Complaints

The complaint text that is displayed might not represent all complaints filed with BBB. Some consumers may elect to not publish the details of their complaints, some complaints may not meet BBB's standards for publication, or BBB may display a portion of complaints when a high volume is received for a particular business.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:02/13/2025

  Type:Order Issues
  Status:

  UnansweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  My name is ******* ****.I need to file a complaint on a local Kids Empire in Bakersfield CA. The supervisors/staff ********** biological child works at the Bakersfield location. Her adoptive mother who is mentally abusive towards her forced her to lie to her supervisors to illegally obtain company documents that were later used to harass me and my entire family in court proceedings. Along with court proceedings I have been BANNED/BLACKLISTED from ALL Kids Empire locations.The staff at the Bakersfield Ca location used internal documents (i.e. signed release waiver) from my PAID visit on Nov 8 2023. The parent and her minor children that were my guests that day are now in fear of what will happen to them as a result of the breach of the personal info for them. I DID NOT NOR did ANY other adult give permission upon signing the waivers give permission for our PERSONAL info to be released to outside parties. That info was CONFIDENTIAL and should have been kept within the company.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:10/24/2023

  Type:Product Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  My husband took my son to Kids empire on 10/22/23. He went to pay the $15 to get in but they no longer accept cash, you now have to use a kiosk to get a card. My husband put $16 but the machine has a $20 minimum so he added $5. He went to pay but the card was being declined. They had failed to mention they raised their prices to $20. They also failed to mention that the machine will take $4 off right away. So now he has a non refundable/ non reloadable card. He tried to pay the extra $3 to get in with cash but they would not accept it. They would not let my son enter to play and would not refund the money. They told him there was nothing they could do. They were not understanding nor polite. They were not helpful in anyway. My son left crying and confused. My husband left upset. He also left the card there and when I called they told me they threw it away. Well today 10/24/23 that card they said they threw away was charged $1 for something at kids empire. It couldn't have been anyone other than someone who works there. I called and talked to a guy who said he was the manager and he told me he wasn't at liberty to say when I asked who fraudulently used my card for a $1 purchase. Also the last time I went there before this happened one of the employees gave my son and nephew each a soda without my permission. My sister and I do not allowed our kids (5yrs and 7yrs old) to have soda.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:07/26/2022

  Type:Service or Repair Issues
  Status:

  UnansweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  I attempted to make an on-line reservation for my child's birthday party at Kids Empire. When I did not receive an email confirmation, I called and then emailed their support line asking for confirmation of the reservation. No one responded to my email and calls. I eventually made contact with someone by phone at the Kids Empire phone number for the Bakersfield, CA location. When I explained that I wanted to confirm my reservation, they informed me that they do not honor on-line reservations, even though there is a website that offers on-line reservations for that location. That employee explained that she did not have any record of my reservation and that I would have to come in person to make the reservation. I did not have time to come in person and, given that she told me I did not have a reservation otherwise, I made other arrangements (including booking with a different company that charged a non-refundable deposit). A couple days before the day that I originally tried to reserve on-line, the manager *** V. called me to finalize my party plan. I explained to her that I had already been told that I did not have a reservation and, consequently, had booked elsewhere. She said that the employee I had spoken to gave me the wrong information and that I did have a reservation, also confirming that they had charged a $150 deposit. She referred me to email the original support email that I had contacted to confirm the reservation in the first place. I have emailed them several more times and not gotten a response about paying back the deposit. When I called *** back, she said they do not give refunds at the location, that the only way to get a refund is by contacting the support email. When I informed her that I had emailed them numerous times without response and asked for another contact information, she reiterated that the only contact information she had was the support email.