Montreal family persuades Cinéma Guzzo to change admission policy for babies
Guzzo executive had change of heart following conversation with West Island dad
Montreal's Cinéma Guzzo is backing down somewhat on a policy to charge admission to all children, including infants, after the parents of a 10-week-old baby girl spoke out about having to pay for a movie ticket for the baby.
The parents of baby Harley got a wicked surprise recently when she was charged $7 for a movie ticket on a family outing to the theatre complex in Montreal's Saint-Laurent borough.
"It's kind of ridiculous. You're going to make me pay for a sleeping or nursing baby?" said Paige Becker, Harley's mother, on Monday.
"Your policy is really ... stupid. For lack of a better word."
Cinéma Guzzo's executive vice-president, Vincenzo Guzzo, originally said other theatres may do things "differently," but to him, this was the fairest way to deal with complaints about differential ticket pricing.
"It's simple. Everybody pays. That's it," said Guzzo.
But after speaking to Stuart Becker, Paige's husband, Guzzo changed his mind.
On CBC Montreal's Daybreak, he revealed children under 2 will now get in free for 10:30 a.m. showings of kid-friendly movies on weekends.
'Everybody pays'
The Dollard-des-Ormeaux residents took their two children to the movie complex to see a 10:30 a.m. showing of Finding Dory. It was meant to be a special occasion: the first time their three-year-old son, Evan, would see a movie on the big screen.
The cashier and manager of Cinéma Guzzo Saint Laurent charged the Beckers for four tickets, two for each adult and two for each child.
"We've been to Disney World, and for my three-year-old it was free. Two weeks ago we went to Granby Zoo and for Harley, it was free," said Becker.
Since the newest ticket policy went into effect last May, Cinéma Guzzo charges a blanket rate for all children aged 13 and under.
At other theatres, such as Cinéma Cineplex Odeon, movies are free for kids under three.
Guzzo said the reason the movie-theatre operator decided to charge babies was because of the number of emails it receives from customers complaining about newborns crying in the theatre, about the decibel-level of movies being too loud for children or about movies that are inappropriate for kids.
Facebook reaction
The news that an infant was charged the same price as a preteen at the movies prompted no shortage of opinions on the CBC Montreal Facebook page.
A compromise
Guzzo recounted one anecdote about two women who went to the movies with four children apiece – all of whom were under the age of three.
"They take up eight seats in the theatre. It's not fair," Guzzo said.
"We're not a babysitting service. You have to pay."
But on Daybreak, Guzzo conceded that most people attending a 10:30 a.m. showing of a movie will expect kids to be present.
After his conversation with Stuart Becker, Guzzo decided to amend the policy.
Paige Becker said she's satisfied with the change, even though she would have liked it if young kids could be free until 7 p.m.
"I feel we got some resolution," she said.