AMC Hampton Towne Centre 24 — Local services in Hampton

AMC Employee Encourages Racism and Harassment Toward Hampton University Women Students

My friends and I, students from Hampton University, recently had a disappointing and troubling experience at an AMC theater. During the previews, a white male patron turned around and said to us, “If you’re going to be on your phone, turn down the brightness.” When we looked back, he confirmed, “Yes, I’m talking to y’all.” In response, we turned our phone brightness up to its highest setting—not to disrupt anyone, but as a reaction to his condescending tone. Note, our brightness was at a low level + is it the previews.

The man quickly rushed leaving the theater and returned with an AMC employee. The employee approached us and said, “Please be off your phone during the movie.” We explained that the movie hadn’t even started—it was still the previews—and we didn’t understand why a complaint was even being entertained at this point.

What made the situation worse was the AMC employee’s dismissive and inappropriate response. After hearing our side, he said, “Just make sure you’re doing the right thing so we don’t have to call the police.” Call the police? Over phone brightness during previews? This comment, paired with the disproportionate reaction to such a minor issue, felt deeply rooted in racial bias.

As paying customers, we deserve to be treated with respect and fairness. Instead, we were singled out, harassed, and made to feel unsafe in a space where we should have been able to enjoy our evening. The employee’s willingness to entertain an unfounded complaint and escalate the situation with a thinly veiled threat is unacceptable.

AMC should ensure that their staff are properly trained to handle complaints impartially and professionally. More importantly, the company needs to address the bias and racism embedded in how situations like this are handled. We hope AMC takes this feedback seriously to prevent other customers—especially students and young Black women—from facing similar mistreatment...

I was really impressed with this theatre. Growing up in Hampton, I can honestly say this theatre has come a long way and has been upgraded nice. I like being able to order tickets ahead of time online and already have a seat. This menu has been upgraded too. Instead of the regular popcorn and candy, they also have pizza, chicken tenders, mazarella sticks, milkshakes, and fruit smoothies. I also like how the theatre is layed out too. There is a mini wall between each row so you don't feel like you are going to fall on the people down below you. The numbers for the seat or have a backlight so it is easy to see in a dim theatre. The bathroom was fairly clean as well. I would give it an A minus. The pictures don't do it justice for how CLEAN the bathroom was.

Negatives

There is no tray to sit your food on. There is a drink holder but no tray. So you're going to have to hold on tight to your hot pizza in your lap. There are also no menu items for anyone that might be a vegan or a vegetarian or even just watching their weight. The amount of calories in the food.... let's just say this is a cheat day lol. Also, why are people still buying tickets outside? Every other place around here allows you to buy tickets inside at a counter or kiosk. They do have a counter inside but it appears to only be for the handicap. I can't imagine buying tickets outside in the winter time .

Over review strong 4. Adding a tray and better menu items would make me come...

I feel like I have a different experience at this location each time I visit. Last time I visited with two friends (before COVID) and there were super long lines and high ticket prices. I think I paid around $15 for a ticket! It was a little ridiculous!

This time I went on a Monday at 12:30 with a friend, so there weren’t that many people there, and there wasn’t one person in line. There were only three other people in the theater! Ticket prices were good since I went before five, and I got military discount. Everything seemed clean, and it was nice that they were enforcing social distancing by blocking out seats. I didn’t see anyone clean, so I can’t say I know for sure the seats were clean, but they did seem clean. The bathrooms also seemed to be social distanced because only half of them were open. They were also clean. I would say I overall had a pretty good time, and I really enjoyed “News of the World!” I was frustrated that I couldn’t get tickets online without having to pay a fee even though I had an AMC Studs account, but I guess you don’t get free reservations even with the basic account. You also can’t get military discount online, so that’s annoying. Because of these things I didn’t book tickets online, but it didn’t seem to be much of an issue because we got good seats.

Movie theater food is super overpriced here, so I wouldn’t suggest buying anything, I...