On Sundays I close down at 11 p.m. There are 5 haunts 10 miles away from me that advertise being open until Midnight on Sundays. So last Sunday myself and a group of people working at my haunt decided to take the trip to visit the 5 haunts 1o miles from us after we closed. We all figured we had an hour to make it so we should get a chance to visit some of these haunts. I got to the area at 11:15 and every single one of the haunts were closed. I went to one of the haunts that still had some cars in lot and got out and went up to the door. A guy comes out and angrily asks us what we want. I say we are here to visit the haunt and he says they are closed. So I ask him what time are they suppose to be open until. The guy gets defensive and says "Well, sometimes we stay open until 1 a.m, but today we decided to close early because we didn't have any customers for 20 minutes. Come back next week." This angered me to no end. Slow or not, if you advertise being open until Midnight you should be open until Midnight. I made special plans to go to the haunt based on there advertised hours.
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I agree. People travel long distances to see haunts. If i arrived at one and it was closed i wuold never visit that haunt again. It doesnt take much effort to stay open as long as you advertise. We stop selling tickets at midnight. At 1:45am we had six people walk up and since we still had a few guests left in line to go through we sold that group tickets. They were very pleased and came back the next week with more people!
sean
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Just a question. Did you phone ahead?
We normally don't advertise when we close... we open @ 8pm. Until ?
So I always suggest people to call ahead. For us if we had 30 minutes to an hour of 10 customers (paying 50 actors and 10 support people) I will shut down.
So think about it from the owners perspective. Call ahead.
I agree it may suck if people close early, but when you add logistics etc... And if he had a bad attitude etc. I see why you are upset. But we closed a bit early last night and I had to tell two car loads of folks that we would be open tomorrow night.
I was nice and I gave them some coupons to use...
Sometimes it's better to close than lose $360-500 an hour... IMO
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So what about the haunts that advertise they are the scariest and #1 rated haunt?
Do I get my money back if they suck?
I agree posted hours would be nice to keep but 10-30 minutes early on a Weekday, is not uncommon.
I'm more upset over haunts that advertise "The SCARIEST", "You'll beg for your Momma", "#1" more than hours... IMO
Talk about false advertising!
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Their is a difference in saying your "#1" then their is i saying you will be open until midnight. staying your the best is just an opinion of the event operator. Saying your open until a certain time is a fact so if i went somewhere and they were closed I would be pissed. Its bad business and a good way to lose business. If your stating facts on your ads stick to them
Sean
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Originally posted by Mr Nightmarez View PostJust a question. Did you phone ahead?
We normally don't advertise when we close... we open @ 8pm. Until ?
So I always suggest people to call ahead. For us if we had 30 minutes to an hour of 10 customers (paying 50 actors and 10 support people) I will shut down.
So think about it from the owners perspective. Call ahead.
I agree it may suck if people close early, but when you add logistics etc... And if he had a bad attitude etc. I see why you are upset. But we closed a bit early last night and I had to tell two car loads of folks that we would be open tomorrow night.
I was nice and I gave them some coupons to use...
Sometimes it's better to close than lose $360-500 an hour... IMOJared Layman
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My Haunt is also my house I live in , having drunks beating on the side of your house for a tour at 4 am is not fun for me.
I used to remain open as long as there were ticket holders standing in the parking lot since so many do drive many hours just to get here.
I stopped being open after 2:30 am when I found out our Police Force goes to bed at 2:30! (I have no desire to be "The Lone Ranger'!)
In my life I have seen many people get into some retail business, going to set the world on fire..then no sales on a Wednesday..."I'm going to be closed on Wednesdays, nobody shows up then.."
"I'm also now going to closed on Tuesdays, since few show up that day either.."
Pretty soon potential customers get tired slamming their nose against a locked shop door that is supposed to be open for business....
Then there was the time a dissappointed drunky young woman assumed that I would be willing and awake to give her a 3am tour, "Because it was her Birthday!"
I didn't . She went back home and told everyone I was a meth lab!?
When I had a Lab, her name was not "Meth!"
(I must do a fantastic job of hiding that foul smell a meth lab emmits. An ex-con 1/2 a mile away had a meth lab and sometimes the smell burnt our eyes and throat while standing in our yard!
Everybody kept calling complaining, the Police had to put their request on a list, those haz-mat suited guys were just too busy to arrest him for a couple of months!)
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I gotta agree with mindtumor on this one. If a store advertises that they are open 24 hours a day and I decide that I want to buy KY and rubber gloves for my makeup kit (yes, you do get strange looks purchasing those items together - LOL) at 3:42am on a Thursday, then said store had better not decide that they're closing at 3:30am that morning!!! It is just plain irritating to go out of your way, or heck, even it if it's your final destination, to have them be closed. You've wasted your time, as well as your $ on gas. And to have a defensive haunt owner tell you to come back the following week, well, that's just the icing on the cake.
As far as calling ahead, well, I wouldn't have bothered calling ahead either, if it was 11:15 and they didn't advertise closing until midnight. On the otherhand, if they had a "?" listed as their closing time, then I probably would have.
We have always advertised our closing time. If there is a long line to get into the haunt, we continue to sell tickets to people who show up. Once the line has dissipated to just a few groups waiting to get in, we take down our lights outside and close up shop.
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Originally posted by SpFXChic View PostI gotta agree with mindtumor on this one. If a store advertises that they are open 24 hours a day and I decide that I want to buy KY and rubber gloves for .......
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