monster mania

This place has everything you need to keep the kids and parents happy, from all ages a well light up cafe and seating area also, fresh dinners made from order you,ll have a great time

took the grandchildren to have a bit of fun on sunday afternoon the place was busy its overall cleanliness is excellent on the other hand waiting for food it was a disgrace when paying for the food we hadnt been informed how long it would take it wasnt untill you went to complain about this that they then said it would 30/ 45 mins as they were busy with childrens parties if they had said this in the first place we would have only stayed for a few hours and moved on somewhere else for lunch surely it would have made more sense to have brought more staff out to cover the parties or an extra pair of hands in the kitchen as this is a very busy place most times out of ten in future i think we will phone in advance just to check and make sure

I went to monster mania to visit the sensory rooms with my daughter (8 months) and the staff at the front desk seemed helpful and pleasant. However, the high chairs were dirty and needed a good clean, there was no soap in the baby change facility even at 11.30/12 there is only one baby change facility. Resulting in parents changing children at tables or on couches. The overall impression was quite dirty and after purchasing lunch at the cafe - a disappointing and expensive bacon roll - I'm not sure I will take my baby back. If you don't mind slow staff- one member at the cafe while 3 at front desk didn't seemthe right ratio to me as he was taking orders, making drinks and couldn't manage to do anything very quickly at all. Trying to impress (I'm not sure who?!) with tricks of tossing cups around - it's not a movie! I just wanted a coffee.

