In the case of the Hammersmith Cineworld, I suspect that's because there are two much nicer Vues only a few minutes' bus or tube ride away - and both have numbered seating.
No idea what you mean.
The Hammersmith Cineworld is one of the best condition cinemas in the land!
I particularly like the seats with the "Out of Order" sacks over them.... ;-)
I don't see the problem with allocated seating, I used to work for Cineworld in south Manchester. It was something that was instututed from the beginning. Admittedly choosing a seat was difficult online, as it chose the "best available", where as when customers came into branch were able to choose front/middle/back aisle and so on.
I read that article edwhitfield and frankly it comes across as pompous and stuffy. I hate having to search for a seat, I would rather know where it is so at least I can time for when the film starts. That may mean I am one of those people who takes my seat as the lights dim.
I haven't worked at Cineworld for some years admittedly so policy may have updated since then. However all customers of the cinema I worked in were well aware of the seating arrangements and would show up in plenty of time to to choose where they wanted. The way its being protrayed here is almost like they have committed cardinal sin.
I suppose the arguement might be difference if the screen was quiet, but when people complain about sitting next to people that much on popcorn or open a bottle of pop.....the sheer loathing is baffling. Going to a cinema is not the bloody Ritz Hotel, its accessible to all joe public...no different to jumping on a train or bus to a chosen destination.
Some of the excuses not wanting to be sat near people......jesus god help how you would cope in the outside world when having to walk past them.
Aah Didsbury where they have a lovely selection of pet cockroaches and I'm not talking about staff or customers.
I've had the misfortune to go to that site on several occasions and half the time, you can't even find the staff and those who can be found are less than useless including management,
Whenever, I have Didsbury brought up as an example of how well the system works, I can counter each and every argument. And I am not against allocated seating if used properly. However, Didsbury really isn't the best argument for it either.
I don't see the problem with allocated seating, I used to work for Cineworld in south Manchester. It was something that was instututed from the beginning. Admittedly choosing a seat was difficult online, as it chose the "best available", where as when customers came into branch were able to choose front/middle/back aisle and so on.
I read that article edwhitfield and frankly it comes across as pompous and stuffy. I hate having to search for a seat, I would rather know where it is so at least I can time for when the film starts. That may mean I am one of those people who takes my seat as the lights dim.
I haven't worked at Cineworld for some years admittedly so policy may have updated since then. However all customers of the cinema I worked in were well aware of the seating arrangements and would show up in plenty of time to to choose where they wanted. The way its being protrayed here is almost like they have committed cardinal sin.
I suppose the arguement might be difference if the screen was quiet, but when people complain about sitting next to people that much on popcorn or open a bottle of pop.....the sheer loathing is baffling. Going to a cinema is not the bloody Ritz Hotel, its accessible to all joe public...no different to jumping on a train or bus to a chosen destination.
Some of the excuses not wanting to be sat near people......jesus god help how you would cope in the outside world when having to walk past them.
Aah Didsbury where they have a lovely selection of pet cockroaches and I'm not talking about staff or customers.
I've had the misfortune to go to that site on several occasions and half the time, you can't even find the staff and those who can be found are less than useless including management,
Whenever, I have Didsbury brought up as an example of how well the system works, I can counter each and every argument. And I am not against allocated seating if used properly. However, Didsbury really isn't the best argument for it either.
I am the last to be an advocate for Didsbury or Stockport, however the system that was in place some years ago...worked rather well, you say Didsbury isn't the best arguement nor is it the worst. All the points previously raised were alleviated at least while I was there....I have to say that particular multiplex has went down the swanny since I left. I wouldn't be caught anywhere near that cinema.....The place has lost its warmth that it had at one point.
Even before I worked there it was a nice place to visit as staff were nice and friendly, not shifty either. Its a shame really, I went last summer for the first time in 4 years and it feels like it has lost its soul. Staff no longer care about the film you want to see, its basically a "what do you want?" attitude. Honestly when I was there it was different, most staff had an interest in what you were going to see, guys on box office knew about the films being shown and could suggest some alternatives.
Now there isn't even anyone on box office during the day....they appear to have cut costs massively by making tickets available to buy at the concessions counters. Its it really is a shame.
In fact, yesterday one cinema stopped the film 20 minutes in and checked if people were sitting in the right seats. From what I've read, it was chaos.
