This is topic Complain to Who???? in forum Ground Level at Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE.


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Posted by Don Anderson (Member # 397) on 10-14-2003, 05:54 PM:
 
I've had a handful of people come up to me and complain about the quality of the movies showing at our local competition. Some of them claim they will never patronize that theatre again, others have asked where to write or email, or even call to lodge an offical complaint. My comment was to write to the theatre manager or management company and sound off. But, one guy told me he did that and got a re-admit pass, and doesn't want to see anything there again. Don't the studios notice that some theatres absolutely butcher the product?? I know that if I received a scratched print, I'd be on the phone in a heartbeat to get it replaced. And what about the next theatre in line to get this damaged print?? I've seen a butchered print of SeaBuscuit, and School of Rock at the theatre in question, usually on opening weekends. I really can't complain, because I see them for free. But, I can certainly see a movie goer who has shelled out $$$$ being more than upset. I just wish that the customer would vent there anger elsewhere, as I don't work for the guys down the street. I'm happy to say, that at least 99.9% of all movies I project will leave in the same condition received. Any idea who someone should sound off to?
 

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Posted by Chris Trainor (Member # 9) on 10-14-2003, 06:09 PM:
 
I say they should write to 3 places.

1: the theater in question (to get the free tix for the heck of it)

2: the studio that made the film in question.

3: the local newspaper.

Item 3 will have the most effect if done first and mentioned in letters to 1 and 2.

--Chris
 

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Posted by Mark Lensenmayer (Member # 134) on 10-14-2003, 06:09 PM:
 
I'm a patron, not a professional.

I used to complain, but it never did any good, unless it was a very small chain and I could get right to the owner. Now, they send passes that I just don't want to use, and they are never any good for the films I want to see when I want to see them.

I just refuse to patronize the theatres that do a poor job of presentation. Fortunately, things are much MUCH better than the older days when almost everything was poorly presented. I think most operators I patronize do a very good job. The I will never again go the any of the local Cinemark theatres or the local Regal theater. The Regal had the dimmest picture I've ever seen, and the nearest Cinemark butchered one presentation so badly I will never pay money for a film there again.

I do try to acknowledge good presentation by commenting on web pages or mentioning it to the manager on the way out of the theatre. They are usually surprised anyone noticed.

As for complaining to the newspaper, as long as the theatres are buying paid ads, I have found the papers won't make any mention of presentation, no matter how bad. They want to keep the dollars flowing.
 

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Posted by Paul G. Thompson (Member # 655) on 10-14-2003, 09:26 PM:
 
Ever since the corporations started "dumbing down the booths" or practice the motto, "At so-and-so, presentation quality does not matter" things have gone to hell in a handbasket. To add insult to injury, it will continue to be that way probably forever.

Corporations seem to be too stupid to catch on that it might be the reason why their grosses drop. But naturally, they just blame it on something else.

The Peter Principle at it's finest hour.

We have picked up a few customers because the competition has crappy presentations.
 

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Posted by Chris Trainor (Member # 9) on 10-14-2003, 09:28 PM:
 
Most newspapers I know of take pride in separating their ads from their 'news'. As long as your not totally slamming the theater I don't think it would really matter. Besides, most theater-owner types don't read past the ad pages.

--Chris
 

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Posted by Darryl Spicer (Member # 711) on 10-14-2003, 11:20 PM:
 
You know if I could clone myself and the other good people here on this site, every theater would be running flawlessly with the best presentations. Unfortunatly, that is not possable.

As for Cinemark, we try to get the best people we can to train in the booth. At least in my area. But sometimes that is just not possable or the ones you do train just don't stick around. A lot of people come to me for advice or training from other area Cinemarks and I hope the knowledge that I give them can be passed down to the people they train.

Cinemark used to have a very good booth training program that has now been replaced with training by area engineers. The problem with that is the fact that these engineers also have the responsability to do preventive maintenance and installs so they can not put forth a lot of time to go around training new people.

It all boils down to someone caring enough to make sure things get done right. I try to do that for my area and I hope others can do the same.
 

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Posted by Mark Lensenmayer (Member # 134) on 10-15-2003, 06:35 AM:
 
Darryl,

My apologies, I was not clear. I did not mean to imply that all Cinemarks are bad. I know of some outside of this area that are very well run. The son of one of my co-workers is a Cinemark manager, and a very very good one. At one time, they were the finest theatres in the area, and the only place I would go see a film. This was during the early-mid '90's. The one I have referred to had 2 very well set-up THX houses, and was the first in the area to install DTS. And I miss Front-Row Joe.

But, now they are some of those not-really-Cinemark theaters, that look like Cinemarks, but don't have that name anywhere. Only a few of the rooms have digital sound, and when last I was there, it looked very run-down. I don't know how well it is doing, but there are always lots of spaces in the parking lot.
 