I don't usually write complaint letters normally if myself or my husband have and grievance we raise it to the right individual in person. However on this occasion I feel compelled to write this here to warn other parents. My husband, myself and another parent choose to book a joint party at monster mania after having considered several places. We made separate inquires on different occasions by telephone to monster mania and spoke with different members of staff about the party and how it would function. We husband and the other parent involved always specified that it would be a joint party, plain English 2 birthday girls 12 children + the 2 birthday children. We spoke with several different staff at the same location. Once the 3 of us decided fully to have the party there we got together one after noon (more then a month and a half before the party) while my husband phoned them to officially book it.Again he specified to whom ever he spoke with that it was for 12 kids + 2 birthday girls and we specifically asked if the free entry would apply to both children on the day.Unable to give us a specific answer we were told she would verify with a manager and phone us back. Some time later, she called and confirmed that because it was a joint party that on this occasion they would allow the free entry pass to both children on the day. We asked for the invitations to be posted out to us as we do not live in the local area. They took over 2 weeks to arrive and we had to chance it up with them. The staff member we spoke to that day confirmed the booking we paid the deposit over the phone. She informed us that we were to pay the remainder of the balance on the day of the party after the number of children was confirmed.( I took notes at the time to confirm all this information)The weeks following the booking and lead up to the party we had NO correspondence from monster mania.The day before the party my husband was phoned by one of the staff who was very rude and asked why we had not phoned to confirm the amount of guests coming.We explained that we were told by someone else that at the time of booking that we were to confirm on the day once everyone had arrived. She rudely said that that was not the case and we should have been told to phone before the party to confirm.( even though we had already told them when we booked the party that it was 12 children + 2 birthday kids)On the day, After everyone had arrived my daughter being the last our hostess took us up to the room. ZERO enthusiasm from her or any other staff. After taking us up to the room to met the other children and parents she disappeared. She only re-appeared to ask us to pay the remainder of the balance, and then disappeared again. She shortly returned to ask us the same question which was to pay the balance. We explained that we would have preferred to pay it at the end of the party because it was being split between 2 parents. We were told we were not allowed to pay at the end it had to be paid before the proceed with anything else.Reluctantly, after having been spoken to so abruptly her she went to pay the remaining balance.When she was told the amount which was different from out original quote over the phone at the time of booking she went to find myself and my husband went to check the information and come to the front desk.Surprise surprise the amount of the balance didn’t seem to be correct and my husband questioned it.We tried to tell the superior that were advised when we booked the party because we specifically asked to make sure and as the web site states (free entry pass for the birthday child) X2 because it was a joint party both children should have free entry. My husband explained this to her and the other staff present that we were guaranteed that it was free entry on the day for the 2 girls.The supervisor present poorly tried to explain that the entry pass they receive is for the next again visit and not on the day and that we had to pay for the 2 girls.She went on to rudely imply that we were lying ( THATS 3 ADULTS WITH THE SAME STORY)NOT TO MENTION SHE DID THIS AS OTHER PARENTS AND CHILDREN WERE COMING IN) she argued that her staff are fully trained and would have never given such false information.She also said in the email we received it states the terms and conditions at the bottom in “small print” ( They have my email address on file, because oddly enough you have to supply it before you go in, failure to give your email address to them means you get refused entry and sent away and I've previously been to monster mania with my daughter. HOWEVER I RECIEVED NO EMAILS OR ANY CORROSPONDENCE FROM THEM REGUARDING THE PARTY)The supervisor at the desk was horrendous she has no customer service experience and very little people skills defiantly should not be working in the customer service industry especially one that involves children of any age! She proceeded to argue with us in front of other parents and their children coming in, so much so that my husband told her that we were going to pull the children that had come for the party out and go somewhere else.BECAUSE there were children involved and we had promised our daughters we would have the party there we bit our tongues and paid the extra money. We didn’t particularly have a choice and didn't want to ruin our 6 and 7 year olds birthday.There was no direction for the party we weren't told anything by the staff most the time we had no idea what was going on.The party was a shambles!!!! We had 1 hostess to 14 children she barley interacted with the children showed zero enthusiasm couldn’t keep the children interested or entertained and She kept disappearing. They didn’t even wait for all the children to be present before serving the food. The food which was disgusting I know I tried it ( we later found out that we had been given the wrong items confirmed by the district manager )The games she attempted to play only 3 of the 14 children were involved they were so bored by her that they all left the room.After the cake was served the hostess disappeared AGAIN we didn’t see her until she started to tidy up. We made her aware that we would be following up the complaint to the relevant person. We also refused the free entry passes for another time we wont be back to this establishment or anyone that is run under the same owner or franchise. A note to the staff that work there if you don't like children or people you probably shouldn’t work at a soft play area or any where that requires interaction with living humans.Finally when we left we were given and email address with a name of a person to raise our complaints to, but then were also told she is rarely in and probably wouldn't get back to us.After combing the facebook page I found many complaints of several parents more or less of the same nature.Customer service/ staff = SHOCKING AND UNPOEFESSIONAL, RUDEFood= for the price you pay is DISGUSTING BARELY EDIBLE WHEN IT ACTUALLY ARRIVESThere's a number of complains about parties as well.We have since had our complaints poorly addressed by the owner / area manager. Only because another parent left a similar post to this on trip advisor. I'm Not sure if he is the owner or area manager and I'm not sure that he is sure either, he said he was then wasn't but Basically apologising on behalf of his staff and how the complain was handled. All we asked for was the refund of the 2 extra children we paid for because we told they had free entry on the day but 3 different members of staff. He offered us nothing. Saying only that his hands were tied to the situation.At this point an apology is not nearly enough, parents should be made aware and allowed to make their own decisions.I've been to monster mania before and every time there has been some kind of issue, if its not the food being terrible and over priced its the cleanliness of toilets being disgusting and the play area being dirty or my favourite the kitchen staff walking out MIDDLE OF THEIR SHIFT.The facility it self is great its just a shame that its run by this kind of staff. Its employees and owners that ruin its own reputation.I work in customer service and I know for a fact that bad word of mouth spreads faster then good.

