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Tenpin - Exeter Reviews 

227
TrustScore 4 out of 5

4.0

3 - 4 Havenbanks Retail Park, Water Lane, Exeter, EX2 8BY Exeter, GB


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Rated 5 out of 5 stars

First visit since renovations very impressed , good value with the meal deal,\ bowling ticket. Only downside the price of soft play extremely expensive as mist only want 30 mins should explore pric... See more

Company replied

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

Staffs are friendly. However, its would have been much better if you added a little bit of brightness or light in the soft play for the children so enjoy more and see the surroundings properly.

Company replied

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

New facilities, play areas are great! Toilets are 100% better than they were previously! The only thing I would say would be to offer alternative milk for tea/coffee! Not sure I could sink a cockt... See more

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Rated 3 out of 5 stars

Looks a lot better than before but the negatives are that staff are very slow and look under staffed. We turned up to play at 7pm and we didn’t get to play till 7:30 due to multiple faults. Not being... See more

Company replied


Company details

  1. Bowling Alley
  2. Bar
  3. Escape Room Center
  4. Laser Tag Center
  5. Leisure Centre
  6. Video Arcade

Written by the company

Tenpin Exeter is easy reach from Exeter city centre, Exmouth, Tiverton and across Devon — well connected by road and rail. With modern bowling lanes and lane lighting, we’re the go-to indoor entertainment spot in Devon. And it’s not just bowling. We’ve got karaoke rooms, laser tag in our 4D arena, escape rooms for the problem-solvers and a full arcade. Hungry? Our kitchen serves burgers, loaded fries and pizzas, with a fully licensed bar pouring cocktails and pints while Sky Sports and TNT play live. Family days out, birthday parties, student nights, work socials, cheap weekday bowling deals — fun for kids big and small. Bowling in Exeter, sorted.


Contact info

  • 3 - 4 Havenbanks Retail Park, Water Lane, Exeter, EX2 8BY, Exeter, United Kingdom

  • 0333 034 6100

4.0

Great

TrustScore 4 out of 5

227 reviews

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4.0

All reviews

(227)

10,741 reviews in the last 12 months

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Rated 3 out of 5 stars

Bowling was good

Bowling was good, ordered food took a long time to come and could not get the prize after winning tickets because they couldn’t find it.

April 8, 2026
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Reply from Tenpin - Exeter

Hello, Thank you for taking your time to leave us a review. We are pleased to hear that you enjoyed the bowling game at our Tenpin in Exeter. We are sorry to hear that you had a long wait for the meals to be served and the issue with the prize. We will pass your comments on. We do hope to see you again soon for a much more enjoyable visit. Many Thanks - Kim

Rated 5 out of 5 stars
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Reply from Tenpin - Exeter

Hi Louise,

Thank you for your fantastic 5* review at Tenpin Exeter! We are delighted you've had such a great time whilst on your recent visit to us and we look forward to welcoming you back again very soon! Best wishes- Steph

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

Bank Holiday=More Staff Required

The bowling was excellent, the site is clean and tidy. Sadly there were only 2 staff I could see, running their socks off to deliver good customer service.
We had an issue with our computer screen and called for assistance. When the 4 of us had reached bowl No. 7, we gave up waiting for assistance and cancelled the call light. The lane next to us had to go and physically get help. Due to the queue for food and drink, we decided to wait until we finished bowling.just to repeat, the bowling is a great experience.

April 3, 2026
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Reply from Tenpin - Exeter

Hello, Thank you for taking your time to leave us some feedback with a 4* review for our Tenpin in Exeter! We are so pleased to hear that you had a great time bowling with us. We are sorry to hear that we didn't seem to have many staff members around. We will pass your thoughts and comments onto our team so that we can look into this. We do hope to see you again very soon. Best Wishes - Kimberley

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

the staff was amazing amd very friendly…

the staff was amazing amd very friendly and helpful x id recommend going again

April 8, 2026
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Reply from Tenpin - Exeter

Hi Carla, thank you so much for the wonderful 5* review of Tenpin Exeter! We are so pleased you had and excellent time, found our team super friendly and would recommend us and we can't wait to see you again soon! Best wishes - Mel

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

Appalling food

While the bowling itself was good (screens worked and pin reset quick), the bowling balls had big chips/dents that made it difficult to bowl with, tables/benches were unclean with food trays and glasses, and the food was appalling, we ended up getting a total refund as it was shocking food and high priced. The manager was polite and helpful.
We’ve been to tenpin Plymouth and loved every visit, Exeter was a huge disappointment.

April 3, 2026
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Reply from Tenpin - Exeter

Hello, thank you very much for taking the time to leave a review of Tenpin Exeter! We are very sorry to hear your recent visit was not as enjoyable as we would have liked and we thank you for your feedback as this will help us to make improvements were needed! In the meantime, we do hope you will give us another chance and we very much hope to welcome you back again in the future! Best wishes - Mel

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

Bowling.

