To expect people to sit in the cinema tickets they booked?

[CharleyDavidson]

Today, not for the first time, at the cinema I watched people having to ask others to move because there was someone sitting in the seats they'd booked. There's a clear policy at every cinema round here that the seats you sit in are chosen at booking in - either online or on the screens at the tills - and are printed on the tickets. And yet some people seem to just then sit where they like and hope no-one comes and asks them to move.

On one visit, I watched one woman have to move three separate times as she didn't fancy sitting in the seats she booked (she declared this to her children when she went into the screen, I've not just assumed this) and just chose somewhere else to sit.

At one screen it caused a big fuss because one family had decided not to make a fuss and didn't ask someone to move out of their booked seats. Until the people who had booked the seats they'd chosen instead moved up. Then there was a chain reaction of people being asked to move, then going to the seats they should have been sitting in and asking those people to move instead.

Unecessary fuss IMO. Especially when some people arrive to time it when the film starts and to miss the ads and therefore the rearranging happens when the film has already begun.

Out of consideration for other cinema users and to prevent random strangers being at risk of being bitten or having their film being disturbed by very loud strims that happen when unknown people are to close.

If I can control the seating arangements (by buying them as I wouldn't expect it to be accomadated for free) then there is little to no risk of an issue

Why do people pay to go to the cinema to then sit on their phone the whole time?!?

Genuine question!

There was a thread on here once by a woman who had gone to the cinema with her friend and who had kept on using her phone during the film. When people complained about the bright light from it she refused to switch it off and when the whole of MN told her she had been unreasonable and inconsiderate she refused to accept it. I told her she was a cunt and MNHQ deleted my post. I was right though.

I have to buy the entire row of seats and at least 4 from the row behind.

For the money that would cost you could buy the actors to come and do the film in your house.

Hrafnkel I've been to the cinema there many times - and the Chicago Rock that used to be underneath. It's certainly not pretty but neither experiences prepared me for a NY cinema on a friday night!

CharleyDavidson I might frame that meme!

pipbin

I'm not sure I would be interested in having the type of actor you could get a home visit from for a few hundred quid visit my house.

The cost is why we use the smaller screen (fewer seats in a row) and why those two don't go very often

It's certainly not pretty but neither experiences prepared me for a NY cinema on a friday night!

Do tell.

For myself and MrsLH, booked seats are a godsend ...

1. Can select the front row aisle-seat - MrsLH can climb 2 steps, and is able to get to loo quickly if needed

2. Can miss all the adverts (it was 30 minutes of shite before Star Wars. That's 20% of the entire visit). Buy seat - add 30 minutes to the "start time" and get in just as the trailers are showing. Which seems to be SOP now - most people did it.

I wonder if one day, people will wake up en masse, and realise they are paying for the privilege of watching adverts ....

We went to the cinema in Paris years ago-no one made a sound! Someone coughed and the whole audience turned to glare.

Interesting. Whenever I went to the movies in Paris (admittedly VO versions) it seemed the custom to interact with the film. People would reply to the dialogue, and discuss how they'd handle the situation on screen. Very interactive.

We went to see star wars recently and just as the film was starting, some people came in and found their allocated seats full. The usher asked those people to move, but they had only sat there because people were sitting in their allocated seats, then there were no seats together for those folk. There was loads of faffing about and we ended up getting shifted out of our allocated seats. I was fuming because the film was starting, but just complied as moaning would have meant it took longer.

The problem is when part of the cinema is allocated and part isn't. i wish they would just do allocated seats for everyone.

We always book VIP seats too, and there's nearly always someone else sitting in them when we get there. Most recently, there were three guys who tried to argue and say they were their seats. I gave them the death stare and just said 'can you move now, please' and they shuffled to the other end of the row. Into someone else's seats.

That couple came along and asked them to move. Again, more arguments. They moved into a new set of seats and it happened again! Finally, as all the VIP seats were full, they had to split up and find somewhere else. Utterly ridiculous.

I've complained the Odeon, Vue and Showcase about the fact they sell the seats at a premium then just allow anyone to sit there and they don't give a shit basically.

I've complained the Odeon, Vue and Showcase about the fact they sell the seats at a premium then just allow anyone to sit there and they don't give a shit basically.

I've complained about this too. We book the VIP seats as we like to choose where to sit and we tend to go to films on opening weekend (DH likes to see the 'big films' as early as possible) so we know it'll be busy. When we went to see Star Wars there were people sitting in our seats, then moved into someone else's as the rest of the screen was filling up so I went and found an usher and made him check everyone's tickets and make sure that only people who had paid (through the nose...) for the privilege were sitting in the VIP seats!

