Not going to that theater again

[smileyeagle1021]

Well, saw Harry Potter today, I decided to try the Megaplex theaters at the District, a half hour drive from here, because they have a new imax screen that looked like it might be better than the one at Jordan Commons.
Yeah, apparently not.
So, we get about 3 minutes in and we realize, they never turned on the second projector for 3D (after the fact a supervisor claimed it was a technical problem, I'm calling bullshit, the projectors are three months old, if there is technical problems I hope they are asking for their money back from the manufacturer)
So, they restart the movie, at the commercials... and still not in 3D.
So, they restart it again, this time at the start of the movie, but with the second projector out of alignment (seriously, been there for three months, how the hell don't you have the alignment figured out now).
Finally, third try, and 15 minutes after the show was supposed to start, they get it going properly... well, good enough, it was still slightly out of focus, but at this point, I think everyone in the audience was in agreement that fuck it, we all know we are getting movie passes out of this (Megaplex at least used to have the policy if there was a delay longer than 5 minutes they would give passes without question) so we might as well just watch the movie.
Now, at no point during this did an employee come in and announce that they had technical problems or anything like that, they just left us sitting their wondering why the hell the movie kept starting, stopping, restarting, stopping, and not being in 3D or in focus. Seriously, how much effort does it take for an usher to come in and explain what's happening, there were three handing out 3D glasses when we came in, I doubt they got far before the "technical problem" was detected.
Seriously, when there is no explanation, or announcement, or anything like that, it doesn't seem like technical problems, it seems like an "oh shit, I screwed up, and I hope nobody notices" moment.

Oh, and contrary to what they did in the past, we didn't have an apologetic supervisor waiting outside with passes for another movie because of the problems, nope each of us had to go to guest services to speak to supervisors. Who by the way, tried to argue that since it was a technical problem they shouldn't have to issue passes... umm, excuse me, but it doesn't matter what caused it, I did not get what I paid for, I paid to sit down and watch the movie, which while I did get, wasn't until after I had the start of a migraine from the projectionist trying to figure out what the hell he was doing (out of focus 3D will cause a wicked headache for a lot of people, myself included), and I most definitely did not pay to have a headache.

I was a bit sucky, but I will stand by what I told the supervisor I was dealing with "what happened today is I spent $24 for an ad for Cinemark, which I could have gotten for free at home. Mr. Miller would be ashamed of what his theater has come to, passes won't do me any good for this location because frankly, I don't ever want to come back, this was my first and my last visit, I just wish you could live up to the standard set by Mr. Miller's other theaters."
Sucky, yes, but at that point having a supervisor try to pull the, it's not our fault so it's not our problem line, yeah, I think I was at least a little justified.
And of course, their loss, had they not screwed up royally, or at least apologized for it, I was planning on going back in a week or two to try out the D-Box motion seats (at $15 a ticket)... it's sad, because those look really cool, but not if it means going back there, I'll just wait for Jordan Commons to get them.

eta- my email to corporate

Today was my first, and also now my last visit to the Megaplex at the District. The 11am showing of Harry Potter in IMAX was a disaster, it had to be restarted three times to get the 3D working (one time so out of focus that had the projectionist left it up much longer I would have had a migraine, gave me bad eye strain and a headache as it was). The supervisor's only response afterwards was sorry, there was nothing we could do to avoid it, it was technical problems (I'd be talking to the manufacturer of the projector for a refund if those things really are breaking after, what, less than a year that IMAX has been there) and gave us passes to a standard screen 2D movie to make up for it. Prior to the screening I was considering going back to that location to watch Harry Potter again in DBOX, but there is no way that is going to happen if the DBOX system is as well run as the IMAX there.
It would be great if you could get some DBOX out at either Jordan Commons or the Gateway, not only would it be less driving for those of us who don't live out in the middle of nowhere to visit the District, it would also be nice to go to them at a well run theater, which I cannot say the District is.

[PepperElf]

Um where is the suck in how you acted? I don't see it.

Seriously you did nothing wrong.


when i went to see green lantern the camera fucked up and they ended up handing out free passes to the 3d version - and refunds to those who didn't want the upgrade. so yes i would expect them to give out refunds / tickets - but NOT to tell you to suck it up, or for them to give you less back than what you'd paid for. that's fucked up

[smileyeagle1021]

You're probably right Pepper, I always feel bad about confrontation though.
Of course, to some extent, a lot of the suck, is that many people in Salt Lake think Larry H Miller was a douchebag (myself included), so for a lot of people, being told they don't hold up to that standard means they are worse than a douchebag.

Of course, for me, personally, I thought he was a douche (or at least the company he kept would imply that, never met the man myself but have dealt with his associates... and what I'd heard about him), but that doesn't mean I don't recognize that he ran a damned good business selling a quality product at a reasonable price (well, not his car dealerships, but his entertainment ventures are good).

