I was just reading nextdoor. In a new post, someone says he was at the movies and a father and little boy were at the lobby ATM machine which wasn’t working. The father told the little boy that he was sorry but they couldn’t see the movies today. The poster felt sorry for them so he gave them money for movies, and was proud of his kind act. Many people responded congratulating him.
I’ve never seen Paper Moon, but this sure sounded grifty to me. Is this a well-known game? I have seen Zootopia and it reminded me of the popsicle scam that the foxes pulled.
It might’ve been a grift. Odd to go to the movie house then say oh well atm is out of cash so no movie today, rather than then just use same card to buy a ticket.
And IME anyone can enter and roam the lobby you just have to show tix to get to down the passage to the screening rooms.
You can’t know for sure. Maybe he had a cashpoint only, (not debit) card and couldn’t use it outside an ATM, (not ATM machine). Maybe it was a scam. Both options are plausible.
Every theater I’ve seen in my life, you paid to get into the entire building. The lobby is where the snack bar(and various food/drink vendors, if present), and entrance to the various actual theaters are located.
Oh OK, multiplexes here in the UK don’t work like that. Every cinema I’ve ever been to, you buy the tickets inside, (or online prior and pick them up inside.)
It may depend on the specific theater layout, which in turn may depend on the age and location of the theater and other factors. My experience in recent decades has usually been with multiplexes. In these sorts of theaters, it makes no sense to require tickets to get into the lobby because some of the screening rooms have different prices than others and some may require reservations and have reserved seating, so tickets are always checked at the door to each individual screening room. The lobby contains the concession stands and also ticket machines where you can either buy tickets or print tickets from a QR code or bar code containing your reservation info. I suppose lobbies could also have ATMs but I don’t recall seeing any, not that I would necessarily have noticed.
My local multiplex has a foyer where you can buy tickets, either from humans or from machines, and you walk through that and past a ticket-taker to get to the lobby where they sell food. There might be an ATM in the foyer. My local IMAX theater has everything outside the ticket-taker except for the theater itself.
We have a few here in SE Michigan that take your tickets just before the actual room where it is shown. They also have reserved seating. You can go right in and buy popcorn and a beer and not even see a movie.
I have been to some shows where they don’t even check your ticket. With reserved seating they can scan the audience for people in unsold seats, and anyone in a reserved seat would be confronted by a legit ticket holder.
Central Valley, California. Snow isn’t a thing. It’s been many a year since I’ve been to a movie but there were seldom any lines at all.
This is the most local to me. Ticket windows on the left above the checkerboard.
You walk in and there you are in the giant lobby at Celebration Cinema. One can buy snacks wander the lobby play video games But usually need to present a ticket before entering the hall of doors where movies are shown.
Maybe the OP meant atrium and not lobby. Anyways, if the ATM weren’t working, why not go to the human ticket seller and use your debit card? I’m thinking grift.
Could have been a grift. I think most likely so but I’ve run across too many people running short cons like that. Weren’t there other ATMs in the area? Don’t theaters usually take debit cards?
Multiplexes in the US don’t work normally that way either. Since I am an A-List member I always go to AMC and I don’t know of a single AMC in NY that takes tickets at an outdoor window. They all have inner lobbies. (Independent theaters, sure, they may check before entering the building.)
Sure sounds like a scam to me. What theater takes cash only?
My first visit to Sint Maarten I parked in Simpson Bay and a local guy approached us. He pointed to the ATM across the road, which had a flashing strobe light to attract attention. He told me the flashing light meant out-of-order, and he asked if I could spare a dollar.
I realized what was up, but wanted to help the guy. I got out my wallet but only had twenties. Oh well, I handed him a twenty and wished him a good evening. He argued that it was too much, I responded that I was a visitor to his home and felt good about helping him out.
He was our guardian angel the rest of the two weeks we were there. Any time we stopped in his area, he’d stop traffic for our car to pull out. He’d chat with us and suggest places to visit. On our final day that year we invited him to dine with us at Little Jerusalem, a Middle East restaurant that has great food. The proprietor discreetly warned us that our guest was a beggar. I told him we knew, but that he was a good person.
When we left the restaurant, the owner brought out a bag of food for the guy.
Every year after that we’d share a meal with him, often at Little Jerusalem. A few years ago we didn’t see him anywhere. When we stopped at Little Jerusalem the owner told us he’d died. He joined us for a few drinks. We toasted the guy. My gf cried. Now, years later, we still remember him.
Agreed that it sounds scammy. I’d almost be more inclined to believe it if the ATM wasn’t broken – maybe he just checked and had an unexpectedly low bank balance. But, as presented, it sounds like “Can’t buy tickets without cash” which isn’t a thing these days.
Also, all of my local theaters don’t bother stopping you until you try to pass into the movie viewing sections. You could walk in, read some posters, play some arcade games and eat an overpriced and bad lunch if you really wanted to.
Sounds like a scam. Even the premise of a faulty ATM transaction preventing a parent from taking a sweet child to a movie is suspicious. Many ways around that.
That the victim of the scam was in hearing distance of this unfortunate event is also suspect. If this happened to me I’d maybe quietly mention to my lovely child that daddy can’t take her into the movie today. I wouldn’t be talking so loud that strangers around me could hear.
It reminds me of a scam attempted on me a number of times. My job duties included sitting in shopping center parking lots for no apparent reason. Sometimes eating lunch. At least 10 times I had the stereo speaker scan attempted on me.
I am sitting in my car with the windows rolled down. A van parks near me. Two nice gentleman begin loudly discussing what they, as high end stereo installers, should do with the extra pair of very expensive German speakers the factory accidentally gave them for free. They wonder if that guy over there might want to buy them. He looks nice. Yada Yada Yada….they try to sell me $2000 speakers for $200. Of course they are piece of shit speakers.
Second point. Some theaters sell tickets outside. Some theaters sell tickets inside. What’s with the big debate about it?
