Apart from Holloway Odeon updating to a Luxe, not much has changed. Still no security so lots of kids running around screaming and shouting during films. Every time I go there's always someone already sitting in my seat and I have to ask them to leave. Some people get very disgruntled and aggressive when asked to move. Almost everyone lies & will say they have tickets but can't produce them. Management don't do anything about the many people sitting in seats who haven't brought tickets, so when I've specifically booked a screening room at a quiet time when hardly any seats have been booked, it ends up being overly crowded with loads of people. Always!
I sat in an auditorium which only had 4 seats booked but in actuality had more than 20 people sitting in there, including a guy who sat next to me necking bottles of alcohol. It wasn't his seat, he didn't have a ticket and he was drunk. I was extremely uncomfortable but didn't want to risk moving to another seat, then having to move again in the dark if the seat belonged to someone else. Four kids sitting in the front kept running up and down the aisle every 10 minutes. Two other kids kept playing with the controls of their seats, repeatedly made their seats go back and forth rapidly making a lot of noise. I had one guy snoring loudly on my other side which I had to keep waking up because I couldn't hear the film. I know the cinema can't do much about snorers, but it all added up to another terrible experience at Odeon Holloway.
When I've complained to the manager about the seating issues he just says sorry, shrugs, and never does anything about it. At the very least it would be nice to go to this cinema without having to extract someone from my seat every time. It's not as if I am turning up late either.
No staff ever come into the auditorium to check if all is ok just before or during the film, and if you leave to tell staff there is an issue you miss out on the film you've paid to watch. The responsibility should be on Odeon management to ensure these issues do not occur, not on customers. You would think Odeon would want to ensure everyone pays to watch their films but clearly not at this cinema. The only positive thing I can say is that the desk staff are lovely and friendly, but that is not enough to make me buy...
Ā Ā Ā Read moreVery poor customer experience on Sunday evening.
Odeon Holloway's now great because of the new screens, extra recliner seats and the decor of this classic venue. They've done such a great work during covid to get the job done.
What's not so great's the lack of flexibility and humanity from one of the staff members at the entrance during my last visit.
In Odeon (thankfully), you're only forced to cover your face on the hallways - being allowed to be removed during the movie.
On my last visit, I forgot my mask at home. We were late for the movies, so I just took a jumper out to cover my face until reaching my seat - as per their guidelines.
Girl at door said the only way she'd allowed me in was if I bought a new face mask... from Odeon.
Luckily, a lovely girl that witness the scene gave me one of her spare masks, to avoid the scam, while we all gave the "bad vibes" look to the staff member at door.
This extremely greedy dishonest approach from Odeon is simply disgusting - here my suggestions:
There are more types of face coverings than the face masks you sell behind the counter.
Teach your staff to be more flexible.
If you still force people to wear masks only, at least give them out for free!
That said, and apart from that girl in particular, there's also a guy called Allan who's such a good man. Please, guys, learn a bit from Allan to provide your guest with the customer experience they expect!
Thanks for reading, MRA @ 2030 Films Global...
Ā Ā Ā Read moreMuch better improvement to the previous cinema. Recliners comfortable, food tasted good, nice decoration, staff friendly, temperature in cinema was just right (before renovation some screens were exceptionally cold)
Things to improve to gain 5 stars:
Food took ages from order to be ready, we missed part of the film due to this. Confusion as to how to order food, saw several people queuing to order food (including us) only to be told that that section was for collection only, and orders had to be placed at touchscreens - signage (e.g. order food here) would help to avoid confusion and speed up getting into cinema - took us 20-25mins to get into cinema having booked our tickets in advance. Whilst order was being finished, food items that were ready were left on the collection desk whilst other guests were going to collect theirs, talking over the food etc, not giving confidence of sanitation etc. Better signage of seat numbers - particularly if going into cinema screen when dark - someone else was sitting in our seats due to confusion, took another 5 mins to sort out looking for letters in the dark. 5.Seats were dirty - clearly old crumbs and food down the sides of the seats, does not give confidence of regular santitation between screenings given we are still living with Covid More vegan/vegetarian friendly hot food options...
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