Customers Are Beastly On Opening Weekend

(We’ve just gotten the “Beauty and the Beast” remake in. It managed to sell out every single screening for the weekend before Friday afternoon. We are a relatively small theater, but we manage to schedule about 20 screenings of the film between open and close each day over the weekend, and have even started to get permission to start canceling other shows in order to add a few extra show-times for the film. It’s gotten to the point where this new release is so in-demand that the other films we have at the moment are only getting one to three screenings each per day to make room for it. It’s complete and utter chaos, with hundreds of people in the lobby at any given time, our concession staff being unable to even keep up with simple things like making enough popcorn to keep the warmers filled despite bringing in extra people, and the phone ringing off the hook with dozens of calls each hour. Yet despite all this… everyone’s being pretty nice. So of course, about 10 minutes before I’m done for the day on Saturday, a customer has to walk up to me with several other adults and about a half-dozen children…)

Me: “Picking up tickets?”

Customer: “No. I’m gonna need ten tickets to Beauty and the Beast for the 4:45 that just went in.”

Me: “Oh, jeez. I’m sorry. Everything for Beauty and the Beast is sold out until 11:15 tonight. We just added a show for that time. But even that’s already half-full.”

Customer: “Fine. Then give me tickets for the 5:30.”

Me: “I’m sorry, but unfortunately everything is sold out for Beauty and the Beast until 11:15 tonight.”

Customer: “The 6:00 3D showing, then!”

Me: “Again, I apologize, but everything is sold out until 11:15 tonight.”

Customer: “I knew this would happen! The 6:15 showing?”

Me: “…everything is sold out until 11:15.”

Customer: “Fine! Ten tickets to whenever the next showing of Beauty and the Beast’ is! And I’m not paying for all ten tickets!”

Me: “The next available time is at 11:15 tonight.”

(The customer slams her hands on the counter, turns, and starts screaming about how we ‘don’t know how to do anything right.’ Her daughter starts crying and tries to hug her, and hand to god, the customer shoves her daughter away and bellows…)

Customer: “Don’t cry to me! Cry to the jerk there who doesn’t know how to sell us f****** tickets! He can’t even do his job right! It’s his fault. He won’t let you in. Cry to him! Leave me alone!”

(She stormed away, leaving the rest of the group speechless. They slowly sulked away a few moments later.)