I visited Monster Mania with my 18 month old and a group of mums with their similar age children. While waiting on line to order a drink and snack my child climbed a steep and slippery staircase next to the drink area and just as I'd put down my purse to go and fetch her she fell and hit her head. The staff behind the counter were totally indifferent. They didn't ask how she was or offer an ice pack. We asked to see the manager and were told she'd come see us straight away. After waiting a good 15 minutes (the place was not busy) I had to go find her myself. The manager looked very young and I could see she had an attitude before she spoke to me. Basically the response I got was 'it's your fault' and 'what do you want me to do about it'. I pointed out that the 3 unrestricted staircases in the place were dangerous and with the best will in the world parents could blink and a child could be climbing them (especially if you're trying to watch more than one child) but I was treated like a nuisance. Then, while we were with our children in the toddler area we had to remove a giant plastic bag from 2 wee ones not part of our group ( I wonder if their parents would've been treated as if this was their fault too?). This bag had been used to hold some of the balls from the pit and had simply been left in the toddler area!! On top of this we found a lot of things in the sensory rooms not working and generally the whole experience was awful. Parents should have a reasonable expectation of safety when visiting places like this that cater specifically for children.

Booked a joint birthday party for 2 girls, from initial enquiry to day of party at check-in were never advised the "free birthday person(s)" as per website were in fact not free on the day but given a voucher to return on another day. The cost of a party per child is £10.75. It states on website "FREE Entry Pass For Birthday Child - £10.75 per Child on-peak / £8.75 off-peak*" (the * is to advise when off peak and peak is not advise re the return voucher) and for normal unlimited play "Peak: Weekends and School Holidays - £5.75: Over 3 During weekends and school holidays play time is restricted to two hours unless otherwise stated" even the off-peak eat & play is £6.30.........So please be AWARE that birthday child is NOT FREE as per website!! At no time was it pointed out about this and to be told that they could not put the food on for the party until the balance was paid I thought ok and went to pay the balance, at this point was told it was higher than I expected, in fact the cost of the 2 party girls, on questioning this it was explained re the voucher, I advised the female that we had made our initial enquiry over the phone from looking at the website had never seen any party slip, never received a party slip or terms and conditions in the pack that came with the invites for the party and the first we knew was when the balance was due at the counter or they would not cook the party food. 4 members of staff were spoken to from Monster Mania and none of them pointed out re the return voucher as to the FREE birthday child/children. We never received an email but were told we did and we don't appreciate being made to feel we are telling lies. We asked to speak to a manager to be told we couldn't and could only email. We asked for the managers name to be told we could not have and were only given under duress. When I mentioned about not being advised that the free child was not for the party day but for another return visit I was told that the staff had all been there for some time and would know this but because the issue had never arisen they probably wouldn't think to mention it I was dumbfounded, I advised there was serious training issues in this and was told by the supervisor she would speak to the staff concerned. Further to this the food supplied was very disappointing, pizza and chips and some crisps and diluted juice with ice cream in small tubs to finish. My daughter has been to other parties there and there was a selection of food. 1 party game was done for the children, then party bags were given out which are seriously sparse if not topped up, luckily we had brought more. This is the 3rd year of arranging parties for my daughter and this has been the most disappointing and certainly won't be repeating. On plus was the poor female who was our party host, I felt for her, she was stuck in the middle of a situation which to be fare she did her best. On returning home we tried to call to speak with Monica Thompson (manager) to be told she only comes in once in a while and not been in for 2 weeks! seems only way to communicate is by email also Facebook page says no comments/complaints to be on this page! We still have the notes we took with out questions and what we were told re the party and we were definitely advised that the birthday person(s) were FREE and not re the voucher to return and to be honest could have booked something else under these circumstances. Very very disappointed!!

