So yesterday, Sunday 17th of May, I went to the cinemas with my Mother to watch Despicable Me 2 which, by the way, is a fantastic and hilarious movie. Our experience at the cinema was certainly not the normal one you would expect and was certainly the worst I have ever encountered. It really made me feel sorry for some of the children who were there waiting to watch the film. Check the next paragraph for the full story. I have since sent in a complaint on behalf of my mother and I to Village Cinemas and have received a reply that they have being in contact with the Werribee Branch which are investigating further. A copy of my complaint can also be found below. So, let's get started!
So we arrived at the cinemas early to buy our tickets because we knew it would be busy since it was the preview screenings before the official release date of the 20th of June. Since we were early we went shopping while waiting for the session to begin. We came back and were in our seats in the cinema by 1:25 pm and the movie was not set to begin until 1:30. At 1:35 there was still no movie playing but we just put it down to the operators waiting for more people (the session was sold-out). At 1:40 we were beginning to wonder what was happening but then the cinema went dark and the screen started playing. But then it stopped and the lights went back on. About 5 minutes later a cinema employee comes in to tell us the projector is broken but the technician is there to fix it. "It should not be longer than 5 to 10 more minutes." 10 minutes later the movie finally starts playing (they skipped the advertisements at the start, thank God) but this time it is in 3D. So yes, some idiot in the projector room put the 3D version in instead of the 2D version. Luckily they stopped it quickly and spent another few minutes setting up the 2D version. Finally, the lights go down and the 2D version begins playing. Great, it's all over. BUT wait! Now the 2D version has no sound. But do they stop playing it? No, why would they do that? They left it running for 10 minutes before finally stopping to fix it. The poor cinema employee had to come in again and tell us that they were fixing it and that his manager had said that if anyone wanted to leave, they would be able to get a refund. A few parents actually did leave then, dragging sad children behind them. Finally at 2:20 (50 minutes after the movie was meant to start) we actually get to watch Despicable Me 2. The worst, and most horrible, thing that happened was that the manager not once came in and instead left a poor cinema worker, who appeared to be a student, face all the irate customers. Luckily there were kids there or things could have got a whole lot worse. It was horrible how the manager made the poor employee do that and never once were we offered any compensation except if we left. It is really good to see Village Cinemas Werribee get into the "Despicable" theme of the movie. I then left a complaint on their website when I got home as we were not going to wait in the long line just to complain to the manager at the end of the movie. A copy of the complaint I left can be found in the next paragraph.
Here is my complaint to Village Cinemas (there was a word limit on the online form):
Today I attended the 1:30 session of Despicable Me 2 at Werribee Cinemas with my mother and it was one disaster after another. First, they could not get the projector to work and brought in a technician. Finally they got it working but played the 3D movie instead which was then replaced with the 2D version without sound for 10 minutes. They finally did stop it and fixed it and the movie finally began 50 minutes after it was supposed to. Throughout this we had one poor cinema worker who appeared to be a student having to explain everything that was going on and having to put up with irate customers. It was horrible and the manager never once showed their face, instead the poor worker acted as the messenger. We were only offered a refund if we left. When the movie was over we were not offered any compensation and feel very disappointed. It seems you really got into the "despicable" theme.
So overall, not my best experience with Village Cinemas who are usually very good at what they do.
In other unrelated, yet very exciting, news I was successful in my application to the
Kokoda Leadership Program which I blogged about in April. The program called the "Leaders of the Future" is run by the Wyndham Police and this is the first year they have done this sort of thing in the Wyndham area. From my school it was another girl in Year 10 and I who were chosen to participate in the program (a total of 18 students are participating from the Wyndham area). As well as the Kokoda Expedition which will take place in April next year (concluding with the dawn service for ANZAC day in Papua New Guinea) members of the program will also engage with the other participants in structured community engagement initiatives, which includes fundraising and research projects. Of course, there will also be a lot of training involved to be able to cope with such a physically and mentally demanding challenge. I know I will come out of the program a better person and am very excited. Such a good way to lift my spirits after the events I just discussed above.
Don't forget the students of today are the leaders of tomorrow, see you then!
