AMC South Barrington 24 — Attraction in Barrington Township

I have been going to this theater since it first opened. It's not what it used to be but still has the potential to be a good experience. Pretty clean. a few big screens. (not many) Concessions are a big challenge with only one or 2 people taking orders and long waits for food and certainly not what they used to be. Prices are high. The larger screens are great. Big crisp picture, super sound, lots of room, comfortable seating. Went to see Superman in the Dolby theater and was super happy.

BUT...

Just had my first experience with AMC Theaters customer "support". Not good. Really not good.

I went to their website to have a fresh text sent to my phone with the link to the QR code for tickets. You can't do that from the website. You can get a refund but you can't do something as simple as send the text that they previously sent ... again. Nope.

So I thought "well I'll just call customer support and they can do it for me". Nope. No humans at AMC Theaters. None. Your choices are to post a message to Facebook. Post a message to Twitter. Fill out a form in the hope that someone will read it and respond.

I opted for the email form. I fill out my request. I press SUBMIT and get a message that my message has NOT been sent but I could read my way fruitlessly through their FAQs. I click on SUBMIT ANYWAY. I get an email stating that they still are not looking at my request because I could be wasting my time looking through their FAQ list. BUT... if I really really really want a reply, I can respond to the email. I respond.

Waiting.... still waiting... still waiting...

Oh look... they promise to respond within 7 BUSINESS DAYS.

If there is a PhD in bad service, AMC deserves an honorary degree, because they have aced it.

"If you still need assistance, please reply to this email and a team member will be happy to help! If applicable, please send your order or confirmation number, or provide a photo of your ticket stub/receipt. You should expect a reply from a team member within seven business days."

I may have my finger on the pulse of why fewer and fewer people go to...

I have been a longtime AMC Stubs Premiere Member, but haven’t used it much the last couple of years. I recently received a $50 AMC gift card and added it to my account. I utilized the gift card for a $22.30 on-line purchase of 2 tickets. Upon arriving at the theatre I was told by an AMC Crew member that no funds were available in my account to make a concession stand purchase! Annoyed that I couldn’t use the $27.70 gift card balance clearly remaining in my account, I reluctantly offered to pay cash for the desired popcorn and soda, but was told AMC doesn’t accept cash! After utilizing a credit card for the $19.05 purchase I received an undersized large popcorn along with a “regular” size soda cup that also seemed undersized. I was unaware that AMC had reduced the size of its large popcorn buckets from 170 down to 150 ounces.

After making my way to the self-serve soda dispenser and following the screen instruction stating: “Hold to Pour” I was unable to retrieve any liquid out of the machine. The popcorn was terrible. My wife informed me the women’s restroom was dirty. And despite illuminated exit signs, all the windowed exit doors nearest our auditorium were locked, necessitating that we walk back to the center of the theatre to exit at the main entrance. (We had parked our car closest to the previous frequently used, now inoperable far exit.)

I’d regift the remaining balance on the gift card, but there is nobody I dislike enough to have them endure such a lousy cinema experience. The good news is that all this occurred just 3 days prior to the automatic renewal of my Premiere membership at the higher $18+ rate, giving me ample time to cancel. No real loss. We much prefer going to our nearby...

AMC in general has definitely lost something over the years. It's become a money churning machine, not a business actually interested in delivering a good experience. As I sat down in their stained, airplane-size seats next to people holding $40 popcorn buckets, I realized very quickly this isn't the place for someone like me that actually appreciates the movie-going experience. The volume was deafening, perhaps under the mistaken assumption that sound quality and sound volume are synonymous, and the hoards of popcorn-gnawing, jumbo soda-gulping simpletons filing their way in won't know the difference. I went to an IMAX show. Those used to be events. People over 25 will remember the special IMAX presentation before each showing, highlighting the exceptional sound and visuals. Those days are long gone, replaced by commercials. A lot of commercials. Over 30 minutes of them from the advertised start time before the actual film began. The trailers themselves ranged from Rated-R horror to PG kids' fare, just demonstrating the limitations of relevant upcoming content available for the PG-13 superhero film I was seeing. There are other cinemas that still focus on the customer experience. Classic Cinemas is a great example. Comfortable reclining seats, reasonable concession prices, and a max of three trailers before the movie, just enough time for the stragglers to get into their seats before the show begins. But they don't have IMAX, so they unfortunately were not an option. AMC is the theater of my childhood, a place with fond memories of films I truly loved. Sadly, AMC is no longer the theater...