Waterford Cineplex - Revamp

Sully

Aye well either way, there not comparible and Storm have the lead in the market for now. The only time Cineplex ever cared how consumers felt regarding the cinemas state is when competion started to pull business from under their feet, and that to me shows a lack of care towards their customers.

merlante

Sully wrote: »

Exactly. However, I was in on Friday and the queues were pretty long and not all tills were covered. Lack of staff seems to be an issue at the moment!

They have been advertising in the paper for a while.

Sully wrote: »

There is two (or is it one?) units on the wall beside the lift where you enter your credit card and it will print the ticket. If you book online. If not, go downstairs and queue where the Ice Cream stall is - saves a LOT of time, most people get tickets or a small bit of Ice Cream so there isn't as much of a delay.

You obviously don't buy food at the cinema. Or if you do, you've forgotten that once I get my ticket out of one of those nice little machines I have to plunge into a gigantic queue with the box office and the food people in order to get my food. I should then be able to join a food-only queue. This is a poor setup imho, and I haven't seen it anywhere else.

Sully wrote: »

I always liked the idea of one queue for both, but I do think maybe a dedicated "Tickets Only" stall might be worth a shot - even though downstairs serves that purpose.

Food only is what's needed. As you say, you can book your tickets online and get them out of a machine. Best would be if they just divided the queues like every other cinema in the world!

trishw78

Sully wrote:

Id say it to the manager, there pretty decent when it comes to giving complementary passes if you have been disrupted or late going in due to a problem at there end

We did say it to a supervisor and he just shrugged his shoulders and more or less said tough.

Cabaal

Sully wrote: »

I always liked the idea of one queue for both, but I do think maybe a dedicated "Tickets Only" stall might be worth a shot - even though downstairs serves that purpose.

Downstairs isn't tickets only, have you ever Q'ed for a ticket downstairs when there's a family of 4 infront of you picking there ice-cream.....its slower then upstairs

Sully

trishw78 wrote: »

We did say it to a supervisor and he just shrugged his shoulders and more or less said tough.

Probably lack of experience, I think most of them are just general staff promoted to "look after" the others. The manager is who you need to speak to.

trishw78

The Manager never seems to be there, or has his mobile turned off

BazBox

I was only ever once caught in a queue in storm cinemas, missed the first 5 minutes of the film. It was only about 5 - 10 minutes before the film started that they actually opened another till as it was a monday night and im presuming they did not expect it to be busy.

Anyway, I still think storm is a better cinema compared to cineplex although the revamped cineplex will be good for competition.

Sully

trishw78 wrote: »

The Manager never seems to be there, or has his mobile turned off

Leave a message for him to call back, or go to the owner. Thats poor service.

AdMMM

You obviously don't buy food at the cinema. Or if you do, you've forgotten that once I get my ticket out of one of those nice little machines I have to plunge into a gigantic queue with the box office and the food people in order to get my food. I should then be able to join a food-only queue. This is a poor setup imho, and I haven't seen it anywhere else.

It's a technique used by cinemas to boost food sales that's becoming ever more popular among designers, it's comparable to supermarkets having the sweet racks just by the checkouts. It works though as everyone has to queue up and when you have children with you it can be very hard to turn down their pleas for popcorn.

red ranger

i do thick there is room for two cinema in waterford ,but when the cineplex close for its revamp what will happen then.?????

Sully

Thats IF they close. Have they even applied for permission yet? Will they even get it? Who knows.

And whats your point anyway? What difference does it make if its open or closed? Business is poor as it is for them..

JohnC.

Will the be closing completely or doing one screen at a time and maybe half the lobby at a time too?

merlante

|.Murderer.| wrote: »

It's a technique used by cinemas to boost food sales that's becoming ever more popular among designers, it's comparable to supermarkets having the sweet racks just by the checkouts. It works though as everyone has to queue up and when you have children with you it can be very hard to turn down their pleas for popcorn.

