I feel it necessary that I should first comment; I am 29 years old and have a Masters degree from an accredited University. Given the nature of the sport I choose to play, one might assume otherwise. These are not the rantings of an upset teenager.
First, I will address the deceptive coupon. My friends and I received a coupon to Wiseguys Paintball stating free admission and rental equipment with a group of 10, so long as we buy their paintballs. It also stipulates that we will receive 100 free paintballs, and are to use field "air" only (field air is refill of Co2 tanks which is what powers a paintball marker, an average Co2 refill at any other field is $5.00). Considering field admission alone is normally $20.00, that was a great deal.
We arrive in 2 separate groups and the first group is charged the full $20.00 admission fee, and surprisingly, they do not receive their 100 free paintballs. When myself and 3 others arrive we inform them about the coupon and asked to get admitted for free. We were then informed that it would be $10 each. When we challenged that request, we were told that was the unlimited "air" refill fee, whether or not we even needed any Co2, we still had to pay for the possibility that we would need a refill.
At this point we were upset because we had driven about 1 hour to get here and did not want to miss out on fun with our friends, so we grudgingly pay the $10 each. Also, not surprisingly, we did not get our 100 free paintballs. But in accordance with the coupon we used the last bit of the money we brought to get a meager 500 paintballs. We would have gotten more but we gave them all the money we had brought for this outing.
Now, the unprofessionalism.in paintball, the objective is simple. Shoot an opponent, and once hit, they yell, "hit", and walk off the field. One shot will do, but sometimes in a moment of adrenaline one does get hit more than once. Referees are stationed on the field to make sure no one cheats or gets too aggressive. This particular paintball park had referees that looked between 15 and 17 years old, so right there we should have been wary.
The first game starts and the opposing team proceeds to shoot several members of our team 5 or more times each at extremely close range, which caused bruising and even bleeding in one case. But, they wanted "to make sure they got us". All the while the refs stand by and at one point even chuckle. Several of us immediately ask the refs to speak to the other team. One hit is all it takes to eliminate a player, anything over 3 seems overly aggressive to us and we were told "Oh, that's just how those guys are". That is not a sufficient answer when blood is drawn during a paintball game.
At this point we took a break and refused to play against that team until they left. During our break the owner of the park caught a 2-foot long snake and proceeded to throw it at his employees, presumably for fun. At one point during their "game" of toss the snake, it gets tossed within 3 feet of our group. Even if it was a "harmless" garden snake, that is highly inappropriate for any business, even an extreme sport facility.
Now, normally our team will play 6-10 games in one day. After a mere 4 we decided to quit and leave this place, which has brought nothing but disappointment and frustration. I remembered paying for unlimited Co2 refills and decided I may as well get some use of the money I shouldn't have even paid. Alas, the owner himself told me, since we were packing up and leaving that we were no longer entitled to a refill as we had "finished playing".
Seeing as this was consistent behavior with the rest of the experience, I made a disappointed face and began to walk away. This is when he delivered the final insult. I paraphrase: "I don't know if we made it abundantly clear, but you were supposed to buy field paint. You know when you don't buy my paint I don't make any money." I defended myself by explaining we did buy 500 of his paintballs, but ran out of money. "Yeah, but 500 rounds split among 4 people? For that, you can keep your 2 bucks." I assume the 2 dollars he referenced was his profit.
I decided to be the better man and just walk away, though I almost asked for the 2 dollars. I guess I was partially in shock and partially enraged, but that was really the last thing to make sure I/we never attend his park again. I hope you like the sport of paintball as much as me, and I hope this tale will steer you clear of this obvious rip-off.
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