Their was this one employee that was very good he knew it was my birthday and made it very special. However their was this other employee that wasnt very nice. He made my dad wait 20 minutes for a drink at the bar and ik u will assume his busy he wasnt their were two people their and blatantly ignored my dad. The booking process was very good as we didnt have a reservation so we weren't expecting to get a space and we did get one. The booths very very good i had lane 8 and it felt like we had our own space and ot was very good. Overall it was a very good time.

April 1, 2026
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Reply from Tenpin - Exeter

Hi Lily, thank you for leaving Tenpin Exeter a fab 4* rating. We are really pleased to hear your visit to us was a nice time, and that our staff made you feel special for your birthday! We are very sorry to hear your dad had to wait a long time for a drink and that you didn't get great service on this occasion. We would like to look into this for you, so please feel free to email us at customer.feedback@tenpin.co.uk with the subject 'Review - Exeter' along with any other information from this interaction. Once again, we are sorry to hear about this interaction, but we are pleased to hear it was a nice time overall. We hope to welcome you back again soon! Best wishes - Kaylee

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

Staff were friendly and very helpful

Staff were friendly and very helpful

April 1, 2026
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Reply from Tenpin - Exeter

Hi Samuel, thank you for the brilliant 5* review of Tenpin Exeter! We are so happy to see the best time was had and our fab team were super friendly and we can't wait to see you again soon! Best wishes - Mel

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

We come here Tuesday morning with my…

We come here Tuesday morning with my little one to try out the new soft play. Very happy with how clean the place was and how big it was adapted for all ages. The only thing that could be improved was that the gates in the play area don’t need unlocking every time the kids want to go back in or out. My little one is only 2 and she’s constantly in and out and it was very annoying having to get the ladies attention when she was busy just to get back in or to even get back out. I did overhear another lady in the under 3’s bit also say that, this had put her off coming again. If this could be changed we would happily come more.

April 1, 2026
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Reply from Tenpin - Exeter

Hi Chanelle, thank you for the review of Tenpin Exeter! We are so pleased to hear you enjoy your visits on a Tuesday morning! Your feedback is really important to us and so we thank you for taking the time to leave this. Please be assured all feedback is sent to the relevant team and in the meantime we really look forward to welcoming you back again soon! Best wishes - Mel

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

The only problem I had was the car…

The only problem I had was the car parking sign was unclear. So I paid for parking & once in the building found out I did not need to pay

April 1, 2026
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Reply from Tenpin - Exeter

Hi Jamie, thank you for 5* review of Tenpin Exeter! We do not own the car park, however we are really sorry you found the signage confusing! We hope to welcome you back soon. Best wishes, Jade

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

The refurb is amazing and my children…

The refurb is amazing and my children loved the soft play!! Big thumbs up from us.

April 1, 2026
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Reply from Tenpin - Exeter

Hi Sophie, what a fantastic 5* review of Tenpin Exeter! We are thrilled you love our new look and soft play area and we can't wait to see you again soon for another fun day out! Best wishes - Mel

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

Lovely updated venue

Lovely updated venue. No waiting. Good deals too.

April 1, 2026
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Reply from Tenpin - Exeter

Hi Nat, thank you very much for taking the time to leave a great 5* review of Tenpin Exeter! We are delighted to see everything ran smoothly and you were able to take advantage of one of our fab deals and we can't wait to see you again soon! Best wishes - Mel

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

The new look Tenpin is fantastic

The new look Tenpin is fantastic. The staff were great and very helpful. The wait for drinks was quite long (not down to the staff not working hard though). The new bowling alleys are much better and we had loads of space on lane 8. Toilets were so much better and cleaner. The only downside was our food - the pizza was very burnt. We were able to add on two extra games which was brilliant.

March 29, 2026
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Reply from Tenpin - Exeter

Hi Anna, thank you for your lovely 4* review of Tenpin Exeter! We are so pleased you had a great time on your visit. However, we are sorry to hear that the wait times were long and that you did not enjoy the Pizza provided. Please be assured your feedback will be passed to the relevant team to allow improvements to be put in place. In the meantime, we hope you will still visit us again soon in the future! Best wishes, Jade

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

We always have a good time when we come…

We always have a good time when we come here and I'm looking forward to trying out some of the new activities now they are open

April 1, 2026
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Reply from Tenpin - Exeter

Hi Gareth. Thanks so much for rating Tenpin Exeter 5*'s! It's great to hear that you always have a great time. We do hope to see you back again soon to try new activities! Best wishes, Jade

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

We were booked for a 19:00 lane slot…

We were booked for a 19:00 lane slot and we arrived at 18:45, as instructed.

However, the people on our lane (14)were meant to finish at 19:00 - they didn't. They clearly started a new game which was stopped by the staff member at 19:15 at my request. They were then moved over to Lane 13 where half of their group were already halfway through playing a game, anyway.

I fail to see why this group was able to start a new game at 18:50 (when each game takes 30-40 minutes to complete) on a lane which was clearly reserved for somebody else (me) at 19:00. The staff member seemed as annoyed as I was and moved them over to Lane 13 (where they should have been from the beginning).

Finally, after five minutes of the staff member telling them to move over, the lane (14) became free for us.

