Mandatory bag search at cinema

daheff

Hi

I was at the cinema at Liffey Valley over the weekend. I noticed a sign there which said something to the effects of :

"There is a mandatory bag search in operation in this cinema."

Now as far as I'm aware there is absolutley no reason why they can demand to search your bags.

I can understand that they may be trying to stop people pirating films etc ...but i dont think that gives them any right to search you belongings.

Does anybody know of their reasonings? Or of anybody that was searched?

they also gave a website to look at if you had any questions..but this has nothing about bag searches (as far as I can see)

jim o doom

AFAIK the Gardai are the only ones legally allowed to search bags & that has to be done with your permission. Otherwise they have to bring you to the garda station to do it. Pretty sure the cinema can't force anyone to do so..


I'd give consumer affairs a buzz & make a complaint..

Ludo

They have no "right" to search your bag, but I would assume they can simply refuse admission and offer you a refund if you do not grant permission to do so.

Paulw

Ludo wrote: »

They have no "right" to search your bag, but I would assume they can simply refuse admission and offer you a refund if you do not grant permission to do so.

Exactly. That would be my understanding too.

ziedth

IMO, I'd say its more todo with bringing in your own sweets ETC then actually Pirating A film. Still I wouldn't leave them do it.

ejmaztec

Yep, definitely video cameras and popcorn.

Tristram

The cinema at Liffey Valley must be on the terror watch list... :pac:

ergonomics

Did they actually search your bag or was there simply a sign up saying searches were in place? If they didn't search you I'd be inclined to say the sign was just there to scare people more than anything.

daheff

ergonomics wrote: »

Did they actually search your bag or was there simply a sign up saying searches were in place? If they didn't search you I'd be inclined to say the sign was just there to scare people more than anything.

there was a sign there.

AFAIK there is nothing in the terms & conditions of your purchase to say that you have to consent to a bag search if they decide just so you can see the film...it'd be interesting to see them try to defend the policy

penexpers

daheff wrote: »

there was a sign there.

AFAIK there is nothing in the terms & conditions of your purchase to say that you have to consent to a bag search if they decide just so you can see the film...it'd be interesting to see them try to defend the policy

Section 18 of the Guest Admission Policy

18. Vue reserves the right to search guests and their possessions whilst on the premises.

http://www.vue.ie/cinemas/terms_and_conditions.asp

Paulw

penexpers wrote: »

Section 18 of the Guest Admission Policy

18. Vue reserves the right to search guests and their possessions whilst on the premises.

They can't reserve a right that they don't have.

They have the right to request permission to search your bag, but they legally don't have the right to search you.

mikemac

I've seen this policy in another cinema, not Liffey Valley.
If you refuse a search, they ask that you leave the bag with them, they'll lock it into a room somewhere and you go watch your film

Don't forget the "management are not responsible for lost property" sign :rolleyes:

If you refuse this, they give you a refund and ask you to leave.
There are ushers in each screen so it difficult to get away with a camera, it's just a rigid enforcement to drive up sweet and drink sales

tomred1

That sign been up for a while in Liffey Valley, I have never seened it enforced.

bcirl03

I've seen the sign however I have stopped going to Vue in Liffey Valley.

Gone terrible over the last few years, dirty, unhelpful staff, under staffed - you name it. Not to mention when you come out of the cinema for a meal all the restaurants are closed EARLY!

yoshytoshy

are you not suppose to bring in your own refreshments ?

concussion

I was under the impression that there's nothing to stop you bringing your own in. I know they want you to buy from them as that's where the main profits come from but can they legally stop you bringing in your own sweets and drinks?

swiss

I'm kind of with the cinema on this one. While I agree that mandatory searching is beyond the pale and legally unenforceable, bringing in your own refreshments is, in my view, akin to bringing in your own drink to a pub. I usually watch the film without resorting to the popcorn and coke.

rubadub

concussion wrote: »

can they legally stop you bringing in your own sweets and drinks?

It is not really a legal issue, they simply refuse to let you into THEIR cinema, like a pub would refuse you smuggling in drink or food.

I have got my bag searched and had drink in it, they stored it away and let me in, after I got it back no problem and a few others had bags too.

With the food thing one exuse they give is that it is against health & safety or something, and that the food smells, (while their own popcorn & hotdogs stink!).

Depends on the cinema location on how likely you are to be caught, in dun laoghaire the newsagents next door did a roaring trade, in dundrum we often smuggle in KFC & mc donalds.

A naggin is easy to stash in and you can get a giant coke to stick it in, good for early on, pay €10 in and watch the film and get a few scoops in, then hit the pub after, if you were in the pub for those 90mins it would have cost a lot more.

T-Square

swiss wrote: »

I'm kind of with the cinema on this one. While I agree that mandatory searching is beyond the pale and legally unenforceable, bringing in your own refreshments is, in my view, akin to bringing in your own drink to a pub. I usually watch the film without resorting to the popcorn and coke.

With all due respect moderator, you are incorrect, in my view.

You go to a pub for drink
so you cannot bring drink
You go to a cinema to view a movie
so you cannot bring a camera

If the cinema did not charge 500% over the odds for simple items,
people wouldn't even have this discussion.

