A strange and terrible weekend
 

Sorry for the long post, but it was a long weekend....

The strangeness started last Thursday... The company I work for suddenly decided that they were going to shut down for the Christmas season to save a few bucks, so all employees had to take whatever paid vacation they have, and borrow against the next year's vacation time if necessary to cover the two weeks. Strange, and unexpected.

The strangeness continued on Saturday... I'm a calm, reasonable, friendly person who is not known as a trouble maker... But one way to push my buttons is to call me a liar, to question my integrity. On Saturday, I was waiting in line for the Return of the King with my wife, my sister, my and sister's boyfriend, when I stepped out of line to grab us some snacks. When I tried to return to the line, I was stopped by a theater manager who told me that nobody could go past that point, even if they had friends in line beyond there, and that I would have to wait at the end. I asked to at least go inform my friends of the situation, and he refused. He said "Why don't you just go to the end of the line like I told you to?"

"Why don't you exhibit some good customer service and let me go tell my party what's going on?" Again, he refused.

I told him that my wife was up there, and to the two pimply teenagers taking tickets beside him, he said "Well, his story just gets better and better, doesn't it?"

At this insinuation that I was lying, I bristled, and pushed past him. "Come, let me introduce you to my wife, you son of a bitch," I suggested helpfully.

He followed me, and when we arrived, he asked my wife, "Do you know this man?" When she responded that I was her husband, he said "Fine." He turned to me and said "You need to learn to behave yourself in public, sir," and turned to walk away. He stopped however, and seemed upset, when I suggested that he kiss my ass. "Ok," he said, "Let's go. Refund."

I looked him in the eye and said "If you want me to leave, you'll have to force me." As the line finally started moving into the theater, he scurried off to fetch the "police." We all sat in the theater for a few minutes, waiting for the movie to start, before he showed up again with two mall security guards in tow. He walked down my aisle, and stood next to me, and asked if I wanted to apologize for my remarks, as the security gaurds stood with their hands on their hips nearby. I told him he'd have my apology if I had his for insinuating that I was a liar. He claimed that he implied no such thing, and I laughed out loud.

"We're both adults here, and you know you insinuated that I was lying. If you want to apologize, I'll do the same." Everyone around us in the theater at this point was yelling at the manager for him to lay off. It was funny. So he finally apologized, I did the same, and I wished him a delightful, merry Christmas. What a shit eater. My wife had never seen me tell someone off so... colorfully.

But that wasn't all that happened this weekend... Also on Saturday my cellphone rings, and it is my mother. She warns that she does not have good news. Firstly, one of my aunts (her brother's wife) has died because of a brain tumor. Her passing was not entirely unexpected, but unhappy nonetheless... and it was her birthday. My mom then told me that on top of that, police and paramedics responded to a call at another aun't house (this one my dad's sister), when she dialled 911 but didn't speak into the phone. Police found her unconscious, not breathing. Her heart had stopped after a massive heart attack, but the paramedics defibrillated her, and got hear breathing again. She's been in intensive care, and has not regained consciousness at all since then, despite a couple attempts to awaken her. They're going to try again today.

Ugh. At least I don't have to be at work.


Edit:Fixed a couple grammar errors

Congratulations on how you handled the movie incident.

Plus, my sympathy for you and your family on your loss.

When did companies get the right to mandate use of vacation? My company is doing this sort of thing as well. But at least they warn us at the beginning of the year.

I hate it when people in service jobs don't have a clue about customer service. I'd have told him to kiss the brown eye and laughed in the faces of the rent-a-cops.

I think you gave the prick maybe even a little less than he deserved, HP. Well handled.

Condolences on your family illness and passing. Believe me, I understand (as I ponder spending Xmas Eve in a hospital with my son and without the rest of my family).

Yeah, I know, I'm Pagan, but Xmas is so ingrained in our culture, I still celebrate it. In fact, I celebrate if from about the 22nd/23rd right on through New Year!

