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Author Topic: Customers miffed - had to wait for box office to open Mike Croaro Master Film Handler Posts: 394 From: Millbrae, CA Registered: Apr 2005 posted 10-08-2012 02:46 PM                     Sam, yes, I mentioned this to the first girl who came up. I may have also mentioned it to the young man but I don't remember. Monty, My thoughts were the same as your on the "instant gratafication" mentality of young people today. Everyone else, thanks for your comments. Mike  |  IP: Logged Edward Havens Jedi Master Film Handler Posts: 614 From: Los Angeles, CA Registered: Mar 2008 posted 10-11-2012 03:28 PM                     Maybe it's the area. We don't have customers like that at our theatre, 70mi to the northeast.  |  IP: Logged Eric Hooper Jedi Master Film Handler Posts: 532 From: Fort Worth, TX, USA Registered: May 2003 posted 10-13-2012 03:15 PM                     I've been through this senario both at the 21 & the 22. I was at the 22 to see a big blockbuster on opening weekend, and the first show was at 11:30am. They did not open the box office until 11:12am. They had a huge long line of people (about 30-40) waiting outside in the cold and rain. Many people in line were pissed that they were made to wait outside. And then it took about 15 minutes just to go through the line to get to the box office to buy a ticket. This creates a lot of unnecessary anxiety for their customers....who are supposed to be there for a fun and enjoyable experience. Customer's want time to use the restroom, and purchase concessions. They also want time to find their seats. What the Winchester theatres does is in my opinon very insulting. The box office should open at least a minimum of a half hour before showtime, especially on the weekends. What's more hilarious, is once they open, and the first showings of the movies start, then the box office attendant just sits there reading a book. A better use of labor would have been to open the box office earlier, and then have the box office attendant do other duties in while movies are showing.... But, I'm just a customer, what do I know....  |  IP: Logged Joe Redifer You need a beating today Posts: 12859 From: Denver, Colorado Registered: May 99 posted 10-13-2012 04:15 PM                        At the now-closed Regency Tamarac Square 6 we opened 15 minutes before whatever the first show was. We would tell people this when they tried to open the doors before they were ready. Staff arrived around 1 hour to 45 minutes before the first show and myself a half hour (if I was opening). I don't think we had any signs on th edoors but we did list it on our website which is still there even though the theater's been closed for nearly 2 years.  |  IP: Logged Randy Stankey Film God Posts: 6539 From: Erie, Pennsylvania Registered: Jun 99 posted 10-13-2012 05:06 PM                     quote: Eric Hooper Customer's want time to use the restroom, and purchase concessions. Ding! Ding! Ding! There you go! How much better off would the theater be if a couple-few more people dropped by the concession stand and spent a few bucks? It's a trade off. Save 15 minutes worth of payroll or get an extra $25 bucks in the till. Working in a one screener, it's easy to see how my actions affect sales. Even if I have the concession stand all spiffed up and ready with the popcorn popper turned on and the lights on and the counter all clean and spiffy, people will not stop to buy popcorn if they think they'll be late for the movie. If I stand by the counter and ask people if they would like some popcorn as they go by, they often say they don't want to be late. 99% of the time, when I tell them that I am the one who starts the movie and that I won't start it without them, they'll stop and buy a snack. If people feel like they are being rushed, they won't buy anything but they will if they think they have more time. The saying, "Time equals money," cuts both ways.  |  IP: Logged Edward Havens Jedi Master Film Handler Posts: 614 From: Los Angeles, CA Registered: Mar 2008 posted 10-14-2012 11:58 AM                     quote: Randy Stankey How much better off would the theater be if a couple-few more people dropped by the concession stand and spent a few bucks? I guess it depends on the theatre and the movie(s) its playing. I'm sure if the management and its home office operations department felt it was worth opening the snack bar 30mins before the first show instead of 15mins, they'd be doing it. We open a half hour early at my theatre, and we close the snack bar when he close the doors, twenty minutes after the start of the last show, except for nights when we know we'll have a large late-evening crowd, when we'll keep the snack bar open up to an hour later. Does this work for every theatre? No.  |  IP: Logged Frank Cox Film God Posts: 2234 From: Melville Saskatchewan Canada Registered: Apr 2011 posted 10-14-2012 12:21 PM                        I guess it's different when you have to pay an employee to man it, but my concession is open from the minute that I unlock the door before the show until everyone is gone after it's over. I sell popcorn to people who walk in off of the street, as well as to people after the show who want some to take home. And since I'm sitting right there anyway, it would be silly to not be selling stuff when people ask for it.  |  IP: Logged Randy Stankey Film God Posts: 6539 From: Erie, Pennsylvania Registered: Jun 99 posted 10-14-2012 12:40 PM                     I agree. You have to look at your situation and decide based on your circumstances. What I'm saying is that you have to ask that question and decide based on conditions. You can't just set your opening policy because "that's the way we've always done it." You have to occasionally reevaluate.  |  IP: Logged Graham Ritchie Film Handler Posts: 54 From: Christchurch, New Zealand Registered: Apr 2009 posted 10-14-2012 03:55 PM                     For the twelve years I did projecting until closer last year I cant remember any complaints. We were part of a shopping mall with just three screens, but had a sign up to state the time of opening. I used to start half an hour before the first screening, the downstairs staff fifteen minutes. However if we had a private or it was school holidays "get that popcorn going" we arrived a lot earlier. What has been said about "communication" is spot on. If I arrived and customers were hanging around I would have a wee chat with them, people generally I have found to be pretty good. Only time I can recall customers being reluctant was during the spate of strong earthquakes and aftershocks the building was sometimes acting like a bouncy castle . I remember one morning it was really quiet and we had a family on holiday from the US. The cashier suggested I show them around the projection room...so I did, not only that but instructed them how to start the Kinoton and do a manual lights down and scope change, watch the screen for the last flat trl then hit the buttons and said to the kid, I will leave you and your mom to do it. It was funny to watch from a distance they really did concentrate on getting the timing right.. and enjoyed the time spent in the projection room and left with our traditional give away strip of 35mm film. Graham.  |  IP: Logged Randy Stankey Film God Posts: 6539 From: Erie, Pennsylvania Registered: Jun 99 posted 10-14-2012 11:20 PM                     I think that the desire for instant gratification has a lot to do with this phenomenon, too, but the anonymity of the internet, technology and modern society have a lot to do with it. We can sit in front of our TV or computer without need to make contact with other people and socialize. People get used to doing what they want, when they want and the way they want without consequence to other people. They can be rude and obnoxious but nobody will care. Then, these people go out into the real world and think they can act the same way they do at home. These are the idiots who come knocking on our doors and bitching that we haven't opened the theater at the time of their choosing without ever reading the sign posted on the door, six inches under their nose. These are probably the same kinds of idiots we talk about in the "Stupid Customers" thread. (Likely some of the very same people in both! ) To add insult to injury, consider the typical megaplex movie theater. Regardless of the chain, they are probably the most impersonal and sterile businesses in our society. People can walk in, buy a ticket and sit down in an auditorium, potentially, without saying more than two words to anybody, let alone being attended to by anybody past the box office or concession stand. (Sometimes the box office IS the concession stand!) This whole setup reinforces anonymity, bad behavior and desire for instant gratification. Thinking about the idea of communication, customer service at all levels of the theater and Graham's excellent example of giving a booth tour, I've come to consider whether the idea of one-on-one communication with customers is going to be the premium service businesses offer to their clientele. We have things like ATMs and vending machines. There are automatic car washes and all sorts of coin-op devices where people can go, do business without ever speaking to another human. I think that some of the phenomenon I have noticed in my small theater are side effects from just that. Nearly every customer who comes in receives personal service. They get to talk to a live human at nearly every point during their visit. I'm starting to believe that personal service is going to be the premium service that business offer. Even today, theatergoers can put their ATM cards into a machine to receive their tickets. If you go into a bank and speak to a live teller, they might even charge you a fee for speaking with a live human! When might the "privilege" of buying your tickets from a live box office clerk be a premium service that theaters charge a fee for?  |  IP: Logged Mike Blakesley Film God Posts: 12767 From: Forsyth, Montana Registered: Jun 99 posted 10-15-2012 12:35 AM                        quote: Randy Stankey They get to talk to a live human at nearly every point during their visit. That's the way it is here, too, but some people (tourists, mostly) are clearly uncomfortable with this. They get all fumbly and don't know what to say. The weirdest thing is our telephone line. We've had an answering machine for 30 years but we do answer the phone "live" when we are open. It's amazing how many times the phone rings, we answer, and they just hang up without a word. Then about 30 seconds later, they've had time to get their act together and they call again...this time they say "What time is the show tonight?" or whatever. Or else they'll say "Oh! Uh, uh, well I was expecting the recording." To which I'll say "What can I help you with?" and sometimes they'll hang up on me at that point and then call back a minute later.  |  IP: Logged Randy Stankey Film God Posts: 6539 From: Erie, Pennsylvania Registered: Jun 99 posted 10-15-2012 02:05 AM                     Yeah, I get a lot of hang-ups and surprised people on the phone. My box office isn't in a glass enclosed booth. It's behind the visitor information desk, off to the side. I'm a lot more up close and personal than the usual setup.  |  IP: Logged Manny Knowles "What are these things and WHY are they BLUE???" Posts: 4247 From: Bloomington, IN, USA Registered: Feb 2002 posted 10-15-2012 07:51 AM                     I would have been annoyed. I think it's reasonable for customers to expect the box office to be open 30min before first show. And, if there is no signage to clearly indicate when the box office will open, I think it's reasonable for them to be confused and grumpy about it. It's probably natural for "theatre people" to want to make excuses for other theatre people but, in this case, I have to disagree. Seems like a late start.  |  IP: Logged Graham Ritchie Film Handler Posts: 54 From: Christchurch, New Zealand Registered: Apr 2009 posted 10-16-2012 04:08 AM                     Years ago somebody said to me that your cinema should be the "People's Choice" and those two words have always stuck in my mind. My thinking is that it does not matter how much cinema competition you might have nearby, its that personal approach that wins out and will bring people back Just before we closed down due to further mall developement, we put up a sign to let folk know that we were soon to be closing. I was surprised at the responce from the public over those final weeks, we had many people say how much they had enjoyed coming over the years and in particular the staff working behind the counter. The reason I mention this, and as I said to the staff at the time that it proved to me that we had been doing things right. I dont know of cinemas that have an Usher to take your tickets and show you to your seats these days, we always did during the school holidays, as the kids sessions were often sold out. Once again its that personal thing that folk like, even to the point of bringing in coffee etc into the cinema "taking note of the seat number" that folk had bought if things got really busy at the counter and were getting a bit behind. On the last night we had a young kid come up to the counter with his dad with a box of cookies, he and his mum had made earlier that afternoon for the staff. It was a really nice touch to finish on and it says a lot for the staff that worked there.  |  IP: Logged Eric Hooper Jedi Master Film Handler Posts: 532 From: Fort Worth, TX, USA Registered: May 2003 posted 10-24-2012 09:02 PM                     Pathetic Winchester theatres cant even manage to book Cloud Atlas...it's like they WANT to go out of business! What another waste of the large domes and large screens...  |  IP: Logged

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