Cinema Sweet Prices Rip Off

mymatebob

darwin-rover wrote: »

Rip-off Britain . There are NUMEROUS things more expensive here than in the rest of Europe . Things like cars and petrol . If some people devoted a fraction of their energy complaining about the price of fuel here , rather than cinema prices , then we'd all be better off .

Lots of people complain about the price of fuel and there are various "campaigns" that try and do something about it. There are threads on here about it too. Lots of complaints about the price of petrol hasn't seen it come down much recently,

However this is a thread about cinemas and food/drink hence why people are posting.

upferret

Hi, I used to work at ugc cinemas for 4 years, now cineworld. It is true they make hardly any profit from the ticket sales, they make most of it from the food/drinks/bar. I agree it is a total rip of and even staff members who got a 40% discount brought in there own food and we got our tickets for free! Where I used to work, last week or so a man got thrown out for bringing in his own sweets after they searched him and he refused to leave them behind. He is now doind a campaign outside the cinema handing out free sweets and has been in the local paper. After it has changed to cineworld,(whch is when I left) they have become strict on people taking in food, when I worked there the only thing that the managers would stop going through was takeaway food that gave off a smell so that the people sitting next to them wouldnt complain and also so the cinema staff wouldnt have to clean up chippy papers from everywhere. (btw you wouldnt believe what people leave in a cinema screen! one time a manager found a poo in a bag!) I also wouldnt eat the pick and mix, apart from being expensive kids always pick them up with their fingers and put them back in the tubs after doing god knows what with them. I saw someone in this thread write that theyve seen staff emptying ready made popcorn from a bag, this is the sweet popcorn at cineworld its only the salted popcorn which is popped fresh.

peediedj

mymatebob wrote: »

They could and might - their place their rules

there loss if they do,wont use there cinema,s again if i ever get stopped

mymatebob

peediedj wrote: »

there loss if they do,wont use there cinema,s again if i ever get stopped

Fair enough and that is your right as it is their right to refuse entry

98jdougl

upferret wrote: »

Hi, I used to work at ugc cinemas for 4 years, now cineworld. It is true they make hardly any profit from the ticket sales, they make most of it from the food/drinks/bar. I agree it is a total rip of and even staff members who got a 40% discount brought in there own food and we got our tickets for free! Where I used to work, last week or so a man got thrown out for bringing in his own sweets after they searched him and he refused to leave them behind. He is now doind a campaign outside the cinema handing out free sweets and has been in the local paper. After it has changed to cineworld,(whch is when I left) they have become strict on people taking in food, when I worked there the only thing that the managers would stop going through was takeaway food that gave off a smell so that the people sitting next to them wouldnt complain and also so the cinema staff wouldnt have to clean up chippy papers from everywhere. (btw you wouldnt believe what people leave in a cinema screen! one time a manager found a poo in a bag!) I also wouldnt eat the pick and mix, apart from being expensive kids always pick them up with their fingers and put them back in the tubs after doing god knows what with them. I saw someone in this thread write that theyve seen staff emptying ready made popcorn from a bag, this is the sweet popcorn at cineworld its only the salted popcorn which is popped fresh.

I pop the sweet popcorn as well as the salted popcorn at my cineworld- it is not ready made - maybe that's just yours? Have worked at numerous cine's as well as covered in others and known friends and as far as I know everywhere pops it fresh- sweet goes into the blue bags and salted into the clear bags - is much cheaper than getting it in ready made

Honeydog

RadoJo wrote: »

To be honest, I can understand why they wouldn't want people bringing in chips from a chippie - they smell so strong, and I can imagine other customers complaining if they had to stand the smell fo someone else's dinner while they were watching a film!

"As a food operator we offer a wide range of drinks and snacks to satisfy our customers but also protect our cinema finishes and customers clothing. Not all movie-goers are considerate of others in their snack choices and we have needed to set clearer guidelines on what is appropriate."

I think the quote above posted by mymateBob is basically a 'nice' way of them saying 'It's our cinema, and we will allow people in based on our criteria - you can like it or lump it!' which is fair enough, although I am amused by the idea that a jelly sweet from outside the cinema is more likely to stick to their fittings than a jelly sweet bought at twice the price inside!

I reckon I've figured it out RadoJo - their sweets are so expensive you DAREN'T drop one - you simply can't afford to!

bap98189

mymatebob wrote: »

What guidelines do they use to suggest that the food and drink they sell will not damage the fixtures and fittings.

None. Whilst there may be a tiny bit of truth in it, it's not the real reason they don't allow people to bring their own food and drink. The real reason is that they want to sell you the stuff they sell to make money. However they can hardly admit that on their website now can they.

bap98189

Idiophreak wrote: »

So, bap98189, uktim29, darwin-rover...rather than quoting that part out of context, please respond to the rest of it...Please explain *why* our cinemas pay so much more than every other country in Europe to the distributors...

OK then, here are a couple, although I am sure this list is by no means exhaustative.

Prices very for all products from country to country. The price will be as much as people are willing to pay. We have one of the highest standards of living in Europe, and presumably more cash to spend on entertainment hence the cinemas can charge more money because people are willing to pay it.

Many European countries have thriving film industries of their own, and don't just show Hollywood movies. UK cinemas show a far greater proportion of Hollywood films than other countries. Hollywood films cost a fortune to make, and I suppose the big studios expect far greater profits than independent ones. A small, independent French film is never going to be able to command 70% of the ticket price, but it doesn't need to as the budget is far lower, hence it needs to recoup far less to break even.

But the main reason is the first one. People are willing to pay more, and the Film Distributors know it, and so demand more for the right to show their films. They don't always get their way. Only this week, Odeon are refusing to show the new Rambo film as they could not agree terms with the distribution company.

bap98189

Honeydog wrote: »

The ONLY reason I can see that anyone would be justified in spending a small fortune at the sweet kiosk is if they were on a first date and wanting to impress someone with their generosity!

:rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:

I couldn't agree more. However, it seems many people either have more money than us, or are just less frugal.

upferret

98jdougl wrote: »

I pop the sweet popcorn as well as the salted popcorn at my cineworld- it is not ready made - maybe that's just yours? Have worked at numerous cine's as well as covered in others and known friends and as far as I know everywhere pops it fresh- sweet goes into the blue bags and salted into the clear bags - is much cheaper than getting it in ready made

Well it was UGC when I worked there so maybe its changed. We popped salt and put it in blue bags and sweet came already popped from butterkist in red bags and we just put it in the warmer.