Dendy Cinema Reserved Seating

I used to work at a Hoyts in a previous life, my guess is the reason why they are doing this is to cut down on queueing. Having crowds of people hanging around was the most difficult aspect of being the ticket ripper. Luckily at my Hoyts, the building was designed in such a way that you had nice long natural queue areas. From my experience at Dendy, the place is NOT built to handle a crowd and the staff are too mincy and scared to properly handle it. The queuing is horrific (with the movie, box office, and candy bar queue’s colliding).

Personally I don’t really care about the allocated seating. It hasn’t particularly improved or ruined my experience when I’ve gone to Dendy. They’ve got signs upon signs upon signs explaining it but from my experience, you could slap someone in the face with a sign and they still would go ‘what? allocated seating?’.

I went to Cinema 1 one time and they had a staff in there telling people where to sit, but I haven’t seen that in the last couple of times I’ve gone.

Most likely, it will take a while for people to get used to it. I only noticed because I used to work at a cinema and as such happen to look at all the signs (due to a deep seated hatred of moron customers I don’t want to be one myself). It will either take on or it won’t. That’s probably up to the effort of the staff and keenness of Management (if it’s an idea from HQ that nobody at the cinema likes, it will be actively sabotaged/neglected. That’s what we did).

Incidentally, if you have aproblem like somebody sitting in your seat, go get the staff member. If you ask them to move people, they will. If they don’t, complain. You’ll prob get a refund or free tickets because they didn’t uphold their own policy.

People always used to complain to me about something after a movie finished. Not much I can do then guys.

Ultimately, as long as Hoyts and GU DON’T do it, people can go to which ever cinema suits them. I personally don’t care.

Woody Mann-Caruso said :

– Book and suck it up. Lining up is for old women wanting bread in former Soviet republics. God knows you go on like one.

brilliant!

Granny said :

We go to Dendy every second week and dislike the allocated seating. We probably will go to Hoyts if people start to enforce it.

If it’s a regular thing, why not just book online and get the seats you want? Then you can grab some vino at the bar, take your time of it and enjoy the seats you so conveniently booked on the web…

I mean c’mon Granny, you’re online. Work that internet connection to it’s full potential.

We go to Dendy every second week and dislike the allocated seating. We probably will go to Hoyts if people start to enforce it.

hk0reduck said :

As for AngryHenry, I am pretty certain I am right about their target market. The Premium Lounge reminds me of the second half of Wall-E.

I also promise to try and get over myself if you try and not take things so personally said by a random guy on the internet hiding behind his internet persona 🙂

I didn’t see any ‘fat public servants’ at the sold out session of Transformers the other week or when I saw Terminator Salvation for that matter. I did see a few nerds and geeks though, along with a smattering of bogans.

I don’t take anything personally in this forum, I just can’t stomach unfounded arrogance.

Thank you for your response Woody, I am glad I am able to give you something to be passionate about 🙂

No, not everyone who uses the system is bastard but the person in this case definitely was.

I’m pretty sure restaurants have always worked in the same way so I go just fine. To me it was kind of like going to a cinema expecting a ‘take-away’ experience and unknowingly stepping into a restaurant where the people get pissed off at you for not knowing about it.

Anyway like I said, “I figure that despite my dislikes I’m just going to have to accept it :)” so the majority of your post while entertaining isn’t really applicable.

I maintain that it is still over-formalization of what should be a casual experience and your opinion differs to that. That’s fine 🙂

As for AngryHenry, I am pretty certain I am right about their target market. The Premium Lounge reminds me of the second half of Wall-E.

I also promise to try and get over myself if you try and not take things so personally said by a random guy on the internet hiding behind his internet persona 🙂

Sorry – you are a bit behind the times. Allocated seating rocks.

If you don’t like that system then there’s always Hoyts and Greater Union.

Most of the cinemas in Sydney and Melbourne are now reserved seating. I don’t rate it…so many times they put me in crap seat and when the movies start the good seats have no one in them or they put us near people when we would like to sit away from them.

vg said :

….or maybe you should read your ticket

Who reads their tickets at the movies? Honestly?

Should be first in, best dressed in my opinion, always, that’s the tradition. It makes the wait more worth it.

MsCheeky said :

Go the reserved seating. I went with a group of five recently, and people were in all our seats. Three moved, but one couple just refused to, so our group ended up split up. Messed with our catering arrangements, which was annoying, especially for the two from our group who had to go hungry.

Work it to your advantage, bubba, now you know.

Something similar happened to me once. I sat down next to the couple (next to the chick) and let out a big, loud, squelchy fart. Then giggled.

