DISORGANIZED CHAOS FOR CHILD'S PARTY. STAY AWAY!!!…read more
We were 1 of 3 groups who had an event at Association Montreal Beach on the same day, and, like the other 2 (one of the groups we know well), an event that was supposed to be a relaxing time to celebrate a special occasion was instead a chaotic mess.
I waited to write this review until we spoke to someone today, the day after the "event", but after getting a response that was full of excuses and defensiveness but void of any semblance of responsibility, compassion, and understanding, I'm not holding off any longer.
The Yelp community needs to know about this experience.
We arrived to find a SINGLE staff member on site, the bartender, busy pouring beer for the crowd enjoying the nice weather on the deck of the adjoining pub (and counting his tips from those sales), he wasn't even the slightest bit interested in managing the parties that had booked space in the facility. It's not his fault he was the only one there, but it is his fault that he paid us NO attention.
One person is not enough to take care of the pub customers AND 3 events involving over 100 people, especially when that person either has no idea what the plan is or, dare I say, there was no plan to begin with.
Our party would never have happened if I did not step up to insist that the staff member do SOMETHING or for the cooperation of one of the other rental groups in moving to make space for us to set ourselves up; no thanks to the staff member on site. Obviously, the space that we had to virtually beg for was not cleaned or tidied up for our arrival, because, well, the other group vacated just for us. An animator that was supposed to be present was not there, despite being paid for in advance, and we spent so long arranging the logistics, time which took away from our enjoyment of our own event - the only reason we booked a facility in the first place.
Aside from the "party room" area, the fees we paid were specifically for sole use of one "court" but when we got there, there were none available. 2 were being used for beach volleyball games, 1 was being used by the other birthday party, and 1 was being used by the VERY large group of people who generously made space to accommodate us in the party room. But their kids were much bigger (and wilder) than the kids in our group, and we wanted a space that was just for us - A SPACE THAT WE PAID FOR!!!
After a while of being ignored, I bothered the guy at the bar enough to make him understand that he needed to act. After supplied proof that there was no dedicated court for us, he said the volleyball players shouldn't be there". And stopped. So??? Are you going to do something?
He told me to tell them to get off the court.
Me????
No. That's not my job. Not my responsibility.
What???? In what universe is it okay to ask a rental group who PAID to go and do the work of a facility employee???
None. Never.
I will spare Yelpers the minute details of this experience (this review is long enough, no?), but suffice it to say that Association Montreal Beach had no problems organizing themselves to collect our payment but when it came time to providing the service, they were nowhere to be found. Today, the OWNER (what????) told us that if we weren't happy with how things started, we should have just left. What??? Leave with 12 children, their parents, our family members, who just drove through traffic to get to a party? Ridiculous! Just making that suggestion reeks of complete carelessness for the problems that she caused.
Zero acknowlegment of how they completely dropped the ball on our event. None whatsoever.
Apparently, one of the staff who were hired and didn't show up "broke her hip"... Where's the manager? The owner? Any other staff? The animator that was paid for?? It's hilarious to think that the OWNER believes that that would have solved all of the problems. Not even close.
Over the 2 hours of the event, NO OTHER STAFF SHOWED UP TO SUPPORT. No one cared enough to come make it right, or even make an appearance.
And to top it all off, we found a screw in the sand when one of our guests stepped on it . DANGEROUS! Photo attached.
All this to say that we STRONGLY discourage any group from planning a party or event in this facility. Association Montreal Beach only cares about your payment. After that, you're invisible.
Review edited after learning that the person we spoke to on the phone the day after the chaos, who showed the complete lack of care, compassion, responsibility today was in fact the owner of the facility. There you have it, folks. Right from the top - they'll take your money and then wash their hands of your event. Pathetic.
STAY AWAY. FAR, FAR, AWAY.