"Cops break up 8 year old's birthday party" Topic

I'm not even sure where to go with this rant as I never thought it would be necessary for cops to be called to an 8 year old's birthday but it happened at my daughter's party today.

Long story short, we had my daughter's birthday party today at an ice rink at a local mall and the cops were called to break up the party. If you want to know more read on… For those DFW people I won't name the mall but it's an upscale mall that's not named Northpark – it's name rhymes with Galloreha.

My wife first checked with the ice rink weeks ago to see where we could host 30+ kids plus their parents for a party. They only had room for 12 kids but said that parties usually use the tables in the common mall area around the rink for parties but it's on a first come first served basis. We got there in plenty of time and staked out enough tables with 30 seats. There were also about 40 other seats available for other customers in the area.

So while I'm going to the in-mall Sbarro's to get pizza for the kids for lunch the marketing director (who presented herself as the manager of the mall) told my wife that we couldn't have all those seats and that we would have remove our stuff in 5 minutes or else she would have housekeeping throw away our birthday cake.

Now my wife is a judge and an expert negotiator so she saw this as an empty threat. We were patrons of the mall like everyone else and were not trespassing. The marketing director soon called in Paul Blart who then called in three nice gentlement in very nice suits to deal with us. These three guys actually felt sorry for us and were trying to negotiate an agreement suitable to us and the marketing director. We thought we had an agreement to only take 2 tables but soon the marketing director took the event from Defcon 5 to Defcon 1 for no apparent reason other than the fact that we were occupying these tables.

Apparently she was offended by the fact that the kids actually wanted to eat the pizza we bought from a mall establishment but also because we wanted to server birthday cake, ice cream and juice. The deal to have only two tables was nixed and she said we had to leave. She called the cops to kick us out! At first I didn't believe it but when a corporal from the Dallas thin blue line arrived I knew she was serious(ly deranged).

The ice rink manager felt very sorry for my daughter who was bawling her eyes out at this time saying, "this is my worst birthday ever". She allowed all of us to cram into their tiny lobby area for cake and ice cream.

I have to love my wife as she knows how to stick it to people. She went up to the marketing director during this whole ordeal and was trying to negotiate with her. She asked for forgiveness, she played hard ball, she pointed out contradictions in the marketing director's explanation of why the F! she was doing this. At one point she brought my daughter to meet the director and my daughter is crying her eyes out because her party isn't going well. My wife says to the marketing director, "Hi, this is my daughter. It's her birthday today." To which the director wishes my daughter a happy birthday (B!TCH). My wife then asks of the director, "Do you have any children?" Which the director says, "Yes". Classic line, my wife then says, "Funny, I wouldn't have guessed that by the way you've handled this 8 year old's birthday".

I will say, Paul Blart was very ineffective, the three nice gentlemen in suits (major mall security) were very sympathetic and tried to negotiate an amicable solution despite the stubborness of the marketing director, and the marketing director doesn't know how to do her job. So the marketing director couldn't see the fact that we personally spent hundreds of dollars in her mall, brought in parents who dropped off their kids for the party then went shopping the in same said mall, and she wants to get us arrested because we brought in cake and juice from somewhere else?

Wow. Man I feel for your daughter, wife, you and all the kids and parents. I hope the Marketing Director will be looking for a new job soon!!!

One of my favorite phrases comes to mind here… "Revenge is a dish best served cold…"

Find out who the owners are. there has to be a corporate board of directors somewhere who would love to hear that 30+ patrons of there mall were nearly arrested for tresspassing by one of there head employees.

I am sure with copies of the receipts of everything that this group spent on that afternoon in the mall, plus any corroborating evidence from the skating rink manager would be enough to get her sumarily canned by christmas.

and the right wording about the daughters ruined day, public humiliation, ect, ect. would probably get you some kind of a compensation without having the drop the "Lawyer" word. Which combined with todays pour retail sales in the national malls they don't want anything upsetting there retailers into thinking that there mall is driving away there customers.

As far as this lady is concerned one of the country comedians said it best… "here's your sign!"

What are the tables for if not for eating food from a mall shop? Seems to me you were all mall customers, and therefore had a right to use the mall tables.

Playing devil's advocate for a moment, could an issue have been the potential clean-up required after such a large birthday party with the extra ice cream, cake and juice you brought in? I know kids often leave huge messes, spillages etc …

One other devil's advocate thought – "sticking it to people" usually only makes them bloody-minded and more determined not to back down or even compromise.

One thing to comfort you: while your daughter is upset now, no doubt she'll be able dine out on this in years to come .. how many people can say their 8th birthday party was broken up by the police?!

My daughter had tears on her 8th birthday too, but it was only because it was just all too over-whelming for her, and the tiredness and high expectations made her exceptionally brittle on the day. She laughs about it now!

Anyway, happy birthday to your daughter.

You know, I did notice a few "going out of business" signs from a few of the mall's retailers along with a number of boarded up store fronts. You'd think the mall manager's would be a bit more appreciative of customers on a slow day. I know the Sbarro manager nearly bent over backwards to make sure my order of 4 large pizzas was done in a timely manner. He seemed to appreciate the business.

Arteis,
Thanks for the birthday wishes for my daughter. It's almost 11:00 here and she's up with two of her best friends for a slumber party. They have an agenda not to go to sleep until 3:00, then wake up at 6:00 and nap at 8:00. Gosh I hope I can make it through the night.

I really think the more my wife talked logic to the marketing director the more she couldn't back down. The three very nice security men (who appeard to be much senior in position to Paul Blart) tried to broker a deal but the more they tried the more the marketing director pushed back. I think she didn't want to lose face in front of the people she deals with every day. Oh well, there are now a bunch of families that will take their business elsewhere.

