Mandatory bag search at cinema

daheff

Hi

I was at the cinema at Liffey Valley over the weekend. I noticed a sign there which said something to the effects of :

"There is a mandatory bag search in operation in this cinema."

Now as far as I'm aware there is absolutley no reason why they can demand to search your bags.

I can understand that they may be trying to stop people pirating films etc ...but i dont think that gives them any right to search you belongings.

Does anybody know of their reasonings? Or of anybody that was searched?

they also gave a website to look at if you had any questions..but this has nothing about bag searches (as far as I can see)

jim o doom

AFAIK the Gardai are the only ones legally allowed to search bags & that has to be done with your permission. Otherwise they have to bring you to the garda station to do it. Pretty sure the cinema can't force anyone to do so..


I'd give consumer affairs a buzz & make a complaint..

Ludo

They have no "right" to search your bag, but I would assume they can simply refuse admission and offer you a refund if you do not grant permission to do so.

Paulw

Ludo wrote: »

They have no "right" to search your bag, but I would assume they can simply refuse admission and offer you a refund if you do not grant permission to do so.

Exactly. That would be my understanding too.

ziedth

IMO, I'd say its more todo with bringing in your own sweets ETC then actually Pirating A film. Still I wouldn't leave them do it.

ejmaztec

Yep, definitely video cameras and popcorn.

Tristram

The cinema at Liffey Valley must be on the terror watch list... :pac:

ergonomics

Did they actually search your bag or was there simply a sign up saying searches were in place? If they didn't search you I'd be inclined to say the sign was just there to scare people more than anything.

daheff

ergonomics wrote: »

Did they actually search your bag or was there simply a sign up saying searches were in place? If they didn't search you I'd be inclined to say the sign was just there to scare people more than anything.

there was a sign there.

AFAIK there is nothing in the terms & conditions of your purchase to say that you have to consent to a bag search if they decide just so you can see the film...it'd be interesting to see them try to defend the policy

penexpers

daheff wrote: »

there was a sign there.

AFAIK there is nothing in the terms & conditions of your purchase to say that you have to consent to a bag search if they decide just so you can see the film...it'd be interesting to see them try to defend the policy

Section 18 of the Guest Admission Policy

18. Vue reserves the right to search guests and their possessions whilst on the premises.

http://www.vue.ie/cinemas/terms_and_conditions.asp

Paulw

penexpers wrote: »

Section 18 of the Guest Admission Policy

18. Vue reserves the right to search guests and their possessions whilst on the premises.

They can't reserve a right that they don't have.

They have the right to request permission to search your bag, but they legally don't have the right to search you.

mikemac

I've seen this policy in another cinema, not Liffey Valley.
If you refuse a search, they ask that you leave the bag with them, they'll lock it into a room somewhere and you go watch your film

Don't forget the "management are not responsible for lost property" sign :rolleyes:

If you refuse this, they give you a refund and ask you to leave.
There are ushers in each screen so it difficult to get away with a camera, it's just a rigid enforcement to drive up sweet and drink sales

tomred1

That sign been up for a while in Liffey Valley, I have never seened it enforced.

bcirl03

I've seen the sign however I have stopped going to Vue in Liffey Valley.

Gone terrible over the last few years, dirty, unhelpful staff, under staffed - you name it. Not to mention when you come out of the cinema for a meal all the restaurants are closed EARLY!

yoshytoshy

are you not suppose to bring in your own refreshments ?

concussion

I was under the impression that there's nothing to stop you bringing your own in. I know they want you to buy from them as that's where the main profits come from but can they legally stop you bringing in your own sweets and drinks?

swiss

I'm kind of with the cinema on this one. While I agree that mandatory searching is beyond the pale and legally unenforceable, bringing in your own refreshments is, in my view, akin to bringing in your own drink to a pub. I usually watch the film without resorting to the popcorn and coke.

rubadub

concussion wrote: »

can they legally stop you bringing in your own sweets and drinks?

It is not really a legal issue, they simply refuse to let you into THEIR cinema, like a pub would refuse you smuggling in drink or food.

