MoviePass blackouts and anti-fraud tests upset some customers
As MoviePass continues to grow its subscriber base, the all-you-can-watch theater card has upset some customers with a pair of recent moves. This week customers complain that they’ve seen many showings of the new Jennifer Lawrence movie Red Sparrow marked “not supported” by their pass. As Pop Culture Beast theorizes, this could be an attempt to black out certain theaters, drive users to others and prove the service’s value as a way of leading traffic to particular movies or locations. While it’s a bit harder to see Red Sparrow, MoviePass is pushing Death Wish, which also opened this week.
As we continue to enhance our service for everyone, certain inventory may not be available at all times, and the only place all of this is reflected in real-time is in the app. Please make sure to always check the app before heading to the theaters!
— MoviePass (@MoviePass) March 1, 2018
The other issue is the reports it has been requiring some users to send in pictures of their ticket stub before using their card again, ostensibly to prevent abuse. In a statement to Gizmodo, MoviePass said “There are multiple methods by which individuals can abuse our service, so we are developing and testing a few different catch-all systems that will help prevent against fraud… The group we are testing this feature on has not done anything wrong, but they will help us to determine if this new system is effective.”
(17)
