Regardless of whether or not you received a refund, have you ever asked for a refund from a movie theater?

When I tried to go see Blair Witch 2, which sounded like it was going to be a very hard-R, some woman brought her very young kids into the movie, I mean, they must have been under 5. I remember the little boy saying in a toddler voice, "Is this a scary movie, mommy?" I didn't feel comfortable watching that kind of movies with kids that young, so I left and asked the box office to refund my ticket. I was kind of soured on the day, so didn't feel like seeing something else. I remember I had to fill out this lengthy form, took a few minutes to do the procedure before getting the refund.

Still haven't seen that movie.

Yup!

When I saw The Revenant (2015) on release week with a friend, we were the only people in the theater, along with a pair of couples. They were clearly drunk coming in, brought in more alcohol of their own and wouldn't stop talking throughout the entire film.

Afterwards, I spoke to the manager and asked for a refund. One of the people in the group stopped to throw out racist slurs in my direction as a result

The other time, when I went to see Annabelle: Creation (2017), a blitz of under-aged kids came into the theater and wouldn't stop talking. Tons of folks in the audience shouted for them to stop to no result. When someone got an employee to come to the theater, the entire group ran out. Asked for a refund then as well.

Rather than rewrite this from memory, here's a shortened account from my viewing log of 2019 when I went to see GODZILLA, KING OF THE MONSTERS (2019) at a local multiplex.

P.S. I never did go back to that theater.

A couple of times. One time around 1997 when they were rereleasing the first Star Wars movie in the theaters. Something kept going wrong with the sound a number of times during the movie and then at another point during the major climax scene, the picture and sound cut out for about thirty seconds and they never relpayed what was missed when they got the picture and sound back up. Just about everyone in the theater was rioting/ yelling in the lobby about the issues during the movie. The managers basically got a stack of free admission passes and handed to everyone as they walked out of the theater.

Kill Bill 2

The first twenty minutes were upside down. They gave me my money back and I went back later in the day.

So it was kind of like if Beatrix was training for Cirque de Soleil?

Yes, the movie theater projector screen didn't work and they cleared the theater room informing us. The manager said we could get a refund.

We went to the box office cashier to get our refund and she said "no refunds". She said we could pick another movie to watch. Of course, that argument was quick and we eventually got our refund.

Twice, both times due to tech issues. Once was a 3-D double feature of Hard Candy and Hot Skin, but they gave out the modern polarized glasses instead of the old red/blue. (Even after getting my refund, I still had my stub, so I went home and got a pair of the correct glasses I had lying around and went back to the theater in time for the second feature. The people that stuck around were still trying to watch the movie with the polarized glasses!!)

Second time was a screening of Spirited Away (by the way, this was the same theater as my first story...talk about showing a wide range of films!). Midway through a reel had been spliced in backwards and they didn't have a savvy enough projectionist who could fix that on the fly (or at least, with just a few minutes of downtime)

No, but I thought about it when I went to see Fast X because the sound mix was fucking terrible. The dialogue was really low compared to the other stuff which was cranked up to 15, so I missed a lot of what people were saying.

Nope, never. But I've been lucky in that I don't think I've ever hated a film that much in a theater or had and experience in a theater so bad it caused me to ask for a refund.

When I saw Tar a few months ago I was suuuuuper tired and probably shouldn’t have gone. I passed out for about 45 minutes 10 minutes into the movie. I asked theatre management if it were possible that I get a voucher and come back to watch it another time. They were kind enough to oblige. When I went back to see it there were only 3 other people in the theatre. They talked through the commercials, okay, that’s fine. They talked through the previews, still fine. Then the movie started with a long credit sequence. I was annoyed but it was just music and credits so I gave them the benefit of the doubt. Then the movie full on started and they kept talking loudly as the movie played. After about 3 or 4 minutes I stood up and turned around and said “could you guys please stop talking” They stopped for about 30 seconds and then began to loudly talk and laugh to each other. At this point I was so pissed off that I picked up my large cup full of water and chucked it at them. It hit the seat right in front of them and exploded soaking all 3 of them. At that point I told them all off and left and got a refund. Not sure what they ended up doing, but I don’t regret doing it. Fuck them. Went a third time and it was a great experience. Loved it.

Never. Never had some of these situations happen. Luckily.

For a screening of Finding Nemo, the surround sound was not working. I think I notified employees about it twice, but it was never fixed. I guess I should've asked management at the theatre for a refund then, but instead, I wrote a letter to corporate about it later. They sent an apology letter with two complimentary passes.

For a screening of I, Tonya, there was a surround speaker that was blown or something and slightly hissing or buzzing throughout the show. I really wanted to see the movie at that time, and not have to try to take in a later screen, so I endured it and it wasn't too distracting most of the time, only during quiet passages. I did inform the manager after the screening, just as a kind of FYI, but she was nice enough to give me a voucher.

