17 reviews about The Jitterbugs

verified email - 09 Mar 2012

Great soft play area with little room for injury. Can watch the kids from any angle. Would be great however if there could be a better design for the tables and chairs as I have a newborn and it's always a challenge getting in and out.

Approximate cost: $10

verified email - 06 Mar 2012

Great little indoor playland for kids under 3.5 years of age. My son loves it and always asks to go. Staff are great and friendly and I always get a great coffee made by the owner. Parents can enjoy there coffee and at the same time watch the kids play.

Approximate cost: $10

05 Mar 2012

I find the staff @ the jitterbugs play land very friendly and actually care about their customers. These days it dosnt happen with many small buisinesses.
With my experiences here I always walk out with a smile no matter what mood I am in before I come. My children are happy when they leave and I have no worries with sitting out at their small but sufficient cafe while my children have the time of their life. I can see my children and they can see me.
I find their play land one of the cleanest around and I know for sure how clean it is as I have whitnessed them doing so on many occasions.
I've have read a couple of these reviews and am disappointed to see people put this small friendly clean cafe and play land down. I have become a regular customer to this play land as I think it is the cleanest and most friendliest okay land I have yet come across and I salute the owner and her staff for all of their hard work. I hope I am not the only one!

Approximate cost: $17 for two children ALL day

lynw10 14 Apr 2012

This review was written in response to this one ( which they complained about and had removed )---

I have gone to Jitterbugs numerous times but have vowed never to go again. Apart from the germ infested equipment that never gets cleaned ( and this was confirmed by 2 employees I spoke to ), the equipment is old, worn and just looks plain dirty. There are random toys scattered on the ground that are broken, without batteries or just not functional.

Each time we have gone, my kids have ended up sick. We have met friends there whose kids all got sick too. As you can imagine, we don't meet there anymore.

The owner and the full time staff are as rude as they come. I am truely amazed they are still in business.

I will not give them a cent of my money, nor would I organise my playgroup to go there, or even recommend the place to someone who asked. I would actually strongly suggest you avoid the place!!!

This is a review as honest as they come.

verified email - 06 Dec 2011

We organised a 5th birthday party for my son at the Jitterbugs Castle Hill venue for 11:00am on Sunday 4 December 2011. When we reached the venue we found that nothing had been set up including no sitting arrangements for the parents . When we questioned the staff about this, they said that they are shortstaffed (something that was not revealed to us beforehand).

As per our arrangement Jitterbugs were supposed to prepare their set menu of chicken breast nuggets,fruit platter, hot chips and unlimited supply of fruit juice cordial (Menu 2) for kids and another for the parents as well as wedges. However when we reached the venue there was only cheese and crackers on the table. Upon questioning the staff, they set off to prepared the platters but came out with only one fruit platter for the kids. We had to go back and show them what we had booked and it was only then that they set off to make the second platter for the parents. At this point most of the kids and parents had arrived at the venue (around 11:00am) as per our invitation.

At about 11:20 a.m a staff member came and asked whether they should start preparing the chicken nuggets and wedges. To this we questioned whether this was not already done and were told no.

So for a party booked for 11:00 a.m the food arrived at approximately 12:00 noon already one hour late, after we had to go and ask for these dished at least three times. Also they were two plates short so we had to chase after this as well.

The kids were getting restless and hungry by this time. However, we as well as the other parents there were surprised to see that for $21.95 per child (excluding the cake and lolly bags) that we were being charged for the function the Jitterbugs only served one nugget with some chips for a 5 year olds meal. When we went to question the menu with a staff member we were told that they will give us some more nuggets on the house although we could see that they had prepared another batch of chicken nuggets that they had placed behind the counter and were helping themshelves to it.

As for the catering we had to go and ask for cordial that should come with the meal as well as serviettes.

The Jitterbugs website clearly states that the birthday parties (min 8 kids-we had 11 at this party) there is supposed to be a host either a lady bug or bumble bee for boys who are supposed to provide full party table sevice including organised games but unfortunately neither of these services were extended to us although we were charged for this service. Neither was there a host present for the party nor were any games or entertainment provided for the kids.

There were two staff present on the day out of which only one was dressed as a lady bird while the other was in normal casual clothes. Instead of hosting the party as they are supposed to these staff were busy serving other customers in the ajoining cafe. When questioned about these services that we had paid for, a staff member very rudely told us that they were short staffed and to call her boss. Upon calling the boss to ask her about this inconsistencies we were rudely told that she was busy with another christmas party offsite and did not have time to talk to us.

I feel really sorry for my 5 year old son as nobody from the Jitterbugs even bothered to come out and sing the happy birthday song for him. However, to put icing on the cake, when we went to pay, we were charged for one and half hours instead of one hour service that we had booked even though the Jitterbugs had taken one hour to get the food ready. When we pointed this out to the staff we were told that they have been instructed to do so by their boss.

