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Original poster

Everyman Cinemas and toilets for 'everyone', a woman's review. AIBU?

81 replies

bigbadbadger · 29/04/2019 18:45

Apologies if this seems frivolous, I know that women have bigger fish to fry in terms of oppression but this pissed me off so I thought I would share.

I thought it would be nice to have a treat and go to the fancy Everyman cinema in Leeds to watch the bum numbing 3 hour Avengers End Game. The film was great, the seats were great, the food and drinks lovely, all fantastic. The toilets were absolutely revolting and utterly unacceptable.

Designed as a unisex block with a closed door labeled 'everyone' you walk into a long corridor with enclosed cubicle/sink units on each side, every toilet seat and floor was covered in urine. I had to clean the toilet before my daughter could use it and it absolutely stank. I needed to go during the film and walked in as a woman forcefully pushed out past me looking distressed. In the second cubicle was a man urinating with the door wide open, shouting to his friend. I turned to leave and heard him loudly fart and shout 'there goes another one', I am not sure if he was referring to his fart or another woman being forced to leave the toilet. I found a female member of staff who said she could not do anything but would 'pass it on to management'.

The thought of DD12 going into the toilets to be confronted with that is quite upsetting to me, and parents who had not visited the toilets themselves might be unaware of the situation as the toilets are hidden round the corner.

I used the disabled facilities which I feel upset about doing. I am not a selfish inconsiderate person. When I exited there were 2 women waiting, looking embarrassed.

I wrote and complained when I got home. The reply basically said "That's the way they were designed and that's how they'll stay. If we refurb we'll take your views into account".

So the Everyman cinema expects it's female customers to be unpaid cleaners for them, and offers no increase in frequency of cleaning, have staff check cleanliness, have staff trained to deal with poor behaviour etc. It's just tough shit women, if men want to piss on the floor they can, and we expect you to clean it up.

AIBU to think that the Everyman should not expect it's female customers to work as unpaid cleaners when they visit?

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PackingSoap · 02/05/2019 08:03

Put your thoughts on trip advisor. Contact environmental health. Inform management of he cinema that the behaviour veers dangerously close to indecent exposure in front of minors.

EvaHarknessRose · 01/05/2019 18:56

I think it can be embarrassing waiting for a toilet in a public corridor, especially for self- conscious younger women and girls (I know my dds dislike and won’t use the school unisex toilets that open onto the main corridor because they find it awkward and embarrassing.

Original poster
bigbadbadger · 01/05/2019 18:20

They have responded in a much more sincere fashion now. They have offered to refund the tickets and said they will increase checks to the toilets. They have also made a sincere apology that it was not dealt with on the night. I am glad they've taken it seriously. It was a woman who replied this time which I think will have made a difference.

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RosaWaiting · 01/05/2019 17:11

OP thanks for the alert, I will have to check the situation at the local cinema, it's not an EveryMAN but everywhere has gone crazy

we are in London. You might have heard about the pop up open air urinals in central London? Horrendous. Originally they were meant to be late night but now you can be walking by at 2pm and there's a guy pissing right in front of you, and it's been sanctioned.

so given that London - and Paris too I hear - are meant to be okay with this, I'm not sure how far we will get with our complaints. It's a fecking nightmare.

Original poster
bigbadbadger · 01/05/2019 09:20

Thank you for all your comments, its really interesting to read different views. Had a long discussion about this at work last night and talked about the different sorts of unisex toilets we've encountered, what works and what doesn't. There is definitely a preference for an open corridor - not a closed room, and for it to be open and visible. DH said he has used well designed unisex toilets in Germany that were arranged in an arc so the entire set of doors in easily visible, reducing anti social behaviour.

I assume that the man behaving obnoxiously was oblivious to the discomfort he was causing, several young men at work were genuinely shocked that a woman wouldn't enter a room where a man was openly urinating and didn't seem to have a clue about how women feel about being in a closed room with a man they do not know in those circumstances.

