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Monday, June 16, 2008

Did I just get someone fired?

So here's a little anecdote about a marketing experience, more or less. On Saturday, I visited a movie theater to see The Happening (I'm a big Shyamalan fan, despite the mainstream's dwindling faith in him), and I had a fairly horrible experience at the concession stand, which I usually try to avoid because of similar experiences.

This one was particularly frustrating... enough so that I decided to write a letter to the theater. I tried not to be witty and cruel, but I mentioned that this was the most recent in a long string of repulsing experiences. Undertrained staff, managers hanging around joking while my cashier still doesn't know what a sugar cone is, having to repeat my order upwards of four times, etc etc etc.

The response back from the theater gave me a mixed reaction. First off, it was a human response... I appreciate that. But there were two other oddities about the email:

1. It was riddled with typos. Thanks for making the effort.
2. It asked me to single out the cashier.

That's right... as a follow-up, the theater would like to know who was The Problem. Could I describe what they look like? Do I know their name? What showtime did I attend? Which makes it a) feel like a threat (though not directed at me), and b) clear that they didn't understand that this was not a one-time deal.

They offered me some free movie passes, which I turned down because that wasn't my point. I'm not trying to milk the system... I'm letting you know that your theater, increasingly and increasingly, sucks. And your typo-ridden email didn't exactly help.

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