Sorry but I have a very hard time believing that. There's no way that they'd stop the film 20 minutes in to check that people were sat in the correct seats, films at all cinemas are on a tight schedule and it's not simply a case of pausing the film like a DVD. If people were coming out of a screening complaining that people were sat in their seats, they'd be much more likely to send staff into the screen to quietly move people (I know that even that can be disruptive at times, so I sympathise), or if it really came to it they'd offer refunds or comps to the customers unable to sit down before they did anything as drastic as stopping the actual film.
My local Cineworld cinema has always had allocated seating since it opened.
If you book online the screen shows a plan of available seating with a suggested seat highlighted. You can the deselect it and select a different available seat if you wish.
If you buy the ticket at the cinema you can either use the automatic teller or buy them at the concessions counter. They also seem to have the ability to let you chose any seat that is available.
I posted the following on the Cineworld Facebook Page I'm not against AS but Rochester Cineworld has ruined the experience for me and it wouldn't of happen if AS hadn't been implemented.
I have been a Unlimited Customer since it was £9.99, Even the current price increase didn't bother me I still believe it is excellent value for money. Allocated Seating again I don't have a problem with it as I can now book my prefect viewing seat every time.
The problem is that Cineworld Rochester has installed new lighting so people can see the seat numbers on the seats but when the film starts them are dimmed but NOT ENOUGH and its not just the steps any more that are lit its the whole cinema, used to be 3 or 2 lights keeping the steps lit enough to see them. Now for a small screen (5) there are 15 and for the biggest screen (1) 25 or 30 cant remember the amount. A cinema is suppose to be a dark as possible I can now drop a bit of popcorn on the floor and see where it went, that's how bright it is now.
If I sit dead centre of the cinema like I do to get a complete surround sound affect I get to see these lights that are above the non slopped seats so close to the screen that it is affecting the picture, especially blacks they are becoming grey due to the amount of light hitting the screen that shouldn't be.
They are also not recessed into the ceiling like the old lights that's what's making them alot more detracting. The new lights also flicker some more than others.
After today's film I went to see a manager as I have never been in the situation that I might cancel my card along with my girlfriends as I will get a better cinema experience at my one in my home and just wait for the bluray. She gave me the crap about it being a legal requirement and they have removed the old lighting and there's nothing they can do, she was rude and just didn't want to listen, I also mentioned that a speaker on the right side of screen 5 has a problem and has since the first week of xmen release we will see if that gets fixed.
The emergency light regulations haven't been updated since 2011 (BS 5266-1: 2011) so if it is a legal requirement you have been breaking the law for around 3 years and I doubt you would of changed the lights if allocated seating didn't happen, she just couldn't admit that she or someone made a bad decision on the lights. In the regulations is says that stairs, doors and escape routes need to be lit not the whole room which is what the old lighting system did without ruining the cinema experience.
I will be revisiting the Ashford cinema to compare lighting systems as when I mentioned Ashford cinema to the manager she said "I dunno what they do".
So to sum up I see you have annoyed alot of Unlimited customers over the last few weeks, I hope that you will look into the problems I have mentioned otherwise I will be cancelling and never recommending your cinemas or unlimited card again.
A pet peeve of mine in the cinema is people who don't sit in allocated seats. Fair enough if you walk in and you want to sit wherever the f*** you like, but by doing so you often walk over other paying customers who do care where they sit. It's just rude.
To rub salt into the wound, booking fees are making a return from tomorrow (50p per ticket).
I've just checked online and it still says £0.00 for booking fee. True, I was looking at the Edinburgh and Falkirk cinema's. So not sure if this only appears to be London. (I noticed in your profile you have London as your location)
I would have moved and if they had told me to move back I'd have got the manager and asked for a refund.
Exactly this.
If I were in an allocated seat and had someone nearby kicking the seat or making a load of noise, I would be up and in another seat whether the staff liked it or not. More fool anyone who would stay put.
I've no problem with the principle of allocated seating, but it's a pointless idea for the majority of films which have about a dozen people in for them. That said, i'm amazed at the level of angst it seems to have generated in some people.
Unlimited members won't have to pay booking fees online, but it does seem like Cineworld are intent on punishing their customers... I mean, stopping movies midway to check people are in their seats? Star seating? Refusing to listen to customers, and sending e-mails out encouraging individual Cineworld Facebook pages to censor posts complaining about the changes?
I'm not too sure what Cineworld are hoping to accomplish by all of this... they just seem to be pushing their customers away. Their Facebook page is just a barrage of people complaining about the changes, with no sign of it slowing down.
