This is not hyperbole, March 2nd I had the absolute worst theater experience in my 30 years of living.
First let me say that movies are my passion, I get involved and when momentum of films are completely destroyed, it destroys the movie experience for me.
I was catching the 7pm showing of Logan, which tied with Episode VIII is my most anticipated movie of the year. There were unruly guests sitting in the seats to the right of my viewing party and I will go into more detail later, but since that isn't something FatCats can completely control, it's not the focus of this message.
During the climax and resolution, towards the ending of the movie, where all the drama is wrapping up, the emotional core of the film, the house lights come on. This was incredibly distracting and led to the entire theater chattering and wonder what was going on. As the movie continued for a couple minutes in a fully lit auditorium the house lights then turned off and the movie rewound about 10 minutes. This utterly destroyed the momentum of the narrative and in doing so the entire theater felt it appropriate to just freely talk. So now, not only was the momentum destroyed but the audience's attention is all but lost. As we reach the fateful moment, the house lights came on AGAIN in the same spot, much to the chagrin of audience. This caused the audience to chatter even louder, so even though I am seeing a bulk of this scene for a second time I am still not getting the entirety of it thanks to the plethora of distractions. This time the movie continued with house lights on, which as it turns out only had 30 seconds remaining anyway,
What was worse was the way the manager treated guests as we approached the desk. We were given 10 dollar gift cards to the arcade. Which is weird because I didn't have a bad arcade experience. I had no idea why we weren't given movie passes to see the movie at a later date, this time without the technical problems. Now it was a nice gesture and that didn't go unnoticed by me, however a handful of other patrons felt the way I did. We don't frequent the Arcade or Bowling Alley, which I am sure are a hoot, but I was there to see and enjoy a movie, which was obstructed due to technical difficulties. So when the manager reaches the table and I kindly explained that I would prefer either a refund or compensation for the Movie, after rolling his eyes and puffing he throws another gift card on the counter with attitude instead of to my extended hand saying "This is $20, is that good enough?".
No, it wasn't and it's not because I wanted more money, I wanted to be treated with understanding and respect considering that a movie I paid to see was ruined because of technical difficulty. I'm not an unreasonable guy, I know that technical difficulties happen but this certainly wasn't what I paid money for. What did I do to deserve a bad attitude? Because I was in a situation with many other people where it would be impossible to have been satisfied? Imagine if I bought a bluray and the last part of the movie was scratched or kept skipping, is it unreasonable to ask for a replacement? No and certainly wouldn't expect a condescending attitude.
I can't recommend this facility. I understand this could be an isolated incident and perhaps it happens one in thousand screenings, which would be outstanding odds. The problem is the staff didn't care to prove that these things rarely happen. The staff didn't seem to care to have me come back and make up for the poor visit. I didn't want or expect anything more than just the movie refunded or replaced and when that was explained, I was treated like I was the jerk. Not only was this the worst movie going experience I have had but possibly one of the poorest customer service experiences I have had. The "manager" seemed put out at the notion of relating to customers, much less indicate any ounce of empathy to the situation. Instead I was treated like I did something wrong.
I think the only thing I did wrong was chose to see a movie at FatCats
I am writing this because I want FatCats to improve. I want them to be able to provide excellent experiences and treat customers great. There are a lot of children that frequent this location because they do have an arcade and bowling and I am sure when movies like Moana or Zootopia come out they get to make a day of it and the idea that a family or kids could even possibly receive the same treatment that we did after having such a horrible movie experience is upsetting to me.
- Phill Stricklin
P.S.
Now, something that FatCats aren't entirely responsible for are disruptive movie goers. We were stuck next to three members who persisted to talk at regular talking volume throughout the entirety of the movie, when asked to stop they would momentarily but minutes later would continue. One gentleman had his cell phone illuminated practically the entire showtime on his knee, lighting up the entire row behind him and distracting the p read more