goingtonight
@bellsouth.net
|  [Rant] When is 12:01AM (Movie Theater Rant)
So i purchased tickets yesterday for the Transformers midnight showing at 12:01 AM on the 23rd. Great escape movie theaters.
Just so i don't go crazy, was that not this morning?
So i show up, the manager explained that its actually for tonight (12:01 AM on the 24th?). So i called the babysitter and went home. The manager didn't offer any apologies and instead recommended that i call corporate, because its their website and their fault! I didn't want to get too mad since he was a 16 year old manager and i felt bad for him. Another family shows up and we explained that the tickets are actually for the 24th, and they laugh and leave with us. We walk to our cars when another family shows up. (this is 40 minutes early to the showing).
Then the manager walks towards the doors and locks them. He didn't even place a note on the door explaining that the ticket times were wrong...  |
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Mr Neutron
Hopped up on what you mopped up
Premium
join:2005-05-30
Gorham, ME
| said by goingtonight :
The manager didn't offer any apologies and instead recommended that i call corporate, because its their website and their fault! I didn't want to get too mad since he was a 16 year old manager and i felt bad for him.
For a (purportedly) 16-year-old manager, he's sure wasted no time in learning how to pass the buck. 
He couldn't give you coupons for a free drink and/or popcorn? Maybe throw in a free pass? Nothing for the customers who wasted their time driving to the theatre as you did?
And to top it all off, if he didn't bother to leave a sign on the door, there were doubtless customers who spent their time yanking away on the door handle, trying to get in.
All I can say is: you're a far better person than I am, because I would have been mad as hell.
Yes, I understand that it wasn't his fault about the incorrectly posted ticket times, but as a manager, it's up to him to take care of his customers (and you are one of his customers) regardless of what corporate does or does not do.
Amazing. Just......amazing.
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fishacura
join:2008-01-25
Phoenixville, PA
| reply to goingtonight
Doesn't surprise me. I wish it did, but it doesn't Good for you for not blowing a gasket! Send a letter to the corporate office...you'll most likely at least get a free movie out of it.
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People who don't get good service on average tell 10 others while people who do get good service on average tell 1. |
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Jahntassa
What, I can have feathers
Premium
join:2006-04-14
Conway, SC
| reply to goingtonight
I guess you've never gone to a midnight showing before, have you.
They say 12:01am because that's 'officially' the day of release. However the tickets are sold as the night before as far as 'ticketing' goes because it's still technically a Tuesday workday for them.
The tickets are for Tuesday 'night', even though they're technically for Wednesday 'just after midnight'.
Sorry, that's how it's pretty much always been as far as I know. |
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Mr Neutron
Hopped up on what you mopped up
Premium
join:2005-05-30
Gorham, ME
| said by Jahntassa  :The tickets are for Tuesday 'night', even though they're technically for Wednesday 'just after midnight'. Sorry, that's how it's pretty much always been as far as I know. Ah, I get it: this confusion over the time is more or less an ongoing problem? If that's the case, I guess the motivation to make it up to people isn't as strong as if would be if what happened were a one-off.
Thank you for the explanation.
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We could use the £5,000 to buy a spoon. And then fill up with ice cream. |
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Jahntassa
What, I can have feathers
Premium
join:2006-04-14
Conway, SC
| said by Mr Neutron :Ah, I get it: this confusion over the time is more or less an ongoing problem? If that's the case, I guess the motivation to make it up to people isn't as strong as if would be if what happened were a one-off. Thank you for the explanation. Thinking about the whole thing, for someone who hasn't attended a midnight showing I suppose it would be frustratingly confusing.
I just came up with the whole 'It shows up as Tuesday because it's still the same workday' thing, but that's the best way I can explain the logic to it. I just always considered that a midnight showing would come the night before the actual release date (even though it's technically the same date) |
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fishacura
join:2008-01-25
Phoenixville, PA
| reply to goingtonight
Ahhhh...so the laws of space/time don't apply to movie theaters huh? When is 12:01 AM on Tuesday = 12:01AM on Wednesday? In "movie-world" apparantly. What a joke.
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People who don't get good service on average tell 10 others while people who do get good service on average tell 1. |
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thedragonmas
join:2007-12-28
Albany, GA
| reply to Jahntassa
said by Jahntassa :I guess you've never gone to a midnight showing before, have you. They say 12:01am because that's 'officially' the day of release. However the tickets are sold as the night before as far as 'ticketing' goes because it's still technically a Tuesday workday for them. The tickets are for Tuesday 'night', even though they're technically for Wednesday 'just after midnight'. Sorry, that's how it's pretty much always been as far as I know. as pointed out a bove, the laws of space time dose not bend to the will of the movie theater. the op baught a ticket for 12:01am 23rd he went there, on time, and was refused, far as i can tell the op has a logitimate civil claim for the money paid to the babysitter not to mention a logitimate claim to a charge back on his credit card.
payment for services renderd. he paid, it wasnt renderd. |
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Jahntassa
What, I can have feathers
Premium
join:2006-04-14
Conway, SC | Does the ticket actually say 12:01am, June 23? |
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goingtonight
@bellsouth.net
| reply to goingtonight
Yes, it says the 23rd. Yesterday, their phone line even said "tonight will be a midnight showing of transformers buy your tickets now".
