Sarah's Complaint Email:
VP's Response:
VP must have been bitch slapped, sends this a few hours later
Theater VP: Go F*** Yourself, Here are Directions To Another Theater - The Consumerist
Movie theater VP tells customer to go **** yourself in a complaint response
- Thread starter cheshire
- Start date
This is hilarious, and I learned a similar lesson myself when I started in this business over 15 years ago, and knew nothing about how to treat customers. I wasn't this brutal, but I was beyond rude. I remember staring at the email and the SEND button and weighing the consequences, and I hit send anyways in a rage.
After I hit that SEND button, I knew I had made a horrible mistake, and an apology soon followed.
Now, what I do, when I'm really pissed at a client, and I need to vent or get it out, I'll respond to them, saying every four letter word I can muster, and just 'X' out/close the email. It accomplishes the same purpose. You've gotten it off your chest, the client never knows, life goes on.
After I hit that SEND button, I knew I had made a horrible mistake, and an apology soon followed.
Now, what I do, when I'm really pissed at a client, and I need to vent or get it out, I'll respond to them, saying every four letter word I can muster, and just 'X' out/close the email. It accomplishes the same purpose. You've gotten it off your chest, the client never knows, life goes on.
This whole thing is pretty hysterical but this part pisses me the fuck off:
At first I thought they stopped the movie (which is bad enough) but they did that shit WHILE the movie was playing?!
I get pretty mad when a theater fucks up because there's little you can do as a customer to get it fixed. One time I went to see Wanted and some car scene happened where this PIERCINGLY LOUD scraping noise came in. I thought it was part of the movie but it kept going for five minutes - and trust me I can stand loud noises - this shit hurt.
I guess I just can't stand missing parts of movies.
At first I thought they stopped the movie (which is bad enough) but they did that shit WHILE the movie was playing?!
I get pretty mad when a theater fucks up because there's little you can do as a customer to get it fixed. One time I went to see Wanted and some car scene happened where this PIERCINGLY LOUD scraping noise came in. I thought it was part of the movie but it kept going for five minutes - and trust me I can stand loud noises - this shit hurt.
I guess I just can't stand missing parts of movies.
Am I the only one that thinks she should seriously go fuck herself? Like he said- if you don't like the terms, go to another theater. The only valid complaint was the one about them interrupting the movie, but she should have walked out immediately and asked for a refund if it bothered her that much.
My mom used to own a bakery and every once in awhile, some degenerate would come in with multiple kids and eat everything but the last bite of every item they ordered and then come up to the counter and say it was all stale and they want their money back. My mom baked everything in the display cases fresh every day and day olds were wrapped up and sold as day olds, then thrown away after the second day if they didn't sell, which almost never happened. She would also take an item from the same batch, bring it to the counter and break it apart to show the person it wasn't stale. Then, she would refund all their money and tell them to get the fuck out of her shop and never come back (in those exact words). It didn't hurt business at all and when they'd write up bad reviews online, they would get ripped apart by other customers for being stupid.
Some people complain just to complain or to try to get something for nothing and the situation the OP posted looks like the former, but it's still deserving of a "go fuck yourself" direct from the VP of the theater.
My mom used to own a bakery and every once in awhile, some degenerate would come in with multiple kids and eat everything but the last bite of every item they ordered and then come up to the counter and say it was all stale and they want their money back. My mom baked everything in the display cases fresh every day and day olds were wrapped up and sold as day olds, then thrown away after the second day if they didn't sell, which almost never happened. She would also take an item from the same batch, bring it to the counter and break it apart to show the person it wasn't stale. Then, she would refund all their money and tell them to get the fuck out of her shop and never come back (in those exact words). It didn't hurt business at all and when they'd write up bad reviews online, they would get ripped apart by other customers for being stupid.