I have got my bag searched and had drink in it, they stored it away and let me in, after I got it back no problem and a few others had bags too.

With the food thing one exuse they give is that it is against health & safety or something, and that the food smells, (while their own popcorn & hotdogs stink!).

Depends on the cinema location on how likely you are to be caught, in dun laoghaire the newsagents next door did a roaring trade, in dundrum we often smuggle in KFC & mc donalds.

A naggin is easy to stash in and you can get a giant coke to stick it in, good for early on, pay €10 in and watch the film and get a few scoops in, then hit the pub after, if you were in the pub for those 90mins it would have cost a lot more.

T-Square

swiss wrote: »

I'm kind of with the cinema on this one. While I agree that mandatory searching is beyond the pale and legally unenforceable, bringing in your own refreshments is, in my view, akin to bringing in your own drink to a pub. I usually watch the film without resorting to the popcorn and coke.

With all due respect moderator, you are incorrect, in my view.

You go to a pub for drink
so you cannot bring drink
You go to a cinema to view a movie
so you cannot bring a camera

If the cinema did not charge 500% over the odds for simple items,
people wouldn't even have this discussion.

What happens when people want a specific sweet to eat while watching a movie they just paid 20 euro for? for a couple.
I'm partial to candied kitten paws, Vue don't sell them (over the counter )
so am I to go without?
I don't like the muck they call "Coke"
I like "the real thing"
why should I pay a fiver for their Coke dish water at 500% more than a shop, that is already charging a margin over wholesale prices,
when I can have a cold, fizzy, 500ml for a *fraction* of the price.

I don't care if they "make their money" from sweets (and boy oh boy do they "make money" on their sweets.)

Cinema's make money from tickets at 10 euro each.

Fock them

TheDriver

mahon in cork has sign saying only stuff bought there can be ate there etc, and I agree with last poster, you pay them enough to watch film and gain admission, not force you to buy their stuff too.
They charge 8.40 for a coke and popcorn, thats dinner price

yoshytoshy

i sometimes bring in oranges with me ,a few manderins like. Maybe a bottle of water aswell.

If I'm in the humour of junk ,i'll buy the sugar and salt they sell:)

JohnC.

T-Square wrote: »

Cinema's make money from tickets at 10 euro each.

Fock them

They actually make bugger all on the price of the ticket. Almost all of it goes to the distributer and studio. Even after paying the high cost of the film itself. I did see figures before, but I can't recall them now. This is the reason they charge so much for refreshments. They just don't make money on tickets.

yoshytoshy

Kahless wrote: »

They actually make bugger all on the price of the ticket. Almost all of it goes to the distributer and studio. Even after paying the high cost of the film itself. I did see figures before, but I can't recall them now. This is the reason they charge so much for refreshments. They just don't make money on tickets.

If it's too expensive for someone to go to the cinema ,is it better to have empty seats then ?

Paulw

Kahless wrote: »

They actually make bugger all on the price of the ticket. Almost all of it goes to the distributer and studio.

I thought I saw an article about 2 years ago, about how the price of films had gone down greatly, due to them being digital now and not actual film. The distribution costs had greatly decreased. See article from the Arts Council on digital distribution/film.

And then a few months later, Irish prices started to increase again.

I'd love to see the actual figures.

I wonder how cinema prices are so much cheaper in the US, and yet they have much lower attendance figures. With the films being digital, it certainly isn't due to the cost of the film itself.

seamus

Paulw wrote: »

I thought I saw an article about 2 years ago, about how the price of films had gone down greatly, due to them being digital now and not actual film. The distribution costs had greatly decreased. See article from the Arts Council on digital distribution/film.

According to that article, one private company were "aiming" to upgrade almost every screen in Ireland to digital in 2008. This would involve convincing places to upgrade their existing equipment. In a recession year, that would be no mean feat.

