Let me start off by saying that I am NOT a Twilight fan. I tease my family who are, but I will still take them to see the movies, buy them the TEAM shirts to wear and watch the movies with them because it’s a family event.
Last year when Eclipse was released AMC Theaters held a Marathon. At $30 a pop people bought the Marathon package because they wanted to sit there and watch all three movies back to back.
Now the 4th installment is due to release and in my own words here AMC is telling those loyal fans to SHOVE IT. They posted on their website that they were offering the Ultimate Twilight Experience to only have it removed after the advance tickets went on sale. They have replaced it with two options that no one seems to be pleased about.
There is a Twilight Tuesday where you can see all of the movies before the midnight release of Breaking Dawn Part 1 on November 18th.
TwiSherry, a devoted Twilight fan, and very vocal on the subject on AMC’s website stated, “I don't even think the Twilight Tuesdays is what you are thinking. The way it was explained to me was that Twilight will play on Nov 1st, New Moon will play on Nov 8th, and Eclipse will play on 15th. So, it's not that you get to see all three two days before the premiere. You have to see them one at a time for 3 weeks. I mean OMG like someone said, who wants to do that when we own them all. The whole point is the “experience” and excitement the night OF the premiere. Again, I feel sooooo slighted, I just can't even express it.”
The more I speak to Twilight fans the more I hear how disappointed in AMC they are. While I believe AMC has the right to do as they wish, after all it is their company, I firmly believe that the consumer’s voice should be heard. After all, if you ignore your customers those customers will go elsewhere. AMC was their first choice and they are still willing to give AMC a chance to fix this.
“Again,” TwiSherry went on to say, “I am loyal to AMC, I always try to see my movies in the suites if it is available. I don't even have a theater that has the suites that is closer than like 25 miles from my house and yet I make the drive every time. And now that I've done research and see that other cinema's ARE offering the marathon, I feel completely jipped by AMC. I am seriously considering eating the $250 non-refundable fee for the rental of the suite theater for BD1 and going to the other theater in my town that is showing the marathon.”
“Did you hear that AMC? It is worth it to me to LOSE $250 so that I can see all 4 movies on the SAME day. Not on 3 separate Tuesdays for 3 weeks before the movie. Are you really that unclear as to what your customers want?”
“My husband is always complaining that we have a theater 5 minutes away, and it's cheaper. But, I enjoy the movie experience of the suites so much that I always (or rather used to) feel like it was worth the drive. Disappointed is not even a good enough word.”
Another loyal Twilight fan, Gretchnh added, “I must say that I've heard of NO ONE who's happy with the “choose your preceding movie” deal. That has to be THE DUMBEST idea anyone at AMC has ever come up with. I attended the Twilight Experience last year with about 20 friends and we all planned to do the same this time. We will ALL be looking for other theatres in the KC area that will offer the marathon. We all live 25+ miles from the AMC 30 in Olathe and love that theatre, but I will not give my business to a company that does not listen to the masses. And to think that the AMC Headquarters are right in our back yards here in KS.”
“And Twilight Tuesday? Really? Stupid idea. Who wants to go to the movies 2 days BEFORE Breaking Dawn just to watch the 3 movies back to back? I can easily do that with friends at home at give AMC NO BUSINESS FOR THAT!!!”
“I also saw the ULTIMATE TWILIGHT EXPERIENCE on the AMC website. I click on it, and it takes you to a page with an error message. Evidently they THOUGHT about doing it, but changed their minds.”
“AMC has lots of loyal customers, but unless this is rectified, I think you'll see your loyal customers who are also Twilight Fans going elsewhere from now on. And, BTW, there are LOTS of us.”
Other AMC customers voiced their concerns on AMC’s website over how they felt AMC was not listening to their concerns. Gretchnh was very vocal when she stated, “I have a movie theatre that is 10 minutes from my house. However, we ALWAYS choose to drive the extra 20 minutes (30 min total) to the AMC 30 in Olathe.”
“AMC has really screwed up this time. Flood the phones, e-mails, facebook and twitter with how upset all the Twilight Fans are with this so-called choice. Who's brilliant idea was this?”
“I refuse to buy a ticket from AMC for B.D. and I AM a stubs member... A member that didn't have to pay a membership fee because of our frequent visits to AMC 30.
The way I see it, AMC is losing $1000 just from my group of friends and I that won't be attending. Looks like Cinemark may be getting our business, even if it's a further drive and costs us $1 for a refill.”
Flooding the phones seemed like a good idea so I decided to get a number for these fans. In my eyes this is an injustice the way AMC is treating their customers. On a personal note, my daughter has grown up in AMC movies. There is a staff member at our local AMC that has seen my daughter grow up literally. Since my daughter was a baby till now, this is the only place we go to see movies. Even on our vacation when we decided to o see a movie we would ONLY go to an AMC.
I found the number and called to get a contact on the matter and was directed to a Carrie Trouter. I left a message, allowing Carrie to comment on what was being said on the website but received no answer. I posted the following on the forum only to have it removed by an AMC employee two hours later.
Thank you all for sharing your thoughts about the upcoming Breaking Dawn Event. I understand that many of our guests want a marathon, but it's important to keep in mind that Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 2 is less than a year away, and we are saving our complete film series event for the finale.
We worked closely with Summit Entertainment to create this year’s Twilight Saga Experience. I truly apologize to our guests who are not content with the double feature, but we will going forward with this event.
I know that advertising the marathon on our website was a terrible error and ultimately we will have to take our lumps for that. I want to assure you that we did not pull a potential marathon at the last second as it has been suggested. Our website pulls movie information from many sources and our 3rd party IT Vendor mistakenly included this as a movie title in our movie database.
I want to assure everyone that I have, and continue to personally forward all of your thoughts and posts to the appropriate people at AMC.
Thank you all for posting and taking the time to contact us. We consider guest feedback to be very important to our success and we appreciate the time and effort that you have put forth to share your thoughts.
Many things could be taken from this statement, however, I took issue with the last sentence, and apparently I was not the only one. I asked why my post was removed and was told “I did not remove the post to stifle your voice, but the fact of the matter is, the number you posted is neither the appropriate contact nor the appropriate method to be heard. You would be much better served by contacting our corporate customer care line at (877) 262-4450”
Before I had a chance to reply this comment was picked apart. Gretchnh was first to respond with, “That's right. Send it to the customer service line people so they can get chewed on for a decision that was not theirs. Why can't we call him directly?”
Cherie Defenbaugh had this to say, “I think the customer should decide for themselves who they want to contact. Let those who let us down take the heat. Just looking at this board I would feel sorry for any CSR for having to take the call.”
AMC I believe your customers have spoken. They are NOT accepting the bull you are trying to shove down their throats. They have told you how they bend over backwards to make you their FIRST choice. They are even willing to give you a chance to fix this issue. Time is running short. Gretchnh stated it best.
“AMC is going to choke on this one. You guys are in my back yard for God's Sake. I WILL NOT go to AMC again. If there are companies out there willing to actually listen and give customers what they want, then they deserve my business more than those saying, “but we will be going forward with this event.” Or simpler said as “kiss off, we don't care what you want. This is what we want so there.”
Max M. Power
