Hidden in the small print
I went off to the cinema to see Tomorrowland yesterday afternoon. I know it's a Disney film and therefore would probably be fairly tame fare but I thought it sounded enjoyable anyway. Plus Hugh Laurie! I checked the time on my phone beforehand and drove down later on. I treated myself to a chai latte from Costa before getting my ticket and finding my seat. I was a bit early so I had some time to wait before it started. I sat through all the adverts and the trailers for films that I really didn't have any interest in seeing. Finally it was time for the film to start. Just before that, a message came on the screen saying that the film contained strobe lighting and to see a member of staff if you had any issues with this. Well, I did! I can't watch films with strobe in at all, it gives me severe migraines. (I can't even watch the opening credits of The Big Bang Theory because that flashes really strongly.)
So I went back into the foyer and explained to the lad on the counter what had happened. He said he would refund my ticket which was the least I expected. I said that it would have been useful to have known beforehand that the film contained strobe lighting, to which he replied that it was on the website, next to the film times. Well, I certainly hadn't seen that at all, so when I got home, I had a look.
So here's the film page on my phone.
There's the info on who's in it and how long it lasts... under content advice it just says about asking for proof of age and that the films marked Subtitled have subtitles. Nothing there about strobe lighting so let's scroll down.
Okay, here's the film times. Very definitely nothing there about strobe lighting. Let's scroll down again.
And that's the synopsis of the film. Nothing there. Wait a minute! What's that sentence tagged on after the bottom of the synopsis like an afterthought? Oh look, it would be warning about strobe lighting. Waaaaaay down at the bottom of the page. I mean seriously, look how far down it is.
That is just ridiculous. If you're looking at film times, there's no need to scroll right down to the bottom of the page. Why would you? That warning information needs to be way more prominent, right up at the top of the page. And I think there should also be some indication of it when you're at the cinema, like a sign on the counter or have the staff mention it. How hard it is to say, "Just want to make you aware that this film contains strobe lighting in case that's a problem for you." I've written a sternly worded email to Vue's customer services and included a screenshot of the laughable warning. I got a automated response that said they deal with emails in the order they arrive so obviously complaints don't get any kind of priority. Good to know.
So I went back into the foyer and explained to the lad on the counter what had happened. He said he would refund my ticket which was the least I expected. I said that it would have been useful to have known beforehand that the film contained strobe lighting, to which he replied that it was on the website, next to the film times. Well, I certainly hadn't seen that at all, so when I got home, I had a look.
So here's the film page on my phone.
There's the info on who's in it and how long it lasts... under content advice it just says about asking for proof of age and that the films marked Subtitled have subtitles. Nothing there about strobe lighting so let's scroll down.
Okay, here's the film times. Very definitely nothing there about strobe lighting. Let's scroll down again.
And that's the synopsis of the film. Nothing there. Wait a minute! What's that sentence tagged on after the bottom of the synopsis like an afterthought? Oh look, it would be warning about strobe lighting. Waaaaaay down at the bottom of the page. I mean seriously, look how far down it is.
That is just ridiculous. If you're looking at film times, there's no need to scroll right down to the bottom of the page. Why would you? That warning information needs to be way more prominent, right up at the top of the page. And I think there should also be some indication of it when you're at the cinema, like a sign on the counter or have the staff mention it. How hard it is to say, "Just want to make you aware that this film contains strobe lighting in case that's a problem for you." I've written a sternly worded email to Vue's customer services and included a screenshot of the laughable warning. I got a automated response that said they deal with emails in the order they arrive so obviously complaints don't get any kind of priority. Good to know.