Picturehouse Cinemas Reviews 108

There is a lot to love about the City Screen Picturehouse in York.

Great location (on the river in the centre of York), great cafe bar with good food choice, excellent staff and a good selection of films showing.

The only downside is it's colder in the cinema than outside meaning you still need a coat in spring/summer and you need a big coat & scarf in autumn/winter.

Chester's new Picturehouse is great. Enjoyed delicious Moroccan hummus wraps in the cafe bar where a quiz was also on. Then into Studio 1 for Wicked Little Letters with a star-studded cast. Very enjoyable evening.

Dimmed luminosity and technical issue with projector on Screen 2 at Ritzy picturehouse cinema in Brixton, almost like watching something at minimum brightness level on your Apple Mac, just really disappointing as it spoiled the viewing experience and ‘The Zone of Interest’ (2024) isn’t something you can just rewatch given the heavy subject of this film. Picturehouse refunded my booking, the agent stated the Ritzy has now fixed the projector fault, however thats beside the point, the cinema should have at least provided a voucher as a token of apology in this respect.

I've emailed Picturehouse regarding my difficulties in renewing my [ very long standing ] membership online after the staff member I eventually got through to on the phone was unable to help. I should have checked dates before I started this entry - my memory tells me that I sent the first one on February 2nd and I've sent subsequent ones. The automatic responses that I've received give a target of 9 - 12 days for the full responses to be received. I spoke to a staff member on the phone again today and she was honest enough to say that she was working on emails that had been received on January 27th i.e. 17days ago. What a dreadful mess !!! It's clear from my informal conversations with front of house staff in the various local cinemas that I attend , that management have ignored the views of these employees and have not put the resources in place to deal with the problems that have cropped up. At least I live within strolling distance of the Peckham Multiplex and so am boycotting Picturehouse until this matter is sorted out.

Although I've been coming for decades and consider Cinema City a special place, I've been increasingly concerned at the management, ethos, programming and service, culminating in the last couple of weeks.

Since this beloved historic Norwich cinema was taken over and subdivided - which was opposed by some - we've seen many unwanted changes. Everyone I speak to - which was many - who could remember the old cinema said (with one exception) that they liked it better as a single screen regional film theatre.

On reopening in 2007 as a 3 screen plush Picturehouse, prices went up considerably and continued to rise; there was now a snobbery and air of attempted economic exclusivity; and management justified what they'd done and simply didn't listen to any feedback. The programming became more mainstream, but I was told by head office in writing that although trustees existed to ensure the film theatre trust continued it funded remit, that they didn't bother to check.

There was the 2014 debacle over staff abuse, shortly after being taken over by Cineworld, which further alarmed many of us.

Recently, they've changed their membership model; they did away with low income concessions a decade ago, but some cinemas informally allowed us to continue. Now they've made changes and refused this, also charging more if you don't auto renew.
This has made some unable and unwilling to rejoin.

Whilst other cinemas in town are £5 for an average adult film ticket for all and other indies around the region are under £10, Cinema City is £12.40, plus a hefty booking fee. That's too much for many staff.

Worse is that lately there's been a discriminatory issue, which I won't post here to protect confidentiality **(if PH replies, be aware that naming those involved and talking about it is an offence and will be taken as such). ** But I will say that their response was bullying in person, then carefully avoidant emails that refused apology, downplayed the complaint in a bouncy tone and called it 'feedback', and then trawled CCTV to try and wrong foot the complainants. CCTV didn't apply to the complaint and it was selectively and one-sidedly used.

Then - after only one response - they said it was 'inappropriate' to write to them further and tried to fob onto a paid 3rd party arbitrator.

It's felt increasingly mean with a 2-tier customer base: members and not; and they don't like you using the perks to be generous to others. Their London cinemas (far too many) have members only bars - an ethos I'm just not interested in.

With several minor issues over the years, and now dissembling and bullying those with protected characteristics, it means I may cease custom until there's a change either in their attitude or ownership.

I welcome competition from Everyman (and/or others) and grassroots groups - they've had hegemony too long

I watched All Of Us Strangers at Exeter. The cinema was warm, welcoming, clean and the staff friendly. During the film my mobile phone fell out of my pocket unbeknown to me. It was only when I got home I realised I’d lost it. I retraced all my steps shop to shop and then got back to the cinema. The staff had found it after the film and were safely looking after it. Top marks for their honesty and I made a donation to their charity of choice, Refuge, in appreciation of their honest service. Perfect. Thanks.

