Let me just say, I have been working for AMC Theaters for the past 2 and a half years, and can honestly say that this is one of the worst employers out there. Let's start off with the salary.. A quarter over minimum wage (if that) after taxes. My entire tenure @ AMC Theaters, I have only made $7.50 an hour, no raise, bonuses, or holiday pay.

The work schedules are supposed to be made on Tuesdays, the scheduling week begins on Friday. Many times, it doesn't come out until midnight Thursday, so you have to keep calling into see if you're working in 8 hours... It becomes impossible to make plans if you do not know your hours until the last minute. Job training is nonexistent.

The building is often understaffed, making it nearly impossible to function properly on busy days. Several times on a busy Saturday and even Friday night cleaning theaters with 400+ people in it, all on my own. Management knows they're understaffed and blames it on you when a theater isn't cleaned in time.. we aren't superheroes!

AMC has this "Stubs" promo program which is $12 a year. People already pay enough for tickets and food, etc as it as and don't want to pay any more. AMC encourages employees to make the guest say "no" 3 times... I find this ridiculous. AMC's philosophy is to make the guest feel like a star; kind of ironic when you're hassling the guest to get something they don't want or need! AMC sent out a memo saying that anyone who fails to sell or promote the program gets an automatic termination, creating a hostile work environment; making employees think that they're job can be gone with a flick of the wrist. Not a way to keep employees happy.

If you're legitimately sick and you have a cold or the flu, they MUST see a doctor's note or else if you don't find someone to cover your shift, you can lose your job. How stupid! Since movie theatres are open 365 days a year working holidays is mandatory. Holiday pay is not given. You could close on a Friday night and open on Saturday morning. The schedules are never near the same. One week you get can up to 40 hours and the next, you can work for 2 days, maybe 12 hours if you're lucky. The management doesn't care about your life outside of work.. they seem to relate eveything to AMC and your shift.

I realize this is an equal opportunity employer, yet they hire people with literally no common sense and seem to fire those who work hard and mess up a few times. Many employees act immature and yet the mature ones who do their job get into trouble. I recommended a friend of mine to AMC and he got hired.. he quit his first shift! Can't blame him... Employee morale is not high and people do not feel excited about working at the theater. This job is downright embarrassing.

I was stopped for a bottled water at an AMC theater. It was a simple half liter bottle, and I happen to live in a city where water conservation is very important. (San Diego, California.)

I got really angry, and honestly figure it's (or should be) illegal not to allow a person to bring in one bottle of water. I don't need popcorn, I don't need candy, and I don't need soda. I certainly wont spend $5 on an iced tea or on water. (I do not drink soda.)

So, then I offered to spill out the water in the bottle and fill it at their fountain. They still wouldn't let me in, even though it would be one empty water bottle I brought in. It was very hard for me to get my mind off this, but I decided to comply and threw it out. (A plastic water bottle, in the trash. Still quite full with water.)

The next thing I know, I see AMC advertising going green and conserving water. It completely ruins my experience in the end, and they're hypocrites to add insult to injury.

Why the hell should AMC be forcing people to use their oftentimes questionably sanitary ... Communal... Water fountains? With tiny cups that make it so you only have a few gulps of water for an entire movie if you don't want to miss anything?

Lets make things a bit worse and say it's flu season, or even if they clean them... They spray the fountains with lysol or something that leaves a chemical residue? Perhaps some kid was sticking his mouth all over the spout or spitting on it. What?!

So what are my points?

1) Water is a necessity for sustaining human life, and particularly here in San Diego should be conserved. There are laws in place limiting our use at home already. If AMC wants to say they're green and want to contribute to the water conservation effort, they shouldn't be hypocrites and force everyone who comes in to throw away their water bottles... Or at the very least give people the option to put them in a recycling bin!

2) Water fountains are not particularly sanitary and people shouldn't be forced to choose between dehydration and using them. During an epidemic or the flu season, using them can be even worse. People don't have to have been keeping themselves hydrated prior to a film, either.

3) Empty water bottles should not be considered outside drink. If people are desperate enough to use their public fountains, what's the difference to them? We get a little more water?

Movie goers in St. Mary’s County are treated
like second class citizens


First of all, the marquee is so ancient looking, inside broken and uncomfortable seats, inconsistent volume control, small screens, slippery floors, few movie choices and old, stained carpets... That is what movie goers in Lexington Park are subjected to. It is not even a matter of choice. The only movie theater here, in this County, is so out of date that the new high definition movies are not shown. I have to drive an hour so up the road to Charles County, Anne Arundel County or Prince George’s County just to see the latest films in a theater which provides its audience with comfort and the latest in seating and technology.

What gives?? Why do the movie patrons here put up with such deplorable conditions? And to top it off……the popcorn is often stale or too salty!!

How long do we, here in The County, have to wait to be treated like first class movie patrons?

I took my 4 year old son to see the new Ice Age movie. The audience full of young kids were excited as the previews started. To everyone's shock the preview for the horror movie The Final Destination started (lots of explosions, screams, crushings, and decapitations). Kids began to cry as the next preview started with a scream, for the new Orphan horror movie. We were all rushing our kids out of there, but the bad dream damage was done. We found the kids that seemed to be running the place, and they apparently had put the wrong movie on. They put the right movie on and gave everyone free passes, but still where is the accountability? A theater full of children should not have been subjected to that sort of careless error. We try to monitor what our children watch, and this place just blew that out of the water. Wish the manager of the place would have been here to console my son in the middle of the night, to see the damage. They are a media outlet, and with that comes responsibility (just ask Janet, Imos, etc...). They completely failed their responsibilities on this one.