This whole thing has left us very embarrased infront of all the parents and also guilty that were were not able to provide our son with the birthday that we promised him. He has been looking forward to this for months.

The parents of 11 other kids that witnessed all this and were as equally horrified by all this as us. We got comments that they were never hosting their birthday parties at Jitterbugs.

I called the manager/owner (boss) the next day to complain but she instead tried to shift all the problems on being shortstaffed which just shows that they are unprepared to host our event.

So even if you book the party and pay the money there is no guarenttee that you will get the service that you paid for. On that fact that there was no host for the party or entertainment provided as per the website the (boss) said that there should have been somebody looking after the party and was supposed to talk to the staff and get back to me but I am still waiting.

Having been to several kids parties over the years this was by far the worst experience that I have ever had.

We have written a formal letter of complaint to the Jitterbugs management as well but as usual have not recieved any response.

Approximate cost: $300

View all 4 comments
lynw10 28 Feb 2012

You won't get any communication from the owner, but be glad - she's the rudest out of all the staff! Just do what I do and tell everyone not to go there.

The Jitterbugs 12 Mar 2012

Our parties are the best ever. I have been running children's parties for over 15years now and never come across a complaint like this.
First of all we always provide the best service ever possible and I did explain to this customer that we do not bring the party food out at the beginning of our parties as their guests are still arriving and the children want to play first. They are too busy to eat. Secondly all of their guests were late which was beneficial for the staff on that particular day as it was raining and we unfortunately were short staffed as I did apologise to James regarding this but he persisted in complaining. I unfortunately was not there this particular day as we had Christmas Shows and I was managing the performance that day. A bumble bee was not requested for this party as we supply ladybugs and would gladly supply a bumble bee if the request was made. With regards to the food the food was served on time and not at the beginning of the time that the party commenced as this is not the way that we run our business.
We like to serve it fresh and not let it sitting there whilst the children are entering for the first quarter of the party and then as mentioned all that they do want to do is play. I did explain all of this over the phone to James. In regards to our parties we provide the biggest fruit and vegetable platters with cheese and bickies, we also provide nuggets and chips. If the parents request more more nuggets we always provide more for the children. The girls say that they handled that particular day quite well considering the venue was packed and we were short staffed due to the rain..most people would be quite understanding.

jamesp22 13 Mar 2012

Unfortunately it has taken 4 months for the owner to respond tio my letter of compliant and on this forum. In my experience the staff were quite rude and venue was not ready as well. If you think that the staff behaviour was appropriate than I am sad to say that they need retraining in customer service.

Forget the bumble bee, we did not even get a lady bug. Also out of all the entertainment promised on the flyers we did not get any. Not affording us the service that we paid because the venue was short staffed, it was raining outside the mall or there was a prior engagement with a christmas show is something that I cant accept. It just shows that the venue is not able to cope with any thing out of the norm. Not a sign of professionalism.

I have 12 sets of parents who can testify to what happened on the day. Comparing my sions party to others I have been to in lollipop and so I am afraid the Jitterbugs has a lot of catching up to do.

verified email - 24 Nov 2011

My 18mth old loves this place!! Everything is soft so if your young one falls there is less likely to be tears. Its a fantastic place for parents and carers to have a coffee or a bite to eat whilst being able to watch thier children at play. The staff there are super friendly and there is everything here to keep your child busy from a ball pit to a jumping castle.. something for all ages. Ive reccomended Jitterbugs to friends and they think its a wonderful place too. I would highly reccomend bringing your young one here.

Anonymous
19 May 2011

The Jitterbugs play land and cafe is a gorgeous place to take the kids. I've been taking my toddler and 3 year old regularly (before or after shopping in the center!) for a few months and they just love the place! I would like to just mention the cafe part of the play land and say that it doesn't compare to other play centers in Sydney - the food is always fresh, well presented & delicious ( the kids get nuggets and chips and I normally get a chicken and salad wrap! ).. not to mention the Lavazza coffee, served to you by their cute lady bug waitresses! Also, the play land itself is always well kept, clean and not too chaotic for the younger kids which is a big plus.

- a real great, affordable treat for the kids, while I sit back and relax, I really recommend a visit to the Jitterbugs play land.

Approximate cost: $8

suep19 25 May 2012

Had my review removed, which happened to someone else in my mothers group too, but this is my review ...........
Have been a few times. The equipment is dirty and of poor quality. The staff are 'too busy' for customer service. The manager is very rude. The place smells like dirty nappies for hours after a toddler has soiled themself.

verified email - 05 Apr 2011

Its a great place to let the little kids and babies have a play without getting trampled by big kids. Everything is padded and the parents can have a coffee while the kids play or play with them. The food is okay and the coffee is great. Its really safe for the younger ones.

Approximate cost: $30.00approx

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