Tammy's Bird Brain

To Whom It May Concern:

I bought tickets online for Alice in Wonderland 3D IMAX on March 12 for the show at 7pm that same night. I bought the last two seats on the top row of the bottom section that were together for me and my husband. I got a babysitter and was really looking forward to getting out and seeing this movie. I have been excited to see this movie since I saw a preview one year ago.


We arrived right as the lights turned off so we saw our two empty seats on the back row quickly sat down to watch the show. About 10 minutes in an usher started asking everyone on the back row to see their tickets. Apparently someone was in the wrong seats. It ended up being us. He let us know that our seats were not together but were two rows apart and asked us to get into our correct seats. I explained to them this could not be possible and that I had picked my seats and purchased them online. He asked us to step out while he looked at a computer showing the available seats. There were two empty seats in the upper section so I said “OK can we just sit in those?” He responded by telling us we had to go to the ticket counter if we wanted to change seats. I was frustrated with this because it didn’t make sense why he couldn’t go to the ticket counter and let us watch the movie.


At the ticket counter she was pleasant and said yes we can give you those seats but now the movie had been playing for 25 minutes and I was upset. I told her it was too late and that I wanted my money back. She told me she couldn’t do that but she could give me a gift card. I spent $28 dollars on these tickets and I told her that wasn’t acceptable and that I wanted my money back and I wanted a manager if she couldn’t do it. She brought the manager over and he explained to me that he would be able to give me those two seats. I couldn’t believe it! Did he really expect me to pay $28 for a movie I would only see ¾ of? He also wanted to give me a gift card but when I demanded my money back he explained that he would do it this time but that is not normal. I was visibly upset but remained relatively calm for how I was feeling. The manager was nice although I have issues with the way he handled it.


I write this letter to let you know that your customer service and training of employees is lacking. I realize that the Larry Miller theatres is a monopoly in Utah and you might not really care about giving good customer service because you think you are going to make money anyways but I believe that you could do better and make more money if people didn’t leave your theatres in tears because they didn’t get to see the movie they wanted because of computer glitches and poor customer service.


What makes me most upset is that those two boys running the IMAX theatre could have diffused the situation quickly by just giving us those seats. Do you train your employees to evaluate situations and think for themselves? Their reasoning was that someone could come and purchase those seats. Who is going to purchase $28 seats to a movie that has already been going for 20 minutes? Seriously?


What kind of manager wants to drill it in to customers that they are doing you a favor by refunding money and giving bad service? It was like he was warning me “We give bad service here and this is going to happen again so be prepared next time because you won’t give your money back”. He also explained that when buying tickets online if you are buying more than one it will automatically put the seats together. So he admitted that it was an error on the theatre’s part but then didn’t really want to make the situation right.


I realize this is a lengthy letter and if you have gotten this far I commend you. My final thought is that most people go to a movie for a date and a lot of people, like myself, get out to a movie maybe 4 times a year with their spouses because not only are we paying for a movie, a $28 one, but we are also paying for a babysitter. It is a big night! It is important to us! Our night was ruined! The last thing I heard was the cashier saying “It will take 5-10 business days for this to post to your account”. So, you are going to take my money immediately but you aren’t going to give it back right away. Thanks.


So I went home, let my babysitter go, and sat there in disbelief that it had all taken place. I left with nothing and I really don’t want to return. I wish that there was integrity with companies and that there was recognition of where all your money comes. Just writing this brings up that emotion and I am angry and sad I didn’t get to see that movie.I hope that someone gets this and something changes.

A customer should never leave unhappy or a little teary eyed. That should be your policy.

Sincerely,

Tammy

Response from Jordan Commons:

First they called me to explain and apologize and let me know how they were going to make it up and then they sent the below email.

Thank you for taking time to let us call and apologize for our mistake last Friday. This is not the guest service experience we want you to have. I pulled 4 tickets on row H in the IMAX for the 7:00 Alice on Thursday 3/18. These are the front balcony seats that usually go first. If you can’t make it please just let me know and we will reserve some tickets for you on another day. The tickets are at the guest service desk under your name. Thank you for choosing Megaplex Theatres.

Dave

My response:

Dave,
Thank you for this response. It was completely unexpected. I realize that customer service is a hard job, I have been there before. I really appreciate you reading my email and responding; I know it was long and wordy. I am very happy. You have completely changed the way I feel about what happened so thank you. I am a big movie fan and I see a lot of movies and I will go out of my way to use your theatre because of this.
Thank you, thank you,
Tammy