To be dissatisfied with Cineworld's response to my complaint?

[daydrinker]

Here it is:

Thank you for contacting Cineworld.

I would like to offer my apologies for the poor sounding issue which lessened your viewing experience at Luton Cineworld. It is very disappointing on our end to hear of any poor sounding concerns. Although we do have routine sound quality checks on a very regular basis, it is difficult to become aware of the sound issue as it happens due to its unexpected nature.

All feedback we receive here at Cineworld Customer Services is handled with great importance, especially with regards to our customers' viewing experience. The issues you have raised have been reiterated with our manager at Luton Cineworld in order for the appropriate sound and technical checks to be immediately arranged.

I would like to thank-you for emailing us with your concerns. As mentioned, your feedback has been taken onboard and actioned accordingly.

I do hope that this disappointing experience has not weakened your view of your local Cineworld Cinema, and your next outing at Cineworld will meet our expectations of a familiar enjoyable experience.

Kind regards,

Kamil

Cineworld Customer Services

Just as a brief, the issue I had with them and the reason for my complaint was because I went to see Peter Rabbit with my DS, and the sound kept on cutting in and out!

I did alert a member of staff but nothing was done

What has Jonathan Ross's mom got to do with it?

We complained that we were freezing one winter when the heating was broken in our local Cineworld. They immediately gave us complimentary tickets.
The movie was frozen

It is very disappointing on our end to hear of any poor sounding concerns.

In what way did your concerns sound poor?

Or is this just (yet) another person in a "customer-facing" role who can't write English?

All feedback we receive here at Cineworld Customer Services is handled with great importance

I guess that answers my question.

I had to complain to Arriva Trains Wales last year. While their response wasn't really appropriate - they gave me a £10 voucher when I hadn't actually suffered any loss (I was complaining about a train being reduced to 2 carriages, dangerously overcrowded and so badly maintained that a woman and her little girl got trapped in the toilet) and made excuses about their lack of rolling stock - I know that this is just the company policy and the person I was dealing with didn't have much power to do anything else. Despite not getting any acknowledgement that the company had been in the wrong, I did at least receive personal replies written in decent English and felt that my concerns had been understood, even if the company had no intention of acting on them. Boilerplate responses like the one the OP received from Cineworld are bad enough because they are so obviously automatically generated; they're even worse when it's obvious nobody could be bothered to make them grammatically correct.

I was told once that when complaining you should:

1. Give detail of the problem, in plain facts and without emotion
2. Explain how it failed to meet your expectation
3. Tell them what you expect to restore your faith

It might be worth another email/letter in reply to theirs explaining that you missed the film due to the problem and have not been given a refund or replacement tickets this is what you expect from them. They may have assumed that you have already been refunded?

If you sat through the whole film with a sound issue and didn't ask for your money back there and then, they're unlikely to give you your money back now?

Imagine you went to a restaurant and didn't like the food, but still chose to eat the meal and paid then left. Would you expect your money back or a free meal if you waited until you got home to complain?

You need to complain on the spot OP. Did you specifically ask for a refund?

So respond with:

'Thanks for this, it is reassuring to know that steps are being taken so it won't happen again. Please can I have some complimentary tickets so that I am able to watch the film properly with sound? I have paid to see Peter Rabbit and this has not been properly delivered to me.'

If you don't ask for complimentary tickets they don't know that you haven't already been given them and are just following up in writing.

Buster she was in the cinema at the same time as me and my friend, and we all complained, then since at the time she lived near my friend I gave her a lift home.

@Skiiltan Poor sounding concerns, as in concerns about the poor sounding? I don't see the issue!

I'm married to a Cineworld manager. I can tell you that a) an email written that poorly would not have been allowed out of his building and b) he would have given you tickets to make up for it. I'm surprised that nothing was done if a member of staff was alerted at the time, but you should definitely have re-raised it immediately after the film (when you would have had more time to discuss it without worrying about missing the film).

As with all big companies, customer service is one of the things they try to focus on, and in my experience, it isn't normally this poor.