They moved.

– Get PayPal.

Uhh, no. PayPal is a scam.

Allocated seating at Dendy is great, though.

I don’t go to Dendy as often as I’d like to, but I have been a few times in the last month, and I first noticed a sign near the box office about a month ago saying that it would be introduced after such-and-such a date, so they were giving some warning.

I also imagine that after a couple of days of verbally telling customers that seating was reserved, staff probably got jack of it and stopped. It’s less than perfect service, but I wouldn’t call it bad service.

It still is first in, best dressed; it’s just not first into the cinema, but rather it’s first to book. Which is good because that way you don’t have to sit through the ads to get the best seat!

I am all for reserved seating

now we just need a way to find out where the hot chicks will be seated before we book!

🙂

What good is reserved seating if they they dont tell you its available.. Bubba got into the seat after buying the ticket and was unaware! They should have asked where he’d like to sit when he got the ticket!

I went to Dendy last night and there were big posters on the doors (cinema 1 – wasn’t full) stating it was allocated seating (with a map) and how to read your ticket. The interesintg thing was that it seems that the Dendy computers start allocating seating starting from the back row for those who buy their tickets at the box office. We booked ours online and chose somewhere up front and we were nearly the only people in the front half of the cinema. The rest of the viewers were cramed into the 10-15 rows at the back.

Haha Woody, awesome post. This is what brings me back to the RiotACT time and again.

+1

hk0reduck said :

I can see why they do it as it probably does appeal to their target market, you know, Old fat public servants who think they are too good to stand for more then 20 minutes in a line. Being about 5 years away from fitting in that demographic I figure that despite my dislikes I’m just going to have to accept it 🙂

Until that time I plan on booking group seats as follows (the red seats) http://img11.imageshack.us/img11/6392/whywecanthavenicethings.jpg because there’s nothing to stop me.

And don’t get me started on there only being 1 Cup Holder per two seats!

Get over yourself!

As far as I knew their target audience was people who appreciated the cinema experience and a more diverse range of films from time to time in between the odd blockbuster. I think that spans quite a few demographics.

People like you don’t deserve the advice guys like Woody have to offer. You deserve to be uncomfortable, whining and angry.

Go the reserved seating. I went with a group of five recently, and people were in all our seats. Three moved, but one couple just refused to, so our group ended up split up. Messed with our catering arrangements, which was annoying, especially for the two from our group who had to go hungry.

Work it to your advantage, bubba, now you know.

Wow. People who know how the system works are ‘bastards’. Putting in some effort to do stuff with friends is ‘annoying’. I reserve the right to have not just one seat, but three, and I expect people to develop special psychic powers so they don’t book one of those three seats. People smart enough to use the system are ‘old fat public servants’. Christ, how do you go in restaurants? “I want that table because I was here first! No, I don’t need a booking – I camped outside the door for an hour before you opened! Those people are sitting at the table next to mine – make them move! We want split bills for everybody because I can’t handle cash!”

Here’s a clue by four, you whiner:

– Book and suck it up. Lining up is for old women wanting bread in former Soviet republics. God knows you go on like one.

– Get an internet-capable mobile device. Or just use the Internet kiosk at the bottom of the escalator. That way you don’t need to buy the paper and can still book your seat an hour in advance. Or, you could just do what you’ve always done – rock up at the last minute and take your f.cking chances. Just try taking them like a man from now on.

– Get PayPal. That way ‘all your friends’ (the switch from ‘I’ to ‘it’s’ and ‘your’ makes me think you’ve never actually had this problem) just transfer money straight to your account. Or have one of your other ‘friends’ do it – maybe they won’t break down in tears.

– Don’t like sitting next to people? Don’t go to the cinema, or go Premium, or buy three seats. Easy!

IT’S NOT WHAT I AM USED TO! I DON’T LIKE CHANGE! CHANGE IT BACK TO WHAT I PERSONALLY PREFER!

I dislike it because when I went to the cinema last week they neglected to tell me that reserved seating was in place so I felt like scum when I walked into the cinema, found a nice seat, got all comfortable-like and then was told “HEY YOU’RE IN MY SEAT” by some bastard who walked in late.

I also dislike it because I think it removes the spontaneous nature of going to the cinema, now if I potentially want to get a good seat I have to plan to go to a movie a day ahead or so instead of just picking up a newspaper and finding a session that begins within the next hour.

Also, it’s annoying having to be the ‘money-collector’ from all your friends if you want to see a movie together in a reasonably sized group.

