• R0cket_M00se@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      “Hey, we saved money by computerization, so we’re gonna pass that cost onto you!”

      “Don’t you mean ‘pass the savings onto us?’”

      :D “Nope!”

      • kevin2107@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        Honestly they probably spend so much on devs to maintain their website that they don’t break even lmao

        • R0cket_M00se@lemmy.world
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          1 year ago

          The amount you’d save not hiring physical ticket sales workers would absolutely dwarf any amount of possible dev salaries for one website.

          • kautau@lemmy.world
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            1 year ago

            Lol in my local cinema I have to use a computer next to the ticket taker to print my ticket I bought online and then they physically look at it to tell me which theatre I should walk to, it’s like Idiocracy’s costco

    • InfiniWheel@lemmy.one
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      1 year ago

      Don’t forget about the service fees, the inconvenience fees, then more convenience feed to undo those and another round of inconvenience fees and then more convenience fees to undo those

    • LetMeEatCake@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      Convenience fee is the best name they can apply to soften a fee, which is really just a way for them to charge more than the list price.

      Fees should be universally folded into the list price by default.

    • Xterrestrea1@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      Essentially automated greed. They make more money by automating their employees and they charge you even more because of how convenient it was for them to do so.

    • diglett@lemmy.pt
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      1 year ago

      I visited Marrakesh back in 2018 and went to a famous coffee shop where you can see the main city square from above. When I asked for the bill, the employee said the price plus a “serving” fee. This “convenience” fee has the same bullshit energy as the fee in the coffee shop in Morocco.

    • diglett@lemmy.pt
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      1 year ago

      I visited Marrakesh back in 2018 and went to a coffee shop where you can see the main city square from above. When I asked for the bill, the employee said the price plus a “serving” fee. This “convenience” fee has the same bullshit energy as that fake fee in Morocco.

  • kamen@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    … and on top of that you have to watch like ten minutes’ worth of ads at the beginning. Ugh.

    • Sendbeer@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      I quit going to movies when they started blaring loud obnoxious commercials under the guise of “entertainment” prior to the movies supposed start time. Going to a movie used to be a social thing you did with friends, but now with them blasting that shit at you at a volume that makes talking impossible what the fuck is even the point? The fact that ticket prices are climbing to this level with this kind of jack assery is ludicrous. And don’t get me started on the 20-30 minutes of previews they show after a movies supposed start time. Just fuck this shit.

        • trainsaresexy@lemmy.world
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          1 year ago

          Ads are fairly new, like the car commercial kind of ads. Before you’d show up early to watch the trailers. No one would show up early to watch ads.

        • kamen@lemmy.world
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          1 year ago

          First time I remember going to see a movie was about 20 years ago. There might’ve been a movie preview or two; I don’t remember ads. Both “trailers” and ads have gotten progressively worse over the years - almost to the point that you’d think they alone fund the movie and the theatre - but you still pay a ridiculous ticket price.

          • nogooduser@lemmy.world
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            1 year ago

            Adverts have been on at the cinema for as long as I remember although they might have been for products sold at the cinema.

            This is the oldest advert that I remember and it’s from 1986. https://youtu.be/rlyrlsf3EfA

            Edit: although your point of both previews and ads getting progressively worse is still very correct.

      • Striker@lemmy.worldOPM
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        1 year ago

        That’s the thing that bugs me so much. Most movies have around 10 minutes of ads. That is ample time to promote some of the lesser known movies that company has made but instead we get ads for insurance companies pretending that they are green, banks gaslighting you into thinking they care about you, McDonalds trying to trick you into their food I synonymous with a happy family and Matt Damon pushing cryto currency on you. I would rather watch an ad for a good movie.

