Movies and Mix Ups: When a Promotion Goes Bad

On Saturday I got up excited to see a premiere of the new Lorax movie.  I got up early. Got dressed. Got my daughter ready. All before 9:30 AM.  This was no small feat. Remember, I have a toddler.

My fellow Pittsburgh blogger, Natalie from http://www.thebusybudgetingmama.com/ hooked us up with passes. Unfortunately, we never saw the movie. The premiere turned out to be a promotion gone bad.

I was excited to see the movie and very proud that we made it out of the house. I also invited my cousin and her daughter to join us. Nothing is better than free, family fun!

Unfortunately, AMC Loews Waterfront capitalized on that enthusiasm and distributed WAY too many passes to the movie. About thirty families were denied access to the movie.  We were among them. 

So, my efforts to get out of the house were for naught. The appropriate mommy/daughter outing outfits,  wasted.

My feeling about AMC Loews Waterfront were changed… I’m a big girl, I understand that they wanted to ensure that the theater was full, but they went too far and forgot their commitment to customer service. I was more than a little angry since I had braved the cold with a toddler on a weekend morning and was denied entry to the movie. 

In the interest of fairness, I don't know if the theater messed up or if Universal Pictures was overzealous in their promotion of the movie and distributed too many passes.  However, somebody messed up big time.

I was gracious though. I did not yell. And I did not make a scene.  There really didn't seem to be any point in complaining.  And, the baby was having a meltdown.  I think she was mad that she had been dragged out of the house for no reason.  She's very perceptive!

I am certain that Loews and Universal Pictures would say that we should have read the fine print, which said, “first come, first served”. I say disappointing a bunch of kids and their parents is bad practice.  I am certain that Dr. Seuss would not have approved.  

When we were leaving they asked us to write our email addresses down with an empty promise of, “We will try to do something for you.”  We will see if they make the effort.

It seems like paying for a movie ticket is the only surefire way to see a movie. So, in case your plans to see Lorax was also thwarted or you're just looking to save a few bucks on some movie tickets check out the link below.

(We did salvage the weekend though.  I'll post details about that later. Until then, sweet dreams!)http://www.thebusybudgetingmama.com/

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