Paid £16.00 entry for 3 kids, one under 3 (£4.50 bit steep for a toddler) but generally good value considering size of venue, play areas and sensory rooms. That's it as far as value goes. Inadequate parking for customer volume ensures constant annoying announcements to dodgy parkers : mixed in with the obligatory bad choice of music echoing all around, this is no place for those who lije a relaxing morning! £1.20 for small carton of fruit juice,0.90 for small choc bar, £1.90 for a cup of pepsi seems a bit greedy price wise. Terrible chips and wilting bacon roll disappointing. A myriad of pay to play extras ensure another £7 is spent to avoid tears, although the £1.00 charge for car driving (albeit short) was ok.Typically a majority of just-left-school age staff ensures little in the way of customer engagement. My request to have three loyalty cards with £176.00 spend combined to give me even one free visit was rigidly declined based on the three month valid rule. Fair enough, but not very customer friendly. Left with happy kids, feeling a bit negative towards the place. Again.

Plenty of space and climbing frames etc for kids to run around. Good cafe and coffee shop too. Prices reasonable.

Even before we paid to get into the soft play the staff member made us wait while he made an announcement about not eating your own food at monster mania. Fair enough, they have a cafe and I fully intended on buying my lunch. However, all I fancied was a plain ham sandwich which they can't do. The assistant said the closest thing was a £4.95 sandwich that they could put cheese and tomato on????? Went for a bag of crisps!! Then they have Starbucks coffee but not Starbucks service. Staff didn't have menu knowledge and service took forever!!! Felt like they were just using the Starbucks brand???? Feels very organised - in the cafe area and soft play. Haven't decided if we are going to visit again.

Spent £17 on entry, then another £17 on food for three children, but because they wanted pizza, which isn't on the kids menu, was refused free cups of diluted juice which come with kids meals. Was actually spending more than if ordering from kids menu, but they refused point blank. Spoke to a supervisor then a manager, who could not see the logic. Manager actually said if I give you the juice, everyone will want it. I pointed out that if everyone was spending £17 on food, instead of the £9 equivalent on three kids meals, that would be far better for business. No dice. And no juice.

Hi Elizabeth! Thank you for taking the time to leave us a 4 star review! We are glad you enjoyed your visit to Monster Mania and hope you can visit us again very soon. Thanks, Monster Mania

HI Jasboy,We are very sorry to learn you did not enjoy your recent experience at Monster Mania. We apologize for the room not being set up on your arrival for your granddaughter's Birthday party. We had another party using that room in the time slot before your granddaughter's party was due to begin which unfortunately over ran its time. This meant that your dedicated party host was short if time to have to room fully prepared for your visit which lead to 15 minute delay to your Granddaughter's party starting. get time to set up for next party. We apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused. Our toilets are checked hourly by our staff, if you should not find these to be of an acceptable standard please contact a member of our staff at the time who will be able to get them ship shape again or direct you to another toilet. We hope we can restore your faith in us during your next visit.Thanks,Monster Mania

Hi Gemma, Thank you for taking the time to leave us a review and aware us 4 stars. We are very sorry to hear of the wait you experienced for food in our cafe, I have passed your comments onto our management and kitchen teams and will be investigating what went wrong to cause the delay as it is not the service we pride ourselves on offering to customers. We are glad you enjoyed our play facilities and hope you can return to enjoy them more fully ion another occasion.Many Thanks,Monster Mania

Hi Keith! Thank for leaving us such great feedback. We are so pleased you all had a great time with us when playing and in the cafe! We are also glad to know you enjoyed playing too!!We look forward to welcoming you all back to Monster Mania very soon!

Hi Masterchef,Thanks for taking the time to leave us a review. We would like to apologize for the delay in food service you experienced during your visit with us. Tuesday was a very busy day for us due to the school holidays and poor weather conditions, and unfortunately some unavoidable delays occurred. Due to our location we have limited parking facilities available and we do advise all our customers to plan ahead, come early if possible or seek alternative parking where possible. We are glad to hear you enjoyed your pizza, all our dough is made fresh daily and baked to perfection in our oven. We are also delighted to hear your kids enjoyed playing on our facilities, and we hope we have the opportunity to welcome you back soon to give you a much speedier experience in the cafe. Thank you, Monster Mania