Putting off the Ritz

Yesterday we went to see the 12 noon session of Rise of the Planet of the Apes at the Randwick Ritz.

It was soon obvious that the cinema was having projection difficulties. The screen twice went dark prior to the main feature commencing and a fairly large audience sat patiently waiting for the screening to commence. Disappointingly no staff member came into the auditorium to apologise for the delay nor to reassure us that the problem was being addressed nor, crucially, to advise that when the main featured did commence it would be at a point after the movie's actual beginning. Following two long delays the main feature appeared with the story clearly well underway.

We watched for a minute or so assuming that the film would revert to the beginning but as it dawned on us this would not be happening we made our way back to the box office and asked for a refund. Several other patrons did the same but interestingly the rest apparently were happy to view what was offered.

I made a point of registering my dissatisfaction to the Manager. I was surprised when he commented that we had missed only about a minute of the movie. From what we had seen I'm sure it was more than a minute that we missed but this wasn't the point. The Manager's 'what's the problem' attitude was akin to suggesting that it was OK to sell us, without warning, the newspaper minus the first six pages because the print was blurred. I don't think so.

I am a great supporter of the Ritz, especially in preference to the nearby megaplexes where this type of cavalier customer service seems commonplace and was disappointed that the Ritz didn't show greater respect for it's customers.