Sinemia

Just like others, one star is too many for this company. Just like all the others. I signed up. Starting using for only 3 months. Then they made me send picture with DL for verification. Then all of a sudden cancelled my account for abuse. Not 1 time did I abuse my account. They are calling me a fraud now when they are the fraud. They make it hard to see a movie so you accidentally screw up. They NEVER answer emails. Hopefully a class action lawsuit comes about.

Company terminated my account unfairly
I have been a Sinemia Customer since October; unfortunately, I accidentally purchased a year membership due to unclear check out procedures. I appealed a refund and was denied, which is fine, as we continued to use the service we paid for. I have had to pay extra fees and promised a card option which then I was told did not exist. When they finally rolled out the card feature I was told I had to pay 30 dollars to order the card. I opted not to purchase one. Since the first month, I experienced app issues, which keep me from appropriately following their required check in procedure. Each time I had an issue, I contacted them to let me know I had an issue. I believe this happened 3, maybe 4 times. The last time it happened, Sinemia threatened to charge me for the full price of the tickets, as I had "failed" to check in. I let them know I was not at fault and provided screen shots to them. Today, I attemped to use the service and found my account had been terminated and had to go online to find the following message:

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

Sinemia issues a full refund for the difference between a user's membership payment & fees and ticket purchases to the user`s payment card. Please fill in the form to get detailed usage history and request refund.

I have requested information and a refund, but would still like to make a complaint, as this company has proved time and time again to have terrible business practices which, in my opinion, border on fraudulent (which is ironic, as they are canceling member accounts accusing them of fraud.)

Arbitrarily declined to provide service I had paid for.
I joined Sinemia in early December 2018. I paid for a year membership. It worked online for two or three times, but then I paid an extra $15 for the physical card that you can use to get a cinema ticket at the theatre in person.

That worked once. The next time I tried it, it did not. It would not be accepted online or in person. I was in extensive contact with Sinemia. They eventually resolved it in March and I saw a film. That is 4 films in 3 months, and I had signed up for 3 movies a month.

The next time I used it, I made a mistake and forgot to check in. I acknowledged it, and even though I had missed seeing 5 movies I was entitled to see, they did not waive the $11.50 misuse fee that they charged (i.e. the cost of the actual ticket to see the movie in Walla Walla, WA). So I paid it.

Then a week later I was in Olympia, WA, and tried to see a movie, and instead of working they sent an error message that my account was terminated for

"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"

Then there a list of things, none of which I did. I tried to use my card legitimately in 4 different towns, only two of which worked. I do have all the email and DMs on Twitter to back this up.

When I contacted their customer service after receiving the message today when I tried to see a movie in Olympia (I had a symposium here), they just said that it was automatic and that there was nothing that they could do.

It really feels like they automatically cancel anyone who appears to want to use the card in the way that they say it can be used, that is at any cinema for any movie. I did not get to use the card fully, but even those failed movies, when the card I paid for did not work, I did not get a movie credited to my account.

It seems like a really shady business practice.

Sinemia charged me for the full year (12X months) of service, and then canceled after three months but refuse to refund.
I subscribed Sinemia service in Dec 2018 and paid for the full-year subscription. I have been using it normally. In March 2019, Sinemia decided to cancel my subscription and not offer a refund, claiming the full price movie tickets they've provided is higher than the dollar amount of my full-year subscription. Also they claim my account was fraudulent but can't provide proof. I requested refund with their customer support, but can't get a response. I then decide to dispute credit card and notified Sinemia.

Invalid cancellation of annual membership after 6 months by Sinemia.com.

I have registered for premium membership plan with Sinemia.com for a plan of 3 movies a month and paid annual membership payment to them. Under this plan I can book 3 movie tickets per month using sinemia app by paying just processing fees & convenience fees(if applies). Today when I tried to book ticket using their app I have got notification that their is an important notice for me and I need to visit website. When I visited website and did login, I got to know that my account has been terminated, few days back I have already provided them my passport copy along with my picture holding my passport , "Identification review has been completed successfully and no issue have been found in this process, also I can use sinemia service". After my account has been terminated I tried to connect with Sinemia support, after many messages and emails they replied to my query mentioning since the account identification review is dealt by another team they cannot provide reason why my account has been terminated, I kept asking them to provide details of that other team and they never provided me any further details. In the end they just said that they can only provide me details of my account previous usage and will accordingly charge me full fees(removing any benefits under this membership plan of sinemia) for all the tickets I have booked and if anything remains then I will get return. I have just used 6 months of their service for 8 movies I have watched and they have completely fooled me. I need your help for re-activation of my membership plan or refund full membership payment fees I have made for this plan.

