‘Sorry babe, we’re not going bowling’: Customer says bowling alley tried to charge her $240 to reserve a single lane. Here’s why
A woman called out her local bowling alley for charging 10 times the price just to bowl with a reservation in a viral TikTok video.
"Bowling alleys have lost their damn mind," Syd (@poorandhungry) said.
In the clip, Syd explains that she called her local bowling alley, which she's gone to on multiple occasions, to reserve a lane for the upcoming Friday or Saturday based on what availability the bowling alley had.
While they were able to find a time slot to reserve, Syd was absolutely shocked when the bowling alley worker told her it would cost $240 to book the reservation.
Syd told the person that they'd been to that bowling alley before and it never cost that much.
"I don't remember it costing anywhere near that," Syd says.
The worker told Syd that if she showed up without the reservation, it would be their standard pricing, but they might not have lanes available, so Syd and her group may need to wait.
"Or, for the convenient price of 10 times that you can just pay for it and book it," Syd says sarcastically.
Syd was further taken aback because it's not like the bowling alley is particularly fancy or has great service or amenities. In fact, she gave them a three out of ten on service and said the food and drinks "stink."
"Sorry babe, we're not going bowing. If you're seeing this we're not going bowling," Syd says, concluding the clip.
The cost to bowl varies based on several factors including the time of year, skill level, and the specific bowling alley you're going to. On average, each game will cost $2-$5, though some alleys charge by the hour instead of by the game, according to Rookie Road. And since many casual players don't have their own bowling shoes, on average, they spend $3-$6 to rent a pair of shoes.
Many alleys offer discounts for people to go during slow periods like weekday afternoons and during the summer.
@poorandhungry HOW MUCH DOES IT COST TO GO BOWLING IN 2023?!? #bowling #expensive #inflation #datenight ♬ original sound - $yd
The video gained over 800,000 views in less than a day and has more than 2,000 comments.
"Who owns them? Ticketmaster?" a top comment read.
"Bowling alleys want to go out of business so bad," a person said.
"For $240, that should get me unlimited bowling, shoes, drinks and food for at least 4 hours," another wrote.
"We tried to reserve a lane for my brothers birthday, $350 for 4 people fudge all of that," a commenter said.
The Daily Dot reached out to Syd for comment via email.
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