Pros
- VERY flexible hours. I was never denied requested time off. Gameroom usually has a good size staff, so it's impossible to be denied time off because there's always someone(s) to take the shifts or days. -Employee discount is standard in fast food. 50% is a pretty good deal, however pending on what location you're at or who works kitchen(good kitchen employees make the best food) can make you decide whether or not the discount is really worth the food. Personally I never enjoyed the food, but for some people who are leaving a shift it's a pretty nice deal. - In Gameroom you're expected to know how to fix games. I was taught how to fix games to the best of my ability from the technician himself as well the assistant tech. I learned a lot and I enjoyed this aspect of the job. There's cons to it(which I will explain) but it's satisfying when you manage to fix a game that's giving a guest trouble. -Interacting with certain guests and children can be fun. Some guests were especially nice and kind, and it's interactions like that that can make the job less grueling. -Pending on the people you work with, it can either make the job or break it. A friendly, fun, and HELPFUL staff can make the job bearable. Given the tasks gameroom gets and must accomplish every shift, a great staff can make the working environment interesting and less stressful.
Cons
-Poor management. Managers who have poor communication amongst themselves cannot communicate properly with their staff. This is extremely important, especially on weekends where business really picks up where there's well over a dozen parties scheduled. Managers are basically the team leaders and make sure everything is running smoothly, if they cannot even conduct themselves how do you expect the staff to work? Thankfully the staff we had communicated and pulled together as a team. The managers would do nothing. -The list of things a Gameroom attendant has to do for their shift is a bit monotonous and stressful especially for the closing shift. The busiest part of the day is the afternoon/evening, the closing list consists of tasks such as cleaning the games, dusting the games, filling the games with tickets, vacuuming under them, making sure they are functioning, etc. But before that you must complete a "coin drop" which is testing out all the games and making sure they work. This can easily take 45 minutes, but they expect a well detailed coin drop which they say should take "1-2 hours" - This is a crazy expectation considering to properly close your closing list should be started IMMEDIATELY after the coin drop, because managers don't wanna stay past closing and the list is so ridiculously long it takes 3-4 hours. That's just....stupid. And NO ONE helps you. I know I mentioned teamwork, but that's only for weekends. People are very focused on THEIR work so THEY can leave. Which means bailing on you. And managers don't pitch in either. -On weekends, the stress level is at a max. Scheduling 2 or 3 gameroom people is a must. But often, management will think otherwise. This can put a ton of pressure on someone, even on new people. On weekends birthday parties are chaotic, and birthday hostesses will constantly be asking for Gameroom to help. On top of keeping the gameroom clean and orderly(which does include delivering food, cleaning off tables, etc) you are also giving the responsibility of helping incompetent birthday hostesses. There's normally 3 of them, and they should rely on themselves or ask for a manager. Not us. What bothers me is you are lectured for the following: Ignoring your area and not staying on task, or why didn't you help them? It's a lose/lose scenario. - "Waking up Chuck E." - this is when YOU get in the suit for 10-15 minutes for the road show.. YOU. No one else, YOU. This is is by far one of the most humiliating parts of the gameroom job. I say this because Gameroom shouldn't need to, when 2 cashiers are not busy doing anything on a weekday night when only 2 families are there, THEY should do it. It puts the attendant behind schedule and managers don't care. So much can happen when you're in the suit, games can stop working, games can not feed out tickets, etc. On the weekend it's crucial GR is on the floor not in the suit. But management says otherwise. - The lack of growth or opportunity is a huge let down. Managers have no problem stringing you along telling you you're a great worker and you'll get a raise or "team 2" - but they're just saying it so you'll stay. For over several months I never got my promotion or raise. I asked and talked about it, and I received no replies and was ignored. -Lastly, EVERYTHING YOU'RE EXPECTED TO DO. Fill tickets, clean games, dust games, clean tables, clean under tables, empty ticket munchers, fill napkin holders, vacuum entire gameroom, vacuum under every game every night, clean showroom(floors, tables, napkins, everything) - clean windows, fix any games that might have issues, communicate with the tech any problems you have, coin drop, and more. You can't leave if none of this is done. Chuck E. Cheese closes at 9, but expect to stay until 10:45 or 11. Sometimes even 12