Looting Viewers by force-selling 3-D Glasses

Location/place: Thiruvananthapuram

Name of company/service: SL Cinema

I booked seven tickets on-line for the movie “Ice Age – 4” playing at Athulya Theatre, SL Cinema, by paying Rs 504. When I went to SL Cinema Box Office Counter on July 29, 2012 to claim the tickets, the box office people asked me to pay additional Rs 210/- towards “3-D Glasses”. I told them that we already have very good quality 3-D glasses and that we need not purchase glasses. But the Box Office staff refused to issue me tickets without paying Rs 210 extra for 3-D glasses. When I argued that “you cannot force somebody to purchase 3-D glasses”, the counter staff called me “Abnormal Person” in front of the public, thus humiliating me. I had to pay Rs 210/- extra to redeem my movie tickets as I had kids and family members, whom I did not wish to disappoint. But can a Cinema force its viewers to purchase 3-D glasses, if the viewers already have such glasses? Suppose a person re-visits a movie 5-6 times; why should he/she buy 3-D glasses every time?? And why should a blind person or one-eyed person, who cannot see 3-D movie, be forced to purchase 3-D glasses. I think SL Cinema is engaging in Monopolistic & Restrictive Action to make money. Also, by not allowing its customers to re-use / re-cycle the 3-D glasses, SL Cinema is creating more wastage and bad eco-habits. My contention is – A Cinema has NO right to impose purchase of 3-D glasses on its customers.