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Posted by Darryl Spicer (Member # 711) on 10-15-2003, 11:40 AM:
 
I think my above comments can be aplied to anyone or any company out there with the issues of maintaining presontations. If you care enough about what you are doing presentation levels should be quality. Unfortunatly cloning is out of the question so we are stuck with bad apples in the apple cart for every exhibitor out there.

Mark I sent you a private message.

I miss Front Row Joe too. It was to me original thinking.
 

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Posted by Dennis Benjamin (Member # 1137) on 10-15-2003, 03:07 PM:
 
I would make it a point to know the following information at a movie theatre that I patronize:

The General Manager's name (office phone number and work schedule)
The Division Manager's name (office phone number)

Any company (or employee) that cannot provide me with the above information has something to hide. I find that going to the highest in the chain of command ususally has the quickest results. If the problem is extremely serious in regards to presentation I would contact the film company.
 

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Posted by Bobby Henderson (Member # 840) on 10-15-2003, 05:14 PM:
 
Complaining to newspapers will get you nowhere. Most are not ever going to say anything bad to a theater operator at all, especially when he is paying his advertising contract on a timely basis.

To be fair, the theater manager should be the first recipient of a complaint. If he is fair about the issue and tries to do something to fix the problem, then there is no need getting his bosses or other parties involved.

If that fails, take it up with the theater company's district manager. Then take it to the division manager or write directly to the home office of that circuit.

It is a crapshoot writing a film distributor, particularly if you send the letter to a Los Angeles or New York office. If a customer is going to take up the problem with the distributor, he is more likely to get real results by writing the branch office which oversees regional distribution. In my case, if I have a gripe I am more than likely writing to an office in Dallas, not Los Angeles.

For more immediate results, sending a fax might work. I did that when complaining to the Fox branch office in Dallas they were fixing to jip the Carmike 8 here out of "Independence Day" in spite of the allocation process that stated the Carmike was supposed to get the film. I also simultaneously fired off letters to Carmike's district manager and home office as well. It turned out some books were not updated and Lawton was still listed as only having the "Video Triple" 3-plex as Carmike's location.

To make that long point short, if a customer is not satisfied he needs to let someone know about it. But do it in a respectful manner and give at least 1 attempt of going through the chain of command.
 

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Posted by Mike Blakesley (Member # 26) on 10-16-2003, 06:44 PM:
 
The regional newspaper here (Billings Gazette) not only will print letters complaining about the theatres in Billings (which are all Carmikes) but they have a columnist, Ed Kemmick, who occasionally includes mentions in his column deriding their crappy presentation! His favortite dumping ground is their dollar house. I posted one of his articles on here somewhere.

And yup, Carmike is a daily advertiser with them.
 

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Posted by Gerard S. Cohen (Member # 994) on 10-17-2003, 07:06 PM:
 
Though it would not have a short-term advantage, I wish patrons not getting their money's worth because of poor presentation or service, would complain to the Better Business Bureau and their local Chamber of Commerce.

The BBB service is free, and they keep a record of complaints, so if people would use it, you could call them and get their history of complaints about theatre X before you shell out for tickets. (The BBB does charge a small fee if you request a written report, but I found telephone inquiry to be free.)

Once I shipped a car from New York to Texas, and was promised delivery in five days. When the days multiplied without explanation, and the shippers replied with obscenities, I complained to the BBB, the District Attorney's Fraud Bureau, and NY State and Federal transportation authorities. I learned the BBB had received 16 complaints in the last six months, and that the authorities were monitoring the shippers and investigating them for multiple violations of regulations.

The car was delivered over a month late, but I had the satisfaction of knowing that I may have helped prevent others from being given such irresponsible treatment. (Still, I wish I had investigated the shipper's reputation ahead of time.)
 

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Posted by Bobby Henderson (Member # 840) on 10-18-2003, 01:27 AM:
 
I can see some merits in complaining to a local chamber of commerce or the BBB. However, the person complaining is somewhat likely to run into some idiot who doesn't care about good film presentation. "What difference does it make, you don't need all that surround stuff anyway," is the kind of crap I have heard from some people. "I just go for the story," is another lame-ass excuse. Yeah I go for the story too. But I do like it when I can hear the sound properly and the image is bright and sharply focused.

When commenting about theaters I prefer, I have heard dissenting comments like "they don't run their air conditioning cold enough, so I go to the old theater instead." "Their popcorn doesn't taste as good." "Their urinal cakes aren't as minty fresh as the men's room in the dump of a theater I like." "They won't let me bring my goat into the theater, I curse them so they'll never get to a World Series!"

Some people will actually come up with any excuse they can make to keep going to a bad theater. The only thing I can figure is they are too stubborn with pride to admit they've been wasting their money. So they'll keep buying a crappy product just to keep from admitting they were wrong.

I think it takes people who care about film and know about film-tech stuff to get problems with bad theaters or just bad presentation solved.
 

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Posted by William Hooper (Member # 71) on 10-20-2003, 01:45 AM:
 

quote:

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Once I shipped a car from New York to Texas

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quote:

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But what do you mean by the "Good guys?"
Are there any? If so, how do you find them?

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