I am writing a nice, concerned letter to send to the Cinemark corporate offices about this event... we had the forethought to get the manager's full name. I think I can manage to get the chap in some hot water. I'll post the text of the letter when I finish it, and see if anyone has any suggestions to offer before I send it.

Sucks that you have to spend XMas in the hospital 'Spode. I'm glad to hear that your son is improving though.

Tell them you were buying popcorn and when their wallets skip a beat they'll send you free tickets.;)

We'll be there Els, all of this family.:)

The customer service ethic is dead. To me that says a lot about our society in general, especially when abuse of power trickles down to jerkoff theater workers,

holy crapwagon H.P.! congrats on the cinemark prick and condolences with your family. i hope everything works out!

man. a lot of us have had a down month(s), myself included. i've said it once, and i'll say it again. keep your chin up. things will work out........

Ok, here's the letter I wrote and will send to Cinemark corporate tomorrow (kinda long):

Dear sir/madam,

My name is Alan Bellows, and my wife and I have been long-time patrons of Cinemark theaters. Until a recent unpleasant experience with a manager of a local Cinemark theater, we watched movies exclusively at a Cinemark theater about twenty minutes away from our home, at the Provo Towne Center in Provo, UT. My wife and I, along with two other couples, attend about 2-3 movies per month as a group; and as a result of Saturday’s events, we will now take all of our movie-going business to other theater chains.

This letter is not intended to win me free movie vouchers, discount tickets, or anything of the like. All I seek is reparations for unjustified personal insults done to me by a Cinemark management employee. Short of a personal apology from Troy Taylor and his immediate superior, I can assure you that there is nothing which can draw my business back to a Cinemark theater whenever I have a possible alternative.

I would like to relate the incident which occurred at the Cinemark theater last Saturday, the 20th of December 2003:

My wife, our friends, and I had arrived over an hour early to our 7:50pm viewing of Return of the King, but the line was already stretched far down the theater hallway. We got in line together, and visited amongst ourselves for some time. After a while, I left the line to go get some food at the snack bar for my wife and I. When I attempted to enter the hallway to rejoin my wife and friends, I was stopped by a manager, Troy Taylor, and told that I had to stand in a new line, outside of the hallway area.

I explained to Mr. Taylor that my friends were expecting me to return, and he asked “Do you think your friends will save you a seat?” I said that they probably would, but if I would not be allowed to rejoin them, I should at least be allowed to inform them of the situation. The manager refused to allow me to do so. He said “Why don't you just go to the end of the line like I told you to?”

Though I was annoyed at this, I responded to Mr. Taylor with the civil, but direct response “Why don’t you show some good customer service, and let me go tell my friends what is going on?” He directed me again to the end of the line, at which time I told him that my wife was among my friends, waiting for me to return.

At this, he turned to one of the young men taking tickets beside him, and said “Oh, so now the story changes! His story just keeps getting better and better, doesn't it?” Not only was his statement very condescending, but in saying it, he also strongly implied that I was lying to him. Until this point, I had been polite, because I am a polite, even-tempered person who simply wished to enjoy a movie in the company of friends. However, questioning one’s integrity by calling them a liar is shameful customer service, and will upset even the most patient of individuals, such as myself.

I asked him, “Excuse me, are you calling me a liar?” He made a snide comment denying the accusation, but the fact that he hadn’t used the word “Liar” didn’t alter the substance of his statement. At this point, I walked past him, and said “Come, let me introduce you to my wife.” I also added an expletive from which I’ll spare you, suffice it to say I was upset at Troy’s insinuation. He followed me into the area where my wife and friends were waiting in line. I introduced him to my wife as we arrived.

“Do you know this man?” he asked my wife. Confused, she answered that I was her husband. “So he’s your husband?” Again, bewildered, she answered an affirmative. I was becoming more agitated, because now he was not only rudely grilling my wife, who was unaware of what was going on, but in asking her repeatedly, he was once again suggesting that I was lying about her relationship with me. He turned to me and said something to the effect of, “You need to learn to behave yourself in public, sir,” and turned to walk away. I responded in turn that he needed to learn not to accuse his customers of lying, and he said “I never called you a liar, and that’s the end of it.”

