Recently, the reporter's investigation found that in some cinemas, theaters, shopping malls and other places in Beijing, the elderly often encounter the problem that they cannot pay with cash.
Can't use cash, the clerk can't help
Old people in Beijing, do you have difficulty watching movies?
The reporter asked many elderly people aged 60 to 70 and found that it is common for elderly people in this age group to use smartphones, and they basically know how to pay with WeChat or Alipay.
But there are also elderly people who don’t know how to use mobile phones, or only use elderly phones with simple functions.
They usually use old age cards or cash for shopping, and their scope of action is quite limited, they only go shopping in supermarkets near their homes.
For entertainment such as watching movies, if the children do not help buy tickets, the elderly will give up.
In the CBD store of Wanda Studios, the reporter did not see a ticket counter, only a counter selling snacks and drinks, and there was no big screen in the theater to introduce information about film screenings.
The clerk said that if you want to buy tickets on the spot, you can only use the all-in-one ticket purchase machine by yourself.
The reporter clicked on the screen of the machine and saw that the film and time of the day's screening were displayed here, but in terms of payment method, only WeChat or Alipay scan code payment is supported, and there is no cash payment option.
"My mobile phone is broken, can I pay with cash?" Facing the reporter's question, the clerk responded that the theater has canceled the cash purchase channel, and the front desk personnel cannot have cash transactions with customers, so there is no way to allow The customer gives the cash to the clerk, and the clerk buys the ticket on his behalf.
"You can only ask your relatives and friends to help you buy the ticket, and then tell you the ticket collection code. We can use the ticket collection code to pick up the ticket here." code, there is no way to buy tickets.
The on-site price is expensive to sell cards
More theaters, although you can buy tickets with cash, but the price is much higher than online shopping.
At the scene of Jinyi Film City Huiju Shopping Mall store, the counter that should be the ticket counter was empty.
On the screen behind the counter, there is only one movie showing information.
The reporter originally thought that it was not possible to buy tickets here, but later discovered that the staff at another counter selling snacks also served as conductors.
The reporter asked what movie was showing today, and the other party turned the computer screen that was originally facing him.
The above movie information is obviously much more complete than the previous screen, but the font on the screen is very small, and each movie only has the time for the next show, so it is still impossible to see all the screening information of the day at a glance.
As for the price, there is a big gap between buying online and buying on the spot.
A 2D movie costs 66 yuan to buy from an online shopping platform, and 150 yuan to buy it in cash on the spot.
Another movie screened in a 4D theater was priced at 86 yuan online, but it cost 240 yuan on-site.
This kind of huge price difference is not uncommon in other theaters. For example, at the Xinguangjie store of Red Star Movie World, the original price of a movie that sells for about 40 yuan online is 150 yuan.
At the Tiananmen Branch of Poly International Cinemas, the original price of 120 yuan for a giant-screen movie is only 56.9 yuan online.
Why is it so expensive to buy tickets offline?
Perhaps seeing the reporter’s surprise at the price, the clerks at the Huiju store in Jinyi Studios began to sell the movie theater’s “membership card”: the cost is 20 yuan, and the card can be used with a minimum recharge of 100 yuan. After that, you can buy tickets with the card Enjoy discounted prices.
The unused balance can only be used for the next ticket purchase and cannot be refunded.
At the Tian’an store of Poly International Cinemas, the clerk also recommended to get a membership card, “It’s a good deal to watch movies often.”
The card application fee and the minimum stored value amount are exactly the same as Jinyi Cinemas.
In the Xinguangjie store of Red Star Movie World, the cost of applying for a card has increased a lot.
The cost of production is 40 yuan, and the card must be charged with at least 360 yuan before it can be used.
At the Jinyuan Times store in Yingjia International Studios, the reporter asked about the ticket discounts for the elderly.
From Monday to Friday, seniors over the age of 60 can enjoy half-price on-site ticket purchases with valid certificates, and the preferential price is not much different from the online price.