Business charged me for 12 months, but canceled my subscription after 7 months. They are not refunding the 5 months unused.
The business canceled my account arbitrarily. I used their service only as directed.

My account was closed for no reason, and I followed all their terms and conditions.
Spoke to Sinemia on Twitter @*** on 3/23 and gave me a scripted reply.

1. Asked for legal ID verification for movie ticket service.
2. 1-year subscription (fully paid) cancelled 7 mo.s early
3. improper refund offer
Sinemia is a movie ticketing service. In late October 2018 I signed up for a 1-year plan (20.99 per month, all paid upfront), which allowed buying one or two tickets to a movie, 3 days each month. To use these tickets, one must utilize a mobile phone app to do various purchase, check-in and verification processes. There were some fees charged, such about 2.60 per ticket. Further, the app uses a GPS check-in to be sure that the user is in fact at the movie they made the company buy full price tickets for. They reserve the right to terminate or penalize for any misuse of the service.

Until February, the app worked as I expected. I have use the app according to the rules, but I did once forget to "check-in" for a movie, but I alerted the company via customer support portal and was not penalized. February was when I was prevented from reserving tickets and asked for ID verification. They asked me to send a photograph of my legal drivers license, and a photo of me holding the ID by my face. Foolishly, I did that without redacting any sensitive information or ID numbers, birthdates, etc.

I was alerted via email that ID verification was successful, and that I could continue to use the app. Yesterday, Friday March 22, I was attempting to buy tickets for a movie (US, a popular film) and was redirected to my membership page, which alerted me that my account was terminated automatically because the system detected possible fraud... here are the list of possible reasons offered:

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

Again, my account was never misused as stated. Side note: I now have a gift card from them that I cannot usea $75 gift card sold at a 30% discount $52.50.

Below they offer a "full refund for the difference between a user's membership payment & fees and ticket purchases to the user's payment card."

This is not a refund for the seven months of service they are no longer willing to offer. It is a refund of the difference of what I already paid them and the charges they incurred for ticketing. The sustainability of the business model is an internal matter. The refund offered is unacceptable. I messaged their customer support page and on Twitter. On Twitter they confirmed my account termination but said they could not offer more information. They directed me to the membership page, stating "Unfortunately, we are not able to share any further details on this matter." They have not responded to any of my further messages. There are no phone numbers to contact and their social media is deleting critical comments.

I am now very concerned about the fact that this company also has my full legal ID on file. Getting stonewalled on customer service. The failure to deliver on the service is one thingthe alarming business practices are on another level. Very shady, very sketchy, and most certainly a scam. CONSUMER BEWARE.

Account terminated due to violation of terms, with no explanation of violation.
I began my annual Sinemia subscription in November 2018. It worked fine, then in February of 2019 I cannot order movie tickets and I received a message saying my account has been terminated due to a violation of their terms and services. I have no idea why my account, which I thought was in good standing, was suddenly terminated. I tried emailing, and messaging Sinemia on social media. All I have received are automated email replies which explain their reasons for why an account *** be terminated - not WHY MINE WAS. it has been over a month now and the only option on my account was to close and request a refund. I have heard nothing from their customer service and I am guessing I won't be getting my money back. It is horrible to have an account closed when you pay on time and follow the rules, without any explanation or chance to resolve the issue. I paid up front for a year and I have only been able to use the service for 3 months. I want the rest of my money back if they're terminating my account!

They wrongfully terminated my account and not responding to my email.
I purchase Sinemia family plan on November 2018 and my plan started at November 2019. Till now I watched 8 movies and then I got email saying that my account is terminated due to unauthorized used and showing several general reasons. They have not given any particular reason why they terminated my account. All the reasons they shown me is in their terms and condition section. I never used it for any other use. I have not misused it. It seems that as soon as they paid the amount they paid equals to my plan purchased amount they terminated my account.

I have steadily have issues using my subscription service. Customer Service is non-existent.
Multiple occasions of subscription issues have occurred, my most recent being on 3/23/2019. I was trying to purchase an advance ticket for 3/24/2019 but the app I purchase the tickets on was not allowing me to do show. Displaying an unknown error message when I attempted to proceed through the ticket purchasing process. I contacted the company on their social media platforms for support and also sent an email to the support division of the company seeking assistance. However, I know from previous experiences I will not receive a response until days later, if one at all at that.