We're already laughing about it now. "Remember your 8th birthday when mommy and daddy almost got arrested?" Sure beats that time two years ago on her birthday when she was in the ICU with fluid on her brain. I'd take time in the pokey over that time in the hospital.

I don't suppose any of this was caught on video, and could be appearing on YouTube soon?

I don't laugh about things like that. I'm to busy measuring how far my foot is going to fit up someones…

Stupid people like that deserve, No NEED to be fired…

I wish. A couple of parents were more shocked than we were about the whole ordeal. We do have a friend who is a news producer for a local tv station and one parent said they called her as the police were arriving to get the consumer affairs reporter involved in this.

No way man, that's absolutely ridiculous.

BTW, what's your deal with Blart. Unless he did or said something you didn't mention, he did what any sane man should do walking into that situation--call your seniors and shut up.

Sorry to hear about this Tom. This person sounds major stupid. At the very least file a complaint with the management of the mall so this will be recorded. What a bleep!
On a brighter note, please extend my birthday greetings to your daughter. Looking forward to seeing you at MilCon 12.

Lance, thanks for the birthday wishes. My daughter is still awake so I'll let her know that there are a bunch of people who think her party was interrupted by a doo-doo head.

I'll be there at MilCon if I can get back from Canada in time.

ADub74,

You're right, I shouldn't be so hard on Blart. Actually he did do a good job. I never talked to him, never found out his name but did talk to his superiors who were all very professional. I made sure I told them so. He realized the issue was much above him. They were very accomadating and tried to find a solution to the problem.

Now I'm puzzled. You said Paul Blart came over, but now you say you never found out his name?

Google is your friend … now I see who Paul Blart is – a nickname for a shopping mall security officer.

Sounds like the shops in the mall need to be told how many customers they've probably lost and why.

Belated Happy Birthday to your daughter.

Sounds like a case of "give them a peaked cap and they think they're Hitler" syndrome.

Well, they were within their rights to throw you out.

That said, what a bunch of imbeciles.
-Kle.

IMO this incident should be brought to the attention of the Dallas Observer & the Dallas Morning News (+ the North Dalls/Addison-area local paper if there is one). The mall management should have to deal with the adverse publicity that a factual account about this incident will generate.

In my experience, you venture into toxic Yuppie-Zombie territory when going north across the Trinity River.

"Well, they were within their rights to throw you out."

No, I'll bet they weren't. And the security people knew it. Unless the patrons of a mall are being disruptive to other patrons or businesses, or engaging in criminal activity, I suspect the legal side favors the patrons. A mall is established as a business open to the public, and cannot simply "throw out" members of the public without appropriate cause— else a mall could discriminate against patrons based on race, etc.. So there are limits to what a mall can claim as legitimate reasons to exclude patrons. I don't see a legitimate reason existing in this case, and I suspect the security people didn't either. They knew the marketing twit was skating on thin ice (pardon the pun), even if she didn't.

The one caveat I see is the number of kids compared to the amount of adult supervision. 30 kids in an open space, supervised by 2 adults… y'all were very brave to take that on. But that's about the size of classroom field trip where I come from, so it's not outside the realm of reason.

Wow, Grenadier, I'm stunned at the experience you had. I concur with others that the true head manager of the mall (or the real estate company that owns it) needs to hear from you about your day. Best wishes to your daughter, and good luck!

I never go the galleria (for a lot of reasons) but it never was a good mall, next time go to the ice rink in plano. Sorry about the b-day, I am still recovering from the last weekend day at chuckie cheese.

Is this the contact page for said mall?
link
I can't find the marketing directers email address though.

Actually there were about 8 other parents there to help supervise the kids.

Talk about a crock. Yeah..definitely drop that onto a board of director's desk and send a letter to the local paper "thanking the mall manager" for her lack of understanding and courtesy. Maybe she'll think a bit before shooting her authority off after justly deserving of some bad publicity. I know it's not nice and will probably blow all my karma points, but she was WAY outta line with her reaction.

Actually there were about 8 other parents there to help supervise the kids.

Then I'm even more with you. I can't fathom what problem the mall person had with your presence. Next time, arm the kids with silly string guns, and give her a real reason to complain.

Keep us updated! I'd love to hear if anything transpires in regards to the marketing manager! :)

I'd make sure any corespondence is on you wife's Letterhead. I'd like to quote Riddick from Pitch Black…

Sounds like the local TV would LOVE to hear about this.

Like I said, my wife is the negotiator in the family. She figured the marketing director went directly to her superiors and told them her version of what happened. She thought that if we called right away on Friday after the event then the director's managers would be more willing to back their director. If we wait a few days then other issues would be on their mind and they might be more willing to deal with us.

Definitely let Unfair Park (the Dallas Observer blog) know what happened. I'm sure they would be interested in mall management busting an 8-year-old's birthday party.

Once the mall's owners start getting media inquiries, they will know that their person did wrong.

Sorry to hear this pard…wished it didn't have to happen for a birthday, or at all for that matter…

The going out of business signs at many of these malls, I am hoping in a way will be a blessing in disguise. Malls just irritate me, due to the corp mentality and I think take away from a pleasant shopping experience…

Keep us informed.

Assuming that the location is the Gonorrhea Dallas, link the management company is the Simon Property Group link based out of Indianapolis simon.com

If so – and I'd wait for Grenadier to confirm this before everyone sends off nasty grams to their corporate office – letting the BIG BOSSES know that one of their minions has seriously screwed up will mitigate any lies that she told to her superiors.

Back in August, I pulled exactly that maneuver with AT&T over poor customer service. The regional VP called me to personally apologize and I gave him names. According to my spies, several people lost their jobs over that, including mid-level management.

Wyatt

"several people lost their jobs over that, including mid-level management"

As well they should here or perhaps one person in particular.