My friend and I just went to the Bingtang Campbell gym (Wednesday, ~8:45 p.m.) and found that it was extremely crowded - not even an unmarked parking space was available. Several cars were even parked on the driveway (parallel to the open gates); thus, blocking part of both entry/exit driveways. Some people had to park at the Home Depot and some friends left after waiting in line for more than half an hour with no available court in sight. It has been pretty crowded since summer vacation started but nothing like tonight. Does anyone know what was going on in there? The overflowing parking lot is a clear violation of fire code and the extreme crowd congestion inside the gym could very well be a safety hazard and building /fire code infringement as well. Hope the Bingtang management reads this and rectify the situation ASAP as my friends and I like playing badminton there when it is not crazily congested and hate to see it get into trouble.
the crowd comes in summer time where a lot of people are out of school. this happens pretty much every year. Bintang Milpitas is crowded already before summer started, it was not easy to get a court before 9pm. one can imagine how bad it'd be with the extra crowd. Bintang Campbell on the other hand, while more crowded than usual, is still at a manageable level. perhaps a change of location should be considered.
They should have a "Courts Full" sign like those in front of parking structures, instead of just taking people's money and cramming more people in. They can even add approximated wait time if they use computers to queue people. I know in Bintang SSF (no computer) when it's full one of staffs will warn that not belonging to a group will get no courts, and he really will try to make people share courts.
to be fair though, at the location in which you are at the front desk and about to pay, you can see at least 80% of the whole facility, and should have a pretty decent sense of how bad the crowd is. i do agree that for people who pay per entry it'd really suck if they come in and only managed to get a game every hour. perhaps there is demand to justify opening more gyms afterall.
It definitely seems to warrant more badminton gyms in the South Bay but the congestion inside the Bintang Campbell gym and in its parking lot does need to be addressed as the fire trucks and emergency vehicles would not be able to come in easily should there be a fire/accident. One thing they can readily do is to schedule their "training" at less crowded time of day and locations. Ideally, they should end their training sessions several hours before peak traffic; otherwise, many people will stay behind and "hang out." And it is absurd that half (sometimes more) of the courts are often "reserved" (for training, games, or whatever) when the gym is overcrowded. It would also help if they post on their website any upcoming event so people can avoid the crowd.
