quote: Mike Blakesley

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If people arrive early (they're waiting on the sidewalk when we get there), we just tell them "We'll be open in about three minutes" and they're always very understanding that we need to get ready.

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Communication!
 

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Posted by Monte L Fullmer (Member # 2797) on 10-07-2012, 11:27 PM:
 
As you noticed, that the category of age determined this "being miffed" group of people.

Outside of the ones that were in their '20's, the high school kids haven't learned logic, patience and understanding yet.

Or, being so used in the ' massive instant service', of: smartphones (including the maniac purchases of the iFone 5 - like an addiction so massively horrible-more horrible than all of the drug addicts), internet, McDonalds and similar, that they simply are out of touch of knowing the attributes of 'growing up'.

When, I used to open as mgr, I would post a signage on the door of when doors would unlock for business. This kept the impatient at bay real well.
 

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Posted by Mark Hajducki (Member # 1732) on 10-08-2012, 09:27 AM:
 
The waiting environment is also important, if the customers have to wait outside on the pavement without any shelter from the rain etc. they are likely to be a lot less happy than if they are waiting in an enclosed shopping centre.
 

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Posted by Aaron Garman (Member # 1653) on 10-08-2012, 10:36 AM:
 
Yeah, all communication. I mean, I'd expect most places to be open 30 minutes prior (we open 1 hour) but as long as it is communicated clearly, no problem.

I find it hilarious that these folks were mad it wasn't open. They must have extraordinarily busy lives.

AJG
 

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Posted by Martin McCaffery (Member # 37) on 10-08-2012, 10:38 AM:
 
My policy is to open 1/2 hour before the show. Sometimes if I'm ready, I'll open a few minutes early. Usually if people are really early they got the showtimes wrong, though I am surprised by the number of people who do come more than a half an hour early to get tix afraid it is going to sell out. I've been her 27 years and we've sold out six times. Five for Greek Wedding.
I'll let people wait in the lobby while I open.
Surprisingly, the only people who complain about people waiting are my board members, who are usually only there for the special events where we may have a line of as many as ten people! These board members think I should open an hour before the show so no one ever has to wait in line.
There's customer service and then there's overkill
 

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Posted by Jack Ondracek (Member # 1466) on 10-08-2012, 10:49 AM:
 
I think the point's been made in one word; "communications:.

That said... we can put 4 lanes of cars down one side of our drive-in and all the way across the front before they spill out onto the highway. My wife gets excited about opening if the line gets halfway down the side. It's not necessarily the wait on the customers' side (though that does come into it), but the buffer it removes from us if we don't have extra people to man a ticket line.

With that flexibility built-in, we publish open times nearly 2 hours before we start the show (good for concessions). In practice, we're usually open 15 to 30 minutes early.
 

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Posted by Barry Floyd (Member # 385) on 10-08-2012, 11:02 AM:
 
At my drive-in, we open 1 1/2 - 2 hours prior to the first show of the night. Since we are in essence a "fast food restaurant that happens to show movies in the parking lot", it's our goal to get folks in, get them parked, get them fed, and then back out to the lot to get settled in to watch the shows.

Inevitably, 1/3 of the nights crowds typically trickle in during the first hour to hour and 15 minutes. The other 2/3rd's show up 15-30 minutes before showtime, complain about "all the good parking spots are taken", "the lines are long in the concessions area", "we ought to be given our food for free for having to wait in line", "they really need to delay the start time of the movie until we get our food", etc. Totally impatient, usually rude, and typically 18-35 years in age.

The folks who show up early do get the good spots, never have to wait in line for food, and never miss any of the show.

What gets me the most is when folks think they are automatically entitled to something for free because of their lack of forethought and planning.
 

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Posted by Sam Graham (Member # 2889) on 10-08-2012, 12:26 PM:
 
Just curious...Since you knew the box office typically opened 15 minutes before showtime, did you share that information with them when they openly complained, or just silently observe?
 

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Posted by Buck Wilson (Member # 5885) on 10-08-2012, 02:15 PM:
 
We open 30 minutes before first show, and have a sign posted right below the showtimes on the box office window. I've noticed it's typically middle-aged women who think they own the place who complain the most. Up to and including violently shaking the locked doors, yelling, and stupid gestures such as pointing at their watch or at box office.

I enjoy going over and politely telling them that we don't open for another 10 minutes, watching the look on their face as I point at the sign they say isn't there, right in front of their face. Classic.
 

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Posted by Mike Croaro (Member # 3123) on 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
 

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Posted by Edward Havens (Member # 4715) on 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.
 

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Posted by Eric Hooper (Member # 1730) on 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....
 

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Posted by Joe Redifer (Member # 3) on 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.
 