Whatever their reason for joining the two queues together, and simplifying their job is as good a reason as making more money, it's an inferior setup to all other cinemas I've been too. (As far as I can remember anyway.)

It should definitely be seen as a flaw in their service as opposed to a legitimate additional way for them to make money. I'd like to think they are not doing it as a racket. (Especially since the food counters in other cinemas, though separate, are always pretty tempting anyhow.)

Jor

I have also noticed that the counters at Storm seem to be undermanned lately. Was waiting approx 20 minutes to get in last Sunday.
A few weeks ago, we went on a Wednesday and when we got to the top of the stairs, it was just a sea of people. Went to Patrick St. instead. Had not been there for ages but found it OK.
My complaint with the Cineplex was that they never had the air conditioning on so if you came in after a previous showing that was full, the place was stink/very stuffy. Because there are so few going there now, that is not a problem.
For some reason, Storm are not showing Sweeney Todd. Their website is very handy for finding out what is being shown over the next few weeks.
When it was just the Cineplex in town, I always thought it was bad that you had to queue seperately for tickets and grub, but having seen the other system work in Storm, perhaps a few ticket-only counters would be the best way.

AdMMM

Storm are finding it difficult to hire new staff because it's now coming up to exam time and many people who work with them would be affected by this and have now left.

Sully

The exams are in May.. thats a good few months away..

Daysha

Sully wrote: »

The exams are in May.. thats a good few months away..

That doesn't mean they wont be studying until then. I'm in 6th year in DLS and loads of people i know worked there over last summer and the start of this year, but most of them just wanted to get stuck into revision and the like.

Sully

deise59 wrote: »

That doesn't mean they wont be studying until then. I'm in 6th year in DLS and loads of people i know worked there over last summer and the start of this year, but most of them just wanted to get stuck into revision and the like.

I was mainly referring to college exams, as it seems to be mostly college people working there. I just thought it was to early to quit..

red ranger

no. when i walk past there on saturday they where busy because people find it easy for kids . have you gone back there .I was told by my flatmate who want to storm tonight that prices has gone up . And he said that he was late for his film because there was not much staff on in the shop.he had to wait 15 mins for his ticket and food and when got to the screen the film was on 20 min the man told him when he got to the door .

Sully

red ranger wrote: »

no when i walk past there on saturday they where busy because people find it easy for kids .so it always quiet there at weekend .have you gone back there .i was told by my flatmate who want to storm tonight that prices has gone up .and he said that he was late for his film because there was not much staff on in the shop.he had to wait 15 mins for his ticket and food and when got to the screen the film was on 20 min the man told him when he got to the door .

Without coming across rude, but any chance you could improve your English a little? Im not sure if your Irish or not, but im finding it difficult to understand your posts.

I cant get my head around the above post, as it seems to contradict parts.

The delay is already been spoken about.

magick

i wouldnt care if the waterford cineplex was offering free blowjobs tbh i still wouldnt go in there beacuse too many of my good movie experiences were ruined by : some muppet operating the movie making stupid shadow puppets, the sound not working , the picture upside down, the picture blurry , and picture upside down and blurry with no sound for the first 15 minutes (and yes i did complain a lot to the managment )

The only reason for the revamp is they finally have a Competitor

merlante

magick wrote: »

i wouldnt care if the waterford cineplex was offering free blowjobs tbh i still wouldnt go in there beacuse too many of my good movie experiences were ruined by : some muppet operating the movie making stupid shadow puppets, the sound not working , the picture upside down, the picture blurry , and picture upside down and blurry with no sound for the first 15 minutes (and yes i did complain a lot to the managment )

The only reason for the revamp is they finally have a Competitor

I heard there was a regime change in there. There would want to be if they are going to compete with storm. Any insider info anyone?

I agree with the sentiment of your post. Even though I haven't had that many bad experiences in there, because I wasn't living in Waterford, I always hated the fact that the only cinema in the city was a pig sty. I have been actively boycotting them since before Storm opened but I'd consider giving them another chance in the next while, probably to see Sweeney Todd.

