Vue Cinemas complaint: Appaling Customer Care

I am writing to complaint about the terrible customer service we experienced in VUE Cinema Westfield Stratford. My friend and I took our kids (age: 3, 4 , 8, 10) to the cinema to see “Moana 2” on Saturday 18th January, at 12.10 – 14.15.
After the movie finished, we got the kids dressed for the outside and put the younger two boys in the buggies and then we made our way towards the lift (to the right from the stairs).
We were then stopped by the security man and told that the lift is not working.
As the kids were already wrapped up in the buggies and tired, we voiced our concens that we can’t use the stairs with the buggies and asked what other options we have to get downstairs.
The security man then said (after the lift came up and the door opened) that the lift is now working and we can use it to come down.
We all got inside, the lift moved down but the doors were not opening. We pressed the open button multiple times with no success. My friend then started banging on the door asking to let us out and telling that we have four kids inside, two of them being 3 4 years old.
We were told by the cinema people on the other side of the door that they can’t open them and they asked for help and that we need to wait.
I called the alarm in the lift and reported the incident. We were told by the lift operator that we need to wait 5-10min. When we called them back to check what’s going on we were told that they sent the lift engeneer and he will be there by 16.00! Mind you we got stuck there around 14.30. So expecting us to stay in the lift with little kids for 1.30min is outrageous!
After that time my friend’s daughter started having a panic attack and was telling us she is about to faint. She lost colour in her face and was hyper ventillating. In the meantime my daughter started freaking out and got really scared and was crying “she wants daddy” and “she wants to go home”. We were trying to calm them down and were banging on the door asking for urgent help. After which we were told by cinema staff that the help is on the way and we need to wait and if we feel worried we can call 999! WE WERE TOLD TO CALL 999 OURSELVES FROM THE LIFT!
If that is not appaling customer service, I don’t know what is.
We were fuming, outraged, emotionally exhausted, super stressed and petrified for the kids.
We were constantly wondering what if one of the really lost conciousness from the panick?
I was never in such a situation and being a mother, not being able to get my child a help they need, is beyond stressfull.
After around 45min the Fire fighters came, opened the door and rescued us.
Why couldn’t the manager call for the Fire fighters’ help right away, knowing there are four small kids trapped inside???
When we got out, the managers (one male and one female) were apologising to us.
But when I told him that it shouldn’t have happened and that they should not let people in knowing the lift was faulty, he was very defensive. He knew it was their fault but did not want to admit it. My friend then said then that when we first got to the cinema and took the lift up, the door did not open right away either and that female manager was by the door with the key in, opening them manually. It only came back to her after the incident, so they must have known that the lift was faulty for at least 2 hours.
The female manager was offering us free cinema tickets but we refused.
Being the manager comes with responsibilities and what happened to us was horrible, and could easily ended much worse, if we did not manage to calm the kids down and stay strong and calm ourselves.
I would like the management of the VUE cinema to review their policies around safety and train their staff in better, more compassionate customer service and effective emergency solving skills.