL guy’s acquaintances are all named John and Jane. Maybe the TL guy’s name is Dick?
Wow. That’s ridiculous.
Thats crazy! How did the call go with the CEO? Did you get any satisfaction.
Not to beat a dead horse or anything, but perhaps it’s time for Bugger to re-visit some of the comments that s/he left here, mainly:
I think it istheir problem, not hers.
Nice backhand, Phillybits. You must be a lawyer/law student too.
Aw, be nice gentlemen :).
He would make a good lawyer, wouldn’t he, Doug? There you go, PB. In case you ever get sick of your day job…
so im curious. what happened when you spoke to the ceo?
Obviously Phillybits doesn’t read very well. I would keep your day job whatever that is. After phillygrrl stated she had contacted them twice I said “I agree with you phillygrrl. The customer service is obviously crap if you contacted them twice with no response. I think posting that issue is completely valid. I just took slight issue with the racial overtones that were implied in the post.”
So… just trying to figure out if Phillybits has an actual point or if he/she just likes hearing himself/herself speak.
I read perfectly fine, thank you, and as for my point, none point really aside from noticing how you first seemed to chide Phillygrrl for implying racism when it involved a potential refusal of services on the racial aspect of the members of her bowling party but are suddenly (shocked, SHOCKED, I tell you!!) interested in really, really bad service when it involves the transcribing of her name to file a complaint, which could also be a racial issue.
“You right away assumed you were unable to get bowling lanes because you showed up with “brown kids”. Anybody who bowls, knows that day is a league day, and most of the time there is not open bowling.”
She assumed it was racism, and you assumed everyone knows what day league day is. You know what they say when people ass/u/me things, right?
“Unfortunately, you might have had an idiot on the phone who gave you the wrong information when you called. But, to automatically accuse them of racism is irresponsible and audacious.”
Or there might be a pattern of behavior developing here.
““I agree with you phillygrrl. The customer service is obviously crap if you contacted them twice with no response. I think posting that issue is completely valid. I just took slight issue with the racial overtones that were implied in the post.”
…
If I were them, I would seek legal council about a slander lawsuit if your blog post has cost them any business. Not everything is a race issue, and to outright blame a company for racism because you could not bowl is sad.””
And yet here you are:
Potential racial issue involving small groups of brown kids who want to bowl?
“You may have committed slander. You could be susceptible to a lawsuit if they lose business. You’re assuming an awful lot!’ Your problem, not theirs.”
Potential issues regarding her name?
“ZOMG! What happened? Is everything ok? Did your issue get resolved?”
Maybe I was just expecting you to also fault her for the name she was given at birth and making the case that anyone transcribing an uncommon name would also, naturally, assume it was a prank and threaten to call the police on her. You know, things we all do on a regular basis.
Again, sounds like a poor customer service issue on both counts. Being a dumbass and unintelligent doesn’t make you are a racist. Are you a racist phillybits?
I am anxious to hear what the CEO had to say. Less anxious to hear anymore gibberish from pb
:)
What’s really funny about this, though, is that she was calling the corporate office for TL, not Moe Szylak’s bar from the Simpsons.
(Uh, is I.P. Freely here? Hey, everybody, I.P. Freely!
Wait a minute…Listen to me you lousy bum. When I get a hold of you, you’re dead. I swear I’m gonna slice your heart in half!)
That she actually got the Moe Szylak’s response from the corporate office makes this even more of a problem for TL than anything else.
but bugger, i read your comments too, and that’s exactly what you did.
I’m glad you did some folloow up, but your first comment not only accused PG of being too sensitive about racism, you explicitly told her she was slandering Thunderturd lanes. Philly bits called you on it, and now you feel silly.
Maybe you shouldn’t have said something silly to begin with. By the way, how are your clown shoes doing?
I love the word “chide” Phillybits. I don’t think I’ve heard that word since I last read Macbeth (actually, as I recall, ol’ Scotty Macbeth uses a weird past tense form – chid, “He [Banquo] chid the sisters when first they put the name of King upon me, blah, blah, blah) but I digress.
Phillygrrl, can we count on you to spearhead a multicultural, non rascist, and socially ameliorative group effort to return the word “chide” back into our everyday usage? I think perhaps even “bugger” would be loath to question your intentions in such an endeavor. What’s say, grrl?
bugger: come real. you are, as they say, de queen of de nial.
we’re all racists. it’s just that some of us have accepted and are working on our issues, and some of us are denying their existence.
doug: you need more english majors in your life!
I don’t think its silly to question whether the actions of this company were based on racism or based on a scheduling conflict and poor customer service.
bugger: I think maybe you should either listen to the Don, or just let it go.
Don Bito: Only if I may I stipulate certain qualities regarding said English majors.
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