People Don't Like to Be Told They're Wrong

Now this wasn't something that I dealt with personally but I thought I'd share it anyway. Some background to the story first! A woman comes into the movie, and had purchased tickets online. At the Guest Services counter, a fellow manager was attempting to retrieve here tickets for her. All you need to do (usually) is simply swipe their credit card. If that is in fact the card that was used, the tickets will print out. Occasionally, we do need to enter in numbers manually, but the tickets will still print out.

Unfortunately, after trying all of these methods, we could not retrieve her tickets. She did not have the confirmation page that prints out when you purchase tickets online (I believe), so we weren't really sure what to do. She purchased additional tickets, and went to go watch her movie. I'm sure that the other manager told her that if she got charged for the tickets then she could return and we would be glad to issue a refund. Traditionally, if we can't retrieve tickets, it's because the site didn't properly capture the data and did not charge the card. So things should be fine, correct?

Duh. Of course not. There would be no story without it! Anyway, her husband returns later on and is quite upset. It turns out that he was the one who had purchased the tickets, and he saw the confirmation page and everything. He hands us her card again, and we attempt to retrieve them again. No Dice. He's pretty upset, so the manager there calls for backup. Two of us head there, and we ask if that's the card that was used to purchase the tickets.

It turns out that it was not. The guest had used his own card on a linked account to purchase the tickets. However, his wife's card did not have the same credit card # on it! Linked bank cards do NOT have the same number... so it wasn't our fault we couldn't retrieve them. The card number was different, so the system did not recognize it! We did end up refunding the tickets onto the card, w/o the service charge (we don't charge that, the website does). However, the guest was still pretty insistent that the card #s were the same, and said that he would be sure to check it when he got home, not accepting our reasoning for the issue.

I don't understand how hard it is to accept something that you are wrong about if it solves the issue. I know that I am the same way sometimes, but I still can't figure it out! What explanations do you guys have? I'm no psych major or something like that... so I'd love to hear your responses!

Money Saving Tip at the Movies!

Everyone loves to save a buck at the movies. It is really expensive to see a movie nowadays. I've tried to pass tips before about how to save a bit when you go to the movies, for example buying discount tickets through AAA or your workplace, bringing in your own food, seeing a matinee or earlier show. But what about the big movie that you really want to see. Just came up on a tip that you guys might like to know about:

Buy one movie ticket using your Discover Card and get the second free! Visit Fandango now for your free movie ticket.

That's right people, if you have a Discover Card, you can buy one get one Free for movie tickets. That's not too bad a deal.. you're looking at $5.00 a ticket average! True.. you could visit me and I'd let you in for free, but this is pretty close, right? Plus I can't be everywhere at once. There are gonna be more offers that I'm going to get wind of later this month, so stay tuned for those. I'm sure that they'll be great!

Anyway, onto a disgruntled customer story. Well, it was more of an annoying thing that happened. I had just started my shift and got called over to the concession stand. Now keep in mind this was after a decent rush, and we hadn't had a chance to do anything yet. The staff member points towards me and an older woman looks at me. "He the manager?". My staff member nodded.

What does she say? "This place is filthy. How can you even be open?"

Excuse me? Popcorn on the floor? We didn't drop it. But yes, we'll clean it. Give us maybe a minute? I informed her that while we do try to keep up, it can be tough because we're trying to help guests first, and will clean up as soon as we can. Thought that might make her happy. Nope. She tells me that "obviously you're not trying hard enough."

I had no idea what to say at that point. So I walked away. And had someone sweep up. She acted as if we weren't gonna do it anyway. People drop popcorn, it's a common occurrence. This lady also made it a point to peer OVER the stand and mention that we had too much popcorn on the floor there too. Well, we can avoid that if we don't fill popcorns all the way up to the top. But then we're ripping people off too much! (Image courtesy of JWOD Catalog)

Just an example of how difficult it can be to please people....

That's all for now.. should be busy tonight! Check out that ticket deal if you can, I think it's a great promotion!

Customer Service Call

Working at the movie theatre, I have had many experiences dealing with customer service. It is basically all the industry is about! (Ok, movies too, but sometimes those play second string even) Knowing this, I often keep my eyes open as to how people at other locations where customer service is important are treated, such as restaurants and sports events. Knowing how difficult customers can be sometimes, it was pretty interesting for me to observe a customer at a restaurant.

We'll call our difficult customer "X". My girlfriend and I had arrived at the restaurant about 10 minutes before. It was soaking wet outside, so I can understand that no one coming in would be the happiest people around, I certainly wasn't. However, our hostess was friendly and we were seated promptly. After drying off a bit, I sat at our table waiting for my girlfriend to get back so that we could start our meal. During this time, X and his friend had come in and been seated. X decided to move his own seat, insisting that he should sit there because it was "brighter".

