I'm sooo glad I don't manage a theatre in the So Florida area! After this news bit, life is going to be hell for managers and staff.

If anyone would like to direct their comments directly to the station, the email address is:

7news@wsvn.com

Otherwise, I would offer passes for reasonable reasons after that. Part of the reason for doing it that way is there are too many security issues when allowing substantial sums available after the last show of the evening goes in.

Frankly, those customers that demand a refund after seeing a full presentation are not ones that most theatre managers and owners want back anyway. They will often tell their friends how they got to see a free movie, and the situation will blossom out of control in a very short time.

OTOH, if a customer makes a valid complaint during the presentation, and then asks for a refund after the show because the complaint wasn't responded to, or the situation causing the complaint was particularly bad, then a good manager is duty bound to "make it right" by whatever method possible. We all have run in to people who complain just for the sport of it, and the manager has to be the final judge of what is a legit complaint and what is an attempt at free passes.

My irritation with the television station was that their lack of qualifying statements and generalizations were the equivilent of yelling "FREE!" in a crowded theatre.

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E passes are only for use when you have to dump an entire auditorium or theatre. You set a control point where people are either in or out, such as in a hallway. You then have a co-worker announce the problem, that the film is down, and that E passes are available at the control point. At the same time, they announce (if appropriate) that the _only_ way to get a refund is to get the E pass, then wait until all e passes have been given out to customers who need to leave immediately, at which time the remaining people can exchange their e-passes for a refund. E-pass serial numbers are monitored monthly or by inspection by the DM or corporate monkeys.

Most customers quickly understand that there are those who will want to leave the theatre immediately, and this can cut the wait time and hassle in getting a refund.

BTW, If you've ever refunded a large auditorium, you know how important it is to get smaller currency for all those $20 bills you end up with in box. Having to stop giving refunds because you don't have the smaller bills can be a very sticky situation. The theatre may end up losing money because discount tickets get refunded at full ticket rates, but sometimes it can be the "right" thing to do.

Individual problems are better handled with trip passes, which require the manager on duty to sign off on the pass (no signature stamps allowed) and state the reason for the pass. This gives better control of both the manager and problem situations.

Of course, in an owner/operator situation, whatever the owner wants is correct.

Evans

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Well, if that's the case I have two things to say.

First, shame on AMC for starting this if it spreads. This sort of nonsense will be the demise of everyone.

Second, trailers are getting worse and worse about showing the ENTIRE movie (case in point is the latest trailer for "Cast Away"). Geez, if the movie doesn't exactly follow the trailer and end up in a happy and overly predictable ending, people want their money back??? Moviegoing will be ruined forever.

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"The customer is always right" is a totally idiotic policy statement anyway. Example: A known sexual predator and child molestor walks into your theatre to watch an R rated film, then slips into a G rated theatre. (I've had this happen to me. In smaller cities, a manager and staff know many customers on sight.) Do you toss the SOB out on his ass with a few strong words and without a refund, or do you give him a pass to come back? Customers are people. Sometimes people are jerks or even criminals.

There were times when I was managing and my DM called me to bless me out for a trumped up customer complaint. In a couple of instances I flat out told him that if he wimped out and sent passes, and the jerk customer came back waving them in my face, like had happened before, that I would hand that customer the keys to the theatre, and the DM could deal with him as a manager. (I was always shy about expressing my feelings.)

When I was a DM myself, I used to investigate the complaints, which usually came in the form of an outraged and inflammatory letter to the company headquarters. While there were times when the manager screwed up, there were also many times when I would write back to the customer thanking them for taking the time to write, but telling them that the manager acted properly, explaining why, and NOT inserting passes in the envelope. Sometimes I wished I could have hand delivered those letters.