Since the first digital-only cinema in Ireland only opened in July, I imagine this company are a good deal behind their planned target of "most screens" in 2008. Certainly I can personally attest that three of the biggest cinemas in Dublin - Vue Liffey Valley, Dundrum and UGC, are still using 35mm, though they may have one or two digital projectors, I couldn't be sure.

krudler

I used to work at a cinema and the no outside food thing is a joke, a bag of popcorn gets something like 200 boxes to sell for them but it only cost (at the time, this was years back) 30 quid a bag, bout the size of a kg of spuds, 200 boxes of popcorn from one bag at about 4.00 a box is a massive profit, so fook em, they also admitted they have no legal right to stop people bringing in their own food

JohnC.

Paulw wrote: »

I thought I saw an article about 2 years ago, about how the price of films had gone down greatly, due to them being digital now and not actual film. The distribution costs had greatly decreased. See article from the Arts Council on digital distribution/film.

And then a few months later, Irish prices started to increase again.

I'd love to see the actual figures.

I wonder how cinema prices are so much cheaper in the US, and yet they have much lower attendance figures. With the films being digital, it certainly isn't due to the cost of the film itself.

Most cinemas are not digital and many which do have digital may only have one digital screen room with the rest still being film. That Arts Council PDF is about possibilities, not the actual situation as it stands now in this country.

bardcom

mikemac wrote: »

I've seen this policy in another cinema, not Liffey Valley.
If you refuse a search, they ask that you leave the bag with them, they'll lock it into a room somewhere and you go watch your film

Don't forget the "management are not responsible for lost property" sign :rolleyes:

If you refuse this, they give you a refund and ask you to leave.
There are ushers in each screen so it difficult to get away with a camera, it's just a rigid enforcement to drive up sweet and drink sales

Except in this case, they have taken it and are now responsible for it. So they would be responsible if it got "lost". Might be different if something went "missing" from the contents though, unless they itemize the contents. In which case they might as well have searched it...

dudara

T-Square wrote: »

With all due respect moderator, you are incorrect, in my view.

T-Square Swiss is not a moderator in this forum and therefore his opinion is exactly the same as yours. You should not bring the tired and cliched moderator slant into your argument.

dudara

FruitLover

What's the big deal? Just fill your bag with mousetraps before entering. Problem swiftly solved.

ronbyrne2005

The people who bring their own stuff usually are'nt gonna spend big bucks on the cinema's stuff. I always buy before and put the stuff in my pockets. Sometimes i have carried bags of stuff that are clearly popcorn/coke etc and no one has said anything to me. We pay enough for the film admission alone in this country without having to pay 4euro for a 40cent cost price coke. Theres enough people going with GFs etc who dont wanna look like cheapskates to make the cinema's lots of profits. The popcorn in my local cinema is always slightly stale and i prefer the manhattan stuff anyway.

ronbyrne2005

krudler wrote: »

I used to work at a cinema and the no outside food thing is a joke, a bag of popcorn gets something like 200 boxes to sell for them but it only cost (at the time, this was years back) 30 quid a bag, bout the size of a kg of spuds, 200 boxes of popcorn from one bag at about 4.00 a box is a massive profit, so fook em, they also admitted they have no legal right to stop people bringing in their own food

I said to one guy before that I had a special diet for medical reasons so needed to eat my ham,cheese and coleslaw roll during film and he beleived it or at least didnt refuse me. Mmmm tasty roll that was.

brettmirl

Mentioned this on another thread, but Movies@Swords now put a green sticker on everything they sell over the counter. Not seen anyone actually check on the way in, but there are signs up saying you can only consume food/drink bought there on the premises.

Shelflife

THe problem with the cinemas is that they rip the arse off their confectionary prices, you can make good enough money on sweets without that. this is why people resort to stocking up before they go in.

if they charged fair prices , people would buy their sweets there.

Max Power1

ronbyrne2005 wrote: »

I always buy before and put the stuff in my pockets. Sometimes i have carried bags of stuff that are clearly popcorn/coke etc and no one has said anything to me. We pay enough for the film admission alone in this country without having to pay 4euro for a 40cent cost price coke. .

