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Angry Voicemail We Got From an Alamo Drafthouse Customer

Alamo Drafthouse3 HN recommenders · recommended in 3 months, 2011–2026
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comedy · general · evergreen · 2011–2026 on HN

Alamo Drafthouse posted an angry voicemail from a customer who was kicked out for texting in the theater. The theater turned it into a humorous in-house preview.

It is cited as a viral example of Alamo enforcing its no-talking and no-texting rules with humor.

12 comments from Hacker News

@earl2011-12 · in “I'll tell you why movie revenue is dropping...”

This video Alamo posted to youtube of an angry customer bitching about getting kicked out for texting is amazing . ▶ this video tl;dwatch: customer: I was texting and you kicked me out; whine whine whine alamo: gtfo and don't come back

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@technofiend2021-03 · in “Alamo Drafthouse Files for Bankruptcy”

Not only are they very strict, but they have a lot of fun with it. See an angry voice mail from one customer ▶ this video , or the playlist with a long list of PSAs, many of which include celebrities, asking you to please not talk: link Props to anyone who can get Neil Gaiman to make a please no talking PSA in the form of an Agnes Nutter prophecy.

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@ddingus2018-04 · in “Hollywood Is Wrong: Netflix Is the Future of Film”

Yes, agreed! I want to attend one of the Alamo Drafthouse theaters. Friends and family, where they currently do business, have reported a great experience! That's what they are supposed to be selling. Hell, I would! Also, anyone who will do this? ▶ this video I'll go just on principle. That's bad ass great, and a service to everyone spending their money on what they want to be a good experience.

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@nebula88042026-05 · in “About 10% of AMC movie showings sell zero tickets. This site finds them”

Sounds like you should be visiting Alamo Drafthouse. They take these things extremely seriously and are for the real fans. Here is their ad: ▶ this video Unfortunately since they already filed for bankruptcy a few years back they have had to cut costs and so their system for ordering food replaced (from pen and paper collected and an usher quietly brings you your food to QR code with...a cellphone) people are recently concerned that this has reduced their legendary quality. They still take audio and picture quality very seriously in my experience. Also where are you located? LA and NYC have legendary theaters that are truly a special treat. Its harder to replicate that in various states but there are still some states trying (ex. NJ being the actual birthplace of the American film industry has a few excellent theaters scattered throughout that dont tolerate poor quality/talkers) If your story is from AMC theaters just know that you are visiting the Mcdonalds of movie theaters.

@technofiend2021-03 · in “Alamo Drafthouse Files for Bankruptcy”

Despite the 20+ mile drive I prefer Alamo to any other theatre in no small part due to their - depending on your view - strict but reasonable or utterly draconian [1] no using your phone rules. Having said that, when they got aggressive about expanding they shrunk their menu and removed local variations of both food and beer. Frankly, Alamo without a Honey I Shrimped The Pigs just ain't the same Alamo. I'd like them to let local managers add back a bit of flavor, maybe do pop ups in conjunction with local restaurants [2] and otherwise improve their food and drink offerings back to the quality they were when the chain started. Prior to the pandemic I still went to Alamo for my movies, but I ate beforehand. [1] ▶ this video [2] link Chris Shepherd's Southern Smoke Foundation is doing pop ups in conjunction with other businesses and donating the profits to help food service workers impacted by the pandemic; both financial aid and mental health care. Laudable and his food is good.