AMC DINE-IN SOUTHGATE 9 — Attraction in Missoula

We live almost two hours away from this theatre so it is a sizable drive to go here, especially during the winter weather, but we would go somewhat regularly as it had always been an exceptional experience. Unfortunately, our last visit was horrible with poor service and a dishonest employee. We had nothing but exceptionally positive experiences in the past which makes our recent experience and AMC's lack of response all the more disheartening.

Our server, Alison, was far from attentive and while not outright rude, she was not personable and barely made any eye contact when taking our order. She seemed more worried about leaving than ensuring we had everything needed. Despite being first in the theatre, the show was already started with most customers already having their food before we got ours. We didn't even get our drinks and popcorn while waiting for the entrees. We only needed help once during the film, for a drink refill, and it was over 20 minutes before a different person showed up and then another 15 minutes before the drink came. A big perk of this theatre is that you don't need to deal with a snack bar line but when you wait over 30 minutes just for a drink refill you really wish you could just fill it yourself.

The real kicker came when it was time to pay. The dine-in server runs your card before ordering and then they ring up anything you order through the movie - similar to running a tab at a bar or nightclub. At the end of the movie you are usually given an itemized receipt to review, a receipt to sign and a copy for you - not in this case. Alison only brought the single receipt for my signature and no itemized receipt nor copy for my records. This was very odd and Alison was nowhere to be found so after the less than exceptional service I felt that something was not right and I took a picture of the receipt I signed. I am glad I did this as my credit card statement shows Alison charged over twice the tip I authorized. Looking at the receipt you can easily see that there is no way to interpret the amount I authorized to be what she charged so I have to assume this was an intentional change. As no receipt copies were provided, I also worry that this may a common practice for at least this server though potentially others since it can be difficult to recall the amount you authorized or dispute any discrepancy without a receipt.

I understand that issues can occur, mistakes happen and that some employees are not honest. I am not someone that regularly complains, but I also don't like to be taken advantage of and expect a company to address problems when they are reported. I contacted AMC customer service about the issue and included pictures of the receipt I signed and the amount actually charged from my credit card statement. I only asked for them to make good on the difference I was overcharged though I figured they would offer something additional to compensate for the poor experience and incentivize me to return to the theatre. I received no response despite contacting them multiple times and even sending a Twitter message with the incident number. The lack of response leads me to believe this location is aware of these practives and has no desire to correct them. Based on this we have quit attending the theatre and been sharing our experience both on-line and...

So I don't ever give bad reviews but here we go for the first. I want to start and say I have read the other reviews and my experience was nothing like theirs. I went with a buddy to The Black Panther last night. We had bought tickets online and went to the kiosk and when he entered our confirmation number it came up for a different movie. The guy working the kiosk said they were experiencing some bugs in the system and we needed to go to the front counter.

No big deal, bugs happen with new systems we totally understood.

We went to the counter and were only the second group in line and were waiting for more than we should have when a manager came and asked us what was going on. We let him know our issue and he printed off our tickets and we were good to go. He apologized an excessive amount of times but whatever, we weren't mad......yet.

We had a waitress take us to our seat and the theater was very nice! Lazyboy-like recliners with electronic controls and your own arm rest! Now that is the movie experience I have been waiting for!

She sat us down and asked us if we wanted drinks or food. I ordered a Sprite and my friend ordered a sparkling water. We said we needed a few minutes to look at the menu. She then was conversing with a busser in front of us for some reason which made it awkward for us and hard to see the previews. We then didn't see our waitress for over an hour.

They have these pager buttons on the reclining seats to request your waitress, and after pressing them multiple times, a new guy showed up, and asked us if we needed anything to drink. We again gave this new guy our drink order and then gave him our food order. We waited 20 mins and we still had nothing. It has now been 40 mins and I was getting thirsty. He showed up after the 40 minutes sometime and gave us drinks but my friend was given a Sprite and I was given a HI-C orange soda. I asked what this was and said I asked for a Sprite. My friend gave me his and the waiter tried to get him to take this orange drink and he informed the guy all he wanted was a sparkling water.

Cue waiter number three. 10 or so minutes later another new guy comes with THE SAME 2 DRINKS as we just got. We informed "Waiter Number Three" of our order and he gave me another Sprite and left.

Then, one hour into our experience our waitress came up to tell us that she had just put our order in and it should be coming soon. I was getting a little upset at this point. All of the interruptions had made us miss some of the movie and all were because the 25 employees working at this place couldn't handle the 10 people watching this movie.

Our food came over half way through this long movie and my bacon tots were cold. I couldn't believe I paid $10 for a tiny tin of bacon covered cheese tots and they were lukewarm AT BEST. My friend said the quesadilla was pretty good but he also paid $17 for it. They then double charged us for drinks we didn't order, and had to get it fixed.

I was miffed how incompetent the service was and won't be going back until they have had plenty of time to figure it out, if at all. The SEATS WERE FANTASTIC, the service was ABYSMAL.

I COULDN'T EVEN GET A BEER because the bar wasn't...

I've been to a variety of pleasant, well-run, dine-In theatres in major cities across America, but to be clear, this one in Missoula AIN'T it!! The AMC Dine-In Theatre of Missoula was very poorly designed, and is being sorely mis-managed, so I wouldn't waste my time or money at this place ever again. In fact, if I had to guess, I'd bet that this particular theatre is closed and out of business by 2024. That's how bad the overall experience is and was. Here are just some of the reasons why, and ALL, are based on a single (most recent) visit alone:

1. We selected and paid for two reserved seats at their website on-line, including a $4.00 "convenience fee", so that my wife and I could arrive on-time, and not need to wait in the ticket line upon our arrival. But, in the end, we had to wait in line anyway, because the theatre claimed they had no employee available to manage the "members/reserved seats" entry line, and thus, the movie had started before we were even able to get seated. Reserved seating? Convenience fees? A complete waste of time and money. Strike One!

2. The width of our two seats (two seats in a veritable sea of a thousand seats!), and their little swing-away dining tables, were so incredibly narrow and cramped, that it was less comfortable than coach seats on a budget Mexican airliner! It was like sitting in a deep, cramped shopping cart for two and a half hours! Absolutely ridiculous! Strike Two!

3. Half of the entire movie was spent with legions of waiters and waitresses, passing incessantly to and fro in front of us, loudly taking and delivering an endless string of food and drink orders to other theatre-goers, resulting in a constant disruption of the movie experience. Strike Three, You're Out!

And the very best part of all ?? (Strike Four?)? The theatre's brain-dead kitchen management made the brilliant command decision that night to offer-up on their menu, some sort of perverse baked cheese pot-pie with BROCCOLI in it!!! That's right! You heard me! I said it! BAKED BROCCOLI!!! In an enclosed public space, in the heart of winter, with NO circulating air or ventilation whatsoever!! Absolutely INSANE! And dozens of people ordered it! In a matter of mere minutes, the entire theatre stunk like a stable full of neglected donkeys. I literally thought I was gonna 'ralph' all over the floor.

No sir! You can KEEP this palatial dungeon, and it's exorbitant fees, and its various film and food offerings. I wouldn't visit it again if it was the only theatre in a hundred mile radius! I don't much like being duped out of hard-earned money, for non-existent or second-rate services, and that's precisely what this place did! Its a 'lipstick on a pig' monstrosity, plain and simple, and I hope that it and its profiteering ownership, soon fall flat on their...