Bards

I will never ever ever gop back out of principal

My Story
========

Went there to See "The Day After Tomorrow" was really looking forward to seeing it on the big screen (Screen 1). checked the times in the N&S and saw the big advert splashed over the other 4 scrrens in landscape format. I assumed this meant it was in screen 1.

I arrived a good 30 mins before the start and got my tickets for the show (Can't remember the exact time bu ti was around 8ish - Prime Time) when I went up the stairs to Screen 1. it had the name of the show "The Day After Tomorrow" aboce the door.. peeked my head inside but was shocked to see that the film was about half way through

Went downstair to complain and was asked what showing had I booked. you can magine my amazement that they had two showings due to popular demand and the 8pm show was in screen 5.

No way was I going to see a big SFX flick like that in such a crappy theatre (My setup at home is better than that) so I asked for my money back. I had a stand up row with the mamangement who refused to give me my money back - due to the fact that the show was a sellout it was policy not to issue refunds, even though I bought the tickets less than 10 mins previous.

I informed them about the sale of goods and services act and he tried to persuade me that they don't advertise in the N&S and they dont specify the screen.

Eventuall I hollowed out did anyone want two tickets for "The Day After Tomorrow" and two people in the queue bought them from me.

so as a point of principal I will never step foot inside that building again

JohnC.

With a big movie like that, they are often showing on multiple screens. They normally have posters on the door showing what showings are in what screen. It will also be printed on the ticket, so I'm not sure why you went to the wrong screen even after getting that.

Bards

Kahless wrote: »

With a big movie like that, they are often showing on multiple screens. They normally have posters on the door showing what showings are in what screen. It will also be printed on the ticket, so I'm not sure why you went to the wrong screen even after getting that.

They do now after I pointed it out to them that they didn't at the time

Chochese

Bards wrote: »

They do now after I pointed it out to them that they didn't at the time

They've always done that, way before 2004!

Bards

Chochese wrote: »

They've always done that, way before 2004!

not for this film - the Manager even took down the signs on the door and there was nowhere on the programme did it say what screen each film was in

Trust me. I was there and had the argument

Chochese

Bards wrote: »

not for this film - the Manager even took down the signs on the door and there was nowhere on the programme did it say what screen each film was in

Trust me. I was there and had the argument

The screen number is, and always has been, printed on the ticket. I've worked there for a number of years and even prior to 2004 the screen number has always been printed on the ticket.

Trust me. I was there and had that argument many times.

red ranger

no. when i walk past there on saturday they where busy because people find it easy for kids . have you gone back there . I was told by my flatmate who want to storm tonight that prices has gone up . And he said that he was late for his film because there was not much staff on in the shop.he had to wait 15 mins for his ticket and food and when got to the screen the film was on 20 min the man told him when he got to the door .
can you read it now?????

Sully

Its becoming increasingly obvious red ranger, that your working for the Cineplex or have some high connections. Your defending a place that's in ruins, and that has lost a lot of business and you wont see negative. You can try as hard as you want, the fact of the matter is - Waterford Cineplex is NOT as good as Storm for MANY reasons. It DOES have a chance of survival, but ONLY if they hit back - and hit back hard.

Please note: The comment about the Cineplex having rats was said to be an "urban myth". The poster did NOT accuse the Cinema of having rats. I don't think it does have, and im sure if it did the matter would have been brought up with Health and Safety. The same issue applies to Storm Cinemas. Please do not post making such allegations, as it will lead to trouble. All offending posts / comments have been removed.

Since this topic has been discussed to death prior to this thread ever being created, and since the issue of the revamp has been discussed - I am going to close it. In addition, this thread is starting to go down a bad route by making defamatory remarks towards two companies which could lead Boards.ie into serious trouble.

If you want to discuss the matter of it being closed, feel free to send me a PM.