New Hampshire Business “Dropped the Ball” With Customers, Makes Up For It

Negativity is all over Facebook, way too much

Flip through social media on any given day and odds are you’ll have no issue finding someone bashing a business for whatever reason – the service, the wait time, the quality of their product – it’s almost like people find joy in spewing negativity on social media. But keep scrolling and odds are you’ll eventually find the stand out, the unicorn of business-related posts, where they praise the business for an experience.

That’s what Sandy Alicea did after a not-so-phenomenal experience while attending a movie with her boyfriend. And yes, you read that line right, Sandy and her boyfriend, Joe, had a not great experience but it still led her to post a glowing review about the theater.

Salem, New Hampshire is not the town it used to be

Ask anyone who has grown up in Salem, New Hampshire throughout the years, and they’ll all tell you something about how much it’s changed. Someone who grew up in Salem in the 60s and 70s will point out that Route 28 in the Salem Depot used to just be one lane both ways. Someone who grew up there in the 90s and 2000s may say Salem feels more like a city now than it did the quaint little town they grew up in.

One thing they’ll all agree on? Salem still has some amazing businesses, including newer ones, like the Cinemark Rockingham Park and XD located at The Mall at Rockingham Park.

Top Gun: Maverick

Last week, Sandy and Joe went to a matinee showing of Top Gun: Maverick at the new Cinemark in Salem, after waiting weeks to check it out. Joe even went the extra mile with prep, ordering not only their tickets online, but also drinks and snacks to be delivered to their seats right before the movie would start.

Unfortunately, as the delivery window closed and the movie started, Sandy and Joe never received their items, causing Joe to go to the concession stand to explain their situation, get the drinks and snacks he already paid for, and miss the first 15 minutes of the movie.

After viewing the experience as “not the end of the world, but a bit of a letdown,” Sandy wrote in to the theater “just as an FYI” and was blown away with the response she received below from the General Manager at Cinemark Rockingham Park and XD, Eric DiNardo.

It just goes to show that not every negative experience needs a negative reaction, because if you’re positive and constructive in your criticism, it can come back two-fold. Good on all involved – Sandy for not taking the typical path of bashing a business on social media, and on Eric DiNardo on going above and beyond to own that the ball was dropped, which just happens sometimes, and making it right.