Cinema Ticket Prices

barneystinson

pixiebean22 wrote: »

I would prefer to see that happen. If the problem is particularly bad the film has probably been interrupted so much anyway that you might as well go to see it again.

Between going out to find a member of staff and the noise created by the two lads in the cinema I'd say I missed 20-30 minutes of the film through not actually being able to hear what was going on and not being in the cinema. I have read the books but my boyfriend hasn't and he couldn't figure out how something was after happening because he had missed so many on screen conversations.

Well all I can say is yer very quiet people!

If that happened to me, (particularly after bringing it to staff's attention), there's no way I'd sit there stewing til the end of the film. I'd be out to see the manager and get my money back once it reached the point where I felt the film had been ruined for me.

There's not much point waiting til the end of a film and then bending the manager's ear - it'd be like eating a horrible meal in a restaurant, eating all of your main course, and then complaining when you're paying the bill!

I really can't understand where you're coming from here - it's very simple to me - you had a bad experience, due to 4rsehole other customers, and crappy staff. If a manager was aware of your issue and didn't act then they too are woeful, but if they don't know about it then you can't blame them.

nkay1985

I can't believe 2B is trying to distract from the failure of Storm staff to deal with the situation by asking the OP how they should throw the people out. Nothing was done whatsoever. It's not as if the staff tried every way they knew to get rid of the problem, they did nothing about it at all.

If I was one of the members of staff, I'd have gone to the lads and politely told them they were disturbing other patrons and could they please refrain from doing so. I they continued I would politely ask them to leave the cinema. If they refused I'd offer them a refund of their admission fee and ask again. If they refused again, I'd explain that I had no option other than to call the Gardaí as I was requesting that they leave the premises and they were refusing. There's no way one of these methods wouldn't work with 99.99% of people. I know for sure that I wouldn't do nothing and there's nothing more certain than the fact that by doing nothing, the staff weren't going to satisfy the OP.

Any more to say 2B?

daenerysstormborn3

barneystinson wrote: »

Well all I can say is yer very quiet people!

If that happened to me, (particularly after bringing it to staff's attention), there's no way I'd sit there stewing til the end of the film. I'd be out to see the manager and get my money back once it reached the point where I felt the film had been ruined for me.

There's not much point waiting til the end of a film and then bending the manager's ear - it'd be like eating a horrible meal in a restaurant, eating all of your main course, and then complaining when you're paying the bill!

I really can't understand where you're coming from here - it's very simple to me - you had a bad experience, due to 4rsehole other customers, and crappy staff. If a manager was aware of your issue and didn't act then they too are woeful, but if they don't know about it then you can't blame them.

A member of staff knew about a problem in one of the screens and was requested to send in a manager and therefore problem should've been dealt with, don't see what's so hard to understand there.

Also, it's a lot easier to attract the attention of staff, whatever member of staff you want, in a restaurant as you are out in the open and in view of all customers and all staff. There's a big difference between sitting in a dark cinema with no staff present for the majority of the film and you have to leave the cinema, and the film that you have paid for, to voice your complaint whilst missing the film you have paid to see.

daenerysstormborn3

nkay1985 wrote: »

I can't believe 2B is trying to distract from the failure of Storm staff to deal with the situation by asking the OP how they should throw the people out. Nothing was done whatsoever. It's not as if the staff tried every way they knew to get rid of the problem, they did nothing about it at all.

If I was one of the members of staff, I'd have gone to the lads and politely told them they were disturbing other patrons and could they please refrain from doing so. I they continued I would politely ask them to leave the cinema. If they refused I'd offer them a refund of their admission fee and ask again. If they refused again, I'd explain that I had no option other than to call the Gardaí as I was requesting that they leave the premises and they were refusing. There's no way one of these methods wouldn't work with 99.99% of people. I know for sure that I wouldn't do nothing and there's nothing more certain than the fact that by doing nothing, the staff weren't going to satisfy the OP.

Any more to say 2B?

Just on this point, if the two members of staff had come into the cinema and the two lads had been sitting there pretending they were being quiet I would've thought fair enough, they can only see so much but whilst both members of staff were in the cinema the two lads were out with the phones and chatting away. How hard is it to see that this is disturbing the showing and that they are required to do something about it?

barneystinson

pixiebean22 wrote: »

...I went outside and asked one of the staff if they would mind doing something about it...

pixiebean22 wrote: »

A member of staff knew about a problem in one of the screens and was requested to send in a manager and therefore problem should've been dealt with, don't see what's so hard to understand there.

Sorry, which is it, because this is entirely what I'm getting at. Did you say to the staff member to tell the manager you wanted it sorted, or did you ask the staff member to sort it. These are two very different things, and in either case you have a valid beef with the useless staff, but unless you KNOW that the management is aware of your problem it is patently unfair to blame them.

