Event Cinemas Newmarket — Attraction in Waitematā

Hi there,

I wanted to share some feedback regarding my visit to your cinema on the 14th of December for the 5:55pm screening of The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim. I had booked my tickets online well in advance to secure good seats, but unfortunately, my experience didn’t go as planned.

When I arrived and attempted to scan my tickets at the kiosk, I received an “invalid booking” message. While this wasn’t a major issue, I went to the counter, where the staff scanned my barcode and issued my tickets. However, the tickets listed the session as “Vmax 1, 12am, War of the Rohirrim,” which seemed odd, but I assumed it was just a printing error.

I proceeded to VMAX 1 at 5:55pm as per my booking. Upon finding other people in our seats, I politely explained the situation, only to discover they were correct—it was their booking. The movie playing at the time was Moana, not The War of the Rohirrim. It was a bit embarrassing to confront other guests in error, so I went back to the ticket desk for clarification.

The staff informed me that the correct screening of The War of the Rohirrim had started at 5:30pm in Cinema 4, meaning I had already missed at least 20 minutes of the film. I was offered either a refund or seats for the 9pm session, but the available seats for that session were much worse than the ones I had originally booked. I opted for a refund, but even this process was frustrating—the initial refund amount was incorrect, as the booking fee wasn’t included. I had to point this out to the staff, and while it was eventually corrected, the response I received wasn’t particularly kind or apologetic.

Overall, I left feeling embarrassed, disappointed, and let down by the experience. I had been really excited for this movie, but the issues with my booking and the lack of clear communication made it a frustrating evening. I hope this feedback can help improve the booking and customer service process for future guests.

Thank you for...

Absolutely appalling experience at Event Cinemas Newmarket. 1 star only because I can't give zero.

I purchased tickets online for my wife and son, checked in via the app, and then shared the Apple Wallet pass with my wife so she could add it to her phone and enter the cinema with our son while I went to work. Simple enough, right? Wrong.

Despite having the Apple Wallet pass, staff refused to let my wife and son enter. The digital check-in machines wouldn't issue a physical ticket, forcing them to line up. The staff insisted that since I had checked in, I needed to be present, completely defeating the purpose of being able to share the digital ticket.

They even had the audacity to threaten to kick out my wife and young child if someone else arrived with tickets for those seats. Newsflash geniuses - no one else could possibly have those tickets when my wife is literally holding the Apple Wallet pass for them!

If your "Add to Mobile Wallet" option after check-in can't actually be used as proof of entry, then don't offer it!

The staff also demanded a screenshot from the app showing the check-in, but guess what? The app doesn't allow screenshots and only generates a black page. Brilliant design there.

Thanks to this circus of ineptitude, my already stressed wife and son were late seeing the film after a completely unnecessary ordeal.

It's mind-boggling that the app doesn't make it crystal clear that the "Add to Wallet" pass isn't the actual ticket.

Congratulations Event Cinemas on epically failing at the most basic aspects of customer service and common sense. Your staff's attitude and the total lack of clarity in your app made what should have been a simple movie outing an infuriating nightmare.

We won't be returning to your cinema and I strongly encourage others to steer clear of this dumpster fire masquerading as an...

My daughter was rejected from getting into the cinema to watch 28 days with her friends because she "didn't bring an id" according to the young employee except she showed her every form of id that existed including her student platform account, exam entry form, instagram account and school social account on teams, as if this was not legitimate enough the employee herself even considered letting her in for a second before saying she was "not comfortable with it". Furthermore instead of immediately asking them to see the manager, she stalled them for around 15 minutes so the movie would have already started and been too far in for them to see anyways even if the manager got involved and let them in. It is obscene since not only was she mentally incompetent, she was also incredibly rude to them. My daughter called me crying because she kept giving them "attitude" each time she showed another identifying feature and attempted to snoop at her phone as she looked through her whole photo album for something to prove. This is a massive breach of privacy from the theatre. She was described with blonde hair, a ponytail and young adult age, working 1:10pm Sunday 29th June at ticket counter, unbelievable. Although it was refunded in the end, it was ordered for them online so they did not even get refunded the extra online order fee. Overall horrible experience, I feel incredibly bad for her and her friends, I expected better from the cinemas for a silly...