Awful website booking experience. After jumping through all their hoops to select the cinema, film, date, time and seat I finally get to the payment page. Selected my debit card for payment and then I get an error. Straight away I notice the money has gone from my bank but I have no confirmation of a booking. Customer service has closed. The following day I ring customer service and after 40 minutes I get through and told there is no booking. I am also told I will probably get a refund in a few days!
Apparently this happens occasionally and when I said surely you should fix it then. He said it only happens about 1% of the time. The word 'Horizon' springs to mind.

No heating every Winter expect you to pay to freeze:

"We are currently experiencing problems with our heating system. It may be chilly inside our auditorium, or we may close if we feel it gets too cold. Keep an eye on our website and our social channels for up-to-date information."

We bought a membership plus for our daughter as a present. We are outside London and bought the membership over the counter, so there was no asking London or outside London membership- which we would have been prompted on line-
Once our daughter realised she couldn't use her membership in London, we wanted to "upgrade" the membership and there is nothing they can offer but "wait till next renewal or buy a new membership". We are shocked but the lack of flexibility. We are not asking for our money back, but willing to pay for the difference. Shocking service for this day and age. PictureHouse should review their strict membership policy and make it more flexible.

Beautiful brand new cinema in chester. Loads of positives and the film was great.
Unfortunately for my xl body the seat was totally uncomfortable. Couldn't enjoy the experience at all. Wouldn't mind paying a supplement for comfortable seat.
This was way too narrow and back moved on its own which was an issue for all of us! Would have been better sat on the steps. Such a shame as would have considered membership.

The new Picturehouse in Chester is amazing, highly recommend! We have been a couple of times now, the cafe is stunning and the staff are really friendly! Thank you Ore who was approachable and helped us with our query about an under 25 ticket which we were pleased about as it is really good value for money! We will definitely be returning and recommending Picturehouse Chester to a friend after this experience

Awful customer service and very rude.
Considering how great it used to be, they have expanded and don't know how to treat their customers or members.
I will not be getting a membership there again.

Don't leave your bike in front of Hackney Picturehouse, likely to be stolen or vandalised by local thieves...And Picturehouse customer service won't be any help, even though they have CCTV and security on site...

I've been trying to renew my Picture-house membership for around two weeks now. The password reset option is a no-go, and I've called every number on their site with zero luck – nobody's picking up. It's got me wondering if the company's in a tight spot. Unfortunately, I can't renew my subscription, which means I might lose out on six cinema tickets. Definitely not signing up with them again. Awful.

I have been a member for quite a few years became disabled after a accident and then started to use their app was good for me as I couldn't use a computer the app gave me independence I renewed my membership then the app stopped working for my cea card so ment I couldn't book any films contacted customer service on numerous occasions said they would sort this out this was april we are in November just got my money returned after contacting a manager
with zero empathy and understanding shocking treatment but will loose 10 films this is a disgusting company with a disgusting customer service who really dont care about anybody good riddance to them I would give zero rating avoid at all costs

Agree with everything written below about the app. I wanted to take advantage of the 30% off membership renewal but couldn’t access my account. Customer service sent me a password renewal link and it still didn’t work. They then told me I couldn’t make use of the promotion, despite it being their fault. They must be doing very well to treat customers so cavalierly.

Shout out to Dee on the membership helpline; not only did she solve my issue but she gave me lots of tips and advice on getting the most out of my membership. A***** service!!!

Don’t care about personal safety of their customers, even if you end up in hospital after a visit there. Improve your floor lighting and gain some empathy!

Owing to the poor usability of the Picturehouse app and website, a birthday promotion was not usable. This issue persisted through to the expiry date of the promotion. Even though it had expired, a phone operator had promised to enact it anyway. A different operator then decided that this could not happen. When I raised the issue with their superior, and pointed out that this was indeed the fault of Picturehouse, they continued to refuse to enact the promotion. What is this if not false advertising and poor customer service?

We saw Openheimer yesterday. The sound volume was so high that it was impossible to understand the speech. The incidental music was overwhelming. After the 3 hour film we came out feeling batterd as if we had undegone a session of torture. Being a very OAP I asked the twentyish girl next to me how she enjoyed it and she confirmed that she and her companion had been unable to discern the words because of the volume. Our last time at this cinema.