I have written to them again but get the feeling they are well aware of the problem but intend to ignore it.

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TigerCubScout · 01/05/2019 08:55

Surely a true unisex toilet cubicle would also have a urinal in it. That was everyone gets what is easiest for them to use. Obviously that would be expensive and a waste of resources.
I also think mixed sex toilets are a bad use of resources - needing full height walls and doors; hand basin; sanitary bin in each cubicle - the most environmentally friendly way is to have separate female and male toilets.

Ereshkigal · 01/05/2019 08:48

I dont actually have a problem with just having unisex toilets as long as they are individual cubicles, not whole toilet facilities.

YY. They wouldn't leave the door open if it was in an open corridor so why do the fuckers think they can do it in a unisex toilet block?

calpop · 01/05/2019 08:17

See this is my only real objection to unisex loos. I dont actually have a problem with just having unisex toilets as long as they are individual cubicles, not whole toilet facilities.

However, I live in a house with 4 men which tells me everything i need to know. Peiple with penises dont really need to care what state a toilet is in as they can, and do, just stand back and aim vaguely in the direction of the toilet. Doesn't matter to them if it gies all over the floor or seat. Women have to get much closer in to hover or, got forbid, sit.

redbedheadd · 01/05/2019 07:34

The Everyman next to me is lovely! Really great facilities, design, food... I went yesterday to baby club there. Only ever had a positive experience and I go every week.... just want to say this to those who are put off Everyman. They aren't all like that.

redbedheadd · 01/05/2019 07:26

That sounds absolutely vile! The Everyman next to me has separate facilities so it's not a nation-wide/company-wide policy. How awful for you sounds disgusting

MondeoFan · 01/05/2019 07:17

The Everyman in Chelmsford isn't like that.
And it's bloody expensive.
Toilets are def men and women separate
I haven't been for ages and now hoping its hasn't changed to "everybody"

cathyandclare · 01/05/2019 06:26

I go to the Everyman in Leeds weekly and have never had a problem with the loos, they've always been clean. Each cubicle is a separate room and you wash hands etc in there, so it doesn't feel unisex IYSWIM. I don't like the idea of facilities for all, but always thought this was an example of one that could work.

Sounds like you had a horrible experience though.

JoeGargery · 01/05/2019 06:09

Anyone follow Hollie McNish on Twitter? She posted saying she was pro unisex toilets but having used a piss-soaked one, wasn’t sure any more. The thread is interesting.

LassOfFyvie · 01/05/2019 00:14

I am interested to know if anyone agrees with my thought that removing the toilet block door and having the cubicles open directly into the main area of the cinema would be better - I think it would

From what you have described- yes it would.

3 hours with no interval is ridiculous. Films can have intervals. Barry Lyndon and Gone With the Wind are shown with intervals. I'm sure there must be others.

JQBased · 30/04/2019 14:45

What's everyman cinemas? Is it some cheap doss house cinema chain? Never heard of them, but will avoid of they ever come to my area.

Original poster
bigbadbadger · 30/04/2019 12:58

@BillywilliamV - I absolutely agree, in Europe where there are unisex toilets there are posters instructing men to sit! It is a cultural thing around toileting and the UK has a way to catch up!
@BigRedDoor - yes, a door sign posted 'everyone' and thru the door a corridor of fully enclosed cubicles. Its a fairly tight corridor and if they took the door off and opened it up it would feel less claustrophobic and I am sure it would moderate male territorial behaviour!

I don't have twitter or any social media really, I don't think anything I say or do will make an impact as a middle aged mother of 2, but I was annoyed and wanted to see the reaction of other women on MN so started this thread. I might send them a link.

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BigRedDoor · 30/04/2019 12:29

That sounds horrible OP. If I’m picturing it correctly, there is a door to the toilets and through that door there is then the corridor with cubicles?

