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Author Topic: rant on stupid customers Frank Dubrois Jedi Master Film Handler Posts: 896 From: Cleveland, OH Registered: Mar 2005 posted 08-24-2005 03:15 AM                    You try to force gift certificates on people? Ours just suggests where you may find them People are fogetful, and I'm sure that some leave their trash simply because their pop and popcorn were gone by the end of the last trailer (how else can you explain a lost and found bin filled with coats, purses and cell phones). My point is simply this, if you were to stand there and watch a person get up and leave their crap behind, then you should clean it up. What if, along with their popcorn and pop containers, they left their coat there? Would you remind them to pick that up too? Would you then remind them to grab their garbage as well? When people forget their personal items along with their garbage, perhaps we should pick up their coat or cell phone AND their nacho tray, popcorn tub and empty drink cup and through them all in the same box and wait until they comeback for it, then give them the entire box. Passive suggestive. Of course we wouldnt do that, but do you think they'd ever forget the message? Bottom line is people get offended when asked to throw their own trash away, fine, I simply get offended when they decide to treat my auditoriums like their garbage cans. I have pride in my theater...as customers, they should respect that or next time I walk by their cubicle at work, I'll drop my rolled up McDonalds bag and Big Gulp Dr Pepper in their area.  |  IP: Logged Jeremy Fuentes Mmmm, Dr. Pepper! Posts: 1168 From: Corpus Christi, TX United States Registered: Jan 2004 posted 08-24-2005 07:03 AM                     quote: Frank Dubrois The analogy doesnt work for me either. Pop and popcorn spills happen, accidentaly, all the time. Thats VERY different then leaving your crap behind for someone else to clean up. I think people are missing my point here. We leave our "crap" behind for someone else to clean up at fancy restaurants because that is what they are paid to do. How come people arent getting that? quote: Frank Dubrois simply get offended when they decide to treat my auditoriums like their garbage cans And I'm sure restaurant owners get offended when you leave your dinner tables a mess too. What it all boils down to is people are slobs. I'm sure most of us are and dont even realize it. We are not perfect, and if you think you are, you're stupid.  |  IP: Logged Scott Norwood Film God Posts: 8146 From: Boston, MA. USA (1774.21 miles northeast of Dallas) Registered: Jun 99 posted 08-24-2005 09:29 AM                        I haven't read this thread in a while and I really can't believe what I'm reading. First, why are people trying to clean theatres while customers are still in their seats? Does this mean that they are cleaning before the credits end? That's terrible customer service right there. Customers should be allowed to view the _entire_ film without distractions caused by theatre employees. Second, the goal of this business (and pretty much any other "entertainment" or "leisure" business) should be to ensure that the customers enjoy themselves and want to return to the theatre in the future. Telling people to pick up their own trash is not conducive to this goal. People are stupid and people are slobs, but telling them what to do is much like teaching a pig to dance--it doesn't work and it annoys the pig. As long as the customers aren't interfering with other customers' enjoyment of the film, aren't harassing theatre employees, and aren't willfully damaging theatre property, they should be allowed to do as they please. If that means that it takes longer than normal to clean up a theatre, then so be it. The extra labor cost pales in comparison to the potential revenue loss if customers become annoyed with the theatre staff and choose to seek their entertainment elsewhere. (Disclaimer: I don't clean theatres, and am not a theatre manager, but I would be extremely upset if I were a customer and were treated the way some of the customers in this thread have apparently been treated. And, yes, I do throw away my own trash in theatres.) As for slides/trailers telling customers to pick up litter--I don't necessarily have a problem with those, as they are merely "suggesting" that people do something (just like they "suggest" that people buy gift certificates) and, more importantly, they aren't personal insults to the customer.  |  IP: Logged Frank Dubrois Jedi Master Film Handler Posts: 896 From: Cleveland, OH Registered: Mar 2005 posted 08-24-2005 03:42 PM                    Its obvious we all have different viewpoints on this. If there are theaters out there that actually condone leaving crap on the floor, then great for them. Our houses are clean, and our cusomters appreciate it. In kids movies, some of the messiest around, what kind of message is a parent passing to their kids by leaving all their garbage on the floor? Do they allow that at home? Probably not. Why not? Cuz mommy and daddy dont want to clean up their mess anymore than WE want to clean up their kids mess. I'm actually very surprised at the amount of people here that are totally OK with people leaving garbage all over their floor. The restaurant analogy just doenst work for either... They are in the business to bring you your food and remove the plates when your done. WE are in the business of showing a movie, NOT serving food. My guess is this: If there was an usher standing in the auditorium WATCHING a specific customer, that customer would remember to grab their trash. The other customers would simply slip away under the cover of darkness. Anyone agree with that?  |  IP: Logged Wolff King Morrow Master Film Handler Posts: 490 From: Denton, TX, USA Registered: Feb 2004 posted 08-24-2005 03:59 PM                        My family has always taken trash to the can after a movie is over. Its the polite thing to do, but I don't expect anyone else to do it. What I do find rude is when people intentionally sling popcorn all over the place for the sake of being a pig. I've had to clean the stuff off my port windows, and those are 12 feet above the seats! I remember once when a group of teens sat in the back row while I was threading up the movie. All of the sudden, I saw a cloud of popcorn come crashing into the port glass and fall onto a good 20 or so seats below. I had the manager go in there and bust them, which they denied everything of course.  |  IP: Logged Brad Allen Jedi Master Film Handler Posts: 688 From: Evansville, IN, USA Registered: May 2000 posted 08-24-2005 03:59 PM                     Very well put Scott.  |  IP: Logged Jeremy Fuentes Mmmm, Dr. Pepper! Posts: 1168 From: Corpus Christi, TX United States Registered: Jan 2004 posted 08-24-2005 04:10 PM                     quote: Frank Dubrois WE are in the business of showing a movie, NOT serving food. Here's an idea, dont sell food and see how much longer you will be in business. Not much longer huh? We dont condone people leaving trash. We deal with the fact that its going to happen and we hire ushers to pick it up. The parent analogy works in the favor of my point of view. Its the parents job to clean up after their kids, until they are old enough to do it themselves, just like its our job to clean up after customers until the world is full of people who dont go to establishments to be waited on and served.  |  IP: Logged Frank Dubrois Jedi Master Film Handler Posts: 896 From: Cleveland, OH Registered: Mar 2005 posted 08-24-2005 06:15 PM                    Hey, if you condone people leaving crap around your auditoriums, great, I'm sure thats going to attract a certain kind of person (HEY lets go to XXXX Theater and trash the place, they dont care, they expect it). We hold our cusomters to a higher standard. We DON'T expect people to leave garbage on the floor like pigs. Ushers are there to clean up spills. Whether by accident OR on purpose, we do that. We dont hand a mop and bucket to people and tell them to clean their own mess just like if people get sick, WE clean that up too. We attempt to get people into the auditoriums in good time, we also find seats when the auditorium is crowded. We clean up the lobby to make it presentable and attractive to customers. We assist concession people when it gets busy. We are able to jump behind box and sell tickets if its busy. We answer customer questions and direct them to their movies. We remember faces of the people who have to leave for a minute to get something from the car. We open and close the doors so people can come and go freely without a door slamming in their face and allow traffic to flow freely. We dust, we mop, we resupply the concession stand, we are at the managers becken call....now I ask you, do we REALLY need to pick-up peoples popcorn buckets and nacho trays too? To expand on the restaurant analogy, perhaps if the ushers got TIPPED by every customer they picked up after, like a waiter in a restaurant, it would be more acceptable to leave your crap behind...but I dont know of any usher thats been tipped for their service. Most arent even paid a respectable wage by their employer. Am I an usher? no...but I did start as one. When people go out for a night of movies, that does not relieve them of the burden of being human beings.  |  IP: Logged Martin Brooks Jedi Master Film Handler Posts: 900 From: Forest Hills, NY, USA Registered: May 2002 posted 08-24-2005 06:38 PM                        I didn't say that you shouldn't pick up the customer's trash (I've complained when theaters haven't cleaned between shows), but I still think it's unacceptable the way many customers treat theaters. quote: Jeremy Jorgenson but I don't think a one line blurb before the film reminding them to pick up after themselves is going to change that. It won't change the worst offenders, but it does set a standard for what the "community" deems acceptable....same as the "turn off your cell phone" reminders. There will always be idiots too self-centered to shut off their phones and there will always be slobs, but I have no problem reminding people of what is acceptable. Yes, in a restaurant, we do expect the waiters to pick up our dirty dishes, but it is not considered acceptable to purposely dump your drink or food on the floor.  |  IP: Logged Frank Dubrois Jedi Master Film Handler Posts: 896 From: Cleveland, OH Registered: Mar 2005 posted 08-24-2005 07:22 PM                    I agree. I don't think the restuarant analogy is the best for THAT reason...and the fact that users dont get tipped like waiters.  |  IP: Logged Dustin Mitchell Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1865 From: Mondovi, WI, USA Registered: Mar 2000 posted 08-24-2005 08:45 PM                     1) I think its alright to be annoyed with customers in for not picking up their trash. Its not that hard to do, its just plain laziness to leave it sitting there. 2) I see nothing wrong with slides/policy trailes politely reminding customers to pick up their trash. 3) I do think its wrong to get into an argument with a customer on a face to face basis over picking up garbage.  |  IP: Logged Frank Dubrois Jedi Master Film Handler Posts: 896 From: Cleveland, OH Registered: Mar 2005 posted 08-24-2005 09:44 PM                    No one wants to argue with a cutomer, there always right!?! But I don't think that a polite "Oops, don't forget THAT (pointing to their crap on the floor" could be considered an arguement. Certainly if they decide not to pick it up, it falls to usher, but the fact that you noticed and pointed it, may make them a little more conscience about it next time, and the next time, and the time. Someday, maybe when their with their kids, or a date, they may for-go the embarrassment and just take the trash. I also don't think its a bad idea for usher to thank patrons for throwing their own trash out. A pat on the back will be remembered for a long time too.  |  IP: Logged Steve Guttag We forgot the crackers Gromit!!! Posts: 12814 From: Annapolis, MD Registered: Dec 1999 posted 08-24-2005 09:59 PM                     At the prices theatres charge for the food...the pick up service is built right in. Is it nice that some people pick up their trash...yes...should you be upset if they don't? Nope. That IS the establishment's responsibility.  |  IP: Logged David Stambaugh Film God Posts: 4021 From: Eugene, Oregon Registered: Jan 2002 posted 08-24-2005 10:23 PM                        Maybe a better analogy is the cleanup workers at a mall food court. Some people leave all kinds of crap on the tables, they spill food on the chairs and floor, and they generally make a mess. Should the food court workers, who by the way do not get tips, pester customers to clean up after themselves? They'd probably get fired if they did, and rightfully so. They've been hired to keep the food court clean. Ushers at modern theaters are hired to (among other things) clean up between shows. I agree that it's appalling what some people do as far as dumping their trash. But it's part of the business.  |  IP: Logged Wayne Keyser Master Film Handler Posts: 272 From: Arlington, Virginia, USA Registered: May 2004 posted 08-24-2005 11:04 PM                     The lot of ya - all 23 pages of ya - all seriously need a visit to www.customerssuck.com  |  IP: Logged

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