CONVENIENCE FEES HAHAHAHA
God what a scam that shit is
“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!”
Honestly they probably spend so much on devs to maintain their website that they don’t break even lmao
The amount you’d save not hiring physical ticket sales workers would absolutely dwarf any amount of possible dev salaries for one website.
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
What you don’t find paying extra money convenient?
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
It’s a convenient way for them to rip you off
… and on top of that you have to watch like ten minutes’ worth of ads at the beginning. Ugh.
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.
So you haven’t been to a movie theater in, like, 20 years? Because none of that is new.
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.
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.
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
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
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
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.
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
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”.
Question from an European: What is that convenience fee? Which costs does it cover?
Nothing, it’s just an extra charge so that the company can make more money.
Nothing for the customer. It’s just convenient for the theater to charge more for the ticket.
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
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.
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.
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.
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).
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?
And you have to create an account (with 2FA) to buy the tickets. In specifically inconvenient.
And the fee stacks too which is insane.
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.
I’m paying added convenience fees left and right, but I’m not feeling the added convenience. Please send help.
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.
What area of the world if you don’t mind answering? I used to love going to the cinema but its been too pricey for the past decade here.
I live in Vancouver and we have theatres similar to that here
$10 - $15? in BC? I can’t get a lunch for under $20 anytime I was there, wonder why movies are the cheap thing still? Is this for a old cinema place?
Where? I’d love to go to one if you don’t mind sharing.
What the fuck? A convenience fee??? They’re just making shit up at this point
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”
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.
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.
That’s horrifying to think about
I’ve heard the same. They weren’t enjoyable places even pre covid and now it’s just not worth the trip or the risk. Better experience at home for less money.
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
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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.
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You might be seeing fees I’m not, but some cell service are actually mandatory in the US. Usually a few dollars a month, they go to various state and federal agencies.
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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.
For the convenience of getting screwed over…
Convenience fee? What does that even mean?!
Convenience of driving to the cinema with kids and dealing with their shenanigans, then finally getting in the cinema where they sit and watch the film for 2 hours without disturbing you. You are paying for that convenience.
Convenience fee for the convenience of making that shit right up
For the convenience of the sticky floors and seats so you don’t slide down the stairs - it’s a safety meausure
It’s very contradictory as it’s pretty inconvenient
The hell is a “convenience fee”?
Usually charged when you use a credit card online. Because “fees”. At least that’s what I’ve seen.
That’s when you pay extra because money is yucky
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
I think you’re going to the wrong place. That or the US is just insane.
I think I’d pay about £8 per ticket here in the UK. That is without buying food.
Before the pandemic, the US wasn’t too bad. Large cities got expensive, but most places a movie ticket ran around $10.
Now, to make up for lost money, some chains are trying to charge extra for getting “a good seat” or other perks that used to be just part of the price of the ticket.
I think they overestimate demand. I haven’t been to a movie since 2019. I don’t think I’m missing out. Home TVs are just so big now.
AMC is a huge multiplex chain, they seem to own about half of all theatres in the US, as a result they can overcharge to their heart’s content because they might be the only one in town with the movie you want to see. They also attempt to pass their service off as a “premium” experience. In reality it just means larger seats. For this they’ve destroyed the movie-going experience. Not much love lost on my end, however, I’m not really a movie person. It mostly sucks when my child really wants to see something.
We went for the first time in years a couple of weeks ago. Cost us £14.50 each only on the tickets. Just a regular Odeon.
I almost never go to the theater but I just checked and here in the Netherlands it’s €13,50 for 2D and €16,50 for imax. That’s crazy. The last time I went to see a movie in the theater was somewhere at the end of 2019, and it was like €10. That’s a 30% price increase in under 4 years, christ.
You can still find more reasonably priced tickets. We go to a second-run theater that only charges like $8 a ticket for movies that have just left the main corporate theaters and even Regal offers discount days where ticket prices are more reasonable.
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.
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.
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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.
This reminds me… AMC wanted to test selling tickets at a higher cost based on seat location… corporate greed will keep folks at home.
I bought a 65" TV for $300 and good speakers. Never been to a cinema after that
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.
LEGEND!
When you get divorced, you make decisions 😂
From the tone of your phrasing, it sounds like you got rid of TWO expensive things at once! lol
😂
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.
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
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.
That last bit sounds detrimental to you brains, not a very healthy practice, but I also sometimes catch myself slipping up.