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  • Bratty Customers?

    I remember one night last October when two twelve year old brats came through my haunted house. They were trying to act tough and cool, and generally just causing a bunch of trouble. What I saw of them, they stopped on the bridge I'm stationed on and started to dance, clogging up the flow of customers and cussing out anyone who told them to move. Then they stopped and starting yelling at people through the fence, telling them where people were hidden. All attempts we made to tell them to get out were futile, and of course we weren't allowed to touch them. We have a security guard on the premises, but he wasn't where he could see what was going on at the moment and we couldn't leave our positions to go get him. What would you suggest for dealing with customers like this?

  • #2
    Sounds like a problem with comunication. There should be a radio in each section so that security can be contacted and escort the guys out. This falls on management and how they have planed to deal with unruly customers. These guys should have been pulled aside and told that they need to respect the other customers experience or they will be escorted of the property by the police. Some kids today have no respect and they are not the customers that you want or need. But in order to deal with these type of situations you need to have a plan in place before a problem so everyone knows what to do and it can be handled quickly and easily. Hope this helps.

    Phatman
    Phatman

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    • #3
      Originally posted by austind View Post
      Sounds like a problem with comunication. There should be a radio in each section so that security can be contacted and escort the guys out. This falls on management and how they have planed to deal with unruly customers. These guys should have been pulled aside and told that they need to respect the other customers experience or they will be escorted of the property by the police. Some kids today have no respect and they are not the customers that you want or need. But in order to deal with these type of situations you need to have a plan in place before a problem so everyone knows what to do and it can be handled quickly and easily. Hope this helps.

      Phatman
      Yes we also do this , every area has radios and security cameras all over. We also have roamers that are carector's that go anywhere in the haunt/parking lot, they can fallow any problem people and give them one warning and i'f they still act out they will take them out of the haunt at that point. We have warning signs and audio on the rules in the beginning and also states no touching actors or props so when we see anyone hitting props on the cameras someone is sent there to take care of the situation. Lets not forget there is a real problem with smoking that we have to watch for.
      Ken L.

      http://www.thedreamsofdarkness.com

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      • #4
        Any one who buy's a ticket to go thru my haunt is a guest. As soon as they start acting stupid they are trespassers. They will be dealt with accordingly, because they are on private property.

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        • #5
          Answering Drunks or Sober Plain Idiots.

          I let a few comments "go", unless it is a group with youngsters and one obscene commentor. Then we have this "Talk": "If I can't right now convince you to be more quiet, then at the end of the house tour, some of the others in your group might be asking Me for a refund or a whole new tour. I am just lazy and cheap enough that I really don't want to do either of those things, just because you are mouthy. If you can't stifle yourself you must leave."
          I will modify my demand if it is determined that the group all came here together and if everyone in that group doesn't mind if a person among them is distractingly mouthy because then Jim just says less and does less of what I would normally say and do, afterall it is their time and money, just trying to "please". This offer, the few times it has is taken up, fails very quickly as the yammering people fail to be or become entertaining enough for the rest of the group to tolerate.
          Then they demand I do what I was paid to do here, which was to provide stimulating,nocturnal entertainment, in my own words, and odd style.
          hauntedravensgrin.com

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          • #6
            Originally posted by Dr.Mandrake View Post
            I remember one night last October when two twelve year old brats came through my haunted house. They were trying to act tough and cool, and generally just causing a bunch of trouble. What I saw of them, they stopped on the bridge I'm stationed on and started to dance, clogging up the flow of customers and cussing out anyone who told them to move. Then they stopped and starting yelling at people through the fence, telling them where people were hidden. All attempts we made to tell them to get out were futile, and of course we weren't allowed to touch them. We have a security guard on the premises, but he wasn't where he could see what was going on at the moment and we couldn't leave our positions to go get him. What would you suggest for dealing with customers like this?
            We can text our Security or Management if there is a problem like that. It works well.

