I run a movie theater... a very big one. I deal with each and every one of the above concerns on a daily basis.
1. Ticket Prices - The blame for the high prices lies squarly on the shoulders of the movie studios. They demand such a huge percentage of the box office that movie theaters themselves make very little money. For example: Star Wars Ep. I. The studio demanded about 85% of the total box office revenues, leaving a measly 15% for the theaters. In order for a theater to break even with that small a percentage, it needs to raise the initial price.
Let me put it this way. As long as there are thousands of people who are willing to spend the money to see multi-million dollar movies like Titanic, Spider-Man or Waterworld, ticket prices will continue to rise.
2. Concession Prices - This is a direct result of the issue discussed above. Since movie theaters make next to no money on the actual movies themselves, they depend on the concession stands to turn a profit. Factor in to this equation the people that bypass the stand because they sneak in their own food and you have pricey popcorn. What really gets me is how angry people get about paying $3.00 for a hot dog or $3.75 for a large drink at a movie theater, yet no one bitches about having to pay TWICE that amount at places like amusment parks, ball games and large concert venues. Trust me, I have done my research. For a night's entertainment, the movie theater is a much less expensive alternative to a ball game or concert. You know, my theater is in a pretty nice city. There are a lot of pretty wealthy people in the surrounding neighborhoods. These people who pay for tickets and popcorn off of wads of 20's & 50's thick enough to choke a horse are the ones who complain the most. Meanwhile we'll get the occasional family who is obviously in a lower class, father, mother and five kids... these are almost always our best customers. They will buy their kids anything they want and never say a word about paying upwards of $50 for their night out. Nine times out of ten I will give these kinds of people a free popcorn or drink just because they are such good customers.
3. SNEAKING IN FOOD - See above. It is pretty much the same thing as stealing from the theater. You are causing the theater to lose money. Justify it however you like, it is just plain wrong.
4. Crying babies, cell phones, loud talkers, obnoxious kids etc -
The first thing you must all realize: The theater dislikes these people as much as the patrons. If we realize these people are behaving in a disruptive fashion, we will do what we need to do to take care of the problem. BUT, in order for us to do this effectivly, we must be NOTIFIED of the disruption. It does no good to sit and stew over the loudmouth behind you for the entire movie, only to bitch out the theater staff after the feature is over. If you are upset with having to get up and miss part of your movie in order to let someone know, TELL THEM. I am always more willing to give someone rainchecks or free tickets if they tell me DURING the disturbance rather than after, when I can't do a damn thing.
5. Overcrowded Theaters - I said above that I run a big theater. I do mean big. 15 screens, just short of 3000 seats in the entire building. It is by no means my fault that a movie sells out. If you have to sit next to a stranger, suck it up and sit next to a stranger. Otherwise, shut the fuck up. If you REALLY don't like crowds, come during a weekday when we only get 150 - 300 customers a day as opposed to a Friday or Saturday when we do 2500 - 3000 people. Don't like having to sit in the front row? Show up a little early like all the other people who got to pick better seats. Don't yell at ME when you show up at a movie that is halfway through the previews and you are forced to sit in the front row, if you were even lucky enough to GET a ticket.
TO SUM UP - If you have a problem at the movie theater, ANY problem, let an usher, a concessionist or a manager know in a REASONABLE fashion. Chances are we will do whatever it takes to make sure you walk out happy, or at least not pissed off. I spend a majority of my day dealing with those exact situations. A great deal of the time those situations end up with me giving out rainchecks so the customer can come back and enjoy a movie on us. I am much more inclined to give out rainchecks if the customer is not yelling in my face. The key word here is REASONABLE.
Anything else I can help you with?
Adios,
Steve