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Posted by Randy Stankey (Member # 64) on 10-13-2012, 05:06 PM:
 

quote: Eric Hooper

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Customer's want time to use the restroom, and purchase concessions.

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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.
 

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Posted by Edward Havens (Member # 4715) on 10-14-2012, 11:58 AM:
 

quote: Randy Stankey

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How much better off would the theater be if a couple-few more people dropped by the concession stand and spent a few bucks?

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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.
 

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Posted by Frank Cox (Member # 6258) on 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.
 

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Posted by Randy Stankey (Member # 64) on 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.
 

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Posted by Graham Ritchie (Member # 5226) on 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.
 

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Posted by Randy Stankey (Member # 64) on 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?
 

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Posted by Mike Blakesley (Member # 26) on 10-15-2012, 12:35 AM:
 

quote: Randy Stankey

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They get to talk to a live human at nearly every point during their visit.

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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.
 

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Posted by Randy Stankey (Member # 64) on 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.
 

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Posted by Manny Knowles (Member # 1171) on 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.
 

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Posted by Graham Ritchie (Member # 5226) on 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.
 

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Posted by Eric Hooper (Member # 1730) on 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...
 

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Posted by Mike Croaro (Member # 3123) on 10-24-2012, 09:19 PM:
 
Eris - why did they pass on it? Beacuse it's playing at the Cinearts at Santana Row? Maybe they couldn't get a 35mm print? Seems unlikely though.

BTW, are there no clearances anymore? I've noticed the domes and the Cinearts, which is right accross the street playing the same movies.

Mike
 

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Posted by Frank Angel (Member # 248) on 10-31-2012, 06:15 AM:
 
I don't think putting all the blame on the "demand for instant gratification" thing on the complaining patrons is 100% fair. There are a few factors here: if the theatre posted a "doors open" time, whatever it might be -- an hour (us and I see Aaron's Browing Theatre), half an hour (most), or 15 minutes (not so common), it is not unreasonable for people to expect the theatre to be professional enough to actually open the doors on or at very close to that posted time...a few minutes earlier is even better.

How pissed people get when the doors don't open at the stated time will depend on things like do they have to wait under a marquee or out in the unprotected sidewalk....is the weather comfortable or rainy, uncomfortably hot or cold, etc. No matter, if you see your Box Office attendent is going to be more than just a few minutes late, the best thing to do is go out to the line and say something like, "There is a bit of hold-up folks, we will open in just a few minutes; thanks for your patience," goes a long way to sooth the savage beast which is a mob of patrons.

If the Doors Open time is NOT posted, that's even worse -- then it becomes the patron's expectation that is, in their mind, when the doors should be opened. If he has this generic Door Open 1/2 Hour Before Showtime in his head, then if he plans on getting there 20 minutes before show time, he'll be annoyed that they aren't.

So as has been said, it is ALWAYS better to give the patron as much information as you can. We always posted two times -- Curtain Time (which includes previews, cartoons and any short subjects) and Feature Start Time. Putting this out there stops those who don't like preshow material from complaining.
 

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Posted by Michael Brown (Member # 890) on 11-03-2012, 07:44 PM:
 
At my current theatre our opening time is now about 5 minutes before first show time.
 

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Posted by Eric Hooper (Member # 1730) on 11-21-2012, 01:35 PM:
 
So the day before the big Thanksgiving weekend, Wichester 21-22-23 drops their two screens of Skyfall (#2 movie at the box office) after only 12 days of release and replaces it with Argo, Wreck It Ralph, and Flight instead?

*facepalm*
 

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Posted by Mike Croaro (Member # 3123) on 11-22-2012, 01:15 PM:
 
Eric - I agree...seems odd. But I have noticed that the domes are not generating much trafic. At least on Sunday's when I usually attend the first showing.

It may be that their customer base has become so small (but perhaps loyal), that films only last two weeks.

Thus, while "Flight", "Wreck it Ralph", and "Argo" have been out for a while, they are "fresh" product for the 21-22-23 loyal customer base.

I've also noticed that they have tried playing 2nd run art house films a couple of times at the 23. Trying to carve a new niche?

Mike

Mike
 

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Posted by Eric Hooper (Member # 1730) on 11-23-2012, 08:24 PM:
 
I'm convinced they are purposely trying to destroy their business to show a bankruptcy judge somewhere that they should be let out of the lease or contract with the Winchester family or something....
 

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Posted by Burleigh Ibbott (Member # 3917) on 11-26-2012, 08:28 AM:
 
By opening 15mins before start does that mean that people are still queuing for tickets and refreshments when the Ads and trailers start?
We open a hour before first show but then we do answer the phone for bookings in that time too.
 

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