Marvel Studios
- MoviePass competitor Sinemia has been on a spree of terminating accounts over the past few days.
- A half-dozen Sinemia subscribers have contacted Business Insider and dozens more have posted on Reddit, expressing dismay and confusion about their canceled accounts.
- Sinemia is sending a form letter to some of those affected, saying they are eligible for a refund "based on the difference between your payments to Sinemia and the cost of your ticket purchases."
- In a statement to Business Insider, Sinemia said that "after conducting a detailed fraud detection analysis, our system has detected fraudulent activities by a number of users whose memberships have been subsequently terminated due to violation of the Terms of Service."
MoviePass competitor Sinemia terminated a slew of accounts over the past week, and some subscribers are furious.
Several people have contacted Business Insider over the past few days, claiming their subscriptions to the movie-ticket service were canceled unfairly. Many others complained on a lengthy Reddit thread that started over the weekend that detailed complaints about account terminations.
Sinemia is sending a form letter to some of those affected. The letter lists a variety of possible reasons why their accounts were terminated, and says they are eligible for a refund "based on the difference between your payments to Sinemia and the cost of your ticket purchases," according to a copy of the letter viewed by Business Insider.
In a statement to Business Insider about the surge in cancellations, Sinemia said that "after conducting a detailed fraud detection analysis, our system has detected fraudulent activities by a number of users whose memberships have been subsequently terminated due to violation of the Terms of Service."
Sinemia continued: "If a member is terminated due to fraudulent activity, Sinemia is not required to provide a refund. Despite that, as an act of good faith, Sinemia has decided to provide full refunds of the difference between a member’s ‘membership payment and fees’ and ‘ticket purchases.’"
Sinemia has recently been hit with a string of complaints from customer, over 200 of whom have contacted Business Insider since November, upset about various aspects of the service, from "misuse fees" to demands for copies of their IDs. Customers filed a class-action lawsuit in November, which was amended in late February, alleging Sinemia ripped them off by introducing a new fee.
If you are a Sinemia subscriber whose account has been terminated, or if you have another story about the service, contact the author at nmcalone@businessinsider.com.
Here is a copy of a form notice Sinemia is sending to some subscribers:
Dear Sinemia member,
This is an important notice that requires your attention.
Our top priority is to provide our members with the best movie-going experience possible in the most affordable way. In order to achieve this goal, it is very important for our members to comply with the membership rules and abide by the terms of service.
Sinemia has put several systems and measures in place in order to prevent fraud and keep Sinemia’s membership sustainable and affordable.
Upon reviewing your account, we regret to inform you that the system has detected examples of your membership use that violates the terms of service. As a result, your account has been terminated. An account may be terminated, but not limited to, for the following reasons:
- Unauthorized use of the Sinemia card/cardless outside of its intended purposes, resulting in fraudulent financial activity
- The use of multiple Sinemia accounts in the same device resulting in financial abuse
- Reasonable suspicion of fraud and/or abuse
- Sharing one’s Sinemia membership information to purchase tickets for other persons.
- Manipulation of location data resulting in deceptive ticket purchases
You may review the usage terms of your account on our website if you would like to seek further information. Given the circumstances, please note that you will not be able to create further accounts with Sinemia.
Best regards,
Sinemia
You are eligible for a refund based on the difference between your payments to Sinemia and the cost of your ticket purchases. Please fill in the form to get detailed usage history and apply for a refund.
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See Also:
- MoviePass closes up its Los Angeles office after firing its business development team
- This guy made physical flip-flops out of Trump’s contradictory tweets — and he sold out his entire inventory in less than a month
- A class-action lawsuit against MoviePass competitor Sinemia from angry subscribers is heating up
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Source: Business Insider – nmcalone@businessinsider.com (Nathan McAlone)