More prices

Thought we’d go to the pictures recently but as it was school holidays and coming up to Christmas we thought it’d be a good idea to book in advance. So I go to the ‘myvue’ website and follow the links.

Now at the cinema itself they pay someone to take money, so you might assume that they would pay someone to take a card payment on-line (not even a credit card, just a debit card by the way). Or maybe they’ll give you a discount because they can just let the computer take the payment. Or the fatheads can wind you up by trying to charge extra for saving their time and using up yours instead. £1.80 extra to be precise!

So, having decided that I do not give companies extra money simply to save them time (and money - the tickets are expensive enough) I thought I'd phone instead. Luckily they have a telephone number on the website. I’m a bit suspicious that it might be an expensive phone number but I call anyway. I eventually get through to a real person (result!). They ask me if I’ve thought of booking on-line. I say I have but I was put off by the £1.80 charge. I give them all the details of the film and the time its on etc. and they tell me how much it’s going to cost.

It sounds a lot so I say 'that sounds a lot is that right'? They then have some news for me – it’s going to cost £2.70 extra for them to sell me 3 tickets over the phone. I rapidly end the conversation ('I'm afraid I'm going to have to put the phone down now'). I add myvue and their stupid name to my hate list.

Why is it that any businesses connected with ‘entertainment’ think they can simply add money to the bill just for selling you stuff (yes, I am thinking of the infamous 'booking fee'). You wouldn’t take a Mars bar to a shop counter and expect the shop to charge you 50p for the Mars bar and another 10p for selling it to you, so why do myvue do it? To extort more money from you for the already overpriced tickets of course. However, due to ‘free market economics’ (the system that stifles competition) myvue have a virtual monopoly on cinemas in Leeds so its not easy to just go somewhere else.

Could I also just mention their automated phone system which can’t differentiate between their two cinemas in Leeds. They obviously have some sort of voice recognition software. 'Leeds the Light' and 'Leeds Kirkstall' obviously sound the same to it.

So, I suggest avoiding 'myvue' and their stupid name if at all possible.