Film clips: Movie companies mum about refund policies

Kirk Baird

Friday, Dec. 22, 2000 | 9:08 a.m.

In the age of the Internet, when news hits computer monitors across the globe sometimes even before it actually happens, there isn't much left uncovered.

So consider this one of Hollywood's last great secrets: movie refunds.

That's right. Don't like a film? Talk to the manager and get your money back, or at least accept a pass to another film.

Theater too cold, even after repeated trips to the concession stand to complain? Again, see the person in charge and ask for reparation.

Sound simple? It is.

Which makes it even more vexing that most people haven't heard of the policy. Such as John and Peggy Faulkner of Austin, Texas. Visiting Las Vegas on vacation, the couple took time to see a movie at the UA Showcase theater on the Strip.

Going to movies is a habit the couple has had for years. Nevertheless, both said they've never asked for a refund or even a pass. Even when sitting through a film they didn't like, such as last year's Best Picture Oscar winner, "American Beauty."

"I kept thinking ("American Beauty") was going to get better, but it didn't," John Faulkner said. Unaware of the policy, he and his wife watched the entire film.

Now he wishes he'd known about movie refunds sooner. "I'd have gotten up and left and got my money back."

Though the word on movie refunds hasn't hit the streets in a big way, it's nothing new, said Paul Dergarabedian, president of Exhibitor Relations Co., a box-office tracking firm in Los Angeles.

"As long as I've been going to the movies it's been my understanding during the first 15 minutes you can get a refund; after that, you can't," Dergarabedian said.

Now, he said, many theaters are not only becoming more lenient about how long they'll allow someone to sit through a film 45 minutes, or sometimes the entire movie and still offer a refund, some chains are making this policy better known.

This is due, in large part, to the increased competition in the movie-theater industry.

According to a recent article in the Los Angeles Times, five major theater chains have filed for bankruptcy protection this year. With more and more megaplexes popping up at malls and strip centers and locally, at the hotel-casinos it's only going to get more fierce.

One way to attract customers is to take a "money-back guarantee" approach, letting the theater patrons know if they're not satisfied with the film, they can get a refund of some kind, Dergarabedian said.

"I don't know if I'd make it a cornerstone of my marketing," he said, "but to have that kind of policy and to make it known, I don't think it hurts you. It shows you care about the customer and I think most exhibitors do.

"I don't know if every theater is doing it. But I think it's another way to get patrons into their theater over some other."

Spokesmen for two of the three major theater chains in Las Vegas Regal Cinemas and United Artists Theatres (calls to Century Theatres were not returned) both said neither company has a national policy when it comes to refunds, leaving it up to the managers' discretion.

But neither saw it as a problem.

"We have not really seen any increase in the patron requests regarding refunds," said Dick Westerling, senior vice president of marketing with Regal Cinemas, based in Knoxville, Tenn. "We sell 150 million tickets a year, so refunds are not looked at as an issue."

Still, Westerling acknowledged that advertising such a policy "is not good business."

If only for one reason: fraud.

For example, Eric Tima, a visiting 17-year-old from Crescenta, Calif., who was seeing a movie at UA Showcase, said he would have no problem taking advantage of the policy if it became an industry staple.

"I'd go watch the whole movie and leave five minutes before it ended," he said.

Which is what concerns the theater companies.

Dergarabedian compared this tactic to someone eating a full meal at a restaurant and then asking for their money back.

"It's hard to make that fly," he said. "I think it's a very generous offer to watch an entire movie and then get your money back."

Ultimately, Dergarabedian said, most people don't abuse the refund.

"If they did, then movie theaters would make it more of a conservative policy," he said.

But it happens and no theater is immune. Just ask Mike Copley, general manager of Paradise 6 and Cinema 8, two of Las Vegas' second-run theaters, where admittance is generally $2.

During one showing, there were some mechanical problems, so he offered three patrons a pass for another film, but only one of them took it.

Two weeks later the customer returned. And when he presented the pass, Copley saw that the man had changed the admittance from single to double, to include his wife.

"I told him I didn't take altered passes, but I would this time," Copley said.

Still not satisfied the customer then asked for a $25 refund for the drinks and snacks he and his friends had bought before the mechanical problems developed.

"He wanted free money. He said that the other people wanted their money back, too, but since they were not with him that night he was going to collect it for them," Copley said.

As he and Copley argued, the customer missed part of the film that he and his wife were there to see, and then he asked for a refund for that film as well. Copley, however, never budged. Eventually the man went in and watched the rest of the movie, Copley said, and is now a regular customer.

"I know he respected me because I didn't give in," he said.

Copley's general policy regarding refunds is similar to many theaters: Give the customer 45 minutes or roughly half the film to make up his or her mind that the movie is not what they expected.

After that time limit, he said he generally draws the line, except in the case of equipment problems, such as the film breaking or the projector bulb going out, or for some type of emergency.

One local theater manager, who asked not to be identified, said he doesn't take pity on those who stay through the whole film and then ask for a refund.

"It's too bad you tortured yourself by watching all of it," he said.

Still, he said he's willing to listen to the customers and goes on a "case-by-case" basis when it comes to offering refunds.

When a family complained that they were offended by some content in a PG-13 film, he gave them discount coupons.

"They didn't ask for money back," he said. "They just wanted me to know about it."

And in the long run, it's better to always make the customer happy, he said.

But how much responsibility does the consumer take, especially if they were simply "unhappy with" or "offended by" a film?

Dergarabedian said movie patrons are generally pretty intelligent when it comes to movie content, with the movie-rating system serving as a barometer.

"If a film is rated R and I've been offended at what's on the screen, it's like ordering a cheeseburger and getting upset that it's got a lot of calories and sending it back," he said. "You know what you're getting into."

Peggy Strasner, 51, of Las Vegas, also saw a movie at the UA Showcase. She said she couldn't imagine asking for a refund based solely on content.

"I usually read reviews and talk to people before seeing a film," Strasner said. "I do invest time and effort into a film before seeing it."

And that kind of attitude is what theater companies hope for.

"If everyone wants to go out and create some excitement and make (movie refunds) an issue, maybe that would be damaging," Westerling said. "But we clearly are focused on customer service and addressing our patrons' needs and issues."

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