AMC SoNo8 — Attraction in Norwalk

Ya' know, they say the movie theater industry is dying a slow death at the hands of large screen TV's. At Bow Tie Cinemas in Norwalk, CT - it's already dead.

My wife and I attended a film last night - a Sunday evening on Memorial Day weekend. The film was not great, but that was the high-point. The volume was uncomfortably high for even the 'quiet' dialogue - for action, many of the audience, including us, physically covered our ears. Then, about a half hour into the film, the Air Conditioning stopped. Memorial Day weekend - more than 100 people in a room, and NO ventilation. I estimate that by film's end temperature inside the theater topped 85 degrees. I don't even want to open the 'can that be healthy?' can-of-worms.

Where was the staff? At one point, someone in a row behind ours went to complain about the HVAC (or lack thereof). He came back and whispered that they were 'checking.' Well they clearly weren't. At movie's end I noted several sitting, talking, with their backs to the customers. I made a beeline for the manager - a sullen young woman who seemed more annoyed than customer-focused. She was quick to point out that she was only the "Assistant" manager and that only the "Manager" had the ability to adjust temperature in the theaters. Of course, during one of the busiest movie weekends of the year, the 'Manager' was nowhere to be found.

My wife then returned from the rest room, which by her description was a mess and lacked toilet paper - I guess the staff's engaging conversations were much more important than making sure the customer areas were clean.

$37 got us the movie, popcorn, and water. At Bow Tie Cinemas, I guess proper volume settings, air conditioning (a comfortable environment), and toilet paper are extra.

Our...

i went to go see the movie the nun last night at 10 pm showing. i have not been to the theatre since they made the changes and was excited to have dinner while watching a movie in a full reclining chair. I went to the movies straight from work and ordered $34 worth of food the employees told me that they would bring me my food and scanned my seat ticket. Movie started and an hour passed and i still had not received my food so i got up to go see what was going on. After trying to find an employee for 20 minutes because there was no one working behind the counter and having to end up asking an employee who looked like he was off the clock i was told that they brought my food to the wrong theatre and that the kitchen was closed down and that i had 2 options come back tonmorow for a refund or receive 3 movie tickets as compensation. Since the employees were kids and the manager was buried in his office who failed to come out twice while i was trying to find out what was going on i just took the tickets and didn’t say much more. whoever reads these reviews should be ashamed of themselves to leave kids running these theatre with no prior customer service experience. the fact that i was act to come back the next day to receive a refund and the other fact that i had to miss half the movie trying to find a working employee completely ruined my movie experience. i will not be back and will be giving away the 3 free tickets i received. you can spend all the money in the world to renovate a business but without proper training of the employees and without proper staffing you just lose a custmer. thank you for ruining my movie night out...

I've been coming here for 20 years and recently this place has has made a turn for the worse. I went to see Once Upon a Time in Hollywood PREMIERE and they only had 2 working speakers out of maybe 10. I had to leave and ask them to fix it twice and it never was fully fixed. They told me " Oh, theater 7? Yeah we have had amplifier problems for a while now". Then why would you have the theater open LET ALONE FOR A PREMIERE! Would you sell a car with only one wheel? No, so don't show a movie with only 2 working speakers. I talked to my brother who saw Lion King there the week earlier in a separate theater (#2) and had a similar problem. Then my friend just told me he saw Spiderman there in a different theater and the speakers were off and they turned the lights on before the end credits. This is 3 theaters out of their 7 that don't work perfectly. You have to pay for parking and the staff is nice but not helpful. Save your money and go to Westport ave, its a 5 minute drive and has free parking. I sent Bow Tie SONO an email an no response. My friend spoke to the manager and the manager said that they "didn't and wouldn't turn the lights on for the credits". So she said my friend was lying and didn't offer to refund him. Take your money else where. And the screens are average at best. If this is the only theater you go to, do yourself a favor and see a movie at another theater and realize that the screen isnt supposed to be fuzzy and the audio shouldn't be so quiet that you hear your neighbor breathing. The grass IS greener on...