The table was open, but the server for that table had just left and so there was no one to serve the table. X asked if that was ok, and at first the hostess said No. A mistake on her part, but she quickly made up for it. X threatened to leave, and was allowed to sit at his desired table. The hostess made sure that their server knew they would be at a different table. I knew from this point that X would be difficult, so I observed him while we ate. Our service was pretty good, though the food took a little longer than I would've liked.

X, on the other hand, waited about 5 minutes for his server, who had accidentally went to our table first. (We had a different server) When he got there, he asked politely "Has anyone been around to help you yet?" Basically, he was checking to make sure he had the right table. X responded, "No one has done anything for us yet here" in one of the most sarcastic tones I've ever heard. Sheesh.. I felt bad for the server already.

X orders his drink which was "Jack Daniels with Soda". I know what I would've thought if he said that. Jack and Coke. The server smartly checked though, asking if he wanted Coke or Soda water. "I said SODA!" he responded. So the server then confirmed that it was "soda water" and not coke, and went to go get their drinks and food (ordered at the same time). As soon as he had walked away, X commented on the incompetence of the service there, and quite loudly. Wow. I'm sure his friend was embarrassed.

When the drinks came back, the server asked if they needed anything else until their food got there. X said "I said no ice in my drink, but of course your too busy so it doesn't matter." Again in that sarcastic tone. I had been paying attention, and he did not say that. The server asked if he wanted the ice strained out, or a new drink, and X said "No No you're too busy for that." After checking again, the server left. Again, X commented on his incompetence. This time his friend said "They're trying their best." To which X responded "No they're not, this is the worst restaurant and I'm never coming back here again."

Ok ok.. sheesh. This continued for the rest of his meal. Now I know that the tone wasn't set right at the beginning, but they did try to make up for it, and his server was trying. I just can't believe some people think acting this way in public really makes things better. I'm sure the hostess and server wish he had left instead of staying. The server does not get paid enough to do that (especially since their pay is tip based, and X probably would not tip well).

That being said, I am appalled at the kind of behavior. I've gotten angry before, but I've never insulted a server, especially in such a loud and public way. Have you had any observations on this? Or perhaps experienced bad customer service yourself? Let me know, and I'll compile the best ones and post em. If you don't feel comfortable leaving it in a comment, let me know and you can e-mail me!

Difference Between a Movie Trailer and an Ad

This is my response to a recent article that has been Dugg. The basic premise of the article is that movie theatres should be responsible for paying back the consumer (moviegoer) for time that is spent watching ads that show before movies. However, being a theatre manager, there are many false claims made in this article, and I want to shed some light on what the truth of it is. My forum may not be as large as the one that his article reaches, but I hope that someone will notice this. This is also not my normal tone, but he really irked me on this one.

I'd like to make two key points right away:

• The ads plays before the movie, typically on digital projectors.
  
• Trailers start at the published show time, and are considered part of the movie. When you pay for a movie, you get trailers also. (You also get credits!)
  

Yes the advertising business does provide movie theatres with a lot of money. Half a billion dollars, according to that article. I am inclined to believe this, but he also mentions another point. According to IMDB, most movie goers don't mind the ads. While I do believe that some people are against the ads, there are also many who either like the ads, choose to ignore the ads, or watch them because they are there. Next, and I quote:

But you don’t have to have a degree in advertising to know that the bulk of that $456 million in ad money doesn’t come from those “pre-show” commercials. Oh no no no no… most of that money comes from the ads I LOATHE. The commercials (not trailers… I like those) that they start playing at the time they advertised the MOVIE was supposed to start.

I’ve said this before, but it’s worth repeating.

- When you take my money for popcorn, at least I’m getting a tasty treat

- When you take my cash at the box office, I’m getting to come in to watch the movie

- When you take my time for commercials on TV, I’m getting a “free” TV show out of it

But what are we getting for our time with commercials in movie theaters? When the ad says “Movie starts at 7pm” and I’m in my seat (that I paid admission for) at 7pm, it’s time for you to start giving me what I paid you for… the movie. If you want to show me commercials, fine… give me the movie for free then.

This is just not true. At the theatre I work at, the ads are run on a digital projector. This beeps when the movie is scheduled to start, and the projectionist then hits the start button, on the FILM. Included in the film are several things. First, a note to find the nearest emergency exit in case of an emergency. Next a snipe that says "Coming Attractions". Then, depending on the movie, 10-15 minutes of trailers. (It even shows on movietickets.com! Feature Presentations Start 10-15 Minutes Following Published Showtimes. That's for trailers!!!) Next, another snipe for "Feature Presentation". Then... guess what.. THE FEATURE PRESENTATION. There are no extra ads there, at least for the company I work for. The writer of that article just assumes that this is common practice. Well I work for a large theatre chain and its definitely NOT common practice for us to do that.

