The Movie Managerial Magic

(I’m a supervisor-in-training and I am doing my third training session at the theater I’ll be promoted to in less than a week. I am helping my future staff clean a theater because it is large and the rest are helping to clean our other large theaters.)

Customer: “Hi, I’d like to get a refund on this movie.”

Me: *currently holding trash* “On the movie that just finished?”

Customer: “Yeah, I didn’t like it, and I want to get a refund. You guys do that, right?”

Me: “No, unfortunately, we don’t give any refunds after the printed start time. It is written on the back of your tickets and on a few signs around the box office.”

Customer: “But the product was bad. I should be able to get a refund if the product was bad.”

Me: “Sir, we don’t make the movies; we just play them. If you disliked a movie, I recommend taking it up with the movie studio or the director. It was your choice to come see a movie and stay for the whole thing.”

Customer: “But it was an inferior product.”

Me: “This would be like if you bought a sleeve of cookies, ate all the cookies, and then decided — after you’d finished eating all the cookies — that you didn’t like them and wanted a refund.”

Customer: “No, it is nothing like that.”

Me: “Had you left the movie earlier, we’d have been able to give you a pass to come see another movie, but we wouldn’t have given you a refund. Our policies are clear and are written on at least two separate signs in our box office and on the back of every ticket.”

Customer: “Well, that’s not right. I want to speak to your manager.”

Me: “Sir, as of Friday, I am a supervisor here. I’ve worked for this company for two years and know the policy like the back of my hand.”

(The customer’s girlfriend walks over to him, drags him by the arm out of the theater, and says something along the lines of ,“You’re embarrassing me,” and, “The girl’s right.” Then, my future manager, who also happens to be a close friend of mine, comes up to me having heard the whole thing.)

Manager: “Isn’t it so nice when you get to tell them you’re the person in charge?”

Me: “[Manager], you have no idea how much I loved finally getting to say that.”