Moviegoer sues theatre over high price of concession snacks
A disgruntled movie lover is standing up for cinema-goers everywhere by filing a class action in an attempt to reduce snack costs in theatres.
Michigan resident Joshua Thompson, who admits he used to take his own snacks with him until the practice was banned a couple of years ago, has simply had enough.
His beef is that he paid $8 for a drink and a bag of chocolate-covered peanuts at the concession stand, nearly three times the amount of a local store. So he sued.
Thompson's lawyer told the Detroit Free Press: "He got tired of being taken advantage of. It's hard to justify prices that are three and four times higher than anywhere else."
The suit, which seems a tad frivoulous, is looking for refunds for customers who were overcharged and a civil penalty against the AMC chain.
Good luck with that. Theatres are really restaurants that happens to show movies. Particularly now with ticket sales down, theatre owners rely on concesssions to drive profits with snacks accounting for as much as 80% of the total take, according to some estimates.
But, judging from the sounds of pop cans opening as the lights dim, lots of people are fighting back in their own way -- including this bunch who like to sneak in Chinese food. Or those that like chalupas.
Are snack prices too high in Canadian theatres? Do you bring in your own food? Is there a limit?
By Gordon Powers, MSN Money
Posted by: Al-man | Mar 12, 2022 3:03:02 PM
Quite simple. Don't go to the theater. Get everyone else to boycott it and eventually they drop the price or go under. But suing seems more easy and you can make a buck at the same time. Terrible way to handle it.
Posted by: Dr. Steed | Mar 12, 2022 8:06:59 PM
Did any employee at the theatre force this idtiot to purchase the overpriced junk food? It was his choice to spend the money, so too bad sucker. I hope this jerk loses and has to pay the theatre's legal fees. He should also be fined for stupidity. Simple rule: if you don't like the price, don't buy it.
Posted by: New Grad | Mar 13, 2022 10:38:15 AM
If movies were cheaper I would definitely go more often. The price of a night for two plus drinks and popcorn is about $45. And now that everything is in 3D you get charged and extra $3-5 for stupid glasses you don't get to keep and reuse at the next 3D movie you see. Is suing the answer? Probably not. Is boycotting possible to change anything? Definitely not. Even if I don't go to the movies everyone else will. I remember as a kid I kid I would go to the movies with a $5 bill. It got me entrance and I had a quarter left over for a gumball. That was less than 10 years ago.
Posted by: Daniel | Mar 14, 2022 2:52:42 PM
I hope he wins to send a message to the cinema companies (although I doubt he will). It is price gouging. Getting a drink and popcorn is part of the experience. I rarely buy any concessions because I cannot justify the insanity of the prices. Even with the Scene discount. I don't mind the ticket prices, but I do mind the concession prices. I will go to the cinema and skip the food or bring my own. If they lowered their prices they would have many more customers and thus increase intake (even a 20-30% drop would be a huge difference). The profit margins on a drink/popcorn are unbelievable (it costs about $0.05 to fill a fountain pop drink). Popcorn seeds are cheap.
Posted by: Shrek | Mar 15, 2022 2:00:33 AM
Don't like the food prices... then eat BEFORE you go to the movie or wait for the movie to come out on DVD or even better, you can illegally download it or wait to pay for it on Netflix. Wonder how many parents would willingly open up their living room or basement once a week to 10-15+ kids screaming for 3 hours, spilling popcorn, nachos, pizza slices, drinks and god knows what else all over their rugs, not to mention pissing all over and messing up their washroom, etc. Large multi-threatre complexes aren't your mom n' pop movie houses like the old days... most of which were on main streets and maybe required a maximum of 5-6 people to work on any given night. Anyone know the cost of a snow removal contract for a huge facility parking area ? How about the price of electricity to keep ALL the lights on from Mon-Wed when there's hardly 20 customers in the whole complex. Or mounting insurance costs, property taxes, maintenance etc. Plus the wages for those who work there, security, ushers, ticket attendants, concession stand kids and the maintenance people who have to clean up after the entitled new-generation tween and teen piggies do their thing. Can't afford it... stay home !!
Posted by: Jonathon | Mar 15, 2022 2:57:34 PM
What an idiot. Why would anyone go to see a movie on a big screen, when they can watch it on their iPhone or iPad or iWTF? Then they can watch their movies while driving :-) Seriously now, if you don't like the price, don't buy it. Movie going is not a necessity.Theatre's charge outrageous prices becasue they can, and eniough people will pay so they are profitable. If that profit margin deteriorates, then they can choose to lower prices or go out of business. Free enterprise.