MoviePass competitor Sinemia has terminated a bunch of accounts over the past week. Understandably, customers are furious, especially because there’s no exact reason for the termination, but just a list of general reasons that could be the cause. 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.” Sinemia has become more and more like MoviePass recently as they added some extra processing fees last year and also locked many accounts demanding some form of ID for verification.
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.’”
Here’s the full letter sent to some of those who’s account was terminated:
“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.”
Guru’s Wrap-up
I never used the service myself, as I rarely do to the movies. But these companies do offer good value for those who vosot movie theaters often, especially when they work as advertised. But that’s not always the case. And it looks like Sinemia is doing everything possible to stop people from using a service they pay for, or just kicking out customers who cause them most losses. Let me know if you’ve had issues with Sinemia recently.