You can blame the failure of management generally, to have their staff up to scratch, but you can't blame them for any specific failing in your case, unless they were made aware of the problem and failed to act.

pixiebean22 wrote: »

What is the point of asking staff to intervene if they are going to do nothing??

My point exactly - so I'd expect that next time, if you are that unlucky again, you'd decide that asking management directly is more likely to resolve your problem, and faster.

daenerysstormborn3

barneystinson wrote: »

Sorry, which is it, because this is entirely what I'm getting at. Did you say to the staff member to tell the manager you wanted it sorted, or did you ask the staff member to sort it. These are two very different things, and in either case you have a valid beef with the useless staff, but unless you KNOW that the management is aware of your problem it is patently unfair to blame them.

You can blame the failure of management generally, to have their staff up to scratch, but you can't blame them for any specific failing in your case, unless they were made aware of the problem and failed to act.

My point exactly - so I'd expect that next time, if you are that unlucky again, you'd decide that asking management directly is more likely to resolve your problem, and faster.

As I already stated in the thread, I was not specific enough in my first post about this problem. I went out and asked a member of staff to send in a manager to deal with the problem.

barneystinson

pixiebean22 wrote: »

As I already stated in the thread, I was not specific enough in my first post about this problem. I went out and asked a member of staff to send in a manager to deal with the problem.

Well then the staff really suck! And the manager (if they knew).

Up2NoGood

Hello, I thought it was appropriate to classify this as business to business for one compelling reason. Your pricing structure and lack of value at the Waterford branch is appalling.
The price of ticket is not something that has gone un-noticed, please refer to Boards.ie and the waterford city forum. The information here is invaluable and free.
The concession stand provides a majority of your profit, but you can still provide good value.
While going to the cinema used to be a weekly event for my family, I have found better value in driving to Calow or Kilkenny and visiting your competitors.


Above was an e-mail I sent to Storm Cinema today via their website, I implore everyone who has voiced their opinions here to do the same, this company has been taking advantage of all their customers and need to know we are not happy.
The only way to make change is to make them aware of the situation.

shadowcomplex

If any lads are talking during a film when I go to the cinema, I have 3 stages

1.Ask them nicely to stay quiet

2.Shout at them to shut the **** up

3. Puk the jaw off them

It hasnt had to ever get to stage 3 yet

Princess Peach

Not sure what the VAT and all that is up north, but I went to the brand new cinema in Derry before Christmas, most beautiful cinema I was ever in, comfiest seats! Adult ticket in the evening was £6, can't beat that!

There were a group of rowdy teens in the film, and they were all escorted out by staff. I've seen this happen in cinemas in Dublin too. I was in Cineplex on Parnell St before were a person came up to someone and told them to turn off their mobile phone or they would be asked to leave.

Went to Storm just after Christmas. When I got there, 3 staff members were standing at the ticket stall chatting and laughing with each other. When we came with our tickets there was nobody there! Could have walked in for free!

They should have more special offers, like half price tickets all Tuesday or something. Or the Cineplex €20 a month ticket!

billythepig

abouttobebanned wrote: »

Storm are a bunch of thieves. We've been through this already.

totally agree my friend,
they made my son trow a can of coke into the bin before letting him in, just because he didnt buy it in their shythole

robbin bassards

dayshah

billythepig wrote: »

totally agree my friend,
they made my son trow a can of coke into the bin before letting him in, just because he didnt buy it in their shythole

robbin bassards

I sort of like that I'm not allowed bring in my own food.

Of course, I always smuggle in my own, but it adds to the sense of tension and suspense before I go in to see a thriller.

Oh, the joys I get from life.

Ledger

I also sent them a little something:


I am typing this email to convey to you the low level of respect I and many others hold your cinema to at the moment.

Refusing to pass on the VAT decrease on your already overly inflated prices? An absolute disgrace.

Not training in staff to a high enough standard? An absolute disgrace.

Your staff ignoring customers' complaints in reference to noisy and obnoxious patrons during a showing? An absolute disgrace.

If you want to see what the feeling towards your cinema of some former regulars in Waterford you should go to the thread on your cinema on the Waterford City forum on Boards.ie: http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2056497423

I refuse to go to your cinema anymore as it is much cheaper to go to one of your competitors in another area.

Grindylow

Just booked 2 student tickets to a film in Dungarva SGC at 9 tonight.. €13. A massive difference to the price of Storm!

PTH2009

Grindylow wrote: »

Just booked 2 student tickets to a film in Dungarva SGC at 9 tonight.. €13. A massive difference to the price of Storm!

7.75 For 2 tickets in Storm= 15.50

Its only 2.50 youre saving. If you drove from the city to dungarvan than petrol costs would be much higher

Grindylow

PTH2009 wrote: »

7.75 For 2 tickets in Storm= 15.50

Its only 2.50 youre saving. If you drove from the city to dungarvan than petrol costs would be much higher

I'm equal distances between both so it doesn't make a difference to me though!

