Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: Theatre Thinks It Has Digital But Doesn't

This is topic Theatre Thinks It Has Digital But Doesn't in forum Film Handlers' Forum at Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE.

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Posted by Manny Knowles (Member # 1171) on 12-19-2003, 07:52 PM:

True Story.

What if you went in to service a theatre owned by a new client who was very proud of the recent Dolby Digital upgrades...

...the owner was sure to mention that they just got SRD...
...the manager was sure to mention it, too...
...there's a Dolby Digital plaque mounted in the lobby...

What do you do when you show up there and the rack tells a different tale?

It turns out they have Dolby CP45 processors and Jaxlites in those theatres.

They may have paid for SRD and got shortchanged in the installation or else maybe they are just ignorant about cinema sound and their equipment, in which case an education should be a good thing for them.

Who knows? They may want SRD so badly that they go in on a proper upgrade and then you get a sale out of the deal.

But what if they get depressed about having their bubble burst -- or angry at being lied to by their salesman? This puts you in hot water with the dealer. (Maybe not such a bad thing if he's a crook.)

What if the theatre owner decides to "shoot the messenger" and then you never work there again?

I am curious to know how *you* would handle this.

Posted by John Anastasio (Member # 607) on 12-19-2003, 08:17 PM:

I'd think they'd appreciate your honesty. If you don't set them straight, someone else eventually will and you'll end up looking the fool for it. Be a professional and let them know the truth. I think you'll gain their respect....and probably their continued business.

Posted by Steve Guttag (Member # 268) on 12-19-2003, 08:35 PM:

That one is pretty cut and dried...You should tell them...they are false advertising whether they know it or not.

Steve

Posted by Paul G. Thompson (Member # 655) on 12-19-2003, 08:37 PM:

I fully agree with John.

Posted by Joe Redifer (Member # 3) on 12-19-2003, 08:50 PM:

I agree with the others. Also I would be interested in finding out who sold them the equipment and if the dealer told them it was Dolby Digital, or if a misunderstanding took place somewhere. If they are certain that the dealer told them Dolby Digital, I'd ask them to look at the receipts, and if they charged for SRD then I'd recommend suing.

Suing solves every problem.

Posted by John McConnel (Member # 2000) on 12-19-2003, 09:12 PM:

Maybe the dealer told them "It'd be just as good as digital,", but all they heard was "digital".

I had one dealer tell me that sound from a good jaxlite installation could be distinguished from digital only by those with the most acute hearing. Hummm?

Posted by Martin Brooks (Member # 1269) on 12-19-2003, 09:23 PM:

But I would be totally professional with your reply. I would not say, for example, "well your asshole dealer cheated you" because you don't really know the circumstances.

You might want to say something like, "Do you have your purchase order or the invoice for this equipment? I want to double check that your order came with every everything you were supposed to receive." And then, in the most conversational manner, "perhaps you had a bit of communications gap with your distributor, but while the CP45 is a great unit, unless you also have a DA20, you're only playing back the SR-D analog track."

Posted by Phil Hill (Member # 371) on 12-19-2003, 09:41 PM:

Manny, I'm totally surprised you had to ask that question...

Of course, the proper and professional thing to do is tell them what you see and found in a neutral way.

Let them to decide what to do about it.

>>> Phil

Posted by Mark Gulbrandsen (Member # 72) on 12-19-2003, 10:01 PM:

Manny,

You should ask them to see the original dealers sales order for yourself and assist these confused people out of a possible serious jam, or correct them on what was bought and whats actually there if necessary.

I'd have to add that the dealer that handled this ought to be hung out to dry. Any dealer thats at all honest would never ever leave any custuomer this confused. With out any doubt if the sales order said SRD equpment was sold and installed, and the theatre paid for it but its not actually there, the dealer ought to be exposed here on this forum as they are actually theifs.

Mark

Posted by Joe Redifer (Member # 3) on 12-19-2003, 10:14 PM:

Yes, let us know what happens.

Posted by Bobby Henderson (Member # 840) on 12-19-2003, 10:19 PM:

One thing is certain: the situation needs immediate attention. All the theater needs is a pesky customer like myself walking up to the back row of the auditorium, peeking through the port glass and seeing for myself they really don't have Dolby Digital. A theater trying to sell itself as a real quality place cannot afford bad worth of mouth traveling from customers. They either need to put in a real Dolby Digital system or stop their false advertising right away.

quote:
I had one dealer tell me that sound from a good jaxlite installation could be distinguished from digital only by those with the most acute hearing.

