Why Movie Theater Managers Hate Some Customers
Chris, you are SO right about customers complaining about a showing AFTER sitting through the entire thing. This was always one of my biggest annoyances as a theater manager or projectionist. Several times this would happen, and there's just nothing to be done about it if you wait too long to tell us. Simple math makes it impossible to run a theater with enough staff to check every auditorium for any problems during every show.
Regal tries to have ushers walk auditoriums (which they rarely do), and they can sometimes tell if a movie is too loud or too quiet. But they're far from fully trained on film exhibition, and have no where near the expertise of a projectionist, so most problems go undetected by them.
These customers who watch an entire movie and then complain about something really piss me off. They're being selfish. "I saw the whole thing, but wasn't bright enough to tell you about a problem...but even though I saw the whole thing I'd still like a refund or a free movie please." Damn. If a problem is bad enough to need a free movie later, then you shouldn't mind missing a few minutes to tell us about it. The point of handing out passes after a problem is, after all, so that the customer can see that same movie without problem.
But Regal and other exhibitors have dug a deep hole for themselves with the reliance on passes. They hand them out like candy whenever someone complains. So now the customer isn't thinking "I want a pass because I didn't get to see the movie," but are instead thinking "I want a free movie because I figured out I can get one by being a jerk...and this way I can see this movie and then another one. Damn the man!!"
Here's how I'd rank the types of customers I hated, the top-five types:
1. Customers who flat out lie. From saying problems happened that didn't acutally occur to simply beefing up their stories by making up unconfirmable extra problems, there are all sorts of lying customers. Again, the theaters have trained customers that if they yell loudly enough, no matter how many lies they're telling, they'll get passes. I once had a guy complain that "one reel of the film was upside down." He would later relate in his story that "the audio was fine for that reel." Well, Mister, that's impossible. If there was a reel upside-down (which we'd know about already thank you very much) then the audio would DEFINITELY be majorly screwed. Guess what? That guy got passes from my boss. Lying works I guess, which must be why so many of them do it.
2. Customers who forcefully insist they know more about film projection than they really do. These people are really annoying. Most common type: the guy who's watching a non-action film who claims "there's no surround sound...The surround speakers aren't working." Right. Sure. Whatever you say. For the uninitiated: surround sound is put on the print by the filmmakers, and is generally completely absent in dialogue scenes and dialogue-heavy movies. Just because the side speakers don't have anything coming out of them doesn't mean they're not working. The filmmaker has to put some sort of sound on the surround track for those speakers to make noise. So blame the filmmaker, not me you complete technical moron! (most of these people act like you're lying when you tell them this and then furthermore claim to be some sort of electronics or sound system expert).
3. Customers who stubbornly sit through entire shows with problems only to complain afterwards and expect a reward. (see Chris' original post and my comments above for explanation).
4. Customers who ask for their money back because a film wasn't good. Too bad. Do your research, idiot. Just because you don't like it doesn't mean I have to pay you back. Some people complained about Blair Witch because "it's not a movie, it's all home-video." That person almost ate my shoe, but I refrained.
5. Customers who decide to leave of their own free will (wife called with an emergency, or work called and they have to go in, or they looked at the clock and realized the movie would run too long) but still want a refund on concession items. I'll give you your ticket money back if you have to leave part way through a show--even if it's a stupid reason. But I won't give you your concession money back. You still have that food and drink. It's not as though if you walk outside they'll disappear--as though you can only eat them inside the theater building. Take that coke with you and sip, baby! You chose to buy them, and then you chose to leave. I should only have to refund your money if it's because of something I did.
I could probably have made that a top-25 list...but I don't have that much time. But, man, even almost two years removed from the business...I still get pretty riled up thinking about some of this stuff. So I feel your pain, Chris, and I will do my part to make those responsible suffer!!
posted by Kennelworthy @ 4/29/2005 02:41:00 PM
4 comments
4 Comments:
Indeed. You bring up the thing about surround sound. Without a doubt, this is the most frequent complaint about sound after the "too loud, too soft" complaints.
The surrounds are used almost exclusively with sound effects--a whisper in the corner, a chain rattling, specifically--action that is taking place "offscreen." It's an emersion tactic when a filmmaker wants you to be a little more involved in their opus.
Plus, the logic of the surrounds would be utterly ridiculous if you heard dialogue coming out of them. The guy is speaking in front of you, and yet your ears detect that he's to the right or left of you?
Surround sound is the ultimate sales tool. It sounds good to average joe customer, like, "Ooo! Surround!" but they are used sparingly. And you're right about another thing. People who think they are certified experts (they wear "THX" caps) think you're misinformed or lying, and that bugs me.
See, that kind of stuff really pisses me off. If you've never worked the kind of job you're bitching at someone for, even if it's cash register at a fast food joint, then you really have no right to tell them how they should be doing their job. I've never been a projectionist; I've never worked in a theater, so why would I tell someone who does what they should be doing better to improve their job?
I was curious. Working with any big company you also have the big corporate heads coming in occassionally telling you how you can do your job better; half of them also have never been in your position. That always pissed me off at various jobs I had; I don't know if that happens with Regal or Carmike, but I'm sure it does.
Why, yes, corporate heads always think they know better. In theatres there are a few ridiculous catch-22s involved where they make it impossible to do everything correct.
For instance, there will be a big deal made about payroll and keeping it down. So, a theatre manager will do his best to keep payroll down, meaning they cut employee hours and send them home early. The next thing you know, they're complaining about how the auditoriums weren't checked twice a show when their "secret shopper" came by. At a 27-plex at least, you have barely enough people to be ushers as it is, and they barely get to most auditoriums to clean--you have to coordinate a team of ushers, make sure they get their breaks, make sure they clean the auditoriums, and by the end of it there's no chance to check bathrooms or check auditoriums--not in a theatre where there is almost always a movie getting out or something to do.
One time, the district manager came in. My projection partner and I had just done a bunch of stuff all day. We were tired, it was near 5:30 and the end of our shift, and we sat down. The district manager comes in and says, in jest, "Ha! You guys look like YOU'RE working hard!" and I mentioned our work, and he was like, "Ha! Whatever!" so I asked him, "Yeah, like you've ever run a 27-plex. What was the last one you ran, an 8?" He said it was a 10, basically proving my point. There's hardly anyone I know in corporate who has ever run something larger than a 10 or 12. They think that the rules that applied at those multiplexes are the same that apply for a 27--and they don't. I could go across the board on things they expect and yet, don't make any sense.
The worst thing about it is that the corporate people that actually did run a theater at some point haven't done it in more than a decade. And a lot has changed in a decade. Talking to corporate office people about theater-running is a bit like the old Saturday Night Live skit, Grumpy Old Man. "In my day...we didn't have any fancy video games...we had to make up our own games, like Chew the Bark Off Trees!"
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