Having been provoked by the multiple implications that I was a liar, his condescending tone, and the rude treatment of my wife, I said “Kiss my ass” as he walked away. At this point he asked me to leave the theater, and I refused, so he asked if I wanted him to go get the “police.” I told him that he was welcome to do so if he liked. While he was away, the line began moving, and we were seated in the theater.

Mr. Taylor did appear in the theater some ten minutes later, with two mall security guards in tow. He quickly located me, and walked down the row of seats, and stood in front of my wife, who was sitting beside me. He asked loudly “Do you want to apologize, or do you want these officers to escort you from the building?”

I responded with “I will apologize to you, if you apologize for calling me a liar.” He again denied that he had ever done so. I said “Look, we’re both adults here, and we both know that you insinuated that I was a liar. I will apologize for my behavior if you apologize for yours.” Because Troy was being so loud, the exchange had caught the attention of people several rows behind us and in front of us. The other theater patrons were chiming in with comments for Mr. Taylor to “lay off” of me, and to leave me alone. He ignored these suggestions.

He continued to deny the insinuation, but eventually offered an incomplete apology, in an insincere manner, to the effect of “I apologize if you misunderstood what I was saying.” To end the unpleasant exchange, I opted to accept this apology, and apologized in return. He added “If you can’t learn to behave yourself, you won’t be welcome here again.” My wife mentioned to him that this was going to be our last visit to his theater, given the events of the evening. At this point Mr. Taylor departed, and I wished him a good day and merry Christmas. Once he was gone the other theater-goers, people who I did not know and who had no part in the exchange itself, shared their thoughts on the converstaion with me, with comments such as “That guy must have been picked on in high school,” etc. It clearly had been seen by most patrons as an unjustified action against me. To those who had heard the exchange, I apologized for the disruption.

I concede that I behaved inappropriately, and used some rude language when addressing Troy Taylor, but not before he provoked me by being rude, condescending, and questioning my integrity. What should have been a simple compromise, allowing me to go let my friends know that I would rejoin them soon, was turned into a scene in the corridor, another in the theater, and resulted in dozens of patrons being annoyed at Mr. Taylor’s behavior, and your theater’s loss of six individuals’ future business. If Troy and his immediate superior are willing to offer me a sincere, personal apology, then we will be willing to resume our patronage at your theaters in the future. Otherwise, my friends and I are perfectly willing to enjoy our movies at the theaters for competing chains. There are many theaters which are just as close to our home as that in the Provo Towne Center, and some in fact closer.

Whether or not your management decides to grant this apology, you should at least be aware of the shameful customer service exhibited by your theater’s manager, Troy Taylor, and realize that he is incompetent to the point that he has now driven several individuals’ future business away from your entire chain of theaters. Thank you for your attention.

Sincerely,
J. Alan Bellows
(phone number, address, etc)

Too long.:(

It's just under three pages, printed. I wanted to recount the entire event so that I could not be accused of leaving out key details. Hopefully they'll read the whole thing, it's much easier to read in it's printed form.

On another note, my aunt still did not regain consciousness today... the doctors are now guessing that it will be a couple of days before she wakes up at all. Hopefully she WILL wake up.

I think it is complete, and its length shows your dutiful effort to be fair and accurate in your relation of the story. With all due respect worthy of his humanity and stature, I disagree with Bruce that it is overlong.

Please keep us posted on your aunt's status. Prayers going out for her and your family.

Good letter, HP. Even if they do nothing, you have made your position quite clear.

And sometimes, often when you least expect it, things DO change in response to customer complaints.

Hopefully you enjoyed the movie despite all the nonsense which preceded it.

And if you ever do return to Cinemark ... smuggle snacks.

Big purses are a GOOD thing.