Most recently, for The Little Mermaid, the projection picture was really dim throughout the previews. I started to get worried, and when it didn't improve by the time the final in-house ads started, I told an employee. Someone else complained also, and a few minutes into the movie, the house lights came up and they announced they were scrapping the showing due to the projector lamp needing to be replaced. They said we could get a refund or go to transfer to another screen. I think most of us moved to the IMAX screen which was starting up in about 15 minutes.

Fortunately, I've never had a screening where there were people that were so obnoxious that I felt the need to ask for a refund. These days, I tend to choose showings that have few people in attendance.

I’ve never ASKED for one but I’ve had theater management give me a refund twice.

Once was when I went to see one of those Fathom Events showing Back to the Future. The flash drive (or whatever they use for those things) was corrupted and they couldn’t get the movie to play. It was one night only so they gave us passes for any movie. We ended up seeing The Town.

The second time, someone actually died in our theater about 20 minutes into Rogue One. They gave us passes for a free movie. I ended up going to a different theater the next night and never did use our free passes.


I’ve had some somewhat shitty experiences at theaters over the years but none were so bad that I stormed out of the theater to ask for a refund.

I've gotten a return voucher a few times after a few projector malfunctions and a city blackout that shut down power. But, I've never had a bad enough experience to ask for a refund.

This reminded me of another time where I went to see One Piece: Stampede (2019).

Although the screening was listed as being in Japanese, Funimation sent the theater only the dubbed version of the film. Theater management offered everyone free passes and the opportunity to stay and enjoy the film anyway.

It's been a long time, but yes.

1.The Mummy Returns had a small crowd and a couple who would not stop talking. We asked for our money back. They said you should've come and got us. I said I've worked at the Movies, you're supposed to check the theaters. Given that they never shut up, you clearly didn't check it. We got passes.

2. When I was little we saw Cocoon as a family. When Jaco spies on Kitty changing on the boat and discovers she's an alien, that reel was upside-down. They turned it off and gave us all passes.

1. When I went with my parents and siblings to Unbreakable, a row of teens ahead of us wouldn't stop talking. I leaned forward and said, "Hey, cool it." They stopped. My parents and siblings were mortified that I said anything, gave me crap for it. On the way out of the lobby, three couples stopped to thank me in front of my family. The feeling of satisfaction is better than any passes.

As for that Cocoon scene, I was a little kid and terrified by the upside-down alien reveal. Imagine watching this, youre under 7, you're disoriented and confused, this happens, and just as they lean into the crack, it cuts to black. It still gives me the shivers!

Projector went out during Avatar and we were given free tickets.

The projector went out roughly 20 seconds before the credits roll.

In college my girlfriend wanted to see Benji (me, not so much) so we go. The theater is packed (I think it was opening weekend), there are not two seats together and ushers wouldn't have people slide over to make two seats together. We left, got a refund (it was a two screen theater and I have no idea what the other screen was showing - just that neither of us wanted to see it), never saw Benji (Yay!).

The only other time I should have asked for a refund but didn't was when my son and I went to see U-571. The only seats available were on the front row (in a small stadium seating theater) about 10' away from the screen (with the lower edge several feet higher than our heads when seated). We discussed the seating and position of the screen and decided to stay anyway. We had to really crane our heads up just to see the screen. I left with a sore neck from the experience. The next time I was in that particular room they'd removed the first couple of rows of seats. I'm guessing they got lots of complaints.

I dont think I have ever ask for a refund. But, I am devastated and pissed off if the concession stand doesn't have any hotdogs. Like I wont even buy anything and my movie experience is ruin for that night. lol

The first Thor movie. Not because I disliked it, but my pregnant wife called with a lunch craving. Since the movie was only about 10 minutes in, I asked the manager if I could get a refund, and came back to see it a few days later.

Went with my friends to take their son to a matinee of X-Men: Apocalypse. Something went wrong with the projector after about 15 minutes, and the couldn't show the movie.
They told everyone (not much of a crowd on a weekday afternoon) that they could just go see another movie or have free passes for the future.
We decided to take the passes, but the problem was we had bought about $20 worth of popcorn and drinks. I demanded the money back for that.

They said they didn't refund for food because we could just take it with us and eat it. I argued with the manager that the only reason anyone buys a $4 Coke or a $6 tub of popcorn in the theater is to eat it while watching the movie. I told him that the food was no good to us outside the the theater, and since it was their fault we had to leave, they had to give us the money for the food.

So did they refund your concessions? Or did the manager tell you to kick rocks? I hope the former.