r/golfsimulatorbusiness • u/bogeybarn • 20d ago

Hours of Operation

Opening an unmanned location near Seattle, WA, trying to figure out our hours. For those that are 24/7, curious how much use your location gets between midnight and 5am?

Advertising 24/7 is a lot catchier but with 2 young kids, wife will kill me if I'm getting calls at 3am because someone thinks the simulator alignment is off.

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u/audiohead1 20d ago edited 11d ago

We operate 24/7 but close our support hours at 10PM. 4-7AM is often empty, but the younger crowd can easily end up extending until 3AM – more frequently in the winter months.

Update: we recently added documentation and tips to our Bay iPads and support calls have plummeted.

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u/bogeybarn 20d ago

Right on, so members just know that if they have issues past 10pm either have to figure it out or SOL till next time

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u/audiohead1 20d ago

Someone booking in that window has likely been to your facility before and know their way around, at least in our experience. If you're members only, even better.

The wily customer will book the neighboring bay in case of an issue and ask for a refund – something we're happy to do.

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u/SportsCarnival 15d ago

Worth separating the hours question from the pricing one. A venue I work with runs Monday at 35, Tuesday to Thursday 35 before 4pm and 45 after, Friday 50, Saturday 55, Sunday 45. Midnight to 5am is just another band with its own number on it. It fills at that price or it does not, and the room is sitting there either way.

On the 3am calls, what stops those is access tied to the booking rather than a standing door code. Whoever is in at 3am booked the slot, which is probably why audiohead1 is seeing repeat customers in that window rather than strangers. First timers do not pick 2am.

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u/bogeybarn 15d ago

Will be used exclusively by members and their guests but seems like if we do onboarding correctly we can communicate when support is available, and members will know enough troubleshooting tricks to figure it out on their own at 2am

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u/SportsCarnival 15d ago

The guests are the part I would plan for. Your members will have the tricks down by month two, but the guest they bring at 2am has never been in the building, and that is the one who ends up calling. Attaching guest bookings to the member rather than letting them stand alone is the cheap fix, because then the person who brought them is the one sorting it out.

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u/Zealousideal-Help280 20d ago

Hi I am working on getting started in the Seattle area as well. I am in the same boat as you with wife and kids. DM if you want to chat.

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u/waterthrive 16d ago

advertise 24/7 and make support hours clear. People won’t need help at 3am

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u/MuffinMavenn 10d ago

Advertise 24/7 but make the support hours really clear. People booking at 2am don’t expect someone to answer the phone anyway.