GQT West Columbia 7 — Local services in Battle Creek

Born and raised in Battle Creek, I'm thankful for a comfortable theater option here in town. My negative review comes from the recent experience I had with my wife, hoping that they can be looked into. I've noticed a gradual decline with my experience at WC7 over the years and would love to have these issues discussed with the management/owners of this specific location.

Several years ago (5+?), this location received new seating, adjusted layouts for screening rooms, and some equipment changes. However, these updates no longer feel like "updates" and are showing great signs of use. Let me explain.

Flies and Humidity: The past several times we've gone, there are usually one or two bugs that fly around the projector, making it very distracting to watch movies. I know this can be hard to deal with, but it's a problem I've not experienced with other theaters believe it or not. I've also noticed that a lot of the screening rooms have musty smells, with residential grade dehumidifiers running in some of the rooms (especially noticeable in the summertime).

It's loud! - Okay, I am a huge sound fanatic. Whenever I visit the theater, I expect to be drawn in to the movie with fantastic audio and visuals that is hard to get at home (without spending thousands of dollars on professional gear). What I noticed last night (Moana 2 of all movies) is that the sound was quite loud (hard to listen to) and the overall audio felt "flat" and dull. It was missing the rich and deep sounds that I've grown familiar to while visiting other theaters that have better upkeep (like Celebration! Cinema for example). I'm not sure if it's aging equipment, or if the screening rooms need to be re-tuned, but I would humbly ask that a qualified professional look into this. As someone who works in the audio/video industry, it was discernably distracting. My wife (who is not in the industry) even thought it was too loud, and said her ears were ringing after the movie.

Lack of picture quality: Growing up, I always LOVED seeing the "Texas Instruments" logo and feeling the deep rumble of the bass as movies begun. The picture looked crystal clear, the brightness was perfect (and yes, the sound was miles better than what I experienced last night). I've noticed a huge decline in brightness and clarity with these screens, even in the last year or two. Last night I felt like I was watching the movie on an old residential or classroom grade projector. It felt lifeless, lacked clarity, and overall left me thinking "I get a better viewing experience at home on my old 1080p TV!" It wasn't "bad", but it definitely was a distraction and hope this can be resolved.

General Aesthetics and Condition: The seating is still comfortable, I remember when the new seats were installed. This was a welcome upgrade! The downside is that the seating is now showing severe signs of use. Almost every chair has material that's chipping away, and some spots is no longer showing the painted faux leather material and is frayed. It doesn't look good. Not something you notice while watching the movie, per say, but still noticeable. The other things I've noticed were things like ceiling tiles being discolored (from water damage it looks like).

The general facility cleanliness is great, the staff do a great job in doing what they can for general upkeep. No problems with bathrooms, concessions, or ticket prices.

As someone that's grown up going to this theater, I hope that the owners can help breathe more new life into this great location! It has so much potential for growth, even leaning in to the location (being next to an airport) may spark some inspiration for updating/upgrading some of the aesthetics and general upkeep.

At the bare minimum, I hope that the first three issues are looked into. I don't see the point in returning or paying to see movies here until these items are addressed, as it severely impacts the movie going experience.

Thanks and please continue investing in...

This is all by comparison, hey, there's 3 movie theaters in Battle Creek, so comparing is the best measure.

None are bad in my experience, they all have pro's and con's. The biggest pro here is that they're the longest one in town, been around the longest that is (others have changed ownership) and while not immediately on the main part of Columbia Ave they're not too far from it and they probably have all-around the best movie going experience of the 3 locally.

So how do they get 4 instead of 5 stars here? It's all about pricing. I get it, going to the theaters, especially nowadays, is never cheap, but there's other more affordable options. And with JC Cinema having remodeled and cleaned up that location along with having a similar or same offering of whatever movies are current, that simply equals competition for here and NCG Cinema.

That may sound as though I'm building up JC Cinema, not the point. It's that there's competition and options. It doesn't help that I asked at West Columbia 7 how much a reusable popcorn bucket was and was told it was $25, good for greatly discounted refills until the end of whatever year it was bought in. Sounds good, yeah? But for clarity I asked and it was confirmed that if one were to buy said bucket in November or December (towards the end of the year) the same applies in that the greatly discounted refills last until the end of that year. Gee, guess it's a very so-so option really based all around exactly what time of the year you buy it at. Could be great to hang onto, or quickly turn into a novelty type thing.

That's just one example of where the pricing out there holds my rating back.

Service I'll admit is on point, seating inside is perfectly fine. Very family friendly for those interested in that aspect. And before someone responds saying that if I don't like the pricing don't buy (go), I'm way ahead of you there. On average I go there maybe 2-3 times a year, whereas as I go to other theaters dozens of...

I have been going to the West Columbia Theaters on and off for about 15 years. I have personally witness the General Manager Steve( he has slicked back hair, a salty personality and heavy set) scream at his employees on a couple of occasions for very very petty stuff. Things like an unbutton button, a small piece of popcorn in an out of way corner. The two times I described above I was with my young daughter and she was visibly upset and ask what did those people do to get yelled at like that in public view. I told her they really did nothing to be verbally reprimanded like that in front of their peers and customers and it's just lack of training on the managers part. Managers are suppose to de-escalate a situation and correct the behavior, not escalate and embarrass the employee. I don't know if it was his decision to upgrade the flooring in the entrance area over up- grading the theater seats, but if it was it was a bad decision. I assume this manager is a far flung relation to Bob Goodrich to be put in a position like this with zero or close to zero management skills. I don't know if anybody else has complaints about the seats, but I assume they are from the era of Paul Reuben (Pee-Wee Herman) infamous adult theater incident in 1991, regardless of how old the seats are the do need to be replaced before West Columbia 7 becomes the new "Cheap Seats" Theater of Battle Creek. I see they have already lowered their price, I suggest new management and new seats to compete with the other theaters in Battle Creek, and more social media activity it's 2016, bring some life and excitement back to the adventure of seeing a movie in a top...