As with all things in life, there are some great escape room businesses and there are some that are not so great. Before you book, you have no real idea, apart from their social media reviews, how the business runs it’s escape room games. If you’re booking as a group, then it’s still a fair amount of cash to pay towards something less than satisfying. But some signs help you see what businesses to avoid before you part with your cash. The bottom line is that you should spend your money where it’s going to be appreciated.
Probably all escape room businesses will have a nifty looking website. More often than not, there will be a booking page where you can enter your details along with the date you’re interested in. Nearly all escape room games need you to pay the whole amount upfront. That can amount to a sizable chunk of pasta. To be certain with regards to dates and any other questions, you should scroll down the page to find a telephone number. If there isn’t one, then just turn the page and look for another escape room. Today, it’s unacceptable that you can’t make direct contact with the business. If you’re constantly put on hold, or the phone rings and no one picks it up, then take your business elsewhere.
The number of staff counts with a business-like escape room games. And though it’s a great sign to see a business fully booked up, it means nothing if you have a less than stellar time because your game had no game master present at all times. Another factor about staffing levels in a busy escape room business is one of personal safety. If there was a fire you want to feel confident that there’s someone there to help you to safety. Many businesses only have staff available to answer the phone or take personal visits, when there’s a booking. That’s not good enough. As a service industry, they should be offering face to face contact to speak about your booking or take a look at the rooms, as a given.
If you notice that the company's website is not up to date, then that’s a big red flag. After all, this is their public “face” and to be missing up to date information means that they don’t take their business as seriously as they should. But what it shows, is a way of thinking where the customer is second. Escape room games can get pretty technical, so having a website that explains everything in detail is a must. There should be contact details with both an actual physical address, along with email and telephone numbers. Just looking through a company’s website will give you a good feel of where their priorities lie.
As you probably already know, reviews can be bought. Whether from Yelp, FaceBook or any other social media platform, there’s a huge hidden business supplying fake reviews for the dollar. Take your time to read through a few of them. Because many of these fake reviews come from third world countries, the language can be pretty weird. They tend to be very short and generic. Many times they just consist of several emojis. What you’re looking for are reviews that go into some depth. They will mention actual gameplay events. They will often cite clues and puzzles and explain where they got stuck. They will often be full of praise for the game master and will call him or her by name. We are not pointing a finger at any escape room business and saying that they are buying fake views. But such methods exist, and it’s only fair that we point them out to you.
As we previously said, there are all types of escape room businesses, and all being run in different ways. You want to find an owner who's bursting with enthusiasm. This will be contagious and so passed on to their employees. You’re paying to have a great time and a new experience. So find a business that will help you achieve this goal. That’s why it pays to take a look under the hood of any escape room business to see that all is well.