AMC A-List & other theater subscriptions (1 Viewer)

[Colin Jacobson]

Now people aren't supposed to talk in ticket and concession lines? Really?

No, not really - I think Robert complained about "old folks" in concession lines for other reasons. Maybe not knowing what they want until they get to the counter, taking forever to pay, etc.

He can better answer what it is these fogies do in concession lines that annoys him, but I don't think he claims these lines should be silent spaces!

 

[Wayne_j]

Today's Sinemia movie was Oscar Nominated Animated Short Films.

After seeing the entire category my rankings are:
1. Lou
2. Revolting Rhymes
3. Dear Basketball
4. Garden Party
5. Negative Space

I enjoyed all of the shorts and the 3 commended but not nominated shorts that were added to pad the running time to feature length.

The most likely winners are probably the Pixar short Lou and the Kobe Bryant short Dear Basketball which features a John Williams score.

 

[Robert Crawford]

Now people aren't supposed to talk in ticket and concession lines? Really?

Sorry, but I’m not talking about talking in the ticket and concession lines. I’m talking about in the actual movie theater during the playing of the movie. As to their annoyance to me in the ticket and concession lines, they’re just very slow in placing and paying for orders.

Now, if you have a problem with my stated complaints, that’s fine, but, I’m not patient when standing in lines nor watching a film in a movie theater.

 

[Robert Crawford]

No, not really - I think Robert complained about "old folks" in concession lines for other reasons. Maybe not knowing what they want until they get to the counter, taking forever to pay, etc.

He can better answer what it is these fogies do in concession lines that annoys him, but I don't think he claims these lines should be silent spaces!

Thank you Colin, that’s exactly what bothers me.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

I sympathize with Robert about the concession stand, though my experience is that people of all ages can be problematic. Nowadays, the digital display boards advertising what the theater offers are far bigger and brighter than the old menus used to be -- there's really no excuse for having no idea what you want by the time you reach the front of the line.

I also dislike the way that the chains force their cashiers to try to upsell you. I hated upselling when I was a cashier, and I hate being upsold as a customer. If there's a suggestion that makes sense, go for it (i.e. "if we make that a combo, it's actually fifty cents cheaper") but if I'm getting a popcorn, soda, and candy, maybe don't try to sell me a frozen pizza on top of it. And, for heaven's sake, if there are ten people waiting in line and you're the only clerk, skip the upselling and just try to get orders done.

 

[TonyD]

Saw 15:17 to Paris. Movie, not great.

I’m thinking though that I need to change what time of day I see a movie.
I’m 53 so middle aged I guess well the room was filled with 70 something’s.

There was the usual chatter but there was one couple that was discussing every single thing in the movie.
Was mostly the woman, which I’ve found to be the common denominator.

I turned and yelled be quiet once but it didn’t matter.

Been seeing mid afternoon shows. Guess I’ll try later.

 

[TonyD]

I sympathize with Robert about the concession stand, though my experience is that people of all ages can be problematic. Nowadays, the digital display boards advertising what the theater offers are far bigger and brighter than the old menus used to be -- there's really no excuse for having no idea what you want by the time you reach the front of the line.

I also dislike the way that the chains force their cashiers to try to upsell you. I hated upselling when I was a cashier, and I hate being upsold as a customer. If there's a suggestion that makes sense, go for it (i.e. "if we make that a combo, it's actually fifty cents cheaper") but if I'm getting a popcorn, soda, and candy, maybe don't try to sell me a frozen pizza on top of it. And, for heaven's sake, if there are ten people waiting in line and you're the only clerk, skip the upselling and just try to get orders done.

I feel the same way but after being in retail for 20ish years it’s really out of the cashiers hands. If they don’t do it they get in big trouble.

 

[TonyD]

Took a shot and signed up. Thanks!

My question remains tho: are there good subreddits for discussing Movie Pass?

I don’t read any of them. Reddit is like trying to read French to me. I don’t get it.

 

[Robert Crawford]

I sympathize with Robert about the concession stand, though my experience is that people of all ages can be problematic. Nowadays, the digital display boards advertising what the theater offers are far bigger and brighter than the old menus used to be -- there's really no excuse for having no idea what you want by the time you reach the front of the line.

I also dislike the way that the chains force their cashiers to try to upsell you. I hated upselling when I was a cashier, and I hate being upsold as a customer. If there's a suggestion that makes sense, go for it (i.e. "if we make that a combo, it's actually fifty cents cheaper") but if I'm getting a popcorn, soda, and candy, maybe don't try to sell me a frozen pizza on top of it. And, for heaven's sake, if there are ten people waiting in line and you're the only clerk, skip the upselling and just try to get orders done.

Like some Mom or Grandma with multiple little kids trying to buy concessions while keeping the kids in line with good behavior without too much whining.

 

[Doug Wallen]

MoviePass today was Peter Rabbit, excellent family film. I thoroughly enjoyed it. Slight annoyance were the kids surrounding us, they had light up shoes that worked with every move of their feet. You can just imagine .

 

[Josh Steinberg]

I feel the same way but after being in retail for 20ish years it’s really out of the cashiers hands. If they don’t do it they get in big trouble.