But on weekends, there is no such discount. The elderly must recharge 500 yuan to apply for a membership card in order to continue to enjoy the half-price ticket discount.
It is not easy to buy tickets to watch a cross talk show
"Excuse me, is the talk show going inside?" When the reporter visited Sanlitun Meijia Happy Cinema, a young customer happened to ask the front desk.
Only then did the reporter learn that some movie halls in the theater did not show movies all day long, and there were live talk shows during several periods of time.
But in the theater, the reporter did not see any publicity about the talk show.
The customers who came to inquire before bought tickets directly from the Internet.
The front desk also informed that cash can only be used to buy movie tickets, and it is not possible to use cash to buy tickets for talk shows.
The reporter saw on the online ticketing platform that the CBD store of Wanda Cinemas and the Tianan store of Poly International Cinemas also had talk shows.
When the reporter visited these two theaters, they saw posters of talk shows in the box office, with QR codes printed on them, which can be scanned to buy tickets.
As for whether you can use cash to buy talk show tickets, the staff of Wanda Cinemas clearly replied that they can’t buy them, and they have to buy them on the online platform. The front desk staff of Poly International Cinemas said they were not very clear.
The form of talk show is more popular among young people, and it seems that the elderly who are already old are not taken into account when buying tickets.
There are other art forms, although they are more suitable for all ages, but the way of purchasing tickets is also not so "old".
At five o'clock in the afternoon, at a cross talk theater in Sanlitun, the reporter saw a small kiosk with the ticket office at the gate, but there was no one there.
The two landline consultation numbers left above couldn't get through.
In the upper right corner of the ticket booth, there is a notice that the theater is recruiting theater service personnel, and the signature is a mobile phone number.
The reporter dialed this number and finally got through. The other party said that there was a performance at 7:30 that night, but the tickets had already been sold out, and they could only buy tickets for the next few days.
"And the theater does not sell tickets on site, you must go to the online ticketing platform to buy tickets in advance."
In addition to theaters, some exhibition halls are not fully prepared for on-site ticket sales.
The reporter saw on the ticketing platform that the Museum of Arts and Crafts is exhibiting an exhibition. Depending on the content, the price ranges from 98 yuan to 138 yuan.
The reporter dialed the number of the exhibition hall and asked if it was possible to buy the ticket with cash on the spot. The other party was obviously hesitant. After hesitating for a while, he replied that he could buy it, but the ticket buyer had to prepare the right amount for the ticket price. The exhibition hall "can't make change" .
Difficult to buy tickets
still difficult to checkout
In addition to buying tickets, the reporter also discovered the problem of "difficulty checking out" that the elderly may encounter when simulating the "no mobile phone" state.
In a convenience store near Meishikou Road, Fengtai District, the reporter picked out a bottle of drink and prepared to check out. There was only a self-service checkout machine in the store. Because there was no mobile phone and the code could not be scanned, the reporter had to call the clerk to help.
I thought the clerk would help to collect cash and check out, but the answer from the other party was surprising: "Without the key, the cash register cannot be opened."
It turned out that the key to the cash register in the store was kept by another clerk, but he did not have a shift today, and the clerk on duty now has no key.
Not only is the key missing, the reporter saw in the store that the pricing of some products obviously did not take cash checkout into consideration.
The preferential prices of several products are accurate to "cents", and there are some zeros, such as "5.84 yuan" and "7.02 yuan".
The reporter asked the clerk if he could open the cash register and if he could get change for these products, and the answer was also negative.
The reporter also saw some vending machines in the mall, some of which sold beverages and some sold blind boxes of toys.
What they have in common is that they cannot pay in cash, but can only pay by scanning codes.
Small food and beverage stores are also the "hardest hit areas" that lack cash payment channels.
When visiting Huiju shopping mall, the reporter found a milk tea shop, a coffee shop and a snack bar.
Among them, milk tea shops do not have change for cash, while coffee shops and snack bars have no cash payment channels at all, and they must scan the code to order online.
Our reporter Mo Fan (Beijing Evening News)