Disappointing Experience

I took my daughter to the cinema for the first time. Fortunately for her, she doesn’t know any better, so she enjoyed the movie — and to be fair, Zootropolis 2 was good. Sadly, that’s about where the positives end.

Let’s start with the first disappointment: it’s the December holidays, yet Numetro Menlyn didn’t have Slush Puppies. Slushies and popcorn are the two basics that are almost a requirement at any cinema.

Next is the complete lack of snack options. Apart from the usual popcorn and slushies, there were only four sweets available: Wine Gums, Jelly Babies, Astros, and Whispers — and that was it. There used to be a decent variety, but now the selection is extremely limited. It’s no surprise people have started bringing in their own snacks.

Now let’s talk about pricing. I understand that businesses need to make money — otherwise, we’d all be running NPOs. But there’s a difference between making a profit and ripping customers off. Charging almost R30 for any of the sweets mentioned above is excessive, especially when only small packs were available, with no larger options. These same sweets sell for around R17 for a 60g pack at major stores, and about R27 for a 100g pack.

I won’t even go into the condition of some of the cinema seats or the complete lack of customer service from the staff, who made us feel like we were interrupting their chatting time. Sadly, I can say that I’ll probably never set foot in a Numetro cinema again. Overpriced items and subpar service are exactly the reasons cinemas like Ster-Kinekor ended up closing.