Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: Problems with Consolidated in Chicagoland

This is topic Problems with Consolidated in Chicagoland in forum Ground Level at Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE.

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Posted by Matt Whitney (Member # 2909) on 06-26-2007, 02:01 PM:

All of our grey cans come in from Consolidated & Standard Trucking. I was wondering how many on this forum in the Chicagoland area get their prints from them, and if you've had any problems dealing with them. It seems whenever I call to ask about a delivery that hasn't arrived in the usual time frame, or to get a replacement for a bad print, I get nothing but attitude from this company. They are rude and only begrudgingly help. Has anyone else noticed this, or are we the only theatre that gets treated this way?

Posted by Mike Spaeth (Member # 524) on 06-26-2007, 09:57 PM:

So change trucking companies. You shouldn't be calling the delivery service about print replacement anyways. That should be coordinated between your booker and the studio or the depot itself.

Posted by Matt Whitney (Member # 2909) on 06-26-2007, 11:11 PM:

Believe me, there's more than one company I would no longer do business with were it my decision. Unfortunately, it isn't. I'm sure the same goes for other managers of chain theaters. So I'm just curious about others experiences.

Posted by Frank Dubrois (Member # 3042) on 07-15-2007, 10:59 PM:

It's funny how all the responses seemed to assume that the person posting or making a complaint or asking a question OWNS the theatre.

Posted by Mike Blakesley (Member # 26) on 07-16-2007, 09:28 AM:

Well, when a person asks a question, forum members naturally assume that the questioner has the authority to apply the suggested solutions to solve the problem.

That said, he didn't really ask for a solution....just if anyone else had the same problem.

Posted by Charles Phillips (Member # 2594) on 07-16-2007, 07:42 PM:

Matt, You're not the only theater they treat this way. The theater I'm with has had several problems with them. With the way they treat their customers, I'm hoping DFS (or whatever it is ETS is now) will cancel the contract with them.

Posted by Allison Parsons (Member # 2728) on 07-21-2007, 04:31 PM:

Matt,

oh the issues we've had to deal with from them. Years ago when I worked at a dollar house, we wouldn't recieve films till 1 or 2am. Now I work at a first run house and before we went to all digital, our prints would come in around 11pm, which isn't all that bad, especially on a wednsday night. The same guy who delieverd our prints at the sub-run house, still delivers them to us now (when we get film). I'm wondering if it's the same dude you guys deal with since I know he does quite a lot of delieveries around IL.

Posted by John Hawkinson (Member # 1135) on 07-23-2007, 07:03 AM:

Charles Phillips said, "I'm hoping DFS...will cancel the contract with them."

My understanding is a bit imprecise, but I don't think DFS has much of a "contract" with the local trucking companies. In most localities there are several, and you (the theatre) have chosen to hire one of them, and DFS will use whatever you ask for (including FedEx, "will call"--you pick it up yourself--, etc.).

Furthermore, generally these trucking companies bill the theatre directly, not through DFS.

If you're having trouble, call up DFS at 800-734-3969 (or perhaps your local depot) and ask who the other companies are for your region. Call up the other guys and mention you're unhappy with your current service and ask for a quote. Then you can always go back to your current vendor and mention you're thinking about switching, could they improve the service?

If you do switch, though, be sure to ask about scheduling. You don't want to be last on the list of late Thursday deliveries.

--jhawk