AIBU to expect the cinema to refund the booking fee?

[Bake]

Me, DD8 and DS3 went to watch Toy Story 3 at Cineworld last week. It was 9am viewing and we had the cinema to ourselves. We arrived early and were sat at the back, a minute or two after the screen turned on, something ran down the wall a couple of feet from where we were sitting. It moved incredibly fast but we saw it, heard the scuttling noise as it ran down the wall and a squeak. We were all startled by it and the kids immediately jumped out of their seats and asked to leave. I switched the torch on my phone on and shined it under the seat where it seemed to go but couldn't see anything.

We went back to the entrance and reported when had happened and the guy who was checking tickets said he'd get the manager. The manager dealt with it well, he immediately offered a refund and went to have a look. I'd left our water bottles at our seats so we went with him and I showed him where we'd seen it. Looked like it might have been in a speaker and then probably ran out once the screen turned on and the speaker started making noise.

The manager could clearly see my 3yo and 8yo in great distress, so refunded the nearly £30 ticket cost but said he couldn't do anything about the £3 booking fee. He also gave us 3 complimentary tickets, however, neither me nor my children are are likely to return to the cinema for a long time, if ever! I contacted Cineworld to ask for £3 booking fee to be refunded due to the circumstances, plus as goodwill, my £3.50 parking fee as it was 9am on a Sunday and nowhere else was open in the shoppong centre

Cineworld have replied with two more complimentary tickets (despite 3 of us attending), that need to be used within 30 days despite me telling them we definitely won't be back in a hurry.

AIBU to expect them to refund my £3 booking fee!? I really don't think I could ever return to any cinema after that.

How's that? Are they special showings that cinemas put on for animals only?

Totally bonkers. You can use those complimentary tickets for Cineworld in any branch for any type of movie eg 4D or imax which usually need a supplement. That would be worth almost £30 in a central London Cineworld.

And it’s just a mouse

1 mouse does not an infestation make 😂

Your children were 'in great distress' because they heard a squeak？

Same! My kids probably would have thought it was funny or cute that a mouse had come to watch the film! I'd never have asked for a refund over this, or left the cinema before the film finished!

Yabu.

You have been refunded the ticket price and also had complementary tickets. Thats a pretty good compensation for the experience you had. Complimentary tickets are worth more than £3

Also, you say you and your kids are never going to use the cinema for a long time, if ever?!

Do you not think thats a huge overreaction?

As the adult here you need to show resilience and prove to the kids, that whilst it was a shock, one mouse/rat is not out to cause you harm.

Don't encourage a big fear of rodents into your children, rebook the cinema with the refunded tickets, sit in the middle away from the wall if you feel happier.

The more you don't go back to rhe cinema, the bigger deal you are making of this. You could have stayed and moved seats and no harm would have happened.

YABU. You have been refunded, you have free tickets. Yabu to demand more.

This.

I'd be more concerned that my kids were so bloody affected by a mouse that they wanted to leave the cinema and not want to go back again

I think the cinema have been more than generous There was no need to save in the first place. They could've said " tough it was your choice to be so bloody wussy"

They handled the situation well. It’s your choice to use or not use the free tickets. Leave the poor workers at the cinema alone and move on with your life minus the £3.00 booking fee. Yes you are being unreasonable and need to move on.

I read it all. You are taking this too far.

I don’t under why the kids were in “great distress”. My 3 year old would probably have been having a tantrum because he couldn’t watch the thing he wanted to watch, but seeing a mouse would have been funny to him.
You’re being dramatic stating none of you will want to return to the cinema any time soon.

And making such a fuss over £3?

Life’s too short to be so bothered by something like that.

As already mentioned, the booking fee is not controlled by the cinema. Considering you were going to such an early showing for a film that has been out a long time then I would have risked it and just bought my tickets when I got there. The reason people generally book online is to ensure they get a seat - or because tickets are cheaper online, even with the booking fee, so maybe you have to question why you booked online (you are banging on about a full refund but maybe if purchased at the cinema itself the cost would have been greater if they charge more compared to online?).
You definitely can't ask for the parking money, was there nothing else you could do once you left the cinema? It's also not their choice how you travel to the venue.

YABU.
Massive overreaction and if you don't want to go to the cinema again, I'd advise using the time to manage the 'great distress' a squeak caused your children.

Practice your sad faces and take it to the Daily Mail

Sell the nearly £50s worth of tickets for half price to people that aren't going to flip their lid at a small animal that will do them no harm.

Then you are quids in.

YABU.

The reason the children over reacted is because their parent did. Most parents would have said nothing or laughed it off but if they see the adult creating a fuss it becomes an issue to them.

Could not get this angry over £3 and the compensation they offered is more than adequate. I’d also definitely be returning for free and wouldn’t be put off by a measly mouse.

Are you always such a drama llama?

Why have you paid £30 to watch Toy Story 3 when Toy Story 5 is out at the cinema?

Wear wellington boots to protect your feet and ankles and go back and use the tickets to watch the TS5.

Mice are everywhere. I saw one in a local supermarket. I told the staff but they were not bothered.

Sell them to a mate for £3 then. You’ve got a full refund then, and they can use the tickets. 🤷‍♀️

I’d say this is exactly why the children were distressed! That and the fact their mum is distressed which is upsetting them!
They probably didn’t even see the mouse they’re just feeding off Mum’s over reaction!

I fell so sorry for the manager. It's clients like you that make people gradually hate their customer facing jobs.

Making a big deal of nothing, and whatever they receive, it's never good enough, and then turn the situation so that they are the victim and treated unfairly.

Really OP? You want us to believe that if you never intend on going back, it didn't cross your mind for a second that you could sell your tickets?

Gah, I wouldn’t get worked up about one mouse
or £3

Maybe think about how many times you have been and there have been no mice. Perhaps sit in a different seat near the front so there will be much less chance of anything hiding behind you. That is pretty good compensation in my view so I would take it!