Some people complain just to complain or to try to get something for nothing and the situation the OP posted looks like the former, but it's still deserving of a "go fuck yourself" direct from the VP of the theater.
dumb bitch musta done it to a 100% private movie theatre, or maybe a very small chain, because if you send anything like that to a franchise their on their knees for you. small companies dont take that shit
This! Some customers are plain, fucking retarded. The VP shouldn't have sent that response, but I wholeheartedly agree with every word he wrote (the first time). There's too much of "the customer is always right" attitude floating around when it's obviously not the case... and those bitches know it.
Give this customer NO sympathy!
Unfortunately in the business world everyone around you has a sense of entitlement to whats yours. In their minds there no such thing as a business being a victim. I see it all the time in my store. People come in for the sole purpose of trying to scam you and get money or free stuff. After awhile you start to notice flags go up and get better at spotting them.
The first thing you'll notice is it'll be impossible to please them. They'll immediately complain about the first thing they see no matter what it is. They'll walk around and pick apart the very first thing they find and if they can't find anything they'll take whatever you do or say on the first encounter as something to complain about. Then the entire time every little thing they'll complain about it then blow it out of proportion...
... as if to let you know how much of an inconvenience you're causing to them and how victimized they feel.
Once they get that affirmation of responsibility they'll want you to fix the problem. Which will usually involve a lot of extra work and returns and swaps of products or in his case a refund plus some free movie tickets and other gift certificates. From there they'll rinse and repeat until they've gotten everything they've came in for for free and you've taken enough losses and begging to just extinguish the situation. That's when they'll remind you of the inconveniences you've caused this whole time in both the original situation and the follow up of you trying to rectify it and thats when they'll squeeze more out of you.
This happens every fuckin day with brick n mortar businesses and even online (not as prominent online just because it doesn't involve in person communication and its impossible to do it when everytime you call or email you get a different employee). There's even whole communities of retirees who go around all day to different businesses pulling these types of scams. I've seen people walk in to buy a printer when they don't even have a computer, but they're not worried because by the time they're done with you you'll probably end of giving them one. Most of the time its just for the attention of it and the satisfaction of getting something out of someone who they feel has more than them and thus owes them in some way.
So I stand by my statement, fuck that lady. I don't even need to guess at what her followup email would have been if he wouldn't have sent that response, but I guarantee since he fucked up and responded that way she'll be getting even more out of it. The bitch hit the jackpot. He's probably so used to it and saw it coming he got impatient and fucked up.
The manager should have sent back a canned response with no real apology. The quote above indicates her very next email was going to be a push to get money out of him. That would have been the time to tell her to fuck off, not before.
Unfortunately in the business world everyone around you has a sense of entitlement to whats yours. In their minds there no such thing as a business being a victim. I see it all the time in my store. People come in for the sole purpose of trying to scam you and get money or free stuff. After awhile you start to notice flags go up and get better at spotting them.
The first thing you'll notice is it'll be impossible to please them. They'll immediately complain about the first thing they see no matter what it is. They'll walk around and pick apart the very first thing they find and if they can't find anything they'll take whatever you do or say on the first encounter as something to complain about. Then the entire time every little thing they'll complain about it then blow it out of proportion...
^did she really pay $18 for the movie or did that involve the popcorn soda food and probably her gas to get there. Proportion successfully blown up.
... as if to let you know how much of an inconvenience you're causing to them and how victimized they feel.
Finally when you're finished helping them and they supposedly got what they wanted they'll instantly respond over another method of communication instead of in person.
The whole purpose of this is to score an apology out of you. Which is the worst thing you can do because that gives them an affirmation that you're the one at fault and they are a victim with an entitlement to compensation of some sort. Which is why large corporations always respond back with canned responses such as "sorry about any inconveniences this situation may have caused you" or "sorry to hear about your dissatisfaction" NEVER "we're sorry" or "i'm sorry about that"
Once they get that affirmation of responsibility they'll want you to fix the problem. Which will usually involve a lot of extra work and returns and swaps of products or in his case a refund plus some free movie tickets and other gift certificates. From there they'll rinse and repeat until they've gotten everything they've came in for for free and you've taken enough losses and begging to just extinguish the situation. That's when they'll remind you of the inconveniences you've caused this whole time in both the original situation and the follow up of you trying to rectify it and thats when they'll squeeze more out of you.