I don’t mind theaters making money off me when I get a product, service or entertainment in return… but commercials playing at 7pm when you told me the movie would be starting is doing nothing but STEALING my time. You are taking from me without giving anything in return. HOW IS THIS DIFFERENT FROM ONLINE MOVIE PIRACY!?!?

He makes a very strong point about this. First of all, theatres do not steal your time. YOU choose to go to the movies. And, as I've stated before, our ads run before the scheduled start time. This is just an asinine point.

Finally, his calculation on how much theatres owe him for watching ads.

I see approximately 8 films in theater each month. At about 15 minutes of commercials per film (remember, these are ads that begin to play at the movie advertised start time), I end up spending about 2 hours per month watching ads in theaters uncompensated. That’s 24 hours, or a full day of uncompensated ad watching in a year.

MONEY

I’m not a doctor or lawyer, so let’s say my time is worth a measly $20/hour. Since I spent about 24 hours watching uncompensated ads in theaters last year, I figure the movie industry owes me about $480 out of that Half Billion they made last year off my time. Seems fair.

The principle for piracy and time theft is the same. Taking an asset (a movie, or your time) without providing the due compensation for taking that asset. So where do we start the class action lawsuit?

If you tell me the movie starts at 7pm, then when I PAY YOU to get into the movies, there is an implied contract that you give me what I paid for… a movie at 7pm. When you instead put up 15-20 minutes of commercials at 7pm you are stealing my time, and also stealing MY SHARE OF THAT $456 MILLION you made off my time.

So the next time you’re pirating a movie (which is neither something I do nor endorse), let that ease your conscience, because although you’re stealing the $10 you would have paid in admission… they probably owe you about $150 for stolen ad time anyway.

So, I guess the next time you see a movie, you should ask for that $140 as a check, since that's how much you're owed for watching ads. You are not paid for watching ads on TV, reading ads on the internet, or anything else like that. True, you are not paying for TV (Basic) but even cable has ads, and so does the internet. He is basically making a point tat you should get paid for anything that wastes your time. After having read his article, I felt like I have wasted my time, and would like some of my money back.

Again, I can't speak for all theatres, but I know that his points are just invalid when it comes to who I work for. Next time, do the research before you scream about something you don't really know about. Make sure it applies to all situations before you say it does.

We Have a Serious Problem Here.

This one's for you Karen. I love it when people come up to me and this is the first thing they say. I realize that going to the movies, a pleasant experience is expected. Trust me, people who work at the movies know this. So when something goes wrong, you as a guest definitely has a right to complain. We will do our best to make sure your problem is solved.

So let's set the scene. It's roughly 8pm. We've switched back to fall hours, so it's getting close to closing time. I'm at the customer service counter when an older woman approaches me and says "We have a serious problem here." Now, I took this literally and thought something was really wrong.

What did she say though?

"You're playing Underdog where you're supposed to be playing Hairspray."

"OH CRAP" I thought. But wait, let me check her ticket! Sure enough, what had happened was she went into the wrong theatre. It was my first suspicion since we change posters on Thursday to prepare for our Friday openings. (We use posters at the auditorium entrance, as well as a mylar on top of the auditorium to indicate which movie is currently playing.) We did change them a bit early since we were not busy, making sure to tell every guest twice where they REALLY needed to go. Once when they bought their ticket, and again when their tickets were torn. Of course it's not always obvious to check your ticket, so.....

I could tell she was pretty upset about this though, so I offered her a refund. I was even going to say that she could go in and watch the remainder of Hairspray or whatever movie she wanted. But I got cut off first. "This is infuriating" she fumed at me. I understand its frustrating, but I'm trying to help her out here. Turns out she went to the theatre she was told to go to, saw a different poster, and went to go find the right poster, and thus, the right theatre to go into. She didn't check her ticket or ask anyone. OK, I can still understand where she would be mad though.

At this point, there's nothing I can do. I had already given her her money back for the inconvenience, and gave her a tip to look at her ticket or ask if she was unsure, and we would be glad to direct her in the right direction. Of course, this is not good enough. She wants to escalate it. She wants to talk to my boss. I try to convince her that it's not his fault, and that we do this every Thursday, but she has none of that. She continues to yell at me instead. It's really frustrating when you try to be nice and you get screamed at. I just had to take it. My staff is staring over at me, watching me take this. Not the most pleasant experience. They've often asked me how I can continue to take the verbal abuse some people like to dish. The answer is, its not easy.

Now, her husband or boyfriend or whatever, was extremely nice. I find that often one half of the group will be nice to you. Usually because they're embarrassed. Another group who had the same thing happen and had come out with this lady actually admitted it was their fault and that they had been told where to go, but assumed that we were wrong. They got their money back as well and went on their merry way. Like I said, we try, but sometimes no matter what you do, you're gonna end up with the jerk who decides they need to scream at you. Yes I understand you're angry, but if you scream at me, it's not going to help.

Can't we all just get along?