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            • #7
              If you guys can't get real radio gear, get a fake one. Or a broken one. Act like you use it, pretend to talk to 'management' and sign off saying 'radio off and returning to character' so they hear you.

              Most of the time they'll 'fear' consequences and move on. If they don't. Let them back the patrons up... then alert the other patrons that the hold up is the culprets and let them take care of it. Might even say "Rest of the actors aren't going to entertain unless you guys straighten up and take off" I've been a patron and in this incident. I've seen this method work with a few young boys. They walked down the trail and acted back up. I told them, "Look, if you guys are gonna keep this up and ruin my $12, I'm whippin someone's azz" .. they shut up the rest of the tour lol.

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              • #8
                Our haunt is designed with a center "security hallway" that is the length of the entire maze. We put peep holes in every room so the 2 security guards can watch and look into every single room and follow the "troubled groups" from behind the walls. There is a emergency door about every 15 feet so the security guard can have rush access into the room to either follow the group from behind and make sure they behave or escort out a group through and down the security hallway and out the exit.
                ~Bill Mlinac
                The Deadland Haunted House
                www.facebook.com/Deadlandhauntedhouse
                www.Thedeadland.comsigpic

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                • #9
                  One Time a young Idiot..

                  Was being disruptfull so I said, "We wil ask the others who they want to lead them through the house, me or you?"
                  A slew of very small children sitting there all voted for the idiot !
                  I handed him the small flashlight I lead the tour with. He shined it on a picture on the wall and said:"Wutts Dis?" No answer was forthcoming. Next picture "Wutts Dis?" So it went for a short time.
                  I asked :"So is this going to be a "Wuuts Dis Tour""
                  Then his intelligent Sister spoke up and said, "Give the man back his flashlight, you idiot!"
                  (Maybe after al of these years I just make this "job" look too easy?)
                  ("Wuuts Dis?" Could have been complimented with a few "Wuuts Dat's!)
                  THE last thing most sober people want to do is to speak in public. Drunks just think or assume they are actually "speaking".
                  hauntedravensgrin.com

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                  • #10
                    No Tolerance Policy

                    I love that last comment. "Drunks just assume they are speaking." So true so true.

                    I have worked in night clubs for many many years, as both a bouncer and a body guard for national touring acts. When it comes to drunks I have realized one thing - they are not reasonable, and they are not tolerable. So I have a no tolerance policy for drunks. If they are a problem, they leave - usually with a little help! Amazing how cooperative they become as they are being escorted out the door!
                    Travis "Big T" Russell
                    President
                    Big T Productions Inc

                    Owner and Operator of "The Plague" and "Camp Nightmare"

                    Customer Quote of the year: "Damn, I pissed myself"

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                    • #11
                      Well, thats a tough situation given that there was not really a lot that could have been done. However, if I were in that position, even if I was told not to leave my position, I would have to correct the situation.

                      At my old place, I was a breaker. Breakers had a section of the haunt to monitor and we reported things that were broken down or if there was a trouble group, we followed them and instructed the actors to keep their distance or be wary of their actions before anything escalated.

                      I have run into similar situations at my old haunt many times. Each situation would have to be dealt with specifically. Being that this situation dealt with kids, I would either remove them, or freak them out by poking them in full view of everyone or something. Showing them I can break the rules and will do so if I need to. Its helped quite a bit. Being that they are aware they shouldn't touch us, and we cant touch them gives some people some real crass and a willingness to do what they feel like. The best system I have heard of so far is a haunt with ear pieces. The ear pieces and cords were concealed of course, and if/when a customer was becoming unruly, they would say a pass phrase or so into their mic while pushing a button on their radio. This alerted security and called them in through a sneak door with a normal response time of about twenty seconds.
                      "If I ever hear , "Boo", "Hiss", or "Roar", I will personally kick you in the pants."