      • _number8_@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        i don’t mind true previews, but seeing standard TV ad garbage in a theatre that loud legitimately pissed me off last few times I went. swear they got louder. i also age incrementally, unceasingly, which doesn’t help

      • chowanana@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        lol what? you go to the movies to watch the movie… if you want to talk you can do it afterwards. also, it’s not like the ads take time off the actual movie

        • trainsaresexy@lemmy.world
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          1 year ago

          You’re paying $20 to watch a series of giant, unmutable, unskippable and loud ads. It’s like going to a restaurant and the waiter reminds you to stop by the car dealership on the way home to experience the thrill of the new Chevy Equinox. Get ready for a journey that combines style, performance, and endless possibilities.

    • OrnluWolfjarl@lemmygrad.ml
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      1 year ago

      Would be good if it was only 10 minutes. Where I’m from it’s 15 minute ads (with horrible sound usually too), followed by 15 minutes of trailers.

      Though we don’t have this bullshit with “convenience fees”.

    • ZapBeebz_@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      Nothing for the customer. It’s just convenient for the theater to charge more for the ticket.

    • Dempf@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      Nothing, it’s just an extra charge so that the company can make more money.

    • ReaderTunesOctopus@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      Answer from another: nothing. We also have them in various places, like parking, or highway vignettes - you are not using their facilities, you save them money, so they charge you some extra

    • Synaptician@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      In the early days of the internet in the US the convenience fee was what the 3rd part sales software charged for online transactions but I think now with the it mostly being first party sales or integrated to the vendors POS it’s just a way to charge more money without advertising it on the sticker price.

    • Gigan@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      I think the “convenience” is referring to using a credit card. They charge businesses any time their card is used. This is the business passing that cost on to the consumer.

      • nrezcm@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        We go to AMC quite a bit and I think it’s actually the fee for buying tickets online or through the app. So probably even worse than passing CC fees on to customers lol. Always buy our tickets in person for that reason (and matinees).

      • GalacticHero@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        Adding to this for more context, in America, credit card fees on merchants are like 3-5% of the transaction. That’s why some places have started to pass them to consumers, especially in low-margin businesses like restaurants and movie theaters. If your margins are around 5% and Visa is taking 3.95%, that’s not super sustainable. Card network fees tend to be much lower in Europe. I’m not sure about elsewhere.

      • dingus@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        Thing is…usually the “convenience fee” isn’t there if you pay in person. It’s usually done in online sales. It actually costs less for you to use their online portal because they don’t have to staff more employees in house. But for some reason companies like to charge you extra for buying online and put it as a “convenience fee” instead of going inside to pay. You could theorize that it has something to do with credit cards, but then why don’t they charge you for paying by a credit card in store?

        • trainsaresexy@lemmy.world
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          1 year ago

          And you have to create an account (with 2FA) to buy the tickets. In specifically inconvenient.

          And the fee stacks too which is insane.

    • Nougat@kbin.social
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      1 year ago

      See, if you didn’t pay that fee, then buying the tickets would be “inconvenient.”

      Jokes aside, it’s really just a way to pad profits. It should be called the “We want more of your money” fee.

      • ivanafterall@kbin.social
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        1 year ago

        I’m paying added convenience fees left and right, but I’m not feeling the added convenience. Please send help.

  • Infinitenonblondes@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    I saw Indiana Jones today it had 25 minutes of trailers, an admonishment to not ruin the movie, Nicole Kidman telling me how great going to the movies is, and a commercial for the projector. So a movie listed to start at 11 started at 11:28. it’s fucking ridiculous.

    • scoops@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      I find that pretty consistent for AMC. What ever the listed time is the film will play after 30min of trailers/promos. Its annoying but easy to plan around.

    • HoloPengin@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      I watched the new spiderverse. I liked the Dolby Atmos/HDR demo as I hadn’t seen them before, but they’ll need to shorten them a little bit going forward

      • Infinitenonblondes@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        The first Dolby movie I saw Thor Ragnarok, and they ran that same damn ad for the projector then, so that’s like 5 and half years. But I do prefer the Dolby to imax, or at least the bullshit imax they run in amc theaters.

    • Bear@sh.itjust.works
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      1 year ago

      I got a $600 projector and have about 90 inch display ( can hit 120 if my apartment was bigger). No need to go to a cinema, overpay for drinks and snacks, and I can pause and pee whenever I want.