I ended up complaining on their website and was given some free passes out of it. so, let this be a warning to everyone else that 12:01AM may or may not be that day. I ended up paying the babysitter for a regular night last night, since that would only be fair.The babysitter, however, is more than happy to come back for more money tonight.  |
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goingtonight
@bellsouth.net
| reply to goingtonight
here is the e-mail. After reading i thought, why don't they schedule it for 11:59PM, that would definitely avoid confusion!
Dear Mr. xxxxxx,
Thank you for taking the time to send us your comments about your recent visit. I am very sorry for the confusion of the ticket times and the date of the showing. Due to film company contracts we are not allowed to schedule the film before its actual opening date and that’s what caused the confusion. Also due to software issues we could not schedule the showing for anything other than Tuesday 12:01 AM. We are working on a solution for the future and we will schedule the films differently to avoid any confusion. Again I apologize for the problem and I am sending you some passes in the mail right away.
Regards,
xxxxxx
Director of Operations
Great Escape Theatres |
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sapo
I eat meat
Premium
join:2002-09-16
Sacramento, CA | reply to goingtonight
Come back this night, I did not see the specifics of the documents myself but its obvious the release is Wednesday.
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DO DO |
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Greg_Z
Premium
join:2001-08-08
Springfield, IL
 ·Comcast
| reply to goingtonight
00:01 is one minute past midnight, or Balls to four shift in the military. That means, currently in IL it is 10:28 pm on the 23rd of June 2009. That means, at 00:01, it will be the 24th of June 2009 during Balls to four shift watch hour.
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I threw out the map a long time ago. Now I follow my own direction! |
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TheWickerMan
join:2002-04-09
Enola, PA
| reply to goingtonight
said by goingtonight :here is the e-mail. After reading i thought, why don't they schedule it for 11:59PM, that would definitely avoid confusion! One of the local theaters did just that when they did a midnight showing of the Simpsons Movie. They didn't actually start the movie right at that minute, as I'm sure they could have gotten in trouble for breaking the release date if they'd started it one minute before midnight.
It was one of those old-style theaters, complete with a balcony. I took my son, who was 13 at the time. There aren't that many old theaters like that left these days, or drive-ins for that matter. |
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ender7074
join:2006-11-21
Saint Louis, MO
 ·AT&T Southeast
| reply to goingtonight
I would have been really pissed. If the ticket says a time, I expect the theater to honor that. I dont care if the manager is 16 or 60. I've been to pleanty of midnight showings and have never had that problem.
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Does Microsoft mean small and squishy? |
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r81984
Fair and Balanced
Premium
join:2001-11-14
St John'S, NL
 ·magicjack.com
·Cox HSI
·Insight Communicat..
·AT&T Midwest
| reply to Jahntassa
said by Jahntassa :said by Mr Neutron :Ah, I get it: this confusion over the time is more or less an ongoing problem? If that's the case, I guess the motivation to make it up to people isn't as strong as if would be if what happened were a one-off. Thank you for the explanation. Thinking about the whole thing, for someone who hasn't attended a midnight showing I suppose it would be frustratingly confusing. I just came up with the whole 'It shows up as Tuesday because it's still the same workday' thing, but that's the best way I can explain the logic to it. I just always considered that a midnight showing would come the night before the actual release date (even though it's technically the same date) That does not make any sense.
I have been to midnight showings and they always have the correct date on them. There is no way to justify putting the 23rd on the ticket if the movie is not shown until the 24th.
If the ticket says 12:01am June 23rd then that is when the movie is. No one would ever know that it is for the 24th since that is not when the ticket says.
He should scan in the movie ticket and report them to the studio for showing the movie a day early.
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Combat Chuck
Too Many Cannibals
Premium
join:2001-11-29
Erie, PA | To be fair, how many people buy a ticket to a 12:01 release day showing of a movie that don't know when the movie actually comes out?
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Come let us reason together. |
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r81984
Fair and Balanced
Premium
join:2001-11-14
St John'S, NL
·magicjack.com
·Cox HSI
·Insight Communicat..
·AT&T Midwest
| said by Combat Chuck :To be fair, how many people buy a ticket to a 12:01 release day showing of a movie that don't know when the movie actually comes out? To be fair, I had no idea when Transformers came out. I thought it came out last weekend. If I went to the theater and asked for the first showing ticket and they gave me a ticket that said the 23rd then thats when I would have thought it was.
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Jahntassa
What, I can have feathers
Premium
join:2006-04-14
Conway, SC
| said by r81984 :said by Combat Chuck :To be fair, how many people buy a ticket to a 12:01 release day showing of a movie that don't know when the movie actually comes out? To be fair, I had no idea when Transformers came out. I thought it came out last weekend. If I went to the theater and asked for the first showing ticket and they gave me a ticket that said the 23rd then thats when I would have thought it was. I never said it was fair. I just said that's the way they do it. I've been to about 15 midnight showings and every time that's how it's done. The movie isn't actually started until 'day of' release, but it's listed in the listings for the 'day before' release, as 12:01am. |
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r81984
Fair and Balanced
Premium
join:2001-11-14
St John'S, NL | What theater chain? I have never seen that at Showplace, Sony, and a few others.
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