[smileyeagle1021]

Here's an adding insult to injury, part of my complaint was that even if I did want to go back to that theater is it inconvenient to do so because it is so far away from where I live in south salt lake... they replied that if the district in south jordan was inconvenient I could try using dbox at the junction in Ogden.... yeah, so much more convenient..... morons

[Little Retail Rabbit]

My fiance lives in sticksville, Ohio, and there is only one cinema now locally. I'm sure he said there used to be 2.

I'm from the UK and I am very used to the luxury of a particularly large and spiffy Vue Cinema- it is now my nearest cinema (sadly, it put all the others out of business!), has 14 screens and while I'm sure it sometimes has its problems, I've generally been very happy to go there. And I am now very used to this level of comfort. I went to see Halloween (remake) at the local Odeon before it closed down and it just wasn't the same as Vue.

Well anyway, this means that being very used to Vue's awesomeness, the Dan Berry cinema my fiance has to make do with simply pales in comparison and their customer service certainly leaves a lot to be desired. They are sneaky!!!

Last year, on a date, we went to see the Wolfman. As we approached the lobby of this Dan Berry cinema, I saw a peice of paper taped to the glass of the door stating that there was a problem with the reel for the Wolfman movie. Being as this was what we wanted to see (and being as this cinema was piss poor had very little in the way of other selections) I decided to enquire about this before buying a ticket (naturally). As I mentioned it to the girl behind the counter, she said "Oh! That problem's been fixed now! I forgot to take the sign down!" We were pleased. I paid for our tickets and we went to take our places.

([Tangent]Dude seriously though, what was it with the morons in the row behind us who bought little kids!? Oh btw, I should point out that in the UK this cannot happen- in the UK an underage patron cannot get into a rated movie even with an adult with them. Hooray for the BBFC.[/Tangent])

Anyway, the trailers started, and I realised something was up. I was trying to (carefully) rub my eyes because I thought my sight was going. I'm short-sighted, wear glasses and sometimes get bleary eyes because I wear heavy black makeup and don't like to smear it by rubbing my eyes, so for the first few minutes, I assumed it was me. After a bit, my fiance said, no, its not just you, its out of focus. I was relieved to know I wasn't actually going blind, but by now I was already starting to get a headache. I said "Ok, lets give it to the end of the trailers, see if that improves."

It did- marginally. I'm all for giving people a chance though. They put in the reel for the movie and thats when things got WORSE. 3 HUGE tears were in the real, meaning there were 3 massive green trembling vertical lines cutting across the picture. And they did not go away. And it was still out of focus. I saw a couple leave just at the opening credits. I gave it 10 minutes. After 10, I turned to my fiance and said "We're getting out here, ok?"

He was very annoyed, but here's the funny bit. I am a little gothy rabbit girl with an English accent, and I am not intimidating. He is a large heavy-set bear man with facial hair and he was angry. But I was the one who was scaaawy

I suddenly channelled the spirit of my father, 4000 miles away back in England, as he is the most diplomatic, assertive and polite complainer ever XD I'm normally a wuss. Instead, I strode over to the counter with my head held high and said in a very cold voice (carefully over enunciating- you know,because villains are always English ) "I have a complaint to make. I want to speak with your manager please."

The guy looked a bit worried, fiance was just standing to one side looking a bit wide-eyed. A manager came out and asked what was wrong. I said "I paid for my fiance and I to watch Wolfman. We asked the girl at the counter about the reel, and she said it had been fixed. It's out of focus and torn, and I want a refund on our tickets, please."

I was actually surprised he said yes straight away- this says to me he KNEW that the reel was faulty and was just going to blag it and see how many people would put up with it. I thanked him. The guy at the counter gave me my money back, looking a bit sheepish and spooked. We went outside and my fiance blinked at me and said "You were scary."

No I wasn't. I was very polite. But we goths are pretty good at death stares

Summary: Dan Berry sucks. Why can't I bring Vue to town with me when I move over?

[Peppergirl]

Oh boy, LRR - I think I now know where you are in OH. Explains alot about your other post about some of the locals not 'understanding' you.

[smileyeagle1021]

And then there is Utah, where the best theaters are halfway between sticksville and civilization...
The best by far is Jordan Commons, which is 94th South, so not quite middle of nowhere (furthest south in Salt Lake County is like 140th south, and there is pretty much farmland out there), but still pretty far out.

[Geek King]

LRR, if you guys are reasonably close to Dayton or Cincinnati, I'll invite you to one of the Rave-brand theatres. in the area. Nothing super, but they are good, clean, quality theatres. I've not had a complaint about any of my visits, except perhaps the actual movie we were seeing. Not the theatre's fault for that.

[Peppergirl]

LRR, if you guys are reasonably close to Dayton or Cincinnati, I'll invite you to one of the Rave-brand theatres. in the area. Nothing super, but they are good, clean, quality theatres. I've not had a complaint about any of my visits, except perhaps the actual movie we were seeing. Not the theatre's fault for that.

We could make a CS day out of it!