+1 here. I normally go to the savoy or ugc.. walk past the ushers/attendants chekcing tickets etc with popcorn/sweets/coke etc that was brought in from the shops in the vicinity - nothings ever been said to me

leeroybrown

I brought a bag (normal backpack) to a screening at the Eye Cinema in Galway a couple of years ago. Their security guy refused me entry to the screening area as 'no bags were allowed in'. No search, just no bags full stop. I had to go back downstairs and leave it unsecured behind the desk where they sold me the ticket and where they could have pointed this out to me at the time. I couldn't see a single sign pointing it out either.

I haven't been in with a bag since so I've no idea if they still do it.

rubadub

T-Square wrote: »

With all due respect moderator, you are incorrect, in my view.

You go to a pub for drink
so you cannot bring drink
You go to a cinema to view a movie
so you cannot bring a camera

If the cinema did not charge 500% over the odds for simple items,
people wouldn't even have this discussion.

What happens when people want a specific sweet to eat while watching a movie they just paid 20 euro for? for a couple.
I'm partial to candied kitten paws, Vue don't sell them (over the counter )
so am I to go without?
I don't like the muck they call "Coke"
I like "the real thing"
why should I pay a fiver for their Coke dish water at 500% more than a shop, that is already charging a margin over wholesale prices,
when I can have a cold, fizzy, 500ml for a *fraction* of the price.

I don't care if they "make their money" from sweets (and boy oh boy do they "make money" on their sweets.)

Cinema's make money from tickets at 10 euro each.

Fock them

hmmm. So what about night clubs, you pay your €10 in to dance & socialise, the consumables inside are optional, just like in the cinema. They also charge over 500% markup on drink in the nightclub & pub, and also might not have the particular drink you want (just like your sweets).

If they did drop prices people would buy there, but obviously they have done there maths, just like the pubs & clubs and they still think that the few people who do pay the 500% more is better. e.g. if a popcorn is €5 and €1 in the shop and costs 50 cent, then 1 sale makes €4.50, if they charged €1 they need 9 people to make the same profit.

Don't get me wrong I am a cinema smuggler! and used to stash drink in pubs and still do into concert venues. But I do view it similar to stashing drink into pubs. Would you agree it is similar to bringing food into pubs at least? you say you go there to drink, so food is also secondary. Most pubs will not let you bring your own food in, esp. if they sell it.

The other factor is paying for cleanup of spillages & wrappers etc left behind. You are not allowed eat in most clothes shops.

I don't believe cinemas make feck all from the €10, and they are not losing out much to the smugglers since they would not buy it there anyway, they would just go without. I'd sooner go to burgerking afterwards and get a full meal for the same price as a popcorn & coke and have a chat about the film. It would be like UPC claiming to be losing millions from people using dodgy cable boxes, as though all the people would otherwise subscribe to every single package.

TheDriver

There was a guy near me last week who had a McDonalds Bag and with the smell, it was "fresh" from the McD next door! Chomping on the happy meal during my bloody valentine!!

shellyboo

What everyone seems to be ignoring here is the fact that no-one's forcing you to eat in the cinema. They're not ripping you off by providing confectionery there, it's a service - an overpriced service, but one they're not obliged to offer in the first place. I think they're within their rights (figuratively if not legally) to not allow outside food - because after all, just because you can't bring your own doesn't mean you HAVE to buy theirs. They're not ripping the money out of your pockets.

I like the pub analogy as well - just because they're charging you €1 for a bag of crisps doesn't mean you can wander down the road and buy a multipack in Tesco instead and munch them at the bar. Same idea, I reckon.

yoshytoshy

shellyboo wrote: »

I like the pub analogy as well - just because they're charging you €1 for a bag of crisps doesn't mean you can wander down the road and buy a multipack in Tesco instead and munch them at the bar. Same idea, I reckon.

Often happened in my local ,we would get chips around in the chipper and eat them when a match would be on;)

tallaghtoutlaws

Cinemas are like any other business they have their rules and are usually on private property. So if you don't like their rules don't go. I hate going to cinema due to the high prices but hey if you are hungary either pay their prices or go without. If you dont like the rules though sh*t in my opinion. Its their busines, their premises, their rules, the end.