If that’s right I think this is potentially unsafe for women / children (esp girls) - so, leave cinema mid-film to go to the loo, walk through door into toilet area. Any man can also legitimately have walked through that door. Any man --with his dick legitimately out-- can then grab your child and pull them into a fully enclosed floor to ceiling cubicle. Yes yes I know nice men won’t do that. But why give the other not-so-nice men the opportunity? Why not just keep those toilets segregated. It’s so simple and it’s so frustrating that the woke-world is leading this.

Also lol at imagining calling the W Yorks police about this. Last time I called their 101 options menu listed trans-hate as an option ahead of reporting a crime being committed!

TheInebriati · 30/04/2019 12:16

I don't agree that replacing men and womens toilets with unisex cubicles off the main corridor are the answer in a busy venue, they can only fit a few toilets in using that design.
It works if they are in addition to the mens and womens toilets.

BillywilliamV · 30/04/2019 12:13

As long as most men pee standing up I do wish to share public toilets with them.

Hearhere · 30/04/2019 12:10

Can you not Twitter shame them? I'm sure it would put a lot of women off going if they know that the toilets are vile

Original poster
bigbadbadger · 30/04/2019 11:11

I am interested to know if anyone agrees with my thought that removing the toilet block door and having the cubicles open directly into the main area of the cinema would be better - I think it would. These floor to ceiling doors/unisex arrangement are used at several museums I've visited with no problem. I think the door - creating a 'room' and the boozy/bar atmosphere create a different atmosphere. My suggestion to them would be take the door off, open up the corridor and make them just 'toilets'. They'd shut the bloody door then at least!

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Original poster
bigbadbadger · 30/04/2019 11:06

I find the NAMALT/'Women are like that too' aspect of this thread interesting. Yes, some women are gross, but it is not as often, also I am more willing to accept the gross behaviour of my own biological sex. I wonder if a woman has ever left blood on the seat of the unisex toilets or a used sanitary towel in the unisex toilet. How would men react to this? I imagine a 14yo boy would find that pretty offensive, but a girl less so.

The Vueis a budget chain which is very cheap and understaffed. The one in Halifax often has only 3 member of staff selling/ripping tickets, sorting refreshments and resolving any issues, they are young and inexperienced. I chose not to go to the Vue because it is often dirty in the main cinema and the seats covered in food, I have seen some really bad behaviour go unchallenged and prefer to go somewhere more expensive with a higher staff ratio.
The Everyman is billing itself as a luxury experience. They sell themselves as a bar, restaurant and cinema venue so you can reasonably expect, at £13.50 a ticket, for the toilets to be regularly cleaned and for them to address poor behaviour of their customers. They are heavily staffed and staff give out food and drinks during the film and make an announcement at the beginning about mobile phones etc. It would not be a stretch to have staff check toilets and train them to deal with anti social behaviour.
The reply stated: "I am sorry that certain individuals on your visit chose not to use these facilities appropriately."
They did not apologise for not tackling the behaviour and clearly have no mechanism or procedure for doing so when the unisex facilities and serving of alcohol will give rise to this sort of incident again and again.

Whilst women's toilets can be disgusting, that is not the focus of this thread, it is the specific unisex nature of these toilets that caused the problems myself, my daughter and many other women that night had to put up with.

It does seem from this thread that the length of the film has compounded the problem, which again is interesting. Maybe we need an interval!

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thatdamnwoman · 30/04/2019 09:45

Haven't had time to read all the responses but when I stopped off at a and out-of-the-way service station one day and found all the loos filthy I videoed them, opening the doors and filming each disgusting loo pan. It was quite late at night and there was only one other woman using the facilities and she was happy for me to do it. Management got back to me swiftly after I sent it to them...

BingandFlop2019 · 30/04/2019 09:36

@EndoplasmicReticulum Thankyou for mentioning that. I'm in Harrogate and have never been to Everyman. I was just about to sweat them off for life!

Madratlady · 30/04/2019 08:38

Our local one has ‘everybody’ and ‘everygirl’ On the loos. My husband came back from the toilet saying a woman had been in the men’s and they’d both found it embarrassing but I don’t think he had realised they were supposed to be unisex.

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