MoviePass competitor Sinemia sued in class action

Universal

• On Friday, the law firm Chimicles & Tikellis LLP filed a
  class action lawsuit in Delaware on behalf of two plaintiffs,
  alleging that MoviePass competitor Sinemia “essentially became a
  bait-and-switch scheme.”
• The crux of the suit is a new $1.80 per-movie “processing
  fee” introduced by Sinemia in mid-October, even to subscribers
  who had already pre-paid for a yearly subscription.
• Over 40 Sinemia subscribers contacted Business Insider with
  negative stories about the company, many of whom expressed anger
  and frustration with its fees and lack customer service.

When MoviePass was forced to
drastically change its business model in the face of mounting
losses in August, competitor Sinemia stepped into the spotlight.

The movie-ticket subscription startup was founded in Turkey in
2015 and had operated overseas, but in early 2018 it capitalized
on the hype around MoviePass to launch in the US. Despite their
similarities, Sinemia CEO Rifat Oguz positioned his company as
the anti-MoviePass, focused on “profit”
and “sustainability”
where MoviePass was focused on hyper-growth.

But as MoviePass began to introduce unpopular new restrictions,
Sinemia went for the jugular,
introducing a plan at the same price as MoviePass
(around $10 per month), with the same amount of films (three per
month), but with no restrictions on films or showtimes — and
with the ability to book tickets in advance.

For some movie fans, including myself, it seemed we had finally
found a subscription service we could rely on. That feeling
didn’t last for many.

On Friday, the law firm Chimicles & Tikellis LLP filed a
class
action lawsuit in Delaware on behalf of two plaintiffs,
alleging that Sinemia “essentially became a bait-and-switch
scheme.”

“It lures consumers in by convincing them to purchase a
purportedly cheaper movie subscription, and then adds undisclosed
fees that make such purchases no bargain at all,” the lawsuit
claims. “Sinemia fleeces consumers with an undisclosed,
unexpected, and not-bargained-for processing fee each time a plan
subscriber goes to the films using Sinemia’s service.”

I too encountered Sinemia’s sneaky fees, and
wrote about them in a piece published last week, in which I
urged the company to be more transparent with customers about its
pricing structure. After the article published, I was contacted
by over 40 Sinemia subscribers, many of whom expressed anger and
frustration with its fees and lack of customer service.

On Sunday, less than a week after my story, Sinemia deactivated
by personal account without explanation. A button to “reactivate”
my subscription didn’t function and my email to customer support
hasn’t been answered. Despite paying a $20 activation fee, my
account was only active for two months before Sinemia shut it
off.

I saw one movie, “A Star Is Born,” which I highly recommend.

How did it all go so wrong so quickly?

Fees upon fees

The crux of the class action lawsuit against Sinemia is a new
$1.80 “processing fee” that the company began to roll out in
mid-October.

In understanding how the new fee changes the value proposition of
the service, it’s helpful to look at one of the lawsuit
plaintiffs: Paul Early of California.

Early signed up for Sinemia in August and paid $191.88 for a year
plan of two films per month for two people, plus $9.99 for early
activation, according to the suit. All in he paid over $200. The
first five times Early used Sinemia, he incurred a $1.50
third-party “convenience fee” (from using ticketing sites like
Fandango). Sinemia had disclosed before he’d bought the
subscription that he’d have to pay that fee.

But then when Early went to use the app on October 22, he was
charged a further $1.80 “processing fee” per ticket, according to
the suit.

After getting hit with this new fee a few more times, Early
contacted customer support asking to cancel his plan and get a
refund for the remainder. He never heard anything, according to
the suit.

“The movie plan Early is now stuck with has lost significant
value with the imposition of the processing fees,” the suit
argues.

Many Sinemia subscribers echoed these sentiments to Business
Insider, saying they felt taken advantage of by the fees,
especially when “processing fees” were added on top of
“convenience fees.” Multiple subscribers said they had requested
refunds for the remainder of their yearly subscriptions and been
told Sinemia was a “non-refundable service.”

Others simply never heard from Sinemia’s customer support despite
multiple follow-ups (including myself).

Sinemia didn’t respond to a request for comment from Business
Insider.