FORMER cinema manager Stuart Jarvis has vowed to boycott the Curzon chain after staff refused to let him take a birthday cake into the movie.
Mr Jarvis, former manager of the Phoenix Picturehouse in Walton Street, visited the Curzon at the Westgate Centre on Thursday to see Nicole Kidman in The Goldfinch.
But staff refused to let him take the cake he had brought with him into the cinema room because of the chain’s policy banning customers from bringing in their own food.
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Mr Jarvis said he did not want to hand over the cream cake he had bought for his wife in the Covered Market because he was worried it would get damaged.
The 65-year-old said he felt humiliated and embarrassed as staff surrounded him to request that he hand over his bag and once it became clear he would not be able to take in his bag containing the cream cake and a loaf of bread he asked for a refund and was given one.
Mr Jarvis said: “The cashier should have reminded me about the policy when I was sold the ticket.
“Four staff surrounded me and started shouting at me - it was very embarrassing. I asked to see the manager but I wasn’t allowed to - staff were abrupt and confrontational.
An usher said ‘what’s in your bag’ and took me to the bar and said we can refuse admission.
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“Of course I wasn’t going to eat a whole birthday cake on my own - some other cinema chains are not operating this policy and I would urge Curzon to do the same - I have emailed their management.”
Mr Jarvis said he has worked in the cinema business for 40 years and has recently been a duty manager at Abingdon’s Abbey Cinema.
He added: “The Curzon policy (regarding customers’ own food) will put customers off - I will never go back.”
No one from Curzon Cinemas has responded to the Oxford Mail regarding Mr Jarvis’s claims.
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A statement on the chain’s website clearly states: “Please note that only food and drink purchased from our bars and restaurants may be taken into the cinema screening rooms.
“All our cinemas have a fully licensed bar serving a range of premium alcoholic and alcohol-free drinks, as well as sweet and savoury snacks.”
Visit curzoncinemas.com
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