Ledger

Got a reply just now:

Thank you for your email.

Here at ODEON we strive to make everyone's visit to our Cinemas an enjoyable one and one that they wish to return. So when a guest has a concern we take it seriously.

I can confirm that an e-mail has been sent to the Cinema Management team and I have asked them to reply to you directly regarding your comments. Please allow seven days for the Cinema to respond to you as they will require time to investigate the points you have raised.

Should you have any further queries, please do not hesitate to email us again or call 1520 88 00 00* between 11am and 8pm.

Regards,

Liz
STORM Guest Services


So basically, still waiting.

barneystinson

I've emailed them as well, and I'd encourage any other Boardsies who've had enough of their overpricing, poor customer service, cinemas that are either like a fridge or an oven, etc... to let them know. The only way anything might be done is if they get a critical mass of complaints...

Potential-Monke

I emailed them about the prices before re popcorn size reduction and VAT, this is the reply i got:

Many thanks for your email.

I appreciate your comments and I fully appreciate your frustration with the change to the Large Popcorn Portion. It has been as frustrating for the team and myself locally and will continue to be in the coming weeks and months.

Due to the rising cost of food products internationally, we have experienced an increase in the cost of our products. The same can be said for costs of many business' today. This has left us with the decision to either increase price or reduce quantity. In this case we have reduced the size of the portion, often finding during screen cleans that most guests only ate half of what was in the popcorn size. I believe that this is a quite guest sensitive decision. I completely understand your point of view with relation to this and of course I would like every guest to by some retail when they come to the cinema. We have many great offers available to Guests such as the Couples Combo, Film Feast, our New Family Feast and we have regularly done 2 for €5.00 offers and give away free Yorkie and Kit Kat bars at selected seasons. Taking all of this into account, I would still like to sincerely apologise for any inconvenience caused to you by reducing the sizes and any knock on effect it has had to your cinema experience

Secondly prior to the Vat rate decrease we reviewed our pricing structure and introduced a reduction in prices for any film before 1pm. All films playing before 1pm are now €6.00 per person. 3D upgrade fees still apply to 3D movies but there is usually only one playing during that time and even with the upgrade fee it is substantially less than at peak time. A "Teen Ticket" was added to our Pricing Tiers which means that Guests between 13& 17 can enjoy a film for €2.60 less during peak periods. This is only the case in Storm and UCI Cinemas and one other smaller operator of cinemas. We also reduced the price of our family ticket by €1.00 which means that a family unit pays €4.00 less on each visit.
Additionally, we run a Kids Club which is only €4.00 per ticket, Senior Screen which is only €3.00 per ticket with a free tea or coffee and Newbies (Parent and Baby Screen) which is only €6.50 per ticket with a free tea or coffee. Taking all of this into account I do strongly believe that there is value to be had at the cinema. However I can fully appreciate the Point of view of the cinema going public on pricing, however I do believe that a cinema of the same standard as Storm Cinemas Waterford runs with a similar pricing structure.

I know that this does not alleviate your concern with the bag size change. However my team and I value your continued custom. Storm Cinemas prides itself on its Good Times... & Great Movies!, As the General Manager my priority is to run a Safe, Clean, Guest Friendly, Efficient and Profitable Cinema.

Many thanks again,

Best regards,

barneystinson

Ah lads, why didn't I start doing this ages ago...

Myself and herself are sitting in SGC Dungarvan, waiting for The Grey to start.

Tickets 17e, large combo & MINSTRELS (herself v impressed with this factor!) was 10e.

That's over a fiver less than Storm. So while it'll cost me the difference, or a little over it, in diesel, it's well worth it to me, as an alternative to giving my money to Storm...

Also, seats are comfier & cinema cleaner...

Vote with yer feet lads!

dark_shadow

Where's the cinema in dungarvan?? Long time since I was up that way.

Grindylow

dark_shadow wrote: »

Where's the cinema in dungarvan?? Long time since I was up that way.

Just behind the shopping centre with Dunnes etc in it!

dark_shadow

Grindylow wrote: »

Just behind the shopping centre with Dunnes etc in it!

Ah yes of course. What's it like for parking up there eg. car park or on the street? Might take a spin up tomorrow:D

Dunnie1982

dark_shadow wrote: »

Ah yes of course. What's it like for parking up there eg. car park or on the street? Might take a spin up tomorrow:D

Parking there is usually ok but can be a nightmare if a big film is on, I find if it's busy at night I drive up to the hardware store up the road (can't for the life of me remember the name of it) and park in front of that as its only a minute walk away. Just a warning though, I parked on a single yellow line one night and came out and had a ticket, the ticket was issued at 11.35pm, so watch out for that. I'm from Carrick myself and will always pick Dungarvan over Storm or Clonmel cinema, not only because of the price, but also because of the staff and the comfort of the seats. If teenagers etc. are messing they will usually get a warning from staff and on more than one occasion I've seen people being kicked out. Also the last few times that we've went to Dungarvan on a Saturday night there has been a huge crowd there so arrive early.