Audio would have been a better choice of word than sounding. maybe sounding is a technical term they use in cinemas , who knows, but most people would refer to the sound or the audio.

Poor sounding concerns, as in concerns about the poor sounding?

The complaint was about poor sound. Sounding means something completely different (measuring the depth of water or acquiring initial evidence).

I was reading the phrase "poor sounding concerns" as concerns that sound poor (although this should really be "poor-sounding concerns"). The alternative interpretation is concerns about poor sounding, which would have nothing whatsoever to do with complaints about the quality of sound.

I think the issue here is what happened at the time. A film with such poor quality sound you can't understand the movie would have everyone out their chairs and repeatedly so till itinerary was resolved or refunded. Refunds would usually be given immediately or promised immediately. They would not continue with the movie,

I think I'd be concerned if the op was the only one complaining and that's why they aren't refunding.

I used to work in a cinema. If the movie is effectively unwatchable, you don't just keep playing it and say fuck you to a shit ton of complaining customers standing in front of you. So it's quite confusing how this occurred.

Not good enough. Your film experience was ruined by the poor sound and as such they should at the very least offer you complimentary tickets to see Peter rabbit or another film again. Definitely go back to them on this and don't let it go.

Cinema is not a cheap activity and for us it is a real treat. I'd have been very upset for my children to have it ruined by the poor sound and then basically fobbed off with a crap email like that.

@Skiiltan I used my common sense and was able to work out what it meant fairly immediately. I think you are being a little pedantic. Most people are intelligent enough to know exactly what the person who wrote the complain meant.

@Bluntness100 has hit the nail on the head. I don't understand if the sound is that bad why a whole room of people would sit through a whole film without asking for a refund there and then.

OP. If you want a refund as for one. Only advice I can give however I would be reluctant to give a refund if you were happy to sit through the whole film.

*ask

That reply is teeth itchingly poorly written.

I am currently arguing with the Odeon as I have booked a student ticket for DD for Macbeth but she does not have any of the ID they stipulate must be produced to collect the tickets.

A film with such poor quality sound you can't understand the movie would have everyone out their chairs and repeatedly so till itinerary was resolved or refunded.

I could see that happening perhaps with adults, but it was a children's film and I image most of the people in there had at least 1 small child with them. It isn't the most practical thing to keep hauling them out of their seats to complain. I imagine most just tried to make the best they could of it in the hope it would improve as the film went on.

You didn’t have to complain there and then. As long as you have proof of purchase you’re entitled to complain by and route you wish and get a refund.

I think most people would have raised the refund issue there and then tbh so could they be presuming you've had money back already?

Just dealing with the baby at the moment but will quickly add this - haven't read all replies yet

I didn't complain again before we left because I needed to get home to feed baby

It was an early afternoon showing and we were the only people there, to our surprise. So there weren't any other complaining customer

I think for the fact that you sat through the whole movie and watched it without raising complaint at the time might make your complaint and claim and bit more like your trying to scrounge free tickets for another film to watch.

This has happened to us and my husband just went and informed them they fixed the issue, I've also had a refund when I've complained about teenagers messing about in a film.

Cineworld have always been fair in my experience when you raise a complaint at the time

Caramina it wasn’t the complaint which was quoted in the OP, it was the company’s reply. I wouldn’t expect to have to ‘work out’ what it meant. In terms of professional communications I expect clarity and good grammar. The best way to phrase it would have been ‘concerns about poor sound quality’. Simple, unambiguous.
OP I think YABU to expect a refund after the event like this. A complaint at the time to the cinema, giving them chance to fix the problem, would have been better. At that point, if they couldn’t fix it I’m sure they would have refunded.

Next time get a backbone and get your money back.

Sammy good customer service is about more than just 'having a backbone' as a customer, I believe. That's not how it should work.

As previously stated, I did complain during the film, and the team didn't do anything to resolve the issue. They never got back to it

I didn't complain again when leaving because I was rushing to get back to a very upset and hungry baby

I think for the fact that you sat through the whole movie and watched it without raising complaint at the time might make your complaint and claim and bit more like your trying to scrounge free tickets for another film to watch

I did alert a member of staff, during the film