Surely, the lanes should have been better monitored to avoid this from happening? There were only two of us compared to five of them (on our lane). Wouldn't have made more sense to put us on a lane further away from a group? I know for a fact that each lane can take six people, so why did the people who took our lane not spread out between Lanes 12 and 13, which also had their friends? There was absolutely NO REASON at all for our lane to have been used by a bunch of ignorant, infantile idiots ten minutes before our booking was due to start.

*UPDATE FROM TENPIN*

A review into lane monitoring will be undertaken.

My opinion to their reply is this: That is a feeble apology given that we lost almost 25 minutes of our booking time and we turned up 15 minutes early as requested when we booked it. We should be offered another booking for free as a result of this.

March 31, 2026
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Reply from Tenpin - Exeter

Hello
We appreciate you taking the time to share your experience. We're sorry your lane wasn't ready upon arrival and that the prior group impacted your booking. We'll review lane monitoring procedures to prevent similar situations. We value your feedback. Best wishes - Clare

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

Slow service

One member of bar staff to serve a full ally.
Ques of 15 people deep and no sense of urgency

April 1, 2026
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Reply from Tenpin - Exeter

Hi Dean
We appreciate your feedback and are sorry about the slow service. We'll review staffing to improve customer experience and reduce wait times. Best wishes - Clare

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

Yesterday I took my daughter to the New…

Yesterday I took my daughter to the New shop play in tenpin bowling my daughter loved it. I loved it as well. The only moan I got is the slides could be more faster than the Aircon should be on apart from that everything was perfect. The best place for fun place for my daughter. I’ll be recommending it to everyone. I’ll be coming back here for sure.

April 1, 2026
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Reply from Tenpin - Exeter

Hi Adrian
We're glad you and your daughter had a fantastic time at the new soft play and enjoyed the bowling! We appreciate your feedback regarding the slides and air conditioning; we'll consider it for improvements. We're happy it's the best fun place for your daughter, and we appreciate your recommendation. Best wishes - Clare

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

It seems that there has been huge…

It seems that there has been huge investment in adding lots of extra bowling lanes, which is great, but no new bowling balls. As it was a busy Saturday we couldn’t get any! Our lane had been pillaged while it was stood empty and no-one would give any up! Seems crazy to have spent so much money but not bothered with something so vital!!!

April 1, 2026
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Reply from Tenpin - Exeter

Hi Emma, thank you for taking the time to review Tenpin Exeter! We're sorry to hear that there had been issues with the bowling balls during your visit. We will ensure your feedback is passed on to be looked into and for future improvements to be made. We hope to welcome you back again soon! Best wishes - Adelaide

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

Noisy and service slow…

The noise was so loud it was virtually unbearable. There need to be quiet areas if at all possible. Service was slow

April 1, 2026
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Reply from Tenpin - Exeter

Hi there, thank you for your review. We are sorry for any disappointment caused with the noise levels and our service at your recent visit to Tenpin Exeter. Please be assured all of your feedback will be passed to the relevant team to allow improvements. In the meantime, we hope you will still visit us again soon in the future! Best wishes, Jade

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

Cancelled booking

We had a lane booked for 7pm and on arrival we were told there would be a slight wait on the lane as someone was running over. Not a problem, these things happen. We then proceeded to wait 20 minutes in a bar queue and a further 45 minutes to get on to our lane to start our games.
After completing our first game, we had a quick refreshment break of 10 minutes, only to then see our 2nd game had been cancelled and a new reservation was on the screen.
After approaching the manager, we got told there was absolutely nothing that could be done and that was we were inactive for 10 minutes they removed our game. Despite the party for the next booking very kindly saying they were happy to wait for us to play our final game we still got told no and that nothing could be done. We received ‘compensation’ of a free bowling game, despite the fact this is what I had paid for anyway and were told to give the lane up.
There are new bowling alleys opening in our area and I think going forward we will use these establishments instead.

March 31, 2026
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Reply from Tenpin - Exeter

Hi Beth, thank you for taking the time to review Tenpin Exeter! We're sorry to hear that there had been a delay to begin your games, that your second bowling game had been cancelled and for any disappointment caused. Please send an email to customer.feedback@tenpin.co.uk with the subject as 'Review - Exeter' and we can pass this on to be looked into. Best wishes - Adelaide

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

Very disappointing

Very disappointing. We tried the Temple escape room, and it was definitely not worth £27 each. Incredibly overpriced compared to much better escape rooms in exeter. Today was only the second day it’s open, and half the props were already broken. This meant it took us longer to get out as it wouldn’t work with the correct code. Even with that in mind, it only took us 28 minutes of the given hour to escape. For a 4/5 escape room hardness, that is way too easy. Easiest escape room i’ve done, even easier than 2/5 ones. Worst room i’ve done and somehow the most exspensive. Waste of time and money so very disappointed. The staff were lovely so this is nothing to do with them, they worked hard to keep it clean and running on time.

March 28, 2026
Unprompted review
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Reply from Tenpin - Exeter

Hi Kira
We appreciate you taking the time to share your experience. We're sorry the Temple escape room didn't meet your expectations regarding price, difficulty, and the condition of the props. We'll pass the feedback across to Houdini's. We're glad you found the staff lovely. Best wishes - Clare

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