AMC Southpoint 17 — Local services in Durham

I've been watching movies here since 2004. It's been sliding downhill for the last few years.

To name a few recurring issues... THEATERS: -Seating in the IMAX is terrible and is likely to leave you with back pains following the show. -A couple of the other screens are darker than they should be and the viewing experience is unsatisfying. -Theater 10 seems to have a problem with timing as it hasn't started a movie on-time on several occasions that our movie has been scheduled there. The room is totally dark with no previews, and requires someone to complain before the screen is turned on. -Temperatures in the individual theaters are generally uncomfortable and inconsistent; some hot, some frigid. -Powered recliner seats are frequently unplugged/not functional at movie start-time.

CONCESSIONS: -Often out of various concessions, including POPCORN, NACHOS, and HOTDOGS. -The drink machines are not well serviced on any given day: --across 6 Coke machines; frequently no ice, drink options unavailable (no syrup, no fizz). --across 4 Icee machines, flavor choices regularly unavailable.

CLEANLINESS: -Floor frequently wet around the drink machines. -Floors in hallways are littered with popcorn. -Theater seating/floor inconsistently cleaned between shows. -Trash cans in theaters seem to be unassigned and are often overflowing.

KITCHEN: -Often closed early or out of food items. -Doesn't seem to pay attention to the order; inexplicably missing included or even extra purchased sauces. -Pizza delivered cold and/or partially sliced. *For this expertly provided service, you are also charged an EXTRA DELIVERY FEE on top of the truly ridiculous menu prices. A delivery fee to bring your order to your seat in a "dine-in" theater. /-:

*Imagine the joy you might feel after paying the extra delivery fee and finally getting your order to you seat, only to find that your salad doesn't have dressing, your pizza is cold and only partially cut, your french-fries have a dime-sized squirt of ketchup, or your chicken fingers have no sauce. The server is long-gone by the time you discover the issue. At which point, you must take a walk to concessions, wait for someone to acknowledge that you need assistance, explain the situation to a person that likely isn't comprehending why you have a problem... then after several minutes of waiting... MIGHT get a resolution.

After all that, you stroll back to your seat and try to figure out what you've missed in the movie you paid full price to watch. BTW... at no time, will you be offered a refund for the delivery fee you were charged. Oh, the joy.

All that said, be aware of potential sadness.

On a bright note: Movies viewed on the Dolby Theater (Theater 1) are very enjoyable and highly...

It's a pretty good theater, however the food I tried and drinks, bring the overall review down!

The good; Priority concession stand lane for A+ Stubs members. Since the food is picked up by the customer, one can freely choose from a good variety of condiments Drink fountain machines is located right next to food pickup area, so customers can fill their own drinks. Recliner seats works. Clean Emergency "Exit" lights are a dim green, unlike many theaters who's are distractinggly bright red.

The bad; The slider burgers are anywhere from bad to horrible, dependent on whether you order food upon arriving at the theater, or worse order via the App in which the case you risk the food will sit in it's box container, in a plastic bag, on a pick up shelf, for up to 10 minutes in one instance I experienced, where the two sliders for my son had all melted together, and my BBQ slider was two blobs of goo! To low fountain drink carbonation. Last time I ordered a drink there, half way into my drink the carbonation was all but gone, so I threw the rest out on my way out of the theater.

After about two months of being an A+ Stubs member, I am no longer buying food or drinks at any of AMC's theaters. Even at the AMC Dine-In Theaters, who have better burgers, when they're busy you risk your food being delivered close to room temperature, and the movie being interrupted every few minutes by servers up to half an hour into the movie!

To AMC Corporate. If you want a movie lover like me to your theaters, and for me to order food, here is my requirements;

1. You should have Dine-In as in Holly Springs to all your locations. The microwave slider burger at non Dine-In locations are anywhere from bad to horrible, dependent on whether you order them upon arriving, or worse order via the App so they will sit and melt in box at Pickup shelf!
2. You must either include more food customizations options, or simply add a customization text field, in your App!
3. Food must be available for pick up, or delivered BEFORE the movie starts!
4. Fountain drink machine(s) must be easily accessible by customers for fast refills themselves, or by an employee.
5. Regarding some AMC theaters, lighting when the movie starts, must be dimmed further, with the neon "Exit" signs dimmed in parallel or as in Southpoint Durham, a pale...

Prefacing that the one star review is not a reflection of the staff at the location, they are one of the only good things about this location.

The issues which outshine everything are as follows: this is one of the only locations in the triangles that offers Dolby showings for new releases but the staffing can not keep up with the traffic the theater receives (this is important later); there are always issues with the drinks where they are either out of ice in the machines, out of CO2, or the cooling in the machines doesn’t work and it spits out hot/ruined soda; consideration is hardly given to the AMC A-List members.

The first 2 points can go hand in hand, if there was enough staff the machines wouldn’t break down as frequently and people could get through their service in a reasonable fashion. With a line of 50 parties, you can’t get by with 2 registers running at a reasonable rate. We understand that AMC historically is a very low-paying employee and that is why the staffing is generally low, but this theater should push to pay at higher bands to balance the traffic and amenities. The short staffing also leads to lower quality facilities, like the equipment regularly breaking down, the common spaces around drinks and food getting gross before the even showtimes even start, and mobile orders in theaters being missed just to keep heads above water. The staff that this theater has are so friendly and overall great, but if the stressors they and the customers face (which unfortunately gets projected back onto the employees) does not get resolved the employees will turnover.

The a-list considerations are more of a personal point. What’s the point of the separate line with expedited service if you don’t get called upon? Why deal with a subscription if half of the benefits advised aren’t honored at this location? Mostly the issues are for the points above, but when everything comes together the movies no longer facilitate a...