Obi-Wanma

So I got into an argument at Blu-ray.com about uses of MoviePass.

This guy called me out for abusing the rules and said that I could get the whole thing shut down because sometimes I buy use MoviePass to buy multiple tickets for the same showing by checking in for something else and then buying advance tickets instead.

Fast forward a couple days, and he posts that he his going to the theater just to buy a ticket for a movie that he has no intention of seeing just to run up his stubs balance.

I call him out for being a hypocrite, and he states that the two situations aren't even close because what he is doing is within the letter of the rules. What do you guys think? Am I an asshole because I bend the rules and admit to it, or is he a bigger asshole for abusing the spirit of the rules, if not the letter of them, and tells himself what he needs to keep his conscience clear?

jjcool

You're both breaking the Terms of Service, and therefore both threatening the program for all of us.

Trevor

Afraid I agree.

fujishig

"Hey, I'm just having them throw money away, but it's within the rules. No way it's going to affect their bottom line, they have a magic money tree!"

I mean really? But yeah both are ruining a good thing (if abused).

Obi-Wanma

Look I fully admit that what I'm doing is against the rules, and could get me banned. I accept that. I just find it laughable that he's going to criticize me for what I'm doing, and then admit to this and act like it's not the same thing.

It isn't even that I have such a huge problem with what he's doing. It's that he's going to give me shit about what I'm doing and then admit to something like this.

I'm not asking anyone here to endorse what I'm doing, I'm just asking if you agree that what he's doing is just as bad or worse, and thus, he's a hypocrite of the highest order

Dan

Agreed. Which is why I'd be fine with MoviePass re-implementing some stricter rules to catch people violating the TOS. Pics of tickets, or better, e-ticketing across all theatres. But I doubt they'll do that.

movieguru

You are violating the rules. Technically he is not. But what he is doing is going to cost them a lot of money and could ruin the program as well. What can you get with AMC Stubs anyway other than free tickets?

Obi-Wanma

You can use them for concession purchases.

fujishig

Well, they did require you to send in pictures of tickets before. But they stopped. I mean they can't even send the cards out to people on time, no way they're going to scour through all those ticket pictures with their five employees or whatever.

Dan

I mean... it's really just a software problem, in my opinion.

My wife does these diet bet things online. Well, I should say... she's done it for two months. I think she's done, though because I kind of think it's a scam. Anyway, putting that aside, what they do is:

They give you a unique code word.
You have to take a picture of yourself on your scale in full view, then,
You have to take a picture of your feet on the scale with the code word written on a piece of paper in view.
10-15 minutes later, your pics are validated, and you're "in."
At the end of the month, you do the same, but it's a different code word. Again, they validate it, and then they see how many people won or lost.


So I could see MoviePass going something like this:
- You check in.
- Before funds are transferred, you immediately get a warning that you need to take a picture of both sides of your ticket & the front of your card, together (showing last 4 digits only). So two pictures. You have to accept these terms before funds are transferred.
- You say yes, then buy your ticket. In the app, you click next.
- You take a picture of the front of your ticket and your card.
- You take a picture of the back of your ticket and your card.
- You submit it and you're done.
- In the background, some shmuck at MoviePass is combing through all the matched pictures to see if anything is out of sorts. If they see a suspicious one (title of movie is obscured, card number is obscured, etc.) then they flag it for review. This could be done by machine learning, too. OCR is advanced enough that, in good light, it could detect the letters/numbers it is expecting and/or the color of your card, etc. Anyway, if a transaction is flagged, then it gets elevated for higher level review. If it's found to be a violation, they can either kick you off entirely, or give you a two-week block. The temporary block makes the most sense to me, with maybe a three-strike rule or something.
Assuming someone is fully following the TOS, there would still be some
occasional errors... but nothing that couldn't be addressed by a couple customer service people reviewing it closer, I would imagine. They could have a general policy of assuming the user isn't lying unless it's happening very frequently.

Complicated? Sure. Not much different than apps that let you deposit checks to your bank account.
Might be a bit of a deterrent for regular users. But for $10/month? Even $20... I'd do it. If you're consistently following the TOS, you don't really have anything to worry about.

That's just my take on how they can do it. It wouldn't be that bad, really.

Anyway... I used mine 4 times in September: Close Encounters, Wind River, The Dark Tower, and Battle of the Sexes.

Obi-Wanma

If anyone is interested enough to read the exchange I am talking about, it starts with post 1631 on this page: http://forum.blu-ray.com/showthread....206475&page=82

Or at least that's where he posts the stubs scheme and I call him out on it . You can go back a page or two and read the post I made about buying tickets to a different show, which he called me out on (fair) and I threw it back in his face when he posted this harebrained scheme.

I don't generally use that forum very often (moves too fast for me), but I had been following the MoviePass thread

mhg83

Finally got my Card! Hope they give an extra month for those that received cards so late.

Obi-Wanma

Your first official month is not supposed to start until you activate the card. You should not be billed for the second time until 1 month after your first use.

stingermck

So used it the other night, and I still owed 49 cents for my ticket. Not sure why, and the guy said it happened to other moviepass users that day. Shrug.

Dr. DVD

For some reason my app isn't listing showtimes for any of the theaters in my area anymore. This has been going on for about a month and when I e-mail or chat I cannot get any response. I have been taking photos of my stubs and then sending them in for approval but still get no response. Any advice on how to get someone to respond , or even cancel my membership?

Obi-Wanma

They probably recently increased the prices at that theater and MoviePass hasn't updated. If you have your stub and or receipt with a price, you can submit it for reimbursement, and MoviePass will adjust what they load on your card in the future.

It might take them some time to get back to you though, so I would save all your ticket stubs until then.

tommyp007

I used mine at a Marquee cinema over the weekend to see Blade Runner 2049, and they have a "MXC" screen, that is huge like IMAX and had a $1.50 upcharge. Moviepass covered all but .49 cents of it. The manager happened to be near and saw my Moviepass card and said that at Marquee, you can use it for any show (3D, MXC, whatever), and if there's a price difference, you just pay the difference. I'm super ok with that!

Obi-Wanma

That may be cool with the theater owner, but I doubt that it's cool with Moviepass. It's still against the TOS to use it for anything other than a standard 2D showing. If those showtimes were listed in the app, it was almost certainly a mistake.

mhg83

I was referring to the year they promised at the price point. They said that the $10 a month will be honored for at least a year.

Cardsfan111

Just got charged my first monthly fee. Caught 10 films already. No complaints here!

dvdjunkie32

The taking picture thing was the reason I canceled moviepass back in May. It was a pain in the butt especially when you are trying to hurry and get your snacks and seat before the movie starts. The service is a tremendous value at 9.99 so there is no reason to be a jerk and abuse the rules.

Why So Blu?

Got an email just now saying that my card will be processed and mailed out within 5-7 days. I initially signed up with them on 9/17, so it's gonna be a month or so by the time it arrives.

Trevor

Hmm, I signed up a week after you, and was hoping to have it before October ended, it'll be close.

mhg83

First time using my card today (American Made) Whole process went smooth. Good movie too. Had no idea Matt Damon was in it. Then I realized it was Fat Damon

mhg83

Supposedly you can now see the same movie more than once. Was confirmed by a moviepass user on reddit. But I bet they will restrict Star Wars. Cause I plan to see it fifty times