Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: How do you complain about a theater you USED to work at?

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Topic: How do you complain about a theater you USED to work at?

Randy Stankey
Film God

Posts: 6539
From: Erie, Pennsylvania
Registered: Jun 99

posted 06-14-2004 12:31 AM

I took my wife to see Harry Potter today. Though the movie was good, the presentation was less than stellar.

The right screen channel was dead for the entire show. I'm pretty sure that both surround channels were dead. I'm not sure but I think the subs were down too. There were white "tick mark" scratches down the right hand edge of the screen.

I know who the operator was on that shift. I looked up toward the booth when the show started and I saw him. This guy is pretty conscientious. He's pretty much a "clock puncher" but he does NOT make stupid mistakes. He would have checked and rechecked his threading. He would have checked the sound in the booth monitor but, the way this theater is built (A vintage 1995 Cinemark "Tinseltown" that's been retrofitted to stadium) checking sound in person can be difficult. (Especially if you are the only operator on duty!) If he noticed a problem when he started the machine, he would have fixed it or reported it.

While the previews were playing an usher came along to "scoot" us down a couple of chairs. I would not have done it if the people who wanted the seats weren't handicapped. When he was done seating them I called him over and told him that there was a problem with the sound. I said to him, "Call up to the booth and tell Ted that the right channel is dead."

The problem never got fixed.

After the feature I walked up to the booth window and looked in while the credits were running. The film was playing in SDDS. The reader was threaded correctly and the processor was playing. (All the level meters were going and the Bypass button wasn't lit, etc.)

An usher came up to me as I was leaving and asked me if I had any questions. (He saw me looking into the booth.) I told him, "You've got speakers that aren't working." Just as the standard response, "Not all the speakers play..." came out of his mouth I took him down in front of the screen and stood him right under the bad speaker. It was plainly obvious what the problem was. Again, I told him that he needs to call the booth and tell them what the problem is. I said it plain as day: "Call Ted, in the booth, and tell him that Randy said..." As I left I saw him go back to what he was doing and (appearently) ignore what I just told him.

I just said to myself, "Fuck it!" and went home.

Now, I'm ready to register my complaint. If I just call the theater they'll just say, "Oh, that's just Randy being an asshole..." If I e-mail "Front Row Joe", the complaint will get forwarded to the theater but their reply will be just the same. If I anonymize my e-mail, corporate management isn't likely to take it seriously.

One last piece of information: The booth manager who ran the place after I left quit just two weeks ago. He's gone to greener pastures. I know he ran a pretty tight ship. He would regularly get 95-100% on his booth audits. I'm sure this problem has developed in the two weeks since he left. I'm sure the theater manager will think I'm just slamming the place because my buddy isn't in charge anymore.

Should I have my wife register the complaint?! She's a big Harry Potter fan. She has read every book. She didn't seem to notice because she was so involved with the plot. She thinks I'm being nit-picky. If I had gone out to the lobby to complain she would have been pissed off at me for making a ruckuss.

Advice?!