    • Obi@sopuli.xyz
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      1 year ago

      I have a very good setup at home but we still like going to the cinema once in a while, it’s more of an event and we don’t spend the movie with our nose in our phones.

      We do select movies where it’s worth it, big action, etc. Last one was the new avatar in “4D” where they splash you with sprays, the seats move and you feel the wind, pretty cool.

      • christophski@feddit.uk
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        1 year ago

        Maybe you should have a no phones rule when you watch a movie at home? Seems like a good idea otherwise what’s the point of watching

        • Obi@sopuli.xyz
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          1 year ago

          We probably should and sometimes when it’s a movie we’re actually looking forward to, we’ll admonish each other when we see ourselves do it, but a good chunk of our relax time is also “put whatever on and scroll” and we’re ok with that.

          • Asimov's Robot@lemmy.world
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            1 year ago

            That last bit sounds detrimental to you brains, not a very healthy practice, but I also sometimes catch myself slipping up.

    • hiscapness@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      Usually charged when you use a credit card online. Because “fees”. At least that’s what I’ve seen.

    • Erik@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      Came here to ask the same thing. Whatever it is you expect it to be included in the ticket price already when they are this high

    • ChibiBlackSheep@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      AMC has this fee for choosing your seat and booking online ahead of time. It’s a dumb fee that they waive for spending $15/yr on a stubs membership.

      I honestly just paid the $15 because it annoyingly makes things “cheaper”

      • Lzwzli@reddthat.com
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        1 year ago

        You don’t need to pay for the stubs membership. Just sign up for the basic stubs which is free and the fee is waived. They get your email and can send you marketing materials but that’s easy to unsubscribe.

  • RockYourWorld31@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    I work at a pretty high end movie theater. All seats are recliners with tables, there’s a full wet bar and restaurant quality food, and we do events and shit too. Tickets typically run $10-$15. This is ridiculous.

    • errbodylovesaonsie@reddthat.com
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      1 year ago

      Was literally thinking the same thing. Afternoon matinees in the mid 2000s were like $5 in my, admittedly small, hometown. You and your friends could get dropped off at the shopping center, hit up the arcade, see a movie, and go bowling in the evening all for like $30 lol.

  • FollyDolly@lemmy.world
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    I gave up on theaters a long time ago. I wanna watch a movie in my PJs, smoke pot, and pause it when I need to. Plus I get lots of kitty snuggles during the viewing as well.

    • GONADS125@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      If you’re stoned enough, a big screen and decent sound system is just as engrossing as a movie theater.

      I was so stoned the first time I smoked hash, I kept falling asleep to Inception in theater. The score would jolt me awake and I had no clue what the hell happened in that movie.

      I went back and watched it sober a few days later with another friend. After that, I had no clue what happened in that movie…

    • SolarNialamide@slrpnk.net
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      1 year ago

      Nothing beats sitting on my own couch in my bathrobe with one kitty on my lap and another snuggled up to me at my side. Don’t have to go out of the house, snacks are cheap. You’d have to pay me money to go to a theater, and a hefty amount at that.

  • Pinin4thefjords@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    An exterminator told me that a lot of cinemas have issues with bedbugs. Since then, I haven’t been able to set foot in one.

        • BlackMagic@lemmy.world
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          1 year ago

          $15/year is pretty reasonable for the perks for AMC. Most theater chains are trying to charge monthly for membership which is outrageous

          • jscummy@sh.itjust.works
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            1 year ago

            Are there perks aside from just avoiding their extra fees? I remember last time I was at AMC they added a charge on at the snacks when I said I wasn’t a member

            • BlackMagic@lemmy.world
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              1 year ago

              They don’t add extra charges for not being a member for snacks. You get free upgrades and get a special line for concessions. So worth it if you get concessions normally ever, not if you don’t. I think they also have another tier up that gives you 3 movies/month but I have no idea what that costs.

  • iByteABit@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    This is why you should support any surviving local theaters that aren’t chains. Monopolies aren’t created solely by the companies but with the help of the consumers too