Carmike Cinemas, Inc.

Greetings,">This email is in response to consumer complaint #*** regarding
a party booked at Hollywood Connection held on January 11,
Ms*** came in to book the party one day prior to her
party date on January 10, 2014. Our
policy for booking parties at Hollywood Connection is that all parties must be
booked days in advance. This is posted
in plain view at the party desk. This
policy is so that we can schedule hostesses to work the party, prepare the
diner for any food orders, and order the cake through our contracted
supplier. The latter is the most
important due to the fact that all of our cakes are custom made for every party
at Hollywood Connection. We do however
routinely accommodate customers who come in to book parties at the last minute,
but with the caveat that we will not be able to provide a custom cake without
three days’ notice. The customer did in
fact ask for a sports themed cake, at which time the party host told her that
we would try to accommodate her, but our posted policy states that all parties
must be booked at least three days in advance.
If our contracted cake provider could not provide the cake, then she would
have a generic cake provided for her son with the inscription "Happy
Birthday" and her sons name. Our
party manager called our cake supplier because the customer was insistent on a
sports themed cake and wanted to see if it was possible to have a last minute
cake made for the party. Hollywood
Connection was told this was not possible, and the information was shared with
Ms*** so she was provided the generic cake as described above
The day of the party, Ms*** is correct, we did in fact
have her party set up in the skate center instead of the requested sports
room. The party hostess, when informed
by Ms*** of the issues with her party, did tell her that there was 'nothing
she could do at that time', because she is merely an employee and her job is to
inform those people in charge that can in fact help with the situation. The party hostess then informed the party
manager, who went and talked with Ms***, apologized for the wrong placement
of the party, and that it would take no time to move the party to the correct
room as the party had not yet started.
The children in the party, including the birthday boy all said 'no' they
would prefer to stay in the skate center.
Ms*** then also agreed that they would prefer to stay in the skate
center. The party manager then informed
Mr***, the GM of Hollywood Connection, that there was an issue with the
party and its location. He too went to
the party mom, apologized for the misplacement of the party and asked if there
was anything he could do for her. She
said the party was fine where it was and that everything was ok
Whenever there is an issue with a party and we are at fault,
we do our best to go above and beyond for the customer. In this case Mr*** came back a second time
to the party and gave gift bags for every party guest in attendance, plus her
party hostess stayed an extra thirty minutes to help with the party. (Hollywood gift bags are provided for parties
who pay an additional $for an upgraded party, additional time given to
any party area is also an additional $charge.) These additional items were provided to Ms
*** at no extra charge and not at anyone's request
When Ms*** called and reached someone at Hollywood
Connection, she first spoke with Mr*** to complain about the party. Something she neglected to include in her
complaint. She did in fact demand her
money back at which time Mr*** told her that it was indeed her choice to
stay in the skate center when the other room was offered to her. Hollywood Connection feels it went above and
beyond to correct a situation and that the customer is now looking to take
advantage of the service that we provided for her. At no time during or after the party was
there an issue or request for money to be refunded
When the 1st Assistant Manager, Mr***, called in
response to her voicemail, he was unaware of the fact that she had already been
told by Mr*** that no refund was forthcoming, but that he would look further
into the issue. Ms*** in fact told Mr
*** that she had not spoken with anyone regarding the issues with her
party. When Mr*** then spoke to
Mr*** and the rest of the story was told, it was suggested that we go ahead
and refund the cake fee. When Mr
*** called Ms*** back, and informed her of the decision to refund the
cake fee, she agreed and asked that it be put on her credit card over the
phone. Mr*** then explained that
our system was not able to operate in such a way and the only way we can
provide a refund is with cash. Ms***
then informed Mr***, that we should pay for her gas, and inconvenience
for all the extra driving expenses that she would incur. Mr*** apologized for the inconvenience
and that she did not have to come right away to receive the refund, but that it
would be available for her to pick up the next time she was in the area. She then responded that the next time she saw
us at Hollywood Connection, it would be to receive a full refund for her party
and she hung up the phone
Ms*** noted in her settlement request that she felt 'the
party was completely forgotten about and that they didn't care how bad it
looked for them not fixing the issues.'
It is Hollywood Connection's stance that we went above and beyond what
was required to provide a birthday experience for the child that was enjoyed by
all. we do not deny there was a mistake
made regarding the room, but when the offer was made to reset the party in in
the requested room, Ms*** said repeatedly 'no' we are fine here. Regarding th cake, Ms*** knew at the time
she booked the party with only hours’ notice, that there was a chance her
cake would be a generic cake, and in fact we made the call to our provider who
told us there was not enough time to make her cake with Ms*** present. It is Hollywood Connection's belief that our
offer of a refund of $for the cake, is more than generous considering:
she knew she would not be getting the sports cake when she booked the party;
She received $in goods and services free from Hollywood Connection;
when she receives her $refund, add the $in free goods and services,
the customer will have received from Hollywood Connection $in goods and
services for a party she in which her total bill was only $110.00; and it
was her choice to remain in the skate center party area when given the option
to move to the original requested room
The offer of a cake refund will remain, but Hollywood Connection will offer no further
refund
Sincerely,
*** ***
General Manager
Hollywood Connection

Ms. [redacted],
Thank you for contacting my office on Friday, January 17th regarding your experience at our Carmike 8 theatre in [redacted]. As discussed, I have addressed the issue you describe with the manager and am assured that the temperatures will be monitored more closely to insure the...

comfort of our guests. I have mailed to the address you provided two courtesy passes that may be used at any of our locations.
I do hope that you feel this matter has been resolved. If you need my assistance in the future, please feel free to contact me at [redacted] or ###-###-####.
 
Respectfully,
 
[redacted]

[A default letter is provided here which indicates your acceptance of the business's response.  If you wish, you may update it before sending it.]
Revdex.com:
I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and find that this resolution would be satisfactory to me.  I will wait for the business to perform this action and, if it does, will consider this complaint resolved.  I also sincerely thank Mr. [redacted] for his time and effort in assisting me with the matter.
Regards,
[redacted]

Revdex.com:
I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and have determined that this proposed action would not resolve my complaint.  For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below.
[Provide details of why you are not satisfied with this resolution.]
Regards,
[redacted]

Ms. [redacted],
 
My apologies. I am mailing additional tickets today.
 
Sincerely,
 
[redacted]