MoviePass Blames Bugs For Cancellation Issues

With a new week comes a new issue with MoviePass that is leaving subscribers and would-be former [...]

By Patrick Cavanaugh

With a new week comes a new issue with MoviePass that is leaving subscribers and would-be former subscribers irate, as the service has reinstated subscriptions from canceled subscribers and app errors preventing anyone from deactivating their account. According to the service, the issue came down to being about "bugs," which have reportedly been fixed.

Earlier this week, MoviePass members took to social media to explain that, despite having previously canceled their accounts, they were receiving emails that the service had updated their enrollment plans, effectively reactivating canceled plans with billing cycles continuing. Other users even reported that the app itself prevented the option to cancel the service at all.

The company issued the following statement about the issues:

"On Monday, August 13th, we learned that some members encountered difficulty with the cancellation process. We have fixed the bugs that were causing the issue and we have confirmed that none of our members have been opted-in or converted to the new plan without their express permission. In addition, all cancellation requests are being correctly processed and no members were being blocked from canceling their accounts. We apologize for the inconvenience and ask that any impacted members contact customer support via the MoviePass app."

The company also offered a somewhat deceptive explanation for why canceled accounts had been reinstated.

Earlier this month, the company announced its $9.95 pricing plan would allow subscribers to see three movies a month,when previous plans had allowed for unlimited films. Users who opened the app after this new plan was introduced were prompted with a screen which detailed this new plan, with a button appearing at the bottom claiming "I Agree" to those new terms.

Subscribers who had canceled their accounts and then tapped "I Agree" were then re-enrolled in the service. This ultimately reminded users to be careful about various terms and conditions that pop up when opening an app.

Last summer, MoviePass launched a plan that was deemed too good to be true by most movie fans, as its new subscription allowed members to see as many movies as they wanted each month, as many times as they wanted for $9.95 a month, with the only restriction being that you could see one movie a day. The plan saw a massive surge in new subscribers, though the company learned that this model was unsustainable.

The service first began preventing viewers from seeing the same movie more than once. The next step was adding "surge pricing" to the busiest films and screening times, with these surge prices sometimes being higher than the face value price of a ticket. MoviePass then raised the monthly fee to $14.95 and claimed it would restrict many screenings and films throughout the week, with older films and slower screenings being the only times the service was effective.

We look forward to finding out what issues will arise over the next week and how MoviePass will handle it.

What do you think about this latest development? Let us know in the comments below!

[H/T CNET]

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