viking bowl

[GetWithTheTimes]

A lad I work with has the dvd's for sale before theyve been released priced at three for a tenner, excellent quality as well. Im not condoning it, just mentioning it.

lol i got all the films you lot are on about perfect dvd quality lol looks amazing on hdtv i can even burn hd dvd's if need be lol

Price is only one factor that drives people away from the Cinema/Bowling Alley, the place is falling apart at the seems, and the attitude of the management/staff is abysmal, i wouldn't go there again even it was a pound for a cinema ticket/game of bowling.

yep i agree with you there gizmo

i would pay £15 for just myself into the cinema if it was a really nice warm cosy cinema with really nice smiling friendly inviting staff and if the food and drinks were high priced i would still buy it if it was good food and drink for the price they were asking and was served by nice happy smiling friendly staff, its the service and the place your watching the film your paying for also not just the film

Why slag the place off about sticky carpets etc.? Do you think the management specified that type of carpet? It's some parents who let their kids run wild & neanderthals that spoil it and the carpet can only be cleaned so many times before it's totally ruined.

well maybe they shouldnt have used carpet!

someone with half a brain could have sussed that out, kids are going to make a mess, also a heavy duty carpet that is designed for loads of washing wouldnt have went a miss.

and they could do with another screen so they could show more films, even just more films twice as many and put them up on certain days or whatever and leave them up a week or two longer so people can see them all

i think a lot of caithness's establishments need to wake up and get the area up to scratch to keep the tourists coming, bad rep from some of these places could make a big difference in the tourists from down south

[misfit123]

i like having a rant like any other person but i am reading all this and laughing. i dont mind paying to go see a film you cant beat seeing it on a big screen, would i prefer to travel to inverness - no. you've got this on your dorrstep so use it. we missed out for years as it was when there was no cinema. i suppose they are like any other business just trying to make it work and like anyone else not perfect - no one is. i am going to keep going and hope other people do as well coz i know i would miss it if it wasnt here - and before you ask and are all synical on me - no i have no connection to the bowling alley!!

[mushroom]

i helped at a childrens birthday party recently at the bowling alley, we had 2 lanes - one of which continually broke down, and you had to search the building to find the bloke to fix it.
When it came to the food what a joke,
We had 10 kids to cater for

the staff came with a tray of sandwiches, one of the fillings was suposed to be egg, but it was actually a mayonaise sandwich with a few small lumps of egg white.

we got a small basket of chips, and had to hunt the building to get a refill.

we got 2 jugs of juice and no glasses once again we had to search for staff for glasses.

I would never hold a kids party there, as this was a total disgrace.

and a rip off.

The last time i went to watch a film there was no heating, the kids and i were frozen they didnt tell us that when we paid for our ticket. You don't mind paying a little bit more for comfort , warmth but that place just don't seem to care.

[Julia]

I really would not have believed just how bad viking bowl had got had I not experienced it first-hand today as a guest at a kids party. So pardon me while I bleat about it now.

Our lanes broke continually, literally every turn, it took us twice as long to finish a game, it was a total joke and I felt quite sorry for the poor guy who had to keep running back and fore fixing it, I'd have been too embarrassed to work there.

The kids party was a bit better, we had two trays of sandwiches (they were nice), 2 jugs of diluting juice, a wee basket of sausage rolls, two small baskets of sweets and for the cost per head I couldn't believe they provided us with Tesco value packets of crisps. There were 14 of us.

[BMcGillivray]

Myself and a few friends go the cinema fairly regularly, even paying the higher price to see a film on a Friday. The cinema may not be the greatest, but at least we have one!

More people need to go, everyone complaining in this thread needs to convince everyone they know to go down the cinema on a Tuesday/etc when they have their reduced prices, regardless of the sticky floors and torn seating.

I have no association with the place, i simply recognise that if we want to continue to have access to a cinema in Caithness, we need to support it, and to support it, we need to go watch films there!

[Bobinovich]

I'd be happier taking the kids there if the place was in decent condition, but it appears that the owners have just let it go to rack & ruin and not reinvested anything they've made back into equipment, fittings, staff, etc.

[bish667]

Myself and a few friends go the cinema fairly regularly, even paying the higher price to see a film on a Friday. The cinema may not be the greatest, but at least we have one!

More people need to go, everyone complaining in this thread needs to convince everyone they know to go down the cinema on a Tuesday/etc when they have their reduced prices, regardless of the sticky floors and torn seating.

I have no association with the place, i simply recognise that if we want to continue to have access to a cinema in Caithness, we need to support it, and to support it, we need to go watch films there!

I only go to the cinema twice a year on average due to various reasons(price not being one of them). if the cinema closed down who would care?

I dont see how getting everyone to go on their cheap night is going to convince them to make any adequate changes.
The price is not the problem, price in comparison to quality and time waiting to see a decent film is. They are more than capable of improving the quality of the place so why have they not bothered.
Besides from the cinema they are not doing themselves any favours with the state of the bowling ally, again why have they not improved the quality.
They spent a lot of money redecorating when what was really needed was better equipment.
Every now and again I feel the need to bowl again, after a few minutes of bowling there I remember why I dont bother.

[flowertot]

It is true people don't mind paying for things, but the place has become a joke.

The last time I was in it there was no toilet paper in any of the toilets, none of the toilet cubicles in the ladies had locks on the doors!!!! there was no soap to wash your hands and nothing to dry them with. I mean talk about hygiene, it seems to be non existent up there.

If the staff are having to use the same facilities doesn't go much as I say on hygiene and they are serving you food and drink Think a visit from Environmental health wouldn't go a miss.