My Sinemia account was terminated without reason on suspicion of fraud when there is no evidence I violated any of the terms I signed up for
I contacted you a few weeks ago after sinemia was forcing users to ' verify accounts' by sending in their government IDs. This issue was resolved and I was able to resume the service. However when I tried to use the service recently I was blocked from doing so and informed that my account was terminated on suspicion of ' fraudulent activities'. I have not engaged in any fraudulent activities and have been complying with all the terms of service including the multiple hidden fees that the company had imposed. I believe that the reason my account was terminated was because I intend to get my money's worth and so I use the maximum amount of movie tickets the service allows me, this seems to have now exceeded the cost I paid for the service ( which was the whole point of buying the service that I could see movies at a lower cost). It seems sinemia is losing money to customers like me and has decided to terminate my account. This has happened to many other individuals primarily those who purchased the annual plans and have exceeded the amount they paid for the service ( again which was the intent in purchasing the service in the first place). There has been multiple class action lawsuits against Sinemia regarding their various deceptive and fraudulent business practices and someone needs to intervene and regulate the actions of this company.

They just cancelled my subscription without detailed explanation. I have filed previous complaint with them.
After my previous complaint. They restored my service. Then a month later, they wanted a picture of myself holding my driver license, and also a copy of my driver license. I submitted to them and they approved it. Now they automatically terminate my subscription which I still have until end of June 2019, which includes 8 more movies to watch which amount to about $100.

Their reason for cancellation was my violation of their terms, which I am not sure what. My initial complaint was the same, they don't tell my what I have violated and just stopped my service.

This time around, they just terminated it with "violation of our service" and I have no clue what I did. I followed everything they asked.

This is a company fraudulently advertising services that don't work as described. No replies from customer service.
I haven't figured out how to go back to previous months to see exact dates. The initiam charge of $95.88 was on Feb 2, 2019 and my subscription finally started on Feb15, 2019. The additional fees were charged on Mar 4 and 18 2019

I cannot use the services I paid for.
The website of this movie subscription has been down for a month and I cannot watch a movie. I'm still charged the yearly fee even though I cannot use their services. They constantly change their terms and conditions to rip you off in order for customers not to do charge backs.

Sinemia received the money for a year prepaid service. The only provided 8 months of service and fraudulently closed my account.
I prepaid for a year of service around June 18, 2018. In November 2018, they added conditions to my contract stating that you must check in when arriving at the movie theater or be penalized. Several times the app would not allow me to check in to the movie theater stating there were no movie theaters nearby though I was at the theater. I missed my second check-in in February 2019. My account was suspended and charged a misuse fee. After not receiving any responses regarding me notifying them off my inability to check-in via their website, multiple emails and Twitter direct messages, I paid the fee of $29.70 on February 14, 2019. I was then in early March asked to provide a photo of my driver's license to prove my identity. I was notified that it was accepted. On March 23, 2019, I attempted to use my account to purchase movie tickets and was notified that my account was terminated for fraudulent activity.

I paid for a one-year annual membership in October. In February my membership was canceled.
I paid for a one-year annual membership on October 30, 2018, price $107.88. When I joined, I checked the terms of service and saw that there was no mention about having to use your real name, so I used an alias "*** that I always use for online purchases to protect against ID theft.

In February I received a request to submit a photo of my state ID to verify my identity. I submitted the photo along with an explanation of why I use *** which is not my real name. I also pointed out that the credit card that paid for the membership and the extra fees they constantly add on, is in the name of *** - my real name.

On February 22, 2019 I received an email stating my membership was canceled because they couldn't verify my ID.

I've tried multiple times contact Sinemia but they simply do not respond to emails, and there is no phone number for contact.

When I joined there was nothing mentioned about needing to verify ID or what name you have to use. I just checked today and there is still no mention of it. I'm sure that to cancel someone's contract after making up an arbitrary rule is a violation of the civil consumer laws.

I paid for one year membership and was only able to use it for about 3 months (mid-November to mid-February) before being canceled and I should be refunded the difference.

Thank you for your time.

My account was terminated without cause halfway the contracted period and no refund was given.
Last year I purchased a premium plan for two people for my wife and I. We used it every month, at the same two or three local theatres. Only occasionally having some issues with the app or the payment processes, but generally happy with the product.

Then I tried to buy a movie ticket with my Sinemia plan about a week ago and got a notification in the app that my account needed attention (it was in good standing up to this point). I logged in and found out that my account had been "terminated". My yearly contract is about 50-60% finished and sinemia will not refund the remaining the money or unlock my account. Or rather, they have not replied to repeated attempts to contact them.

At this point, my only option left is to charge back the entire cost of the subscription.

I've done nothing but use the service, following it's rules as closely as possible. I haven't lied about my location, or movies, or given my phone to anyone. I use the service to go and see movies with my wife and I love it.

