My final posting for the day… a warning for those living in the SF bay area, though perhaps it applies in other places where AMC operate movie theatres.
Last night, Kitty and I went to see Charlie’s Angels – Full Throttle at the AMC 1000 on Van Ness in San Francisco. When we arrived we found that the 8:10pm showing we were aiming for was sold out, so we decided to go for the 10:20pm showing, and have dinner before the movie.
After the movie, we tried to pay for the parking at the automated machine (seems that the cashier’s office is no longer staffed on a Saturday night). The machine wanted $17 for parking though, so we hunted around for somebody who could help. Other people were also having trouble getting the machine to register the validation, so we thought it was just a problem with the validation process.
Eventually, we gave up on the lobby and headed down to the car. As you can imagine with nobody using the pre-pay machines, the lines to get out of the parking garage were long. By the time we arrived at the exit we’d been in the parking garage for 4 hours and 35 minutes. The attendant there, between drags on his cigarette, told us it was $17 because we were over 4 hours and the validation doesn’t apply after 4 hours.
So, warning to all: avoid this theatre, with its poor concessions inside, and extortionate parking rates. Others in the area, notably those run by Century Theatres have just as good an experience and guaranteed free parking, even if you have to wait for the second showing because the first is sold out.
I’ve written to the CEO of AMC Entertainment about this, and would strongly urge anybody else who has been similarly ripped off to do so. His address is:
- Peter Brown,
Chairman and CEO
AMC Entertainment Inc.
920 Main Street
Kansas City
M) 64105-2017
Let’s make sure he knows that his competitors don’t rip off their customers this way. $19 for two movie tickets is bad already, but adding an additional $17 makes this a very expensive way to see a movie. For just $20 a month I get access to the NetFlix service where I can see many more movies, and without all the ads beforehand, or lines for overpriced drinks and snacks.