Showcasecinemas Reviews 

Very disappointing experience.

My wife briefly took a couple of photos inside the cinema for personal use. We were given no warning at all. Staff immediately approached us, called the action "illegal", forced us to delete the photos, and then removed us from the screening.

Despite fully cooperating and not recording any video, we were not allowed to return to the film and were refused a refund.

The response was completely disproportionate and lacked basic customer service. A simple warning would have resolved the situation.

I would not recommend this cinema based on how this situation was handled.

Went to this cinema in castle gate Dudley awful experience . No longer have staff doing tickets have to do them yourself on machines . Que to the food was ridiculous 3 staff slow service didn’t bother in the end . My daughter was very annoyed as was promised as a treat and couldn’t get served to get food for the movie . Wouldn’t go again odeon will be our choice in future disgusting service and freezing in there too which didn’t help

I went to watch a Bollywood film and had a really poor experience. The volume was randomly turned down so low I could hear people around me, the subtitles disappeared during the film, and about 15 minutes before it ended the lights were turned on.

When I raised this with the manager, Francis, he said there was a complaint from the screen next door in the noise. Bear in mind this film had been running for over two weeks.

The manager Francis repeated kept cutting me off, spoke over me, and stood towering over me while I was seated, which felt intimidating. Instead of listening, he just tried to throw free tickets at me — which I repeatedly said I didn’t want. I only wanted to give feedback, but he wouldn’t even let me finish. I didn’t take any tickets, as I wouldn’t go back here or spend another penny at Showcase Dudley after that experience.

⭐☆☆☆☆ Horrible customer service and unfair charges
I’m extremely disappointed with my experience. I bought a student ticket for Monday (£7.99) by mistake, and when I realized I actually needed Sunday (£5.99), I changed the date. That means the cinema owed me £1.99, right?
Instead, they charged me an extra £3.99 on top of what I had already paid — I ended up paying more than a full-price general ticket (£11.75) for a student one.
When I called to fix the issue, one employee even confirmed that I should have been refunded £1.99, but then another person refused to do anything, claiming it’s “policy.” No refund, no apology, just a careless attitude.
Honestly, this feels like a scam. Completely unprofessional and unfair — if you’re a student, double-check your booking because they clearly don’t care about customer satisfaction or basic honesty.

Very nice cinema in winnersh, lots of parking outside which is convenient

Went to see Jaws 50th, which is great btw, but no mention on tickets, booking ref, or by the staff at the cinema that it is 3D!!! Only when it started and was blurry was it clear 😉. I had to go back to the staff and ask for some 3D glasses so missed part of the beginning. There was a brief advert saying put your 3D glasses on quickly followed by a Peugeot advert so not obvious it was for the actual movie.
Jaws the Film 5*, service and comms by Showcase 2*

I haven’t been for years due to my last experience. Nothings changed. In fact it’s worse.

The new seats are really uncomfortable. The large pad on the headrest pushes your head forwards into an unnatural position. My main gripe is the eating! I couldn’t enjoy the film at all as the constant rustling of someone’s crisp and biscuit packets highly irritated me. It took the kid the whole film to eat his snacks so I spent the entire film with my hand over the ear nearest him. When I’ve paid £17 to watch a film, I want to watch it in peace.

No doubt you will say we need food sales to exist. His food wasn’t even bought there. Please. Only allow quiet foods.

Hope they will keep selling DVDs as I won’t be going again! Waste of money. I left highly irritated/annoyed!

If I could give no stars I would.

I booked tickets, entered my bank details and money has been taken. The system crashed during this process and I haven't received any tickets. I have been on hold trying to get hold of someone at the Southampton cinema for an hour and no one is picking up.

Not possible to buy tickets online, registered few accounts, not able to login with any of them. Web site just full of errors.

Winnersh cinema visited

Took the wife for a date night, was a alright movie but loud for me.

The food so very expensive though, more than the cost of the film.
Might rent a video next time, watch with a cuppa.

Nice staff though, friendly lot.

What a difference, same company, completely different staff and seating! Firstly, they refused to accept the national disability and carers cards, even though these are thoroughly checked on registration. Then, absolutely NO recliners! The gallery 'sofas' are like park benches wrapped in pleather - not comfortable showcase! Why hasn't dudley got what bexley heath has and why don't they accept the same cards????

Went to watch Thunderbolts @ Reading Showcase on Bank Holiday on the 5th May 2025 tried to use my Insider card when paying was told systems are down cannot use, the lady served me looked like she didn`t want to be there and was miserable that she was working and had to serve, received the same from the person at the popcorn counter when ordered again no offer of a discount due to their error or being unhappy was not offered a receipt also, so disappointing experience, No passion, No care for customers makes you think why bother spending all that money, yeah so have to think twice whether want to spend to watch a movie especially in Xplus there again?

