This is topic AMC Theatres & False Advertising in forum Ground Level at Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE.


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Posted by Mitchell Dvoskin (Member # 751) on 07-23-2019, 02:11 PM:
 
Yesterday, Monday, I went to see Lion King at the AMC in the Palisades Mall in West Nyack NY. Liked the film, the presentation was great, and I have always liked that theatre.

However, as a Stubs member, I qualify for AMC discount Tuesdays, which is $6 all day for Stubs members. However, the last trailer before the movie yesterday was for the various Stubs programs, that explicitly stated that the discount admission is $5 dollars. I don't know about the rest of the USA, but here in New Jersey and New York, advertising one price and charging a higher price is illegal. I was going to file a complaint with the NY attorney general's office today, but I decided to wait for my next trip to AMC to see if either they pull that promo, or correct the price.

The reason I am posting here is I was wondering if this is a nationwide AMC issue, or just this location. There was absolutely no management around to complain to, although I did let the teenage girl working the boxoffice of the problem.
 

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Posted by Mike Blakesley (Member # 26) on 07-23-2019, 02:37 PM:
 
I wonder if $5 is an introductory offer, or maybe the wrong trailer was used?

I would send a note to "corporate" and see if you get a response.
 

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Posted by Mitchell Dvoskin (Member # 751) on 07-23-2019, 03:59 PM:
 
They are using an old trailer. For the first few years, the price was $5, they raised the price a few months ago. Ultimately, they are still responsible to comply with the law regarding advertised pricing.
 

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Posted by Martin McCaffery (Member # 37) on 07-23-2019, 04:09 PM:
 
There's probably a "Prices subject to change without notice" clause in the fine print.
 

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Posted by Martin Brooks (Member # 1269) on 07-31-2019, 12:09 PM:
 
I think you're incorrect about the law. I know that in NYC, if a supermarket accidentally publishes the wrong price in a flyer, as long as they post the error in the store window or near a cash register, they don't have to give you that price.

And certainly the cable and phone carriers get away with murder concerning their advertised prices, which don't include fake fees and taxes. They imply the fees are government fees, but most are not.

When I used to have RCN for cable, they had the following "fees": OVS, PEG Access, Broadcast TV surcharge, Sports Surcharge, Entertainment Surcharge, Network Access & Maintenance Fee, Municipal Construction Surcharge (+ State and local sales taxes). The fees alone came to $48 a month when I finally got fed up with multiple price increases per year and dropped them.

Verizon FIOS has: PEG Grant, FIOS TV Broadcast, Regional Sports Network, Municipal Construction Surcharge, Video Franchise Fee, Regulatory Recovery Fee-Federal, NY State and Local Surcharge (+ state and local sales taxes). Their fees come to $24 a month.

AT&T's cell phone service has: Administrative Fee, Regulatory Cost Recovery Charge, County Gross Receipts Surcharge, Federal Universal Service Charge, MTA Telecom Surcharge, State Telecommunications Excise Surcharge, State Public Safety Commission Surcharge, County Public Safety Commission surcharge (+ sales taxes). Those fees and taxes come to $17 a month and most of them, including most of the ones that sound "governmental" are not - they're fake fees.

All of these companies advertise their prices without the fees and they get away with it.
 

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Posted by Mike Blakesley (Member # 26) on 07-31-2019, 09:43 PM:
 
My wife and I had some fun coming up with phony fees we could charge if the theatre business was like the rental car business or the cellphone business:

Cleaning fee
Service fee (for getting your concessions for you)
Projection fee
Wide-screen fee (for scope pictures)
Seat cushion replacement surcharge
Advertising fee

etc. etc. ...and then we thought maybe we could sell "prime seating" and get an extra buck or two for those center-of-house sweet spot seats.

But, sanity prevails.
 

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Posted by Frank Cox (Member # 6258) on 07-31-2019, 10:26 PM:
 
I'm waiting for a fee service fee, i.e. a fee charged for the service of collecting the fees from you.

I have actually seen a forms form. It's an order form that you send in to get more forms.
 

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Posted by Scott Norwood (Member # 30) on 08-01-2019, 08:16 AM:
 
My current scourge is hotel "facilities fees," which seem to be multiplying like rabbits at the moment. Hotels will insist that these fees cover things like Internet access and health facilities, but that the fees are non-optional. My own (strong) feeling is that non-optional fees should be part of the base price, not added on in order to manipulate Interenet price searches.

I spent a night at a hotel in NYC last fall. I had booked it through Priceline, to whom I payed the room rate and associated taxes. I was never informed of any additional charges. When I checked in, I was told that there would be a $30+ "facilities fee" that would be due upon check-out. I flat-out refused to pay it, on the basis that I was never informed of the fee, would have stayed elsewhere if I had been informed of it, and did not use the services that it supposedly covered. Eventually, the hotel clerk gave up and did not charge the fee. I fear that others may not be so lucky.

Afterwards, I wrote letters of complaint to the hotel (which did not respond), Priceline (which gave a glib and non-apologetic response), and the NY State Attorney General's office (which sent a surprisingly good response, thanking me for helping them to gather data about this growing problem).

Apparently, Las Vegas is the worst city for this sort of thing, but NYC is getting really bad, too. How long will it be before we see $1 room rates with $300 non-optional "facilities fees"?

The sad part is that the travel industry used to be about helping people to have happy, fun times. Now, most airlines, hotels, and rental car agencies don't even pretend to have any interest in this. They just want to separate people from their money in the most slimy way possible.
 

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Posted by Martin McCaffery (Member # 37) on 08-01-2019, 09:00 AM:
 

quote: Scott Norwood

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The sad part is that the travel industry used to be about helping people to have happy, fun times.

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quote: Scott Norwood

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Apparently, Las Vegas is the worst city for this sort of thing, but NYC is getting really bad, too.

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