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Topic: Movie theatre sued over high snack prices
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Frank Cox
Film God
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Posts: 2234
From: Melville Saskatchewan Canada
Registered: Apr 2011
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posted 03-05-2012 03:43 PM
Move theatre sued over high snack prices
quote: Filmmakers love underdog stories - tales of the little guy who won a big fight against all odds.
One moviegoer in Detroit, who is taking on a giant movie theatre chain, is hoping life will imitate art.
According to the Detroit Free Press, Joshua Thompson has filed a class action lawsuit against his local AMC theatre in hopes of forcing the chain to lower its snack prices.
"It's hard to justify prices that are three- and four-times higher than anywhere else," Thompson's lawyer Kerry Morgan told the paper.
Thompson used to bring his own pop and candy to the theatre before AMC forbid outside food and drink. He was vexed when he was charged $8 US to buy a Coke and Goobers chocolate-covered peanuts at the theatre - items he could buy at a nearby store for $2.73.
For him, the price difference is simply unjustifiable. His suit argues that the theatre chain violates the Michigan Consumer Protection Act because by charging too much for snacks.
Thompson is seeking refunds for customers who were overcharged and any other civil penalties that the judge is willing to grant.
Consumer experts predict the case will be dismissed.
Do cinema snack stand prices trouble you? Do you think this suit stands a chance? What do you think is a reasonable price to spend on a night at the movies?
Detroit Free Press Article quote: Joshua Thompson loves the movies.
But he hates the prices theaters charge for concessions like pop and candy.
This week, the 20-something security technician from Livonia decided to do something about it: He filed a class action in Wayne County Circuit Court against his local AMC theater in hopes of forcing theaters statewide to dial down snack prices.
"He got tired of being taken advantage of," said Thompson's lawyer, Kerry Morgan of Wyandotte. "It's hard to justify prices that are three- and four-times higher than anywhere else."
American Multi Cinema, which operates the AMC theater in Livonia, wouldn't comment on the suit. A staffer at the National Association of Theatre Owners in Washington, D.C., angrily hung up the phone when asked about industry snack pricing practices.
Although consumer experts predicted that the case will be dismissed, it struck a chord Friday with area moviegoers, who said they're tired of being soaked on movie munchies.
"The prices are ridiculous," Rebecca Motley, 55, a self-employed Southfield physician, said while leaving the AMC Star Southfield 20.
Motley said she and her office manager spent $5 each for morning movie tickets and $11 each for soft drinks and popcorn.
"When I was a kid, $1 could get you into the movies and buy you a pop and popcorn. But not anymore," Motley said. "I don't know how kids can go on their own to a movie anymore."
Timothy Fells, 29, part owner of a Redford Township gym, agreed with Motley.
"Movie concession prices are extremely high, and that's why I don't stop at the snack bar very often," he said while leaving the AMC theater in Southfield.
Thompson didn't want to be interviewed because he doesn't want any notoriety, Morgan said. But Thompson said in his lawsuit that he used to take his own pop and candy to the AMC in Livonia until the theater posted a sign banning the practice.
On Dec. 26, he paid $8 for a Coke and a package of Goobers chocolate-covered peanuts at the Livonia theater -- nearly three times the $2.73 he paid for the same items at a nearby fast-food restaurant and drug store, the suit said.
The suit accused AMC theaters of violating the Michigan Consumer Protection Act by charging grossly excessive prices for snacks.
The suit seeks refunds for customers who were overcharged, a civil penalty against the theater chain and any other relief Judge Kathleen Macdonald might grant.
Two consumer lawyers predicted that Macdonald will dismiss the suit.
"It's a loser," said Gary Victor, an Eastern Michigan University business law professor. He said state Supreme Court decisions in 1999 and 2007 exempted most regulated businesses from the Michigan Consumer Protection Act.
Added Ian Lyngklip, a nationally known consumer lawyer in Southfield: "Movie theaters are regulated, so the lawsuit won't go anywhere"
Victor, an avid moviegoer, agreed that snack prices are excessive at theaters. That's why he shuns the concession counter unless he's with a date.
Griping about excessive prices at the theater concession is a time-honored tradition, says Paul Dergarabedian, an analyst for www.hollywood.com , a movie industry website.
"But like high airline prices, it's just one of those things that we've become accustomed to because we don't have any control over it," he added.
Although movie ticket sales are down -- 1.2 billion tickets were sold last year compared with 1.6 billion in 2002 -- he said a difficult economy mainly is to blame, not snack prices.
To cope with the issue, some consumers eat before or after they go to the movies, or resort to smuggling.
Fells said he sometimes smuggles Gummi Bears into the theater to save money.
Kristy Belanger, 20, a real estate secretary from Redford Township who showed up at the AMC in Livonia on Friday to see a movie with her boyfriend, concealed two bottles of Pepsi in her purse.
"I did it to save money, and I feel like I did," she said, adding that what she saved on Pepsi enabled her to buy a $4.74 serving of nachos to share with her beau.
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Randy Stankey
Film God
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Posts: 6539
From: Erie, Pennsylvania
Registered: Jun 99
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posted 03-06-2012 08:11 AM
So, how much does it cost to pay employees to clean up the empty soda cups and sweep up the spilled popcorn?
Isn't that labor worth something? Don't you think customers should pay for that? How do you think customers pay for that? Who is paying for the brooms, mops, buckets, trash bags and garbage removal fees?
They pay for it when they buy those snacks. Maybe that doesn't cover all of the price of snacks but it is a factor.
Why don't people think about that when they smuggle in snacks? The theater has to pay somebody to clean up the trash but they don't make any money from smuggled snacks. Is that fair?
Having somebody clean up after you is part of the reason why we go to the movies. That doesn't give people the right to leave the place an unholy mess but, for as long as I can remember, stacking your empties and leaving them on the floor has been a tradition at movie theaters. It is a service that movie theaters traditionally provide.
When you go to a restaurant, they have busboys to clean your table after you're done and they have dishwashers to clean the dishes. Everybody nods in agreement when we mention this but why do they think a movie theater is any different.
After all, isn't a movie theater just a restaurant that shows movies?
This is America. Anybody can sue anybody else for anything they want but that doesn't mean the suit will go anywhere. You could sue me just because you don't like the color of my shirt but, on the other hand, you'll probably get laughed out of court.
Any half-decent lawyer could get this case thrown out of court based simply on these grounds just because cleaning up after customers is an industry tradition just like it is in a restaurant and a theater has the right to recover the expense of providing that service.
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