I know... I don't get angry at the cashier for it, I get angry at the company. And, whenever I'm randomly chosen for one of those customer surveys, I always say something about it. That yes, the clerk did it, but that I really resented being asked, or that when you have a line of ten people and only one cashier, let's not turn every 30 second transaction into a ten minute one.

 

[Malcolm R]

I also dislike the way that the chains force their cashiers to try to upsell you. I hated upselling when I was a cashier, and I hate being upsold as a customer. If there's a suggestion that makes sense, go for it (i.e. "if we make that a combo, it's actually fifty cents cheaper") but if I'm getting a popcorn, soda, and candy, maybe don't try to sell me a frozen pizza on top of it. And, for heaven's sake, if there are ten people waiting in line and you're the only clerk, skip the upselling and just try to get orders done.

At that point, if I'm being harassed to buy something more, I sometimes will just walk away without buying anything. Instead of adding another dollar to my total, they get no sale at all.

 

[Chris Will]

Nowadays, the digital display boards advertising what the theater offers are far bigger and brighter than the old menus used to be

I’m not always a big fan of these fancy menus. I don’t find all of them to be bigger and sometimes the font looks smaller these days. I also hate how these new digital menu TVs change screens all the time and show ads. I’m trying to read the menu then suddenly it changes and I have to wait for it to cycle back around. When it finally does I have to find where I left off and continue reading before it changes again. I think they do this hoping you can’t read everything and see all the prices. The big ads for specific items and combos almost never list the price, at least at my local theaters. You have to hunt for it when the full menu decides to display, if you can find it before the display changes to something else.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

At that point, if I'm being harassed to buy something more, I sometimes will just walk away without buying anything. Instead of adding another dollar to my total, they get no sale at all.

I've done that before too. I think at the concession stand, or any check out counter, you get to ask me one question. If I say no, that should be it. Don't try again. If you ask me if I want to upsize the soda and I say no, don't come back a second time and then ask if I'd like to buy candy. Take your best guess for the product you think I'd want, ask me if I want one as I'm placing my order, and when I politely decline, let it go.

Any manager asking their employees to do more than that is ultimately being disrespectful to the customer. And while they're making their one employee on duty badger this one customer for a fifty cent upsell as ten people are waiting in a never ending line, you're gonna lose people who just get out of that line because they don't want to wait anymore, and you're going to lose people who see that the line isn't moving and just don't get into it.

I also think upselling to kids is a big no-no. If you see a parent with two or three little kids and they sound like they know exactly what they want, it's probably the result of a bit of difficult parenting where the parent had to corrall the kids into picking their one item, and the parent probably has already made it clear to their kids what they can and can't get. Don't start a family fight by offering things to the kids that their parents have already told them they can't have. It's just a recipe for disaster as the kids start begging for more, which makes the parent have to be the bad guy, and it's just bad for sales longterm.

In my view, the best way for a concession stand to up sales isn't trying to upsell every customer, it's trying to always have a quick moving line. If I see a quick moving line, I'll get into it. If I see a slow moving line, I won't. If I was a parent, and someone tried to upsell to my kid, especially if it caused the kid to have a temper tantrum when I said no, I'd never go back to that concession stand.

 

[Colin Jacobson]

I feel the same way but after being in retail for 20ish years it’s really out of the cashiers hands. If they don’t do it they get in big trouble.

Yup. I worked as a waiter for 10 years and I still remember when we were forced to trot out our dessert tray.

Previously, I'd just asked people if they wanted dessert, but the higher-ups decided we needed to flaunt the goodies in front of the customers.

Which I get from a marketing POV - you're way more likely to entice a customer to buy a piece of cake if they see it in front of them than if they just read/hear about it.

I still hated it, though. I felt like it was such a transparent exercise that I felt like a tool the whole time!

 

[Colin Jacobson]

At that point, if I'm being harassed to buy something more, I sometimes will just walk away without buying anything. Instead of adding another dollar to my total, they get no sale at all.

You guys must be going to more aggressive movie theaters than I do. I never get more than popcorn and drink, and the worst I think I've ever gotten "upsold" is just asked if I want to make my small popcorn a medium for an extra 50 cents.

Oh, they've occasionally asked if I wanted some candy that was on sale, too.

But that's it - maybe 15 seconds added to the transaction, and pretty low-intensity upselling.

Maybe the cashiers can tell in advance I'm a cheap bastard and they won't succeed!

 

[Jason_V]

I'm trying to hit one MP movie a week, maybe more if the schedule allows. They've all been AMC movies so far and I haven't had a single problem. My card + Stubs has worked every time and I haven't been forced to use a $5 reward if I don't want to. Movie times have been Friday nights and all different times on Saturday and Sunday; weeknight movies are very rough for me.

I'm going to put all of this to the test tomorrow night with Fifty Shades Freed. I committed to taking the BF tomorrow night and I'm not entirely sure there will be enough seats together for me to use MP or no. We'll see.

 

[benbess]

My mp movie today was Peter Rabbit. Good kids movie. B/B+

 

[Wayne_j]

Tonight's movie pass was Black Panther.

 

[Robert Crawford]

My Sinemia choice was Black Panther in a nice Dolby Atmos theater with recliners. God, I love those chairs.

By the way, It will be Black Panther again today with MP.