During my week off we went to a couple of movies (Four Brothers and Red Eye — both were worth seeing). While we were making our way to the show, I was struck by some unethical selling practices at our local multiplex.
First, when you walk up to buy popcorn, they try to sell you a “value pack.” Now we have been trained by fast food to understand this to really mean it is a value. I look frantically up at the prices to see what the value price is, but I can’t see any listing. It must be the newest, latest deal. After all, at a fast food joint a value meal might save you fifty cents when compared to buying the sandwich, fries and drink separately. You think, “What the heck. I might as well get the whole deal for a little more money.”
But not at our theater. We soon find out that their “value” pack, a popcorn and a drink for example, costs exactly the same as buying each separately. There is no value in their value pack!
Second, once we said no thanks to their value offering, we then asked for a medium popcorn. At this point the young person behind the counter holds up a medium bag limply with a rather disappointed look on his face and says, “This is the medium bag. Are you sure it is going to be big enough?” Read between the lines, “You idiot! Why would you waste your money on this puny bag?”
Now out theater is part of a large, multi-state chain. So I bit my tongue, at the strong encouragement of my wife, and moved on to the show. I wasn’t going to change the practices of the theater by yelling at the high school kid behind the counter.
So instead, let me offer these simple suggestions to all the entrepreneurs who read this site on some basic ethical principles that may keep you from becoming a company like the one the owns our local multiplex:
– Don’t mislead your customers.
– Don’t lie to your customers.
– Don’t treat your customers like they are idiots.
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