Coolidge Corner Theatre — Attraction in Brookline

i wish i didn't have to post a "negative review" as I've lived in the neighborhood for years and always thought highly of this cool art deco indy theater. But I had a really bad experience with a few ticket sellers. I was so psyched to see Echo In the Canyon a few weeks ago. But when I got upstairs, the "Gold " Theatre was almost full with only seats in the front row. To me, that is not at ALL a comfortable seat for watching a film - way too close! I left almost immediately and explained. My ticket was refunded, albeit with a dismissive scowl.. A few weeks later (tonight) I noticed that there was no record of the refund on my bank statement. I'd kept the refund receipt, so I returned to your theatre and asked about it. Apparently I was mistaken and the ticket was refunded. (The transaction wasn't recorded, and that's why I was mistaken.. honest mistake) .

The thing is, I really think your ticket vendors should be aware when the theatre is so full that seating like that is all that is available - I mean i had no idea it was a tiny theatre that would be full like that - I would not have spent 14 bucks for that. I did let the one of your ticket sellers know that this is how I felt. He said something like "we don't know what seats are left, there were seats, and all we can do is refund you if you don't like it. People sit in those (front row) seats all the time.." I'm pretty surprised that this is so.. It seems unreasonable to me, but I guess you don't think so. Agree to disagree.. The thing of it is, the ticket seller was arrogant and condescending. And I'm not someone who complains often, and I am polite. If he had maybe just said something like "I'm sorry it didn't work for you..", or showed even a little bit of interest or care, I wouldn't feel like I have to sit here and write this now lengthy remark. At all. I mean this is the first time Ive done this. But he made me feel badly. Coolidge Corner Theater is so well regarded and interesting and cool. But that doesn't mean your staff is above treating patrons kindly and with respect. I feel like some of them feel that they are. The guy who I talked to probably thinks he was perfectly nice, and the girl sitting next to him, who glared at me as well. Arrogant people often do feel blameless. They're so into themselves they don't see the person who is talking to them.. I get that they have to sell a lot of tickets quickly, maybe he was tired... It just left me with a bad feeling, it really did. I hope you will take note of this. I mean you get tons of great reviews.. I'm one of the many people who have (up until now) often sung your praises I hope my bad feelings go away and I'll want to go to another film there (Ive been to films before and it...

By far the most appalling experience I've ever had.

Drove close to two hours in icy weather on Christmas Morning as it's just my wife and I this year. We came to catch Licorice Pizza in 70mm.

The experience immediately became a nightmare when the manager who was ticketing the entrance rudely and indignantly requested masks and our vaccination status.

We aren't anti-vaxxers, we have no issues following rules. It's Christmas, we certainly didn't have an attitude.

We live in NH so we don't have a mask mandate, upon entry he informed us, not kindly, but no problem, we immediately placed our masks on.

We also didn't realize proof of vaccination was required, again, not an issue my wife was heading back to the car to grab the proof. We're both vaccinated and boosted.

While my wife was exiting I thought 'hey I should move to the side to make room for the people behind me trying to enter.'

This set this rude, miserable man off and he proceeded to kick us out and told us the refund of our tickets is a privilege.

After all was said and done, he stated the reason was that I didn't move back to the door where people were standing, but never said that. Not once, my wife was standing there so it's not my bad hearing.

I couldn't believe it. This was unwarranted, unnecessary, and could only have been done by someone completely unfit for their position.

Even after all that, it's Christmas, so I asked the staff if he's recently suffered a loss or something, maybe there's a reason he's feeling the need to act this way. Their response was "he is always like this."

I don't know why he made the choice to treat us so poorly, but it's hard to not feel discriminated against when I'm Hispanic and he had no reason to do what he did.

I am without words.

If he gets to keep his job after what he did to us on Christmas, then that's all that needs to be known about this...

I've been going to this theater for years, it is my preffered spot to see movies. However, they just abruptly raised their prices astronomically to the point that it's nearly $20 a ticket if I try to purchase online which is the only way you can secure a ticket since they are normally sold out in person before showings. I understand they have big restoration and expansion plans and I had no problem donating a dollar here and there when I would purchase tickets in the past. However the tickets and service fee are extremely expensive now, and in checkout they even try to tack on a $5 donation. The last time I bought tickets in person my boyfriend and I noticed that we were each charged a $1 donation fee. That's literally illegal. I confronted the salesperson and she told me that it was just the normal price and the itemization was inaccurate. No matter what, they try to squeeze as much money out of you as possible and I ignored it in the past, but their practices now are disgusting. In addition to that, I can't afford to pay that much for an outing. They have a rewards program that I have been a member of for years now, but I have never reaped any benefits from that. I used to think Regal and AMC were overpriced, but those are the places I've turned to now. I love supporting small businesses, but they have made it quite difficult for the average movie goer and now instead of getting all of my business they're getting none of it. I know other frequenters that feel the same way. Good luck with your big plans Coolidge, hopefully you will reconsider...