I did report the fact about the toilets being a disgrace and the amount they charge for you to go to the place, they should be ashamed have they no morales.

It is management that is to blame as they must be going round with rose tinted glasses on, as it is basic housekeeping i.e toilets cleaning, etc. I know that a place that size costs alot to run, but it doesn't cost that much for toilet paper, handtowels, liquid soap, etc - if the toilets are in that state, hate to see what the kitchens look like, doesn't paint a good picture in my mind.

Even the pick a mix sweeties is a laugh, only a couple of selections.

Management shouldn't have let it get in to that state, should have tried to keep on top of the most basic stuff and people would've still used it, but now it needs so much done it would need someone with a lot of dosh to bring it back to its former glory, and please get rid of management is they obviously have no experience what so ever in running a place of that size, don't need to be a professor to work that one out.

That's my rant over now

[celtic1888]

I used to bowl in the bowling league for years, went through the junior leagues then onto the senior leagues. With the lanes breaking down so much and not being the best quality, when we went down to Inverness where their lanes are top quality, we couldnt bowl as well as we wanted to. The lanes have ALWAYS been a problem ever since i started years ago, always breaking then having to search to find the guy to fix them.

As for the cinema, i havent been in 2 years! None of the films that i have seen trailors for and wanted to see came up. The prices are just stupid!! Now i know that taking your gf to the cinema is a kinda cute thing, but me and my oh have never even thought about it! Costs far too much for admission into a film and the juice and sweets etc.

I hope it does get bought over by someone who will maybe give it a good cash injection so that it can be a hot spot for folk to come from all over teh country to have a good time and enjoy themselves.

[Fluff]

That is one saving grace, the staff have their own toilet.

[Alice in Blunderland]

I hope it does get bought over by someone who will maybe give it a good cash injection so that it can be a hot spot for folk to come from all over teh country to have a good time and enjoy themselves.

I agree but it will be a business and not a charity so whoever would be willing to invest any of their hard earned cash into this place would want a return on it. To bring up the big movies is expensive and staff wages overheads etc, etc, all have to be paid for. This comes from the bums on seats or people out bowling.

If you dont get enough cash in then you cannot provide an A+ service.

Is it not a catch 22 situation.

Just playing devils advocate

[Alice in Blunderland]

Management shouldn't have let it get in to that state, should have tried to keep on top of the most basic stuff and people would've still used it, but now it needs so much done it would need someone with a lot of dosh to bring it back to its former glory, and please get rid of management is they obviously have no experience what so ever in running a place of that size, don't need to be a professor to work that one out.

That's my rant over now

By management would that be the people employed to run the place or the owners funding it or are they the same. If the money is not there to provide the basics then would that not be the owners fault. Management can only provide the service with finance from the owners. No budget for toilet rolls then no toilet roll.

Again Im playing devils advocate


I have not been in a long time as I also found it too expensive and not worth the money.

[celtic1888]

I agree but it will be a business and not a charity so whoever would be willing to invest any of their hard earned cash into this place would want a return on it. To bring up the big movies is expensive and staff wages overheads etc, etc, all have to be paid for. This comes from the bums on seats or people out bowling.

I fully agree with this, but if the standard at the Viking Bowl was to increase i would be more than happy to pay for bowling or cinema, but as the standard there goes just now, its a no no!!

[bish667]

I fully agree with this, but if the standard at the Viking Bowl was to increase i would be more than happy to pay for bowling or cinema, but as the standard there goes just now, its a no no!!

Exactly, the reason they are not making money is because the facilities are crap.
Nobody bowls because the lanes are such poor quality.

I used to be a regular bowler but stopped many years ago as they just got worse and worse.
Since then I've only bowled twice in about 6 years(must have been extremely bored out of my skull) and even after bowling i felt it was a waste of money.
Surely the management must know why people dont go there, which is the same reason they dont make any money.

Its not a catch 22 situation, its a simple fact if they improved the place they would make more money because people would want to go there.
But then there is the point of due to the bad reputation they now have it would be very difficult to lose that reputation to get people coming again.

[celtic1888]

In other words, they're pretty scrooed for business unless they do something drastic to pull the customers back.

[ShelleyCowie]

In other words, they're pretty scrooed for business unless they do something drastic to pull the customers back.

That is the way to put it basically yes!

They used to have a really large play room for kids that had a massive ball pit and things, that all got taken away! I think they would be better putting something like that back in.

Get the lanes fixed and serve better food.

[Geo]

I fully agree with this, but if the standard at the Viking Bowl was to increase i would be more than happy to pay for bowling or cinema, but as the standard there goes just now, its a no no!!

What's wrong with the cinema part? I was in Inverness Vue cinema a month back and ended up with a filthy teeshirt as ther seat was so dirty. I've never had that in the AllStarfactory.

[celtic1888]

What's wrong with the cinema part? I was in Inverness Vue cinema a month back and ended up with a filthy teeshirt as ther seat was so dirty. I've never had that in the AllStarfactory.

Ok so the inside of the cinema is fine.. Still doesnt change my mind about the prices though.

[celtic1888]

That is the way to put it basically yes!

They used to have a really large play room for kids that had a massive ball pit and things, that all got taken away! I think they would be better putting something like that back in.

Get the lanes fixed and serve better food.

Good shout, i do remember them having the ball pit there years and years ago. I was young myself then so cant remember if the custom back then was good..

[purplelady]

have to say having started this thread am surprised at poeples reaction the place was dirty and the staff well they did not seem to care, we asked for cuterly from the lad who brought our food and he said he was not a waiter honestly it was awful .