I work at the Wembley Cineworld and they introduced this there all the way back in January, perhaps as a trial before the big switch this summer. We have double-sided screens on the tills so you just press where you want to go on the screen facing you and it comes up on our side too.
There was some confusion at first but it's fairly accepted now, most customers knowing where they want to go pretty immediately and pressing the moment the seat plan appears. In a couple of months everyone will be used to it.
They introduced this in Vue some years ago, and I'm still "not used to it". Yes you can choose specific seats at the till if you ask, and choose some that are not near other occupied seats. But you can't guarantee that people coming in after you won't be allocated the seating next to you and the Vue I go to have a habit of putting everybody together on a couple of rows (in the quieter performances) whilst the rest of the auditorium is empty. You daren't move after the performance begins because you worry that you will sit in the seat of someone who is running late. And then you don't want to move for fear of bothering other people.
The Desolation of Smaug was ruined for me because I was sat next to some bloke who stunk of garlic and munched his way through a huge packet of crisps.
Cineworld is a cinema chain I tend not to bother with because of its draconian stance on snacks bought from outside - I once saw a man asked to open his coat to see if he had any contraband sweets stashed away:o Allocated seating just makes me even less likely to want to go.
It's hardly 'draconian'. You wouldn't expect to be allowed to take your own drinks into a bar, or food into a restaurant.
I don't blame people for trying, given the prices in the cinema, but you can hardly blame them for trying to stop it.
Cineworld's food prices were (I say were, because I haven't been in another cinema chain since I got my unlimited card nearly 5 years ago!) significantly cheaper than other chains. When we first moved to Cineworld from Odeon, we were surprised that combos were nearly £2 cheaper in Cineworld..
Unlimited members also get discounts on food and drinks. For Unlimited Premium, I believe it's 25%?
Cineworld's food prices were (I say were, because I haven't been in another cinema chain since I got my unlimited card nearly 5 years ago!) significantly cheaper than other chains. When we first moved to Cineworld from Odeon, we were surprised that combos were nearly £2 cheaper in Cineworld..
Unlimited members also get discounts on food and drinks. For Unlimited Premium, I believe it's 25%?
Yup, 25% which does take food/drink down to vaguely sensible prices.
I think how tight the staff are about food/drink depends on the cinema. My local Cineworld is in a shopping centre with a starbucks next door; never has an eyebrow been raised when people walk in with their obviously branded coffee, or with a boots bag containing sandwiches or suchlike.
It's also always, since it opened, had allocated seating. It's never been a problem, and it's better for busy screenings.
It's seems the booking fees are now live at 50p per ticket - on the Glasgow site. The cynic in me thinks this has been reintroduced because Cineworld wanted more people to book online (pick their seats with the new scheme) just so they can put the fee back in place. With this and the increase in Unlimited price and allocated seating Cineworld have hit a home run.
Comments
No idea what you mean.
The Hammersmith Cineworld is one of the best condition cinemas in the land!
I particularly like the seats with the "Out of Order" sacks over them.... ;-)
FYI Hammersmith are about the only site that aren't allocating seats for some reason.
I read that article edwhitfield and frankly it comes across as pompous and stuffy. I hate having to search for a seat, I would rather know where it is so at least I can time for when the film starts. That may mean I am one of those people who takes my seat as the lights dim.
I haven't worked at Cineworld for some years admittedly so policy may have updated since then. However all customers of the cinema I worked in were well aware of the seating arrangements and would show up in plenty of time to to choose where they wanted. The way its being protrayed here is almost like they have committed cardinal sin.
I suppose the arguement might be difference if the screen was quiet, but when people complain about sitting next to people that much on popcorn or open a bottle of pop.....the sheer loathing is baffling. Going to a cinema is not the bloody Ritz Hotel, its accessible to all joe public...no different to jumping on a train or bus to a chosen destination.
Some of the excuses not wanting to be sat near people......jesus god help how you would cope in the outside world when having to walk past them.
As the previous poster points out, that's probably because the seats are out of order.
I've had the misfortune to go to that site on several occasions and half the time, you can't even find the staff and those who can be found are less than useless including management,
Whenever, I have Didsbury brought up as an example of how well the system works, I can counter each and every argument. And I am not against allocated seating if used properly. However, Didsbury really isn't the best argument for it either.