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                      • #12
                        Originally posted by Frightener View Post
                        If you guys can't get real radio gear, get a fake one. Or a broken one. Act like you use it, pretend to talk to 'management' and sign off saying 'radio off and returning to character' so they hear you.
                        I have found that the more security is visible, the less problems you have.
                        http://www.bigscaryshow.com
                        http://www.rabidbadger.org

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          If you can, attend my Wednesday class at Transworld, Im teaching a class on building a call button system with varying degrees of response needed, it works very well in our shows, easy to run, no batteries and our response time is in seconds.
                          Alex Lohmann
                          Alex Lohmann

                          Owner/Operator 13th Street Morgue Haunted House www.13thstreetmorgue.com
                          Owner/Operator Dungeon of Doom Haunted House www.dungeonofdoomtexas.com
                          Owner/Operator When Hinges Creak LLC. www.whenhingescreak.com
                          PR Director for Reindeer Manor Haunted Abusement Park www.rmabusementpark.com
                          Founder of Dallas Trocars Hearse Club www.dallastrocars.com
                          Rev Yum Yum

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                          • #14
                            Then One Time...

                            As a new October group were being seated, a girl maybe 12 said in a very loud voice:"Well! If anyone touches or grabs me here I'm going to sue them!" As she folded her arms and looked as pissy as this sounds.
                            I had not killed the lights yet the door was still open, I looked at her and said :"If that is your atitude, you can just leave Right Now!"
                            She very quickly fearfully almost whispered (or was that a mumble?) "I didn't mean it. I don't want to leave." .. as the frown changed to a much more relaxed, even begging sort of a look.
                            She went through the entire house and she had no complaints.. she probably just had a lot of fun as almost everybody will.

                            THE Worst ones that I have had lately are usually the Moto-Cross teenage boys. There is a track just outside of town, their Parents drive them here from all over the USA. The kid will think he is god because he jumps a dirt bike 40 feet in the air succesfully, of course many Parents can not afford such a hobby for their child, $7,000 for a bike only used on a track,the travel expenses, ex cetra.(Some boys and parents see the glitter of bigger money as fame will find them!!
                            Some of these kids have an attitude like you would not believe (Not all of them)
                            After asking then, telling one of them to be quiet he said, "You can't kick ME out a goddam Haunted House!"
                            Yes I CAN! I own it, you are OUT!
                            He wouldn't move, just sat there like a rock. I told him to get up. He still just sat there beginning to argue again.
                            "I guess I'm calling the Police to come here and move you out of the chair. They can be here in under a minute." (No lie)
                            He finally stands up. A man and another boy also stand up across the room from him.. his quiet Father and Brother.
                            I looked at "Dad" and asked, "Well, what do you think of this? Would you have kicked him out too if he was acting like this?"
                            Meek Dad quietly said, "Yah, I guess that I would have."
                            I guess we all found out who runs that family, and it ain't "DAD!"
                            All three left the house. No refunds.
                            Pathetic.
                            These are also the group, moto-cross, one of which intentionally broke a large piece of glass here , just because he wanted to.
                            The glass was possibly an antique piece of ribbed glass from the second floor of an office building, "privacy" glass? It was behind a sheet of Lexon, so no glass was released from the seperate room to endanger anyone at all. I never saw which one of them broke it, but there was also a smart-azz with much attitude in the group, so odds are it was that guy.
                            We have had very few encounters here over 27 years of such destructive, vandalistic or nasty things in general. I like to think it might be because we really try to accomodate here and also give them the best "Show" we possibly can give.
                            It sure does help greatly though to eliminate the screaming, staggering drunks first, before they can walk in, this saves so much aggrevation on everyone's part.
                            You open your place up to numerous "Fails" if you have to allow such half-wits in the door. Puke, urine, stealing, breaking, them getting hurt, YOU get the BLAME, no matter what....Who needs that?
                            and then.. the sober customers blame your house for the crappy experience brought on via the half-wit drunk(s)...
                            Last edited by Jim Warfield; 02-27-2014, 12:15 AM.
                            hauntedravensgrin.com

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