The two houses I frequent will oil the lanes if I ask.The one center asks me if they don't have a fresh pair if I want them to oil a pair for me.
I also bowl almost every day so I am a regular customer.
If you want to have a good customer and the time and space permits oil a pair for them.Good customer service is what makes a loyal customer.

Here's my issue they come in on Friday and Saturday nights when were mobbed with 99% of them kids who can care less whats out there. It's kinda of hard to bring the machine out to do there lanes. I'm just a peon and work there,I've told them what nights they can come in where its fresh but they continue to come in these days when were mobbed. It doesn't help anyway when the lanes are fresh for the league there teams high average is a 140 so whats the difference if there fresh or not.

It has been brought up to them but you can't just break out the machine when you have a waiting list of people who can care less they just want to bowl

I have told these particular guys what nights to come in when they are done but continue to come in on the two busy open bowling nights. I mean when I was a kid the old owners oiled with a sprayer so ya dealt with it, people need to learn to play the lanes

You get what you pay for. If you go in when it is dead and the center wants to oil for you, great. If it is busy then you get what you get.

An extra $5 for changing patterns to a sport pattern is funny. To get the true pattern you have to run it across several lanes (8+) before the machine will start to do the pattern correctly. Then go the other way to take it back to your original pattern. Thats way more then $5 worth of oil, time and labor.

Okay I thought maybe I was crazy in my way of thinking,glad I'm not the only one that thinks this way.

I am a G.M. of a 32 lane center. Every lane gets oiled every day, and we re-oil before evening leagues, so many of them are done twice daily.  Bowlers get what is out there, but with our schedule finding some oil usually isn't too hard.

Re-oiling a pair on a Friday or Saturday night would be out of the question, though.  We typically have an hour wait for a lane during prime time Friday/Saturday nights. My mechanic is busy getting stops and repairing things in the arcade, or something.  It is not cost effective to ask him to drag the 250 pound machine out to oil a pair for some guys who probably can't read ball reaction anyway (140 average, as you put it). 

We've also got the Cosmic lights and music going, so most of our league bowlers just come when they can see what they are doing.  I have actually never even had the request, either.  When teams start getting ready for Nationals I will try very hard to put out the shot on certain days, but never would I dream of doing it when these guys are requesting...  Just too busy!

I am a G.M. of a 32 lane center. Every lane gets oiled every day, and we re-oil before evening leagues, so many of them are done twice daily.  Bowlers get what is out there, but with our schedule finding some oil usually isn't too hard.

Re-oiling a pair on a Friday or Saturday night would be out of the question, though.  We typically have an hour wait for a lane during prime time Friday/Saturday nights. My mechanic is busy getting stops and repairing things in the arcade, or something.  It is not cost effective to ask him to drag the 250 pound machine out to oil a pair for some guys who probably can't read ball reaction anyway (140 average, as you put it). 

We've also got the Cosmic lights and music going, so most of our league bowlers just come when they can see what they are doing.  I have actually never even had the request, either.  When teams start getting ready for Nationals I will try very hard to put out the shot on certain days, but never would I dream of doing it when these guys are requesting...  Just too busy!

Lane,

How much do you want to move to NJ???
Our manager, a pool player, oils ONLY when there will be a league bowling that day. If there is an empty pair between 2 leagues, that pair does not get oiled. If there's a business or birthday party before league, he oils 4 or 5 hours before so the part gets fresh oil and the 2 leagues (6:30 PM and then 9:30 PM) who follow get whatever's left over, and that ain't much.