You're right to question that line of baloney, and I would with more than "hmmmm." One fellow I know was trying to extoll the virtues of LED analog track readers and how they made it so you don't need any of that expensive digital surround stuff. My guess is he was parroting the line the equipment dealer told him.

Posted by Randy Stankey (Member # 64) on 12-19-2003, 10:30 PM:

Consider that the dealer/installer may have said that the system is "Digital READY", meaning that he only had to slap in the DA-20 and hook up a reader, etc, etc. The customer heard only the "Digital" part of that and assumed that they ALREADY HAD digital.

The reason I mention is because I used to get lots of questions from people asking my why their "AirPort Ready" Macs didn't work right. They were disappointed when they learned that an AirPort card ("Wi-Fi") is an extra purchase.

I wonder if you're in the same situation?

Thus, I would suggest as much tact as you can muster until you find out what the theater people THINK they have and how they were led to believe that.

Posted by Manny Knowles (Member # 1171) on 12-19-2003, 11:01 PM:

Sometimes you just need to double-check and get some encouragement.

Thanks!

Posted by Brad Miller (Member # 2) on 12-19-2003, 11:15 PM:

A recent thread tell the tale of Dolby having full lists of where their systems were installed and that those lists were absolutely flawless all of the time. Why not just ask them? [Wink]

Posted by Gordon McLeod (Member # 33) on 12-19-2003, 11:27 PM:

Give them an accurate report of the equipment that is installed and its capabilities and its limitations.
Then give them a list (quote) on what it will take to make it digital
Often I see owners tell you one thing when in fact they new full well what they had bought

Posted by Rick Long (Member # 213) on 12-20-2003, 02:10 AM:

If you don't tell them the truth and the next visitor to the booth does, aren't they gonna wonder about you too?

Posted by Robert E. Allen (Member # 1351) on 12-20-2003, 02:40 AM:

My thought exactly Rick. If Manny wants to develop a good reputation he has no choice but to tell them the truth. [thumbsup]

Posted by Jack Ondracek (Member # 1466) on 12-20-2003, 03:14 AM:

Wait a sec...
If the owner isn't getting Jaxed around [Big Grin]

then where, exactly, did he get ahold of the SRD plaque he's displaying in his lobby? If the dealer left it behind after installing whatever he did put in that booth, I'd think there'd be a pretty clear foundation for fraud there.

Posted by Frank Angel (Member # 248) on 12-20-2003, 11:47 AM:

I say, tell them they've really got a great deal...tell them they actually have 70MM!! [Wink]

Sounds like they will believe anything.

But seriously, why would anyone get angry if they are alerted to a con? If you don't tell them and they keep getting ripped off by this service company and then they later find out about it, the big question from them to you would be, "So, how come you didn't tell us? It could only be: 1) you are too dumb to know we got ripped off, or 2) you were part of the con." Either way you will not fair well, to say nothing of the moral imperative to let them in on their little misfortune.

I just found out that an installer sold the museum a used lens for a new Eiki video projector, and an incorrectly sized one at that. That's a $3000 rip-off. It would be uncontionable of me if I didn't point this out to them.

Talking about looking at original invoices, I just came across one of the original invoices for the booth build 10 years ago in this same museum. The museum was billed for 6 exciter lamps. Cost -- $65 EACH. I guess some people just look like easy marks.

Posted by Richard Fowler (Member # 893) on 12-20-2003, 12:46 PM:

Exciter lamp list price...but in the bulb business who has ever bought at list. [Smile]

I see on some web-sites "rare" exciters are going for $100.00.....

Posted by Tim Reed (Member # 137) on 12-20-2003, 04:28 PM:

Sell them a DTS "upgrade" for a few thousand. Not too many pigeons come along these days.

[Razz]

Posted by Jean-Michel Grin (Member # 1360) on 12-21-2003, 06:02 AM:

One time, our boss told us to play digital trailers SRD, DTS, SDDS before the main feature, even the theather was not equiped with digital sound ! [Eek!]