On the bag search thing that is highly dodgy. Worked in security and we were told to check bags as staff left store but NEVER touch the bag just get staff member to open and show whats inside. You touch the bag you leave yourself open to any accusation.

Davei141

tallaghtoutlaws wrote: »

On the bag search thing that is highly dodgy. Worked in security and we were told to check bags as staff left store but NEVER touch the bag just get staff member to open and show whats inside. You touch the bag you leave yourself open to any accusation.

That's correct. You never put your hand inside a bag, you ask them to take out the contents/or show you.

daheff

dont get me wrong...i can understand why cinemas dont want people bringing in their own food or a camcorder....but how are they within their rights to demand that they search your property ??? I cant see how that is a fair prerequisite for entry to see the film.

In fairness to the cinema, I didnt see them abuse this "mandatory bag search" (or even see them doing one)...but I think it is wrong for them to make this demand on their customers

seamus

daheff wrote: »

dont get me wrong...i can understand why cinemas dont want people bringing in their own food or a camcorder....but how are they within their rights to demand that they search your property ??? I cant see how that is a fair prerequisite for entry to see the film.

You're having a party at your house. A guy you don't know, arrives at the door, says he's a mate of Joe's (who's a mate of yours), and is carrying a big bag marked "Burglar Tools". And no, it's not a fancy-dress party. Would you let him in, or would you ask to look in the bag?

OK, it's a silly example, but illustrates my point. Basically any private business or property has the right to impose certain conditions on admission to the premises - Right of Admission Reserved and all that.
The only thing they cannot do is use one of the seven (?) discriminatory criteria (sex, age, etc), but otherwise if they insist that you wear a diamante-studded tutu or you don't get in, they can do that. Their only issue is that any condition must be imposed on all persons equally. So don't get offended that they're searching your bag - they're searching it because they have to search *all* bags or none at all, there's no middle ground.

krudler

People could easily get around this but not stuffing their face for 2 hours with enough coke and popcorn to feed a small family, that comment about outside food making cleanup harder is just plain wrong as well, as a former cinema worker who spent my evenings crunching through spilt (or just thrown on the floor) popcorn and coke it was a pain in the arse regardless of whether it was food we sold or stuff that was brought in, and people who eat nachos and cheese at the cinema, you are scum

Cabaal

TheDriver wrote: »

There was a guy near me last week who had a McDonalds Bag and with the smell, it was "fresh" from the McD next door! Chomping on the happy meal during my bloody valentine!!

argggh in the sickening smell of McD's, kick him out!

shellyboo

yoshytoshy wrote: »

Often happened in my local ,we would get chips around in the chipper and eat them when a match would be on;)

Did the pub sell chips? That's a bit cheeky, if so... but if they didn't mind then fair play. However, if you've been requested not to bring in outside food, then you have to play by the rules.

bigdogbarking

rubadub wrote: »

hmmm. So what about night clubs, you pay your €10 in to dance & socialise, the consumables inside are optional, just like in the cinema. They also charge over 500% markup on drink in the nightclub & pub, and also might not have the particular drink you want (just like your sweets).

I thought people just done coke in the toilets now in nightclubs and don't really bother with the drink????:D

the_syco

T-Square wrote: »

Cinema's make money from tickets at 10 euro each.

Cinema's make f**k all money from the tickets. Never have, never will.

Profiler

the_syco wrote: »

Cinema's make f**k all money from the tickets. Never have, never will.

Never will? what if they charge €150 per ticket?

yoshytoshy

shellyboo wrote: »

Did the pub sell chips? That's a bit cheeky, if so... but if they didn't mind then fair play. However, if you've been requested not to bring in outside food, then you have to play by the rules.

Nah ,it's a local boozer. No gourmets slogging it in the kitchen or anything;)
To be honest ,even though I don't agree with been searched ,I'd buy popcorn and large drinks 80% of the time.
It does affect the amount of times that I'd go to the cinema though.

If it was even slightly cheaper ,I'd probably go that more often. Greed has a sneaky way of killing off things ,this is a prime example I think.