Also, I don’t really like sitting next to somebody I don’t know in a cinema and would rather leave a ‘courtesy gap’ of a single seat between groups of people and I’d hate it if someone booked after me and chose the seats right next to me.

That said, I can see why they do it as it probably does appeal to their target market, you know, Old fat public servants who think they are too good to stand for more then 20 minutes in a line. Being about 5 years away from fitting in that demographic I figure that despite my dislikes I’m just going to have to accept it 🙂

Until that time I plan on booking group seats as follows (the red seats) http://img11.imageshack.us/img11/6392/whywecanthavenicethings.jpg because there’s nothing to stop me.

And don’t get me started on there only being 1 Cup Holder per two seats!

Ok – well it’s nice to have it confirmed – I am officially an “old fart” but I can report to you that my prostate still let’s me sit comfortably in my (allocated) movie seat.

Cheers to all.

Ahhhh. Allocated seating for the civilized patrons. So refreshing to have this in Canberra after getting a taste for in in Melbourne.

oh, and Bubba, you are an old fart, but I would have thought that the older cliente would have understood and enjoyed reserved seating?

In addition to “swollen prostate”, i guess I will now add “annoyed by reserved seating” to my list of things to look forward to when getting old.

big fan of it personally. the online booking system is excellent and allows you to choose where you want to sit. while buying tickets you can also choose if it’s not overly booked. i think after a short period of the kind of confusion you described, it’ll make dendy much better, especially for the bigger showings.

I have come across allocated seating at other cinemas in the past, but normally only for movies where they were or expected to be fully booked to make sure that all seats were taken.

I would say this was a good move by Dendy, I went to see a movie there a month or two ago on a Saturday night, the session was pretty full and it was absolutely rediculous when all the selfish people can’t be bothered moving over a seat or two to allow empty seats to be together. There were couples and groups who had to sit on opposite sides of the cinema because there were rows with 2-3 empty seats at random intervals.

Though empty sessions should be and normally end up being sit wherever.

Having worked in cinemas with both systems it’s worth noting that the main virtue of allocated seating is reduced tunnel block.

Anything that cuts down on the misery of people queuing just for a chance at a decent seat is worth doing.

But, it takes more staff to do well. Don’t know if they’re investing in that. The booking fees can make it worthwhile as long as they don’t get greedy.

Allocated seating at Dendy has been the norm for Cinema 1 for a couple of months and they’ve now introduced it to all of their cinemas.

Generally I’ve found the staff are pretty good at telling you it’s now allocated seating in all cinemas and there are lots of signs around about it as well.

Generally I think it’s a good idea, however it does suck a bit for the last minute decision “let’s see this now” crowd.

Two reasons i can think of for this:

to collect more online booking fees.
to stop teenage rascals paying for one movie and seeing more.

in premium, the ushers take you in. premium rocks!

i went to ‘normal’ dendy and they didnt have allocated seating when i saw the hangover, and it was packed. is it a new thing?

Dendy has recently introduced this for most of their sessions; it is a great idea really, as long as you know beforehand. I think they needed to number the seats because the sessions are so popular.

it’s always been “first in, best dressed”

It still is – first in to book your ticket, best seat. Same as for concerts, the circus, sporting events…

I can imagine the conversation, though:

“Excuse me – you’re in our seats.”
*you actually bother to look at your tickets for first time*
“But…but…these are for specific seats in a part of the cinema that isn’t my favourite!”
“DILLIGAF?”

Allocated seating has been the norm for years in Melbourne (not that I’ve gone to many cinemas there, but the ones I went to had it).

There, even over the counter purchases involve a degree of choice about the location of seats. Of course, the earlier you buy the better the choices!

For some sessions even the normal cinemas have reserved seating, and it is fantastic.

Thing is , and this is where your gripe should be as opposed to not reading your ticket, is that you can only pick where in the cinema you sit if you book online. Line up you take the tickets where the puter puts you.

I think it would be more efficient if the seating numbers were in any way illuminated (in the manner of theatre seating.) As it was, we couldn’t find our seats, but luckily found several empty seats in the “sold out” session (not the ones we’d booked, I’d note.)

sounds like you were in premium, and if so then one of the great things about premium is choosing a seat(s) and actually getting it.

I think it’s fine so long as you know.

Allocated seating rocks. It helps avoid waiting in a massive line for 30 minutes to get a good seat. As for getting good seats all you have to do is book early. Online booking or grabbing your tickets a day early solves the problem.

I thought it was a very organised way to do things. Now all we need is more premium lounges. I don’t mind paying double to ensure my movie isn’t interrupted by annoying gits. Comfey chairs also sweeten the deal.

….or maybe you should read your ticket