- Oct 9, 2002
- 28,298
- 1,235
- 136
Firstworldproblem rant:
[cliff notes]
My account balance has been lessened by $72.50 for one movie night. Fandango[Google] fucked this up and I haven't gotten anywhere toward a resolution.
[/cliff notes][Sunday 5/5 11:31 PM update]
Sickening amount of time on the phone to reach a person on Saturday. After multiple call attempts, I had to stay on the line a whole hour to reach a person. They said they were sending my case to the "refund department." Didn't offer anything else to make it right. I still haven't gotten a single email from Fandango.
[/Sunday 5/5 11:31 PM update][Monday 5/6 9:00 PM update]
Sorry, Fandango! This is mostly Google's fault. The Fandango confirmation code finally appeared in my Spam folder, today. The time stamp shows that it was sent before the PayPal receipt (which I had received immediately). Google is normally really good about not filtering legitimate mail. Even if the system thought it was spam, there's no reason to hold it for 3 days! FFFFFFUUUUUUUUCK!
Fandango:
You should require users to have a Fandango account to use PayPal. In the case of non-deliverable email, the user could get the confirmation code by logging-in to the account.
Google:
If you think a message is spam, don't sit on it for 3 days! Just put it in my Spam folder.
Apple:
The Trailers app needs a way for users to report problems. 3D showings at Regal Georgian Stadium 14 still appear as "standard" and still shows an error page when I tap one and try to buy tickets.
[/Monday 5/6 9:00 PM update]Fandango:
You should require users to have a Fandango account to use PayPal. In the case of non-deliverable email, the user could get the confirmation code by logging-in to the account.
Google:
If you think a message is spam, don't sit on it for 3 days! Just put it in my Spam folder.
Apple:
The Trailers app needs a way for users to report problems. 3D showings at Regal Georgian Stadium 14 still appear as "standard" and still shows an error page when I tap one and try to buy tickets.
[Monday 5/13 09:35 PM update]
Still no word from Fandango. Nothing credited back to PayPal. No email. Nothing returned to my bank account. That means I waited on the phone for over an hour on 5/4 for no reason. They simply said "we're sending it to our refunds department" and did absolutely nothing. I've been on the phone again since 9:35 PM and I'm still on hold. At least this time there's a message telling me that wait times exceed 30 minutes. Will they brush me off again and do nothing?
[/Sunday 5/13 09:35 PM update][Monday 5/13 10:16 PM update]
No record of the previous call or pending refund request. None. That means I waited over an hour to speak with someone Sat 5/4 for absolutely no reason.
[/Sunday 5/13 10:16 PM update]My best friend is an huge Iron Man fanatic ever since he was a kid and loved the old Saturday morning cartoon show. He will not watch a 3D movie.
I opened the Apple Trailers app on my phone to look-up showtimes for Iron Man 3 last night. Every showing at the closest theater was listed as "standard." That's strange, but I didn't notice because the same page showed several "3D" entries from other theaters in my area. I tapped a 10:15 PM showtime that was marked as "standard" and tapped "get tickets."
The Safari web browser opened to a mobile Fandango website. I selected a quantity of 2 adult tickets @ $10.50 each. With the $2.50 "convenience" fees, the total was $23.50. I selected "PayPal" on the next screen because it would be easier to just enter my password. Otherwise I would have to set my phone down, get my wallet out of my pocket, and awkwardly juggle the phone and credit card while entering the payment info.
After payment, the final screen said I should receive some kind of code by email. I've used Fandango.com before and did not anticipate any problems.
I got the PayPal receipt immediately. Over 20 minutes later, I got a notification from the PayPal app confirming the purchase. I never received anything from Fandango.
By the time we were ready to go in and claim some good seats, I still hadn't received any code from Fandango. I repeatedly checked Trash, Spam, and All Mail in the Gmail app. The box office could not help me without a confirmation code or a credit card (I had used PayPal).
The Fandango web site and told me I don't have an account. I'm pretty sure I do have a Fandango account. I've used them before and I get Fandango emails all the time. If I do have a Fandango account, I know exactly what my password would be and there's absolutely no way I would have previously used any other email address with Fandango. The only phone number I could find at first was a complete waste of time. The system only lets me select a theater, movie, and showtime to BUY tickets.
I ran out of time, so I had to buy two more tickets at the box office and planned to call Fandango later for a refund. It's funny how they can charge a "convenience" fee and cause nothing but a massive inconvenience. I would have been much better-off if Fandango had not been involved.
...but it doesn't end there.
I handed my card to the attendant and said "two adult tickets for Iron Man 3 at 10:15." She set down two pair of 3D glasses and said "that's $28" while swiping my card. I said: "Fandango only charged $23, and that's with a $2 convenience fee. The movie is supposed to be standard, not 3D." She said the 10:15 show was actually 3D. The Apple Trailers app was wrong. I'm sure the pricing mis-match has something to do with Fandango's screw-up. I'm not sure if Apple gets their showtime data from Fandango, but Fandango definitely charged the wrong price.
The attendant had to get a manager to issue a refund to my card, which will take days to credit. Then I had to buy tickets for the 10:45 PM showing, a half-hour later. [2 days later, no sign of this refund yet 5/5 11:24 PM]
So I had 30 extra minutes to blow. I found a customer service number for Fandango. The system said there was an unusual amount of calls, so the hold time would "exceed 5 minutes." It listed a bunch of different theaters chains, but Regal cinemas wasn't included. I had to choose "other." It played a message saying Fandango cannot issue refunds for any other theaters and refunds are at the discretion of the theater management. Then I got hold music with repeated messages saying someone would be with me "momentarily." I was on the phone for 24 minutes. I hung up when I was halfway to my seat in the auditorium.
I was nodding off and falling asleep during the last part of the movie. That wouldn't have happened if I got to start 30 minutes earlier. The movie finished at 1:20 AM. I still had to take my friend home and get up at 7:00 AM to work all day Saturday (today). It really sucked to lose 30 minutes of sleep.
So I've been charged:
$23.50 by Fandango (includes $2 for the "convenience" of ruining the night)
$28.00 by the theater for the 10:15 PM show (should be refunded, but it will days)
$21.00 by the theater for the 10:45 PM show.
Even if I actually do get Fandango to refund the money, why should I trust that this will not happen again? Even if the faulty showtime data was not Fandango's fault (it probably is Fandango's fault), why would the system charge me and not send ANY message advising me of a problem? Why should I ever take the risk with Fandango again? They had better make damn sure that their system sends SOMETHING -- success or fail -- by the time the movie starts. I still haven't received anything other than a receipt from PayPal.
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