It is safer (and cheaper) to book tickets anywhere else but here, trust me. (Bluewater Cinema)

Not only is the website outdated and doesn't work, but you will get charged for tickets you will not be given. Their website will display an error and leave you loading, before cancelling for "taking too long." That makes it unable to book tickets, ESPECIALLY if you try to book them via your own account, you will be forced to buy tickets as a guest and gain NO bonus. It is a scam.

You will not be refunded unless you make a bank dispute, as customer service is just about as useless as their in-store staff. The staff, only at the counters, are incredibly rude and slow, and speak to you in a condescending manner.

The prices are disgusting, and only go up each year. I would not recommend wasting your money on stale food or snacks here for your film. Stick to Netflix or other cinemas. Not to mention half the recliners, that you pay for, don't work.

Booked tickets today told I will receive confirmation via email, no email, called in for over 30 mins no one answered, so had to drive there paying additional car park fees, spoke to staff who advise technical glitch is causing issues, I asked if they could sort out the addition cost of parking and was told a manager will see me, manager Joe came over and said I shouldn’t shout????

Never once did I shout and told him to ask the staff I spoke to who said I didn’t shout, then Joe was not helpful I stated I’m a manager at sky tv and we would treat our customers better ans Joe said “I called sky and your staff hung up on me”!!! Wild thing to say, so asked if I can speak with his manager who said Joe has been here 13 years and wouldn’t say them things!
I asked him to go speak to Joe ans he said he will later and Joe said they can sort carparking out but phill his manager said it’s impossible,

Pure rudeness iv been using this cinema for over 10 years and always attend and this will be our very last visit.

Told all complaints go through them ans come back to that manager as he smiled and winked, crap customer skills amd poor management giving showcase brand a bad name

Leeds Showcase has friendly staff and while I'm not happy that Ben and Jerry's is no longer an option, the food is good enough to enjoy the cinema going experience. The seats are comfortable and laid out so you don't have the problem of 'feet on the head rests' from people on the row behind. A big win. It's getting expensive these days but
Showcase feels like they want to make sure you enjoy the experience.

Never had any real problems with the Peterborough branch until today.

First signs something was wrong was when in Screen 2. I noticed during the ads around one quarter of the lower right screen had a distinct green tint to it that remained throughout the whole film. Just before the film started I went and reported this to an Usher who seemed very distant and absent minded. She said she would bring this to the attention of the duty manager and then I returned to my seat.

About 5-10mins later the same usher entered the screen, looked at the film for about 5-10 seconds and then walked out.

Secondly, through the film the air conditioning would cause the showing to get really warm and then cold in a repeating cycle.

Thirdly, when seating the lights were so low it was hard to see and read seating arrangements.

You may ask why didn’t I leave and get a refund? Well the ticket was a birthday gift and I had been looking forwards to the pre-booked showing on a day off work. Peterborough was my nearest branch and I had travel 10 miles. I wasn't going all that way for nothing.

After the film I spoke to the duty manager who just wouldn't stop talking, answering questions with excuses. She did passively acknowledge they knew of the problem weeks prior!? If this was the case why were they still using the Screen?

While observing the restrictions and laws regarding photography during the feature film, I was able to takes images prior while the ads were running and clearly show an issue.

Disappointed by this overall experience and will reserve going for only priority films.

I booked and paid in advance from the app. Payed over £80 and when I got there it was from the wrong cinima and had to pay again

The seats are okay. But Showcase Cinemas practice extremely discrimitive booking policies. If you are booking as a single person or couple, your choice of seats is restrictive. Whilst I appreciate they would like to avoid empty seats, their booking system prevents you leaving an empty seat. So if you are one person or just a couple, then you are MOST OFTEN unable to book seats. Booking seats should be fair and open to everyone. The previous customers were afforded the opportunity to choose and select the seats they wanted, so just because there are limited seats available, it is simply WRONG to penalise those who are unable to FILL the slots, yet would like to sit where they want to.

Absolutely adore our venue!

The staff are the typical fodder for a cinema - youngsters who looked bored out of their brains bless them, but as soon as they have a customer to attend to - the smiles are on and they are so incredibly helpful.
Our kids love the portion sizes of popcorn and drinks (hungry teenagers & adults)

The only gripe with our venue, is the toilets, they are so low to the floor that they look like toddler toilets. The washrooms are the dirtiest I’ve ever seen, and having unfortunately frequenting a Wetherspoons or two in my time I would have to say that they are of better quality than a showcase cinema. It’s disappointing, because the rest of the experience is always a brilliant one.

The website booking system doesn't work - either using the 'Insider' route or as a guest. There's some new rule about when the 'Insider' system is valid, but this isn't explained on the website. Phone takes ages to answer. Messages to Showcase about the above are not answered. This company is a blot on the landscape and does not deserve to exist.