My biggest fear is a family sitting next to me with a fucking multi-pack of rustly bags of sweets and crisps that gets passed up and down the line for the duration! Oh, the rage!!!!

Hasn't happened to me in the cinema, but the concept of 'If you've booked a seat you get to sit in it' does generally seem to be beyond some people.

More than once I've turned up at my booked seat on a train and asked the eejit person sitting in it, politely, to move as it's my booked seat, to be met with an incredulous look and 'Do you want to sit here?'

Er, yes, thanks, I do; that's why I booked it. now piss off

Actually I think there are some people who are genuinely too thick to understand how allocated seating works. You would think the letters and numbers would give it away but it does seem to be too difficult a concept for some to get their heads round.

If people would only wait three months or more to go and see a lot of films, they'd avoid a lot of this. We have a small theatre in our town that has just started showing films. They can get them about 3 or 4 months after Odeon and Cineworld. They charge £7 for an evening show and £3.50 for matinees of kids/family films. No trailers, just straight into the film. No smelly nachos or noisy popcorn but reasonably priced ice cream tubs (£2 for quality local ice cream) and bagged sweets. They don't mind us taking sandwiches or own sweets for matinees with the kids. Cheap bar before and after the film. Allocated seats that you can book online or on the phone. Bloody heaven and it's all run by volunteers.

Actually I think there are some people who are genuinely too thick to understand how allocated seating works

Only when "not understanding" work in their favour ...

Slightly off topic, but I once dumped a guy for breathing too loudly in the cinema. It was only our third date so I hadn't noticed the loud breathing previously. I was very tempted to move away from him and my allocated seat that night! :-)

The thing is...you book the tickets in the morning and and you chose the ones in an ocean of empty seats - obviously - only to arrive and find that, like pp said, the herding instinct has kicked in and jiggly bobbly hat is there, loud family is there- are you meant to just sit there and suffer just because these fuckers prefer company?!
No, I say, move...

Well you could move but then what if people who have booked the 'empty' turn up?

Still, that sounds like heaven! I hope it's successful. Where is it? (totally understand if you'd rather not say.)

Helmetbymidnight, if you feel like that and it is more important that you have space than you sit in a particular place then wait until you arrive and pick your seats and buy your tickets just before the film starts.

Your right, oddboots. But then I've done that before - with a crowd of 11 yr old boys and all the tickets had sold out the horror!

My point is, that unlike the theatre, where you hope the rest of the audience has at least a modicum of manners, in the cinema, its really lucky dip, and I feel no compulsion to sit next to a wanker in a half full cinema just because my ticket number says I ought to.

£7 to wait 3 months to see a film I can watch in the first week for £6.99?
That's madness.

Bloody I don't know any Cineworld, Odeon or Vue cinema where you can see the latest release for £6.99. At our Cineworld, if you buy online you can get a ticket for about £9.78 or something daft. Another cinema it's more expensive on a Friday and Saturday at £12 per ticket. And we're not in a big city.

It's not so much about the money, though - it's about the experience. They've had no issue with people sitting in the wrong seats, no problems with mobile phones, no problems with noisy teenagers, you don't have 30 minutes of trailers before hand, the sweets aren't a rip off, they don't burst your eardrums because the volume is so loud. You don't have to go to a pub or bar before or after - they have one, and it's a damn sight cheaper too.

Only Maybe it's because it's a theatre rather than a cinema? I dunno. This one has just started up in Cheltenham and at the moment they are focusing mostly on showing classic films on the big screen again and films that Cineworld didn't show last year. When Bowie died, they got hold of the licence to Labyrinth and sold it out purely by Facebook in 72 hours. They've shown a couple of Disney films during half term week and packed them in.

There's also another theatre 9 miles away in Tewkesbury that does the latest releases three months later. They do very nicely too.

This is why I love being the only person in the cinema. I went to see the Master one Tuesday lunch time and it was like it was just Joaquin and me in the room at times.

There's an independent cinema here that does a membership along the lines of the Cineworld Unlimited. One of the added perks is a private showing in one of their smaller screens of any film on DVD. It's all sofas and comfy chairs. Just me and DH on the biggest sofa. Heaven.

Vue is honestly £6.99 on a Tuesday with the Tuesday 25% off deal they have.
Oh and forgot about the kids am thing, £1.99