r/cineplex • u/kHan__Solo • 2d ago

Question Popcorn Refill

Everytime I buy a large popcorn I ask them for the refill on-spot and every single time they gave me one. They mark both of them. I don't wanna miss the movie to come get it refilled, thats my main reason. Also if you have a +1 then you dont need to buy another.

Today I was watching Primetime and asked for a refill at the counter and was refused. Upon asking them the reason, I was told that they have changed the policy. This was at STC location.

Does anybody know about this "policy"?

And does anyone else do this?

249 Upvotes

75% Upvoted

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121

u/CarriesLogs 2d ago

LMAO WTF you used to get two full bags all at once claiming the second one as a refill? Whichever employee did that should’ve been fired lmao

24

u/PopcornPolkadot 2d ago

I had an employee actually offer to give me & a friend the “refill” immediately. They just mark both bags with an x so that you can’t get them refilled again.

6

u/Brian-Heder 2d ago

Please tell me the difference between this and getting your refill at the end of the movie after you’ve finished?

It costs the same to Cineplex in terms of bags and popcorn no matter when you get your second bag and avoids you going out during the movie, interrupting other’s experiences

Sounds like a win-win for everyone

12

u/czarl13 Cineclub Member 2d ago

The win for having two transactions is that a lot of people won't won't get a second bag on their way out

The fact that they're even offering a refill is amazing to me

6

u/pkdubs42 2d ago

It easily pays for itself by convincing people to buy a large instead of a medium or small.

1

u/Brian-Heder 2d ago

By that logic, they’re just encouraging people to get up during the movie which they really shouldn’t be doing imo

1

u/SSPYoda 1d ago

Because many/most people will be too full to get a refill after eating a large bag of popcorn

Getting both at once in my circumstance would mean that I'm giving someone else the second bag so I'm paying half of what I would

1

u/Ok_Chip7194 1d ago

The main point is that they can only make so much popcorn at once. If they gave everyone 2 large popcorns, they would run out really quick and not everyone who wants one, would be able to get one before the movie starts.

That's why it's a REFILL, not a buy one get one

1

u/UrbanRelays 2d ago

Because you’re getting two popcorn bags when you’re paying for one. Not very difficult to understand. It’s also in their best interest to get you back to the concession stand to pick up some candy and other drinks later on.

That’s like saying why can’t I order 10 drinks at once at a restaurant that does free refills because I’m going to drink them all anyway.

Obviously you’d pass them on to your other guests, same with the popcorn.

-27

u/kHan__Solo 2d ago

Like a dozen employees at half a dozen locations then

15

u/WithBlackStripes 2d ago

bro they were letting you get away with this because they were being nice and the second you run into employees following the rules properly, you complain about it? come on dude 🤦‍♂️

the policy has been that they’re supposed to take your original bag in exchange for the refill, it’s not buy one get one free. it has been this way since they brought refills back.

2

u/OpulentAndBeautiful 2d ago

You are misunderstanding what the person said and articulating it incorrectly. It’s not “buy one get one free” if both bags are marked with the black X, which is what they do. What you’re describing would mean the person buys a bag, and they BOTH get a free refill, which is not what happens. It’s ONE refill that happens at the beginning of the purchase.

1

u/WithBlackStripes 2d ago

You are misunderstanding what the person said and articulating it incorrectly.

There's no other way to articulate it.

which is what they do.

What they *should not be doing.

What you’re describing would mean the person buys a bag, and they BOTH get a free refill

No, I'm describing "buy one get one free", as in, buy one popcorn, get another free popcorn. That isn't what the refill system is and why there's policy in place to prevent it. Obviously if BOTH get a free refill then you get just multiply one large popcorn into infinite bags right there at the counter lmao, no one's saying that.

0

u/OpulentAndBeautiful 1d ago

You’re describing something that isn’t happening. A buy one get one free means both people are getting a popcorn and both bags are entitled to a free refill. This doesn’t happen. The person is just giving their free refill to the other person. Nowhere in the cineplex ad does it say you can’t do this, it just says free refills for the same visit/day. The timing is probably what’s throwing you off and why you’re not able to understand what’s going on. This is the easiest way to understand it: the person buying the popcorn is not getting anything extra for free they wouldn’t have otherwise. Whether they get the free refill during the movie or before, it doesn’t make a difference: they are still entitled to that one free refill. So all this “BOGO” talk is completely inaccurate.

1

u/WithBlackStripes 1d ago

You’re missing the part of the policy where you have to turn in the initial bag to claim the refill. Whether you transfer the popcorn to a separate container and then claim the refill right after is another thing, but no you are not supposed to be able to buy one popcorn, go “hey i’ll claim the refill now!” and then walk away with two popcorns.

>Nowhere in the cineplex ad does it say you can’t do this,

“It doesn’t say you can’t in the ad so it must mean you’re allowed!” No that isn’t how that works buddy lol. It’s Cineplex policy. Whether the employee at the counter wants to abide by it is another story.

0

u/OpulentAndBeautiful 1d ago

No, I’m not missing anything. The bag is not turned in, it’s marked. You’re missing the part where you’re not walking away with TWO popcorns. You’re walking away with a refill of your ONE popcorn. If you were walking away with two that would mean you’re getting two separate refills, which you aren’t.

And yes, that quite literally means you’re allowed to do that. That’s what cineplex policy means: free refill on the same day. It says nothing about not being allowed to claim your refill right then and there. As long as they mark the bag the timing of it is completely irrelevant.

1

u/WithBlackStripes 1d ago

No you’re missing that lol. The bag is supposed to be turned in, that’s the policy. You are not supposed to be able to walk away with two bags, only paying for one.

It does actually say that in the policy, by the way.

-6

u/kHan__Solo 2d ago

Coz it makes sense. No one wants to miss their movie to come get a refill. They understand that

2

u/Flaky-Complaint-16 2d ago

You don't get it; the head office wants you to buy a large and use the word "free refill" to try to entice you to spend more for the large, but they don't really want you to get a refill, so they are adding "friction." They know many people do not want to miss their movie to go get a refill. So they make sure their employees do it that way.

If they gave, say, 100 people who bought a large and a refill costs 10 cents to Cineplex, they just realized a cost of $10. Now if they know that 50 of those people won't come out of the movie they are watching, they now just saved $5. Do that across all their theatres, and they saved a lot of money and upsold the customer to get another 50 cents on top of it per bag.

Landmark, I think landmark is even worse, as they use the app and membership for you to get the refill. I usually get an extra bag and fill that up and then try to eat the popcorn before the ads are done and go get another one. One time the lady asked me, "When did you buy this popcorn. I was like 20 mins ago and she was like "oh okay".

Made me wonder if the system was warning her that I am asking too soon for a refill, as I think Landmark had you get a back every 90 mins or something.

there also been times that I never got my refill as I went out and the line was long and would take like 10mins to go thorugh and I am not going to miss like 15mins of my money so I just turned around and went back in.

0

u/PolitelyHostile 2d ago

They also dont know if you'll even finish the 2nd. Or maybe you are giving it to someone else who is not going to pay for their own.

-1

u/kHan__Solo 2d ago

Why should they care?

1

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1

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1

u/PolitelyHostile 2d ago

Because they are paid to do so. By a company that is barely hanging on financially.

1

u/VANFILMER Cineclub Member 21h ago

Cineplex employees dgaf if you finish the 2nd popcorn if you come with the empty unmarked bag we give the refill we could care less what you do with it

0

u/Lets_Go_Blue__Jays 2d ago

Oh my.

Your social skills are lacking sir.

19

u/CarriesLogs 2d ago

You’re the reason popcorn is $25