Event Cinemas Shellharbour — Local services in Illawarra

My girlfriend and I had already pre booked tickets for the Lord Of The Rings movies at the cinema. The first movie was a good experience, the second though had us jumping through hoops due to negligence. We arrived just before time for the 2nd movie and went to the cinema designated to find no one was in there. We later discovered off another person watching the movie that the cinema had changed. We were confused to why the information was wrong and why people were already in our seats. We approached the man at the counter and he stated that the cinema had changed. I questioned why and how come we were not notified? He stated because we purchased the tickets in store and not online then we wouldn't be informed. He also mentioned the cinema was changed due to popularity. I was upset about the situation as me and my partner are not ones to be confrontational and can get anxious in these situations. I thought they would have atleast contacted us or simply made another cinema with the movie being viewed in two cinemas. We just wanted to see a movie without complications. The man did the best he could but had little seats to offer us and couldn't supply us with another option. He couldn't offer any other solutions but recommended the first row seats that he stated are usually more expensive and a favourite. We chose the only seats available to us which were the first row bed like options. He also stated that we should call up before the third movie to make sure that it doesn't get changed aswell. I find that personally rediculous and unprofessional to have to chase up a booking that I have made in case they decided to change it. A small period of time into the movie we both realised why no one chose the seats, they were rediculous. You are at a very weird angle trying to watch the movie and too close to even process what is going with the fast imagery. My partner was feeling not well, uncomfortable and I was starting to get headaches. We were in a very awkward situation where I knew we would not be helped further as the man already said it would be its only viewing and we would then miss out. We felt nervous and anxious on what to do. After about 20 minutes we couldn't take anymore. I looked back and searched for any empty seating in which I did find two. Knowing everyone would've turned up by now, (it nearing 30 minutes into the movie) we got up and sat there. The rest of the movie was fine there.

My biggest issue with what had happened was that as a customer we should be notified on any change and given a option for a refund or option of seating. I find it unacceptable to change a booking that they would have been able to see seats already paid for and then put their customers in a awkward position to have to try solve a issue they...

Used the recliner seats. Was very comfortable there. There are a couple of wheelchair places at the top level of the cinema, they had carer/friend seating next to them. There is room to stash a walker or manual wheelchair at the top, out of the way, if your ambulatory skills enable you to walk a short distance and do a step or two with a railing to hold. Would be best to book seats so you don't miss out. One drawback to the visit was that they were renovating part of the cinema, that meant that as at the date of my visit there was NO, and I repeat, NO disabled toilet facilities available. They should have this emblazoned at the top of each webpage. I had my 14 year old son push my manual wheelchair into the women's regular toilets, parked outside the cubicle, got the door closed and I managed to use the facility...just! Luckily being an earlier session it wasn't busy in there. The toilet paper dispensers were full and heavy. It took ages to get paper out of the thing and it was very low down. Much bending, twisting and swearing ensued! For the benefit of other disabled theatre-goers who need to use the loo, the closest disabled toilet is about 200 metres away at Stockland Shellharbour, so plan to factor that in to the time frame before you go in for your movie screening! Other than that, staff were helpful and friendly enough. It was good to have decent seats with space to spread out and put my snacks down. They had trailers play for 10-20 minutes with partial light, so if you run a couple of minutes late, it's not the end...

As I get older my back gives me more pain. The movie has to be pretty good for me to enjoy watching it here - the seats are not comfortable enough to endure sitting in through a mediocre movie. If my body did not complain so much I would be content with this theatre (apart from the normal expensive ticket prices and ridiculously expensive snacks and drinks). They usually try and get a variety of movies with plenty of choice of session times. I've reached an age where it is more enjoyable to watch most movies on a screen at home.

I have been back a couple of times more recently (the paragraphs above are at least a year old). The management has made all of the snacks and drinks self serve. If you hate seeing wastage, you will definitely be offended by the way customers use this. I would be wary of using the lolly bar. There are not enough staff to monitor whether or not sticky little fingers are reaching in to sample the wares. You can now buy alcohol (not self serve :-) ) and order hot food to enjoy while watching your movie. I think that all seats are now recliners. This does improve my capacity to survive a mediocre movie, but I still needed another cushion behind my back to make it work for me. Staff are great. I haven't met one yet who was not lovely and helpful. I still prefer my own lounge and screen at home, unless it is a visually awesome film, like Avatar. There are a few movies that are worth seeing on...