Wrongfully terminating my account with unfounded reasons and without warning.

The company offers movie passes by monthly or yearly subscriptions. I have subscribed to their annual subscription in July 2018. I have used their service since then almost every month following their instructions. First everything was fine and as they described initially. Then they started asking users to check in at the theater. Following that, if you miss your check in window they will ask you to pay a misuse fee. Still understandable. Then they started charging $1.60/ticket without warning Still somewhat acceptable Finally lay month they forced us to send a photo and copies of a government issued ID to "prevent fraud" which I complied Then later this week, they suddenly terminated my account without warning on the basis that there was fraudulent activity in my account history I have done everything however unreasonable as they instructed so far just to be blamed for fraud? That is completely dishonest I'd even go to say it's a fraud on their part There is no way to appeal, there never was any warning or explanation on what exactly happened I have looked through the web for other people who were also wrongfully terminated and they are numerous The only answer the company provides is that it was "an automated fraud detection system" and we can submit a request to "refund" based on how much they have used for ticket price in full versus how much we paid them The common point among all of us who were terminated seem to be that our movie tickets prices exceeded what w paid in annual subscription Therefore their so called "refund" would be 0. If we were to watch movies at full price we wouldn't need to go through such inconvenient ways, and rather buy the tickets directly from the cinemas. The reason we subscribed in the first place was to get better movie ticket prices. Terminating our account because of "fraud" when it clearly happen, is fraudulent and dishonest!

Frequently unable to redeem monthly movie passes due to difficult and ever changing redemption process. Now asking for photo of myself holding my ID.
Extremely difficult redemption system. At sign-up failed to mention a $2 per ticket charge, having to manually copy a credit card number they provide when trying to buy a ticket through the theater's website, needing to sign in through the app once arriving at the movie theater AND needing to wait a full 30 days between purchases, even though it's in a separate calendar month. When I signed up they took a full three weeks to activate my account online (though offered to do so immediately for another charge), leaving me only a few days at the end of the month to use the pass. This means that every month I'd only be eligible to use the pass over a few days - if I'm even able to redeem the tickets to begin with. In February they sent a notice saying that they would require me to send in a photo of myself holding a government-issued ID, claiming it was to prevent fraud but I do not feel comfortable sending them a picture of myself holding my ID after already giving them my credit card number and having to put in sensitive information to prove it's really my card. I've tried to contact customer service several times. Sometimes they answer, only once they were able to help with ticket redemption. It's such a terrible system and I feel like there's little to no support when there's inevitably a problem.

Signed up: August 2nd
They activated: Aug 26

This is my latest email to them, sent February 17th 2019 and for which I've received no response:

Hello,

Another month and another problem trying to buy a ticket through the SiNeMiA app. After trying to purchase a ticket and putting in my credit card information for a ticket I tried to purchase today, I noticed that there was a change to the ticket purchase policy, now requiring me to send in a photo of myself holding a government-issued photo ID.

I do not consent to this and categorically refuse to send you a copy of my ID. The claim that this is to verify my identity when purchasing a ticket is completely invalid and giving a photo of my ID would do nothing to stave off any fraud you claim you'd like to avoid by having anyone share access to the tickets I'd try to purchase. I can assure you, the process is so frustrating, long and pointless, I hate having to go through it every month and would certainly not go through this for someone else to get the ticket. My credit card information should serve as enough confirmation of who I am as you check for the security number on the back of the card, which only I possess.

There is no reason as a company that sells movie tickets should need to have a copy of a government-issued ID. This is just the latest ridiculous stipulation of purchasing a ticket through your site that I just can't keep jumping through hoops just to see a movie.

First it was an additional charge that was added per ticket (in addition to the yearly charge I'd already paid), then came requiring check-in once I've arrived to the theater (after an already lengthy and unnecessarily complicated ticket purchasing process that often didn't work), now this ridiculous and completely unnecessary request for a photo of my face and ID, which only came to light once I tried to buy a ticket. There were no emails and is a very deliberate attempt to further delay anyone's ability to actually redeem a ticket that they are entitled to - and therefore denying access to your service which was paid for.

Added to the fact that there were so many issues that delayed my ability to purchase tickets over several months, it shows a blatant disregard for your customers and resembles fraud more and more as the months go by.

I therefore request that the total purchase price be devided over a 12 month period, subtract the months where I've actually been able to purchase a ticket, and issue a refund for the remaining balance. Trying to use your app has been such a waste of time and money and I no longer want to deal with your fraudulent activities any longer.

Thank you