AMC Regency 24 — Attraction in Jacksonville

Staff members are not to blame for the following experience; the blame rests squarely on AMC's poor service as a company, and equivalently poor equipment maintenance.

Naively, I assumed my worst moviegoing experience would be seeing "Cats" back in 2019. I was blindsided by tonight's horrendous turn of events.

On Sunday, my friend bought tickets for us to see "The Substance" on the following night. We tried to invite additional friends to watch the movie with us on the day of, but the showing on AMC's website displayed a sold-out theater. Extremely weird for a weeknight showing of an arthouse film, but whatever. The two of us still wanted to see it. Tonight (Monday) AMC incomprehensibly failed on every front to show us the movie.

We showed up to a theater with one other couple nestled among the empty seats. Again, extremely weird for an allegedly sold-out theater. We entered the theater five minutes after the movie was due to start, but the screen was still blank and there was no soundtrack. We waited ten minutes before exiting our seats to ask an employee to start the movie. The employee radioed someone else to figure it out, so we went back to our seats. Still nothing for another ten minutes, now about thirty minutes after the movie was supposed to begin. We left our seats again to ask the employee for an update. He assured us things were being worked out. At this point my friend and I bought overpriced theater cocktails, as the other couple in our theater was making out and it was vastly uncomfortable to sit in a dead silent theater with people making out directly behind us. After sitting at the bar for a bit, we re-entered the theater. The couple was gone, but still no movie. We left again. The employee we kept checking with then informed us that the projector would not work, so we were basically SOL.

At this point, my friend and I were condemned to the theater since we both had a drink and would prefer not to drive directly after consuming alcohol. The employee offered to switch our tickets to another movie. We truly were not interested in seeing another movie, but seeing as we couldn't drive home yet, we did not have a choice. With resignation, we switched our tickets over to "Joker 2: Folie a Deux," but not before being charged $2.15 extra because apparently the Joker tickets are more expensive.

Then we had to wait an hour to watch a movie we were not interested in seeing because "Joker 2: Folie a Deux" did not start for another hour. We just sat down in a random theater for that time, because what else were we supposed to do? (By the way, the last forty minutes of that SNL movie are pretty good.) Keep in mind, this is all on a Monday night. I have work early in the morning, and our original movie would have been halfway over at this point. We entered "Joker 2: Folie a Deux" and, as you would imagine, left shortly after because that movie is terrible and I finally felt comfortable to drive.

So... We didn't get to see the movie we initially bought tickets for and wound up overcharged. Don't go to AMC or they'll make you watch the Joker sequel.

(Also, shoutout to the bartender; she was the only light in this...

[UPDATED REVIEW] One sales rep on a Saturday afternoon and Complete Technical Failure of Kiosks spell disappointing trip to the theaters + Convenience fee.

Speaking to the manager I was given an "I am sorry I cannot refund the convenience fee" and speaking to customer service I received an "we are sorry for the inconvenience). Given this poor handling of the issue (by the manager and their customer service later) has me vowing to never go to this location again and certainly not recommending it to others. Certainly the convenience fee should be waived if their sales reps and automated kiosks aren't working as they should

[DETAILS] Today my son, his friend, and I showed up 30 minutes prior to the beginning of our movie at 2:45. When we arrived I noticed the line was extremely long (all the way past the three row turnstile). Since the line was so long I went to the three kiosks on the other side of the doors. All three machines were out of order so I got back in line. After 5 minutes I noticed the line had not moved forward one person. That is when I noticed there was only 1 teller selling tickets (on a Saturday afternoon) and that she had been with the same customer. We waited 10 more minutes before I was really freaking out and purchased the tickets online. After purchasing my tickets we then got in line to purchase popcorn and drinks and waited yet again. While in line I noticed a nearly $6 "Convenience Fee" for purchasing online. I had my son and his friend wait in line while I spoke to the manager. While I was speaking to the person who called themselves the manager two more couples came up to complain about the line not moving out front (and only one teller). The "Manager" told me he couldn't do anything to help me with my objection to the "Convenience Fee" since it was an online purchase and that I should have bought the ticket outside. He additionally said he couldn't do anything about the kiosks or the one teller as he himself was working the door. Since he was working the door he told me to come back later as he was busy.

By the time I got back to the concession stand line (now half way down the line) the movie time was now 5 minutes past. I sent the two kids to the theater while I waited to purchase the popcorn and sodas.

Overall this was a poor experience, it should not take more than 30 minutes to purchase tickets, popcorn, and sodas. Even then if I use my AMC app to purchase tickets when you are short staffed and having a complete ticketing technical blackout; I should not have to pay a convenience fee.

To Summarize All three sales kiosks broken Only one teller on a Saturday afternoon 15 minutes in line to only move half way to the sales agent 15 minutes to purchase popcorn and drinks Charged convenience fee to purchase tickets Manager not empathetic to the situation and unable to do anything about the lack of employees or kiosk technical...

I recently had an extremely disappointing experience at this theater, specifically with the manager named Hailey. I have to say that the way she handled the situation was completely unacceptable and left me feeling frustrated and disrespected.

Firstly, when I approached the help desk inside the theater, I was met with a condescending remark from Hailey, who stated in a dismissive tone, "We are not MoviePass." This comment was completely unnecessary and only served to belittle me as a customer. If that was the case, then why did they call me to the help desk in the first place? It seemed like a waste of time if they had no intention of actually addressing my concerns or overriding the circumstances.

To add insult to injury, Hailey's colleagues, whom I can only describe as her lackeys, repeatedly asked me if I was at the correct theater. Despite confirming multiple times that I was indeed in the right place, they continued to question me. This lack of attentiveness and disregard for my words made me feel like they simply didn't care about my situation or were not interested in listening to me.

In an attempt to resolve the issue, I asked if I could simply pay for my ticket. Instead of acknowledging my request, Hailey accused me of speaking to her in the wrong way, even though I had made it clear that I was addressing everyone present. It was clear that she had taken the situation personally and was more interested in making it about herself than helping me.

What was truly astonishing to witness was the fact that Hailey needed two people to assist her with conflict resolution. This level of incompetence and inability to handle a customer's frustrations in a professional manner was alarming. It only further highlighted their lack of customer care and proper training in handling difficult situations.

I want to stress that as a frustrated customer, my intention was never to make the encounter personal or about Hailey. I simply wanted my concerns to be heard and addressed. It's disheartening to encounter a manager who fails to recognize the importance of empathy and professionalism when dealing with customers.

Overall, I would strongly advise others to be cautious when dealing with Hailey and her team at this theater. The lack of care, dismissive attitude, and inability to handle customer concerns appropriately were major shortcomings. As a customer, I believe we deserve better treatment and a higher...