This happens every fuckin day with brick n mortar businesses and even online (not as prominent online just because it doesn't involve in person communication and its impossible to do it when everytime you call or email you get a different employee). There's even whole communities of retirees who go around all day to different businesses pulling these types of scams. I've seen people walk in to buy a printer when they don't even have a computer, but they're not worried because by the time they're done with you you'll probably end of giving them one. Most of the time its just for the attention of it and the satisfaction of getting something out of someone who they feel has more than them and thus owes them in some way.
So I stand by my statement, fuck that lady. I don't even need to guess at what her followup email would have been if he wouldn't have sent that response, but I guarantee since he fucked up and responded that way she'll be getting even more out of it. The bitch hit the jackpot. He's probably so used to it and saw it coming he got impatient and fucked up.
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LOL I have actually been to this chain of movie theaters. They were the only theater near us when we lived in Minneapolis, MN. The bastards were totally cash only and then had a ATM in the lobby that charged a $4.00 service fee. That was also owned and operated my the chain. When we asked the guy at ticket window how long they had been cash only the guy said since we opened and if you don't like it you can go away. It was our first time there, we were curious and were asking where an ATM was.
Durring that year in MN we never went to see another movie in a theater since they seriously are the only ones around. I think the Malls had a AMC or Regal but they were miles away.
also
I highly doubt she was by her self, she even said she was with people, I am assuming a husband or boy friend which would mean 2 tickets at 9.00.
Durring that year in MN we never went to see another movie in a theater since they seriously are the only ones around. I think the Malls had a AMC or Regal but they were miles away.
also
I highly doubt she was by her self, she even said she was with people, I am assuming a husband or boy friend which would mean 2 tickets at 9.00.
This is probably what he tried to do, but maybe sent it by mistake. Tip for you folks:
If you're gonna do this, remove the email address before you start venting!
Eli, normally you rag on me for not reading something entirely. It's my turn.
THE FIRST LINE OF THE EMAIL SAYSSSSS.....
HAAAAAAA!!!!!!!
I think he didn't read the whole thing, its true though they'd be banking a lot more if they actually accepted least Visa/MC labeled cards. You can't really expect to run a brick-n-motar business without accepting least those.
I imagine he must been getting complaints a lot and they probably have no experienced people to know how to set up a proper POS terminal.
I imagine he must been getting complaints a lot and they probably have no experienced people to know how to set up a proper POS terminal.
At first I'm thinking how did they manage to stay in business...
But then I read that, plus gas prices must have helped them out.
Someone needs to open a movie theatre there, easy picking.
I don't think some folks here are looking at this like a business person. While the customer is obviously a loser their feedback is important because a lot of customers will be losers just like her.
Customer feedback is always valuable. Better a nasty email than a loss in revenue which leads to bankruptcy.
@roundabout, same experience here for me. 8 years ago I would get enraged at people who sent me stupid CS inquiries. I dealt with it by mellowing out and getting a support ticket desk where I could send canned responses.
TBH, most CS issues can be headed off at the pass by having complete documentation. Nearly everyone with ongoing customer service issues either has poor documentation, truly assinine policies or both.
Customer feedback is always valuable. Better a nasty email than a loss in revenue which leads to bankruptcy.
@roundabout, same experience here for me. 8 years ago I would get enraged at people who sent me stupid CS inquiries. I dealt with it by mellowing out and getting a support ticket desk where I could send canned responses.
TBH, most CS issues can be headed off at the pass by having complete documentation. Nearly everyone with ongoing customer service issues either has poor documentation, truly assinine policies or both.