Gripe

An open letter to the managers of the AMC Hoffman center complex:

If you don’t get your bass-ackwards parking lot figured out I am going to boycott you until you do. While your theater is my favorite multi-plex in the area, each time I have gone there in the last month it seems you have closed off yet another signifigant portion of your parking lot for the mysterious construction project under the Metro tracks. I can tolerate some fencing and some closures, I can put up with it taking a few minutes to find a parking spot. But when you decided to close the back lot, effectively separating the north and south lots, that was the final straw.

The south lot is minuscule as it is. And now, with the new fence you have erected the only way to get from the south lot to the larger north lot is to drive all the way back out to Eisenhower and go up through 2 traffic lights! This takes about 10 minutes, added on to the time already wasted in the south lot and then wasted finding a spot in the north lot.

I am not one of the many complainers about movies being too expensive, or concessions being over-priced (not that I particularly enjoy the prices either) but when you start making it difficult to even park at your theater, I start to wonder why do I put up with all of this? Hoyt’s Potomac Yards is right down the street.

If all of that construction is being forced on you by the town, at the very least you should be able to defend your patrons’ rights to park. I mean come on, we pay that ridiculous “entertainment tax”. Couldn’t you finagle a deal here?

Until this situation improves, I am going to boycott you. I’m going to urge all of my friends to boycott you. I am going to urge them to urge all of their friends. I am going to post this boycott call on the internet. In short until you re-open the back parking lot, you will be losing my movie dollars and Alexandria will be losing my “entertainment tax” revenue.

Sincerely,
Mad Max at the Multi-Plex

Originally published on July 31, 2005.