TheLight-Cambridge — Local services in Cambridge

Extremely Disappointed with Misguidance and Poor Customer Service

I visited The Light Cinemas Cambridge on 31st July to watch a movie. Before my visit, I checked their official website which clearly mentioned that discounted parking is available for cinema customers. I parked my car near the cinema and upon entering, I clearly asked the staff at the till multiple times (at least four times) if the place where I parked was eligible for the parking discount.

Despite repeating my question and even clarifying it again after the staff member said he didn’t fully understand, I was assured with confidence: “Yes, that’s okay. Just pay while leaving.” Trusting their guidance, I proceeded to take the barcode and went to enjoy the movie.

After the movie, I tried to use the barcode to get the discount but there was no option to scan it. When I went back to the till to ask, another staff member then informed me that the discount is not applicable at the place where I parked, and that the discounted parking is in a different location a multi-storey car park nearby.

This was shocking and frustrating, as I had proactively asked for clarity multiple times, and was misguided by the staff. I explained my situation and asked them to take responsibility for the misinformation, especially since now I may receive a £100 fine due to parking over 4 hours in a non-discounted area. However, the staff refused to take any accountability, insisting it was not their responsibility to guide customers properly about parking.

To make it worse, the same staff member who initially misinformed me was smiling disrespectfully, which felt extremely unprofessional and dismissive.

Also, the cinema itself was not clean popcorn tubs and food were left around, and the seats looked untidy. Overall, the experience was disappointing, not just due to the parking issue, but also because of the lack of customer care, poor cleanliness, and unwillingness to accept or rectify...

I from time to time go to light cinema because I'm basically forced to by my friends, because its always the same issue's. Terrible seats, all ripped, multiple of them, in every room. The worst, is the lights, they always keep one or two lights on during the film that basically doesn't allow me to enjoy the film because i can see every person around me, the light spotlight often is right on top of my head, its very distracting, ruins the experience for me and ridiculous. I've complained directly to staff and was told it was for safety reasons. Well by that logic I guess the rest of the cinemas on this planet are not save then. Because from all the cinemas I've went in my life, including other countries, light cinema is the only one that does this. Just have lights/ reflectors on the steps as any other cinema out there, is ridiculous that this is a problem at all. Is absolutely not acceptable that they keep doing this after so many complaints, gives me the idea they don't care for what they're costumer's complains, outside of basic common sense of what is expected from a cinema, this ruins the movie experience, this is exactly the tipe of stuff makes people prefer to stay at home and watch their film in their comfortable not ripped couch and have actually a dark space to see the movie instead of a spotlight over their heads, as light cinema charges for. I love cinema , and I love going to cinema , and I whould be more than glad to recommend light cinema to friends if they fix this issues. Light Cinema please sort this issues, it's not that hard of a fix. And shouldn't be a problem in the...

Edit: I have lowered my review from 5 to 4 stars. This is after going to the cinema only to find that they were having issues with the screening and weren’t sure if the film would be shown and I’d have to wait an hour for the next one (which I wouldn’t be able to because I’d timed it to see another film following the first film finishing). I received no communication about this until I got there and was about to go into the cinema and even though no refund is needed as I’m a premiere card holder, this is extremely disappointing. More has to be done to communicate these issues to ticket holders further in advance. I have just switched cinemas back to the light due to my experience in the past being better than both Odeon and Cineworld and am incredibly shocked and disappointed at this. It’s worth adding that the way I was told was poor too. Upon scanning my ticket I was told my ticket was actually for the 1600 showing when it very clearly said the 1500 showing and it was only explained when I was confused and showed the ticket to the person that they admitted they were having issues with the screening and I’d have to wait for the 1600 showing.

Previous review: Without a doubt my favourite cinema, after having an infinity card here before going to university, where I could only get an Odeon card and then a Cineworld card, I really haven't found a better cinema than the Light. The staff are brilliant, friendly and always happy to help and the vibe of the cinema is so fun and always feels like home to me. The food is also far better than larger...