The last time we went to Storm was a nightmare, it was before Christmas and a film which we really wanted to see was only being shown in Storm so we begrudgingly went down. I asked for my food and drinks and 2 tickets, the girl behind the counter seemed nice and mannerly and got the drinks and food, put them on the counter and uttered the phrase 'That movie isn't on tonight because the reel never arrived to us, what would you like to see instead?'. My girlfriend wasn't in the humour to see anything else that was showing so we said we would leave it, the girl said 'that's ok so, it will be 16(?) euros for the food and drinks. Up to this point I was going to bite my tongue and say nothing about it being 5 days after the film was originally meant to start and it still being on the website and posted on the door as being on. I then kind of laughed and said 'are you being serious' to which she replied 'but the cokes are poured out for you already'. I asked could I see a manager to which I was told there was none on duty. The girl insisted I pay for at least the drinks until another member of staff (obviously embarassed) came over and apologised on the girls behalf saying she had only started and was nervous about what to do with the cokes. I said it's not good enough and explained that I had driven 20 miles specifically to see a film which was advertised as being shown at the time and then after being told it wasn't on I was insulted by being asked to pay for drinks which I didn't want. The second girl said she was sorry but there was nothing she could do. I said fine and told her that I wouldn't be returning ever again.

I personally won't be going back to storm again.

dark_shadow

Thanks for the info dunnie!! Great post. That's shyte about storm though, they really don't have a clue down there...and there's one person in particular whom we won't mention:rolleyes:

Dan133269

Dunnie1982 wrote: »

The last time we went to Storm was a nightmare, it was before Christmas and a film which we really wanted to see was only being shown in Storm so we begrudgingly went down. I asked for my food and drinks and 2 tickets, the girl behind the counter seemed nice and mannerly and got the drinks and food, put them on the counter and uttered the phrase 'That movie isn't on tonight because the reel never arrived to us, what would you like to see instead?'. My girlfriend wasn't in the humour to see anything else that was showing so we said we would leave it, the girl said 'that's ok so, it will be 16(?) euros for the food and drinks. Up to this point I was going to bite my tongue and say nothing about it being 5 days after the film was originally meant to start and it still being on the website and posted on the door as being on. I then kind of laughed and said 'are you being serious' to which she replied 'but the cokes are poured out for you already'. I asked could I see a manager to which I was told there was none on duty. The girl insisted I pay for at least the drinks until another member of staff (obviously embarassed) came over and apologised on the girls behalf saying she had only started and was nervous about what to do with the cokes. I said it's not good enough and explained that I had driven 20 miles specifically to see a film which was advertised as being shown at the time and then after being told it wasn't on I was insulted by being asked to pay for drinks which I didn't want. The second girl said she was sorry but there was nothing she could do. I said fine and told her that I wouldn't be returning ever again.

I personally won't be going back to storm again.

So did you pay for the Coke in the end? Please tell me you didn't. That is pretty terrible customer service. Was it long ago? You should e-mail the manager telling him about it.

Even if the girl was new, it's just common sense to tell you first that the film isn't on.

Then again, Storm is still a million times better than the old cinema. Remember that place, sweet mother of jesus!

dark_shadow

Dan133269 wrote: »

So did you pay for the Coke in the end? Please tell me you didn't. That is pretty terrible customer service. Was it long ago? You should e-mail the manager telling him about it.

Even if the girl was new, it's just common sense to tell you first that the film isn't on.

Then again, Storm is still a million times better than the old cinema. Remember that place, sweet mother of jesus!

I'd have to disagree with you there, if the old place was still open I think I would be going there everytime and not storm! As bad as it might of been I dont think it was as bad as storm is tbh.

Dunnie1982

Dan133269 wrote: »

So did you pay for the Coke in the end? Please tell me you didn't. That is pretty terrible customer service. Was it long ago? You should e-mail the manager telling him about it.

Even if the girl was new, it's just common sense to tell you first that the film isn't on.

Then again, Storm is still a million times better than the old cinema. Remember that place, sweet mother of jesus!

No way did I pay for it, I didn't bother going any further with it either, I just told everyone I know about my experience and a few of them had bad experiences there too. It happened in late November or at the start of December. I didn't mind the old cinema, the only thing that needed fixing was the seating needed to be modernised (stadium style as in all new cinemas) and maybe a new aircon system installed. There was a rumour going around about a year or so ago that an application went in to build a new cinema out near the Ardkeen side of the city, I don't know if there was any truth to it but it would be great, as a a bit of competition could make storm get their act together.