It seems that Jerry Seinfield remarked at the Oscars that it was OK for people to leave trash in the theater when they felt they were getting ripped off. Easy for him to say, he's part of the crap that Hollywood is turning out as 'entertainment' now days. He was serious, not that his funny stuff is actually funny except to people who have nothing better to do with their lives than watch Seinfield.
Every night at work I hear people comment on how expensive it is to go to the movies. It's true, but the theater is not the bad guy. There's the studios and distributions systems taking the bulk of theater revenue. There's corporate costs - the people who build and manage the theaters. There's rent, utilities, property taxes, trash removal, janitorial services, landscaping, etc. There's the rising cost of concessions and cleaning supplies, toilet paper, not to mention advertising. There is building maintenance - guess who causes that? By the time it comes down to employees, there isn't much left for us. $6.50 an hour or less. Manager make $10 bucks per hour. Sure the General Manager makes more, but I earn more in my day job than he does.
Here's what you have the right to complain about: The quality of service - is the theater staff polite and attentive? Other patrons - are they too loud, do they smell bad, did they leave their trash so that you're having to wait to get into the auditiorium for your show? The movie itself - did it have a plot, were you entertained? That's it. You do not have the right to complain about costs after you make the decision to purchase the ticket. You do not have a right to complain about the price of concessions after ordering the large tub of popcorn and large soda. You do not have a right to complain about the cleanliness of the bathrooms since it was customers like yourself who made the mess. You don't have the right to bring in outside food just because you don't want to spend money on concessions - because the profit on concessions is where the wages for theater staff comes from and without adequate staffing, you're going to have to wait in line longer and endure dirtier auditoriums. If you're that strapped for cash, get a job as a theater usher
You can complain about one other thing: Jerry Seinfield and the people in Hollywood who get rich ripping off your hard earned money. Stop paying to watch crap and Hollywood will start producing entertainment to give you your money's worth.
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2 comments:
We only go to the movies when we have movie money. ;) My dad gets them from work all the time but he never goes so we get them. Five dollars off a seven fifty movie, I'll take it! So I never bitch about prices. Although the our theater the concession workers are NEVER polite and act like I'm killing him by asking for no ice in my soda. Other than that, I usually complain about the loud idiots that I ALWAYS get stuck sitting in front of.
I feel for you Jamie. When you spend this much money to see a movie, you want to enjoy it.
Our concessionaires aren't upbeat all the time either. It's policy that we greet and thank each customer, but high school kids are often more interested in their crush on other employees than they are with earning their money. Whenever there's a line, it means that they aren't going to have time to talk to each other, and for young people five minutes is a lifetime; for people my age, five minutes is how long it takes me to get my feet under me when I get up in the morning.
If you see a guy standing around in coat and tie, tell him that you're not pleased with impolite service. I might complain how dirty a theater is, but I'm always polite to the customer.
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