Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: Broken Seats

This is topic Broken Seats in forum Ground Level at Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE.

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Posted by Claude S. Ayakawa (Member # 1401) on 04-13-2009, 08:38 PM:

I can excuse very old theatres that are doing borderline business for not having the funds to fix broken seats but to find a theatre like the Ward 16 considered the 'in' place to see movies in Honolulu to have broken seats is something I cannot understand. The Ward is a very beautiful complex and I was commissioned to photograph the grand opening a couple of years ago when Los Angeles based, Pacific Theatres had operated them. Until I cut down on seeing movies in theatres, I used to go there a lot and was there about two months ago to see MY BLOODY VALENTINE 3-D when I noticed the broken seat. When I say broken, they are the seats that slope down when you sit on them. Generally there is no problem if there is a better seat next to the broken one but what is a person to do if one is forced to park his or her butt in that uncomfortable seat for the next two hours when the house is packed?

-Claude

Posted by Mike Blakesley (Member # 26) on 04-14-2009, 12:29 AM:

Get a refund, come back to a later show. Ask the management to mark that seat as out-of-order.

Who knows, the damage could've happened at a very recent show and management hasn't noticed it yet. I've had seats be broken before but you couldn't tell it by just looking; somebody has to sit in it. Management shouldn't be expected to go around and test-sit every seat every day.

Posted by Claude S. Ayakawa (Member # 1401) on 04-14-2009, 02:27 PM:

Mike, I have done that many times in all the years I have been going to the movies but nothing has been done.

-Claude

Posted by Justin Hamaker (Member # 2165) on 04-14-2009, 02:55 PM:

I know at my theatre, I just don't have the spare parts to fix the type of problem your talking about. The theatre is 12+ years old and as far as I can tell, Seating Concepts just doesn't make that type of seat anymore.

It is possible this theatre doesn't have any spare parts and even if the parts are available from the manufacturer, they may not be willing to buy a minimum quantity.

Of course it's always possible they have lazy or incapable management.

Posted by Mike Blakesley (Member # 26) on 04-14-2009, 03:05 PM:

I guess I would report that fact (that nothing has been done) to the regional manager of that chain, and if that doesn't get action, I'd make a hobby out of going up and up the ladder until I got somebody who cared.

Beyond that, I don't know what to tell you... I guess the next step would be "move to the mainland."

It's sad to hear that moviegoing has deteriorated to such a state in Hawaii.

Posted by Claude S. Ayakawa (Member # 1401) on 04-14-2009, 03:46 PM:

I would not say that, Mike. Although I had noticed damaged seats at several Consolidated Theatres including their Flagship, the Ward 16, I have not noticed damage seats either at the Regal Dole Cannery or at their Pearl Highland near where I live in leeward Oahu. Many years ago when Consolidated was operated by Pacific Theatres, my good friend Alan Sakaida who was in charge of their Projection and Sound department used to read my posts here at Film Tech. I do not know if he is still there when Reading International bought the company but let us hope either he or others in Management at Reading does read this thread and do something about damage seats in their theatres.

-Claude

Posted by Chris Slycord (Member # 4239) on 04-14-2009, 04:31 PM:

My guess is that they'll care even less about your post here than you mentioning it in person.

Posted by John Wilson (Member # 269) on 04-14-2009, 05:14 PM:

quote: Mike Blakesley
I guess the next step would be "move to the mainland."

Yuk yuk yuk... [Smile]

Posted by Christopher Crouch (Member # 3784) on 04-15-2009, 01:15 AM:

Not necessarily related to the specific incident cited, but I've encountered theatres (even chains) that have chronic seat maintenance problems due to a combination of the original installation being done poorly and not enough resources being made available to keep up with the issue.

Unfortunately, many modern theatres' seating is installed at the "last minute"; almost every theatre opening I've been involved with featured a race to install seats, often finishing up just in time to open for business. Not surprisingly, this practice often results in mistakes and lower quality. In turn, the poorly installed seating becomes an ever worsening problem, as time passes. If such a theatre doesn't have the necessary personel or budgetary allowances to handle the issue, things can quickly get out of hand. While many operators readily sign off on quick/cheap work, they are less receptive to adequately investing in the needed upkeep of it's aftermath.

Posted by Poon Limpapun (Member # 4551) on 05-03-2009, 02:48 PM:

What we do here is random check and if a seat is found broken, we usually take the parts of one of the seat in the front rows and wait until the spare part arrives because no one usually sit in the front row anyways and plus we have assigned seating and dont want to loose space at the back of the house due to a single broken seat.