What happens when people want a specific sweet to eat while watching a movie they just paid 20 euro for? for a couple.
I'm partial to candied kitten paws, Vue don't sell them (over the counter )
so am I to go without?
I don't like the muck they call "Coke"
I like "the real thing"
why should I pay a fiver for their Coke dish water at 500% more than a shop, that is already charging a margin over wholesale prices,
when I can have a cold, fizzy, 500ml for a *fraction* of the price.

I don't care if they "make their money" from sweets (and boy oh boy do they "make money" on their sweets.)

Cinema's make money from tickets at 10 euro each.

Fock them

TheDriver

mahon in cork has sign saying only stuff bought there can be ate there etc, and I agree with last poster, you pay them enough to watch film and gain admission, not force you to buy their stuff too.
They charge 8.40 for a coke and popcorn, thats dinner price

yoshytoshy

i sometimes bring in oranges with me ,a few manderins like. Maybe a bottle of water aswell.

If I'm in the humour of junk ,i'll buy the sugar and salt they sell:)

JohnC.

T-Square wrote: »

Cinema's make money from tickets at 10 euro each.

Fock them

They actually make bugger all on the price of the ticket. Almost all of it goes to the distributer and studio. Even after paying the high cost of the film itself. I did see figures before, but I can't recall them now. This is the reason they charge so much for refreshments. They just don't make money on tickets.

yoshytoshy

Kahless wrote: »

They actually make bugger all on the price of the ticket. Almost all of it goes to the distributer and studio. Even after paying the high cost of the film itself. I did see figures before, but I can't recall them now. This is the reason they charge so much for refreshments. They just don't make money on tickets.

If it's too expensive for someone to go to the cinema ,is it better to have empty seats then ?

Paulw

Kahless wrote: »

They actually make bugger all on the price of the ticket. Almost all of it goes to the distributer and studio.

I thought I saw an article about 2 years ago, about how the price of films had gone down greatly, due to them being digital now and not actual film. The distribution costs had greatly decreased. See article from the Arts Council on digital distribution/film.

And then a few months later, Irish prices started to increase again.

I'd love to see the actual figures.

I wonder how cinema prices are so much cheaper in the US, and yet they have much lower attendance figures. With the films being digital, it certainly isn't due to the cost of the film itself.

seamus

Paulw wrote: »

I thought I saw an article about 2 years ago, about how the price of films had gone down greatly, due to them being digital now and not actual film. The distribution costs had greatly decreased. See article from the Arts Council on digital distribution/film.

According to that article, one private company were "aiming" to upgrade almost every screen in Ireland to digital in 2008. This would involve convincing places to upgrade their existing equipment. In a recession year, that would be no mean feat.

Since the first digital-only cinema in Ireland only opened in July, I imagine this company are a good deal behind their planned target of "most screens" in 2008. Certainly I can personally attest that three of the biggest cinemas in Dublin - Vue Liffey Valley, Dundrum and UGC, are still using 35mm, though they may have one or two digital projectors, I couldn't be sure.

krudler

I used to work at a cinema and the no outside food thing is a joke, a bag of popcorn gets something like 200 boxes to sell for them but it only cost (at the time, this was years back) 30 quid a bag, bout the size of a kg of spuds, 200 boxes of popcorn from one bag at about 4.00 a box is a massive profit, so fook em, they also admitted they have no legal right to stop people bringing in their own food

JohnC.

Paulw wrote: »

I thought I saw an article about 2 years ago, about how the price of films had gone down greatly, due to them being digital now and not actual film. The distribution costs had greatly decreased. See article from the Arts Council on digital distribution/film.

And then a few months later, Irish prices started to increase again.

I'd love to see the actual figures.

I wonder how cinema prices are so much cheaper in the US, and yet they have much lower attendance figures. With the films being digital, it certainly isn't due to the cost of the film itself.

Most cinemas are not digital and many which do have digital may only have one digital screen room with the rest still being film. That Arts Council PDF is about possibilities, not the actual situation as it stands now in this country.

bardcom

mikemac wrote: »

I've seen this policy in another cinema, not Liffey Valley.
If you refuse a search, they ask that you leave the bag with them, they'll lock it into a room somewhere and you go watch your film

Don't forget the "management are not responsible for lost property" sign :rolleyes:

If you refuse this, they give you a refund and ask you to leave.
There are ushers in each screen so it difficult to get away with a camera, it's just a rigid enforcement to drive up sweet and drink sales

Except in this case, they have taken it and are now responsible for it. So they would be responsible if it got "lost". Might be different if something went "missing" from the contents though, unless they itemize the contents. In which case they might as well have searched it...

dudara

T-Square wrote: »

With all due respect moderator, you are incorrect, in my view.

T-Square Swiss is not a moderator in this forum and therefore his opinion is exactly the same as yours. You should not bring the tired and cliched moderator slant into your argument.

dudara

FruitLover

What's the big deal? Just fill your bag with mousetraps before entering. Problem swiftly solved.

ronbyrne2005

The people who bring their own stuff usually are'nt gonna spend big bucks on the cinema's stuff. I always buy before and put the stuff in my pockets. Sometimes i have carried bags of stuff that are clearly popcorn/coke etc and no one has said anything to me. We pay enough for the film admission alone in this country without having to pay 4euro for a 40cent cost price coke. Theres enough people going with GFs etc who dont wanna look like cheapskates to make the cinema's lots of profits. The popcorn in my local cinema is always slightly stale and i prefer the manhattan stuff anyway.