I am the last to be an advocate for Didsbury or Stockport, however the system that was in place some years ago...worked rather well, you say Didsbury isn't the best arguement nor is it the worst. All the points previously raised were alleviated at least while I was there....I have to say that particular multiplex has went down the swanny since I left. I wouldn't be caught anywhere near that cinema.....The place has lost its warmth that it had at one point.
Even before I worked there it was a nice place to visit as staff were nice and friendly, not shifty either. Its a shame really, I went last summer for the first time in 4 years and it feels like it has lost its soul. Staff no longer care about the film you want to see, its basically a "what do you want?" attitude. Honestly when I was there it was different, most staff had an interest in what you were going to see, guys on box office knew about the films being shown and could suggest some alternatives.
Now there isn't even anyone on box office during the day....they appear to have cut costs massively by making tickets available to buy at the concessions counters. Its it really is a shame.
Sorry but I have a very hard time believing that. There's no way that they'd stop the film 20 minutes in to check that people were sat in the correct seats, films at all cinemas are on a tight schedule and it's not simply a case of pausing the film like a DVD. If people were coming out of a screening complaining that people were sat in their seats, they'd be much more likely to send staff into the screen to quietly move people (I know that even that can be disruptive at times, so I sympathise), or if it really came to it they'd offer refunds or comps to the customers unable to sit down before they did anything as drastic as stopping the actual film.
My local Cineworld cinema has always had allocated seating since it opened.
If you book online the screen shows a plan of available seating with a suggested seat highlighted. You can the deselect it and select a different available seat if you wish.
If you buy the ticket at the cinema you can either use the automatic teller or buy them at the concessions counter. They also seem to have the ability to let you chose any seat that is available.
Is this when booking online or buying a ticket in person? Does it apply to Unlimited customers?
I've just checked online and it still says £0.00 for booking fee. True, I was looking at the Edinburgh and Falkirk cinema's. So not sure if this only appears to be London. (I noticed in your profile you have London as your location)
Also, I don't remember any email or such coming in notifying us that this was changing
Exactly this.
If I were in an allocated seat and had someone nearby kicking the seat or making a load of noise, I would be up and in another seat whether the staff liked it or not. More fool anyone who would stay put.
I've no problem with the principle of allocated seating, but it's a pointless idea for the majority of films which have about a dozen people in for them. That said, i'm amazed at the level of angst it seems to have generated in some people.
Never mind. Saw the email last night when I went home from work.
I'm not too sure what Cineworld are hoping to accomplish by all of this... they just seem to be pushing their customers away. Their Facebook page is just a barrage of people complaining about the changes, with no sign of it slowing down.
They introduced this in Vue some years ago, and I'm still "not used to it". Yes you can choose specific seats at the till if you ask, and choose some that are not near other occupied seats. But you can't guarantee that people coming in after you won't be allocated the seating next to you and the Vue I go to have a habit of putting everybody together on a couple of rows (in the quieter performances) whilst the rest of the auditorium is empty. You daren't move after the performance begins because you worry that you will sit in the seat of someone who is running late. And then you don't want to move for fear of bothering other people.
The Desolation of Smaug was ruined for me because I was sat next to some bloke who stunk of garlic and munched his way through a huge packet of crisps.
Cineworld is a cinema chain I tend not to bother with because of its draconian stance on snacks bought from outside - I once saw a man asked to open his coat to see if he had any contraband sweets stashed away:o Allocated seating just makes me even less likely to want to go.
It's hardly 'draconian'. You wouldn't expect to be allowed to take your own drinks into a bar, or food into a restaurant.
I don't blame people for trying, given the prices in the cinema, but you can hardly blame them for trying to stop it.
Cineworld's food prices were (I say were, because I haven't been in another cinema chain since I got my unlimited card nearly 5 years ago!) significantly cheaper than other chains. When we first moved to Cineworld from Odeon, we were surprised that combos were nearly £2 cheaper in Cineworld..
Unlimited members also get discounts on food and drinks. For Unlimited Premium, I believe it's 25%?
Yup, 25% which does take food/drink down to vaguely sensible prices.
I think how tight the staff are about food/drink depends on the cinema. My local Cineworld is in a shopping centre with a starbucks next door; never has an eyebrow been raised when people walk in with their obviously branded coffee, or with a boots bag containing sandwiches or suchlike.
It's also always, since it opened, had allocated seating. It's never been a problem, and it's better for busy screenings.