Abob Teff

At this point, I’m happy having stayed out. There is too much baggage with the leadership of the companies — CEOs, Board of Directors, all of them. You would think at some point somebody would step in to course-correct the ship. I believe AMC’s launch and Alamo’s imminent product show there is some viability here. The $9.99 price point was a good tease, but it isn’t sustainable. Rather than bailing water out of the sinking ship and patching holes, MP & HMNY leadership is investing in a new motor and deck chairs.

Ousting the shysters running the show is what Wall Street is looking for.

A trail of lawsuits and a failed psychic hotline. Meet the Miami man running MoviePass

https://miamiherald.com/news/busines...213952134.html

TomOpus

I don't think we believed it was sustainable. We were just riding along for as long as we could. I got my moneys' worth.

It wasn't like we (well, most of us) were investing money in the company.

DJariya

https://www.thewrap.com/how-much-lon...oing-bankrupt/

One financial analyst says he's 80% certain Movie Pass goes bankrupt.

Losses for June are projected to be around $45M

Obi-Wanma

Yeah, I didn't ever really expect to last (which is why I never invested in the annual membership), but even if it goes bankrupt tomorrow, I won't regret having been a member. It was a great deal for me, having gotten much more than $9.99 worth every month.

DJariya

Once Movie Pass officially goes Kapoot, I'll look into the AMC counterpart.

I do hope Regal does something similar in the future. There's one really close to where I live and I prefer going there when possible.

fujishig

Once MP goes Kapoot, the AMC counterpart will raise in price by at least 10 bucks, plus restrictions, unless Regal just goes to war with them before that. Considering movie theater chains never really went to war over ticket prices before, I kinda doubt that'll h appen.

fujishig

New FAQ up, I quoted some of it below. There's a convenience fee when you buy a friends ticket at full price, only at eticket locations. There's a convenience fee plus the difference in cost if you want to upgrade to Imax or whatever. That's some BS right there. Also what limited inventory are they talking about?

https://support.moviepass.com/hc/en-...Bring-a-Friend

Unclejosh

So it will cost more to purchase the friends ticket than if they just bought it themselves at the counter?

fujishig

Yes.

Unclejosh

Hahaha well anyone who falls for this BS...

RoboDad

If you're buying tickets for a theater that has reserved seating, it makes it easier to guarantee that you and your friend will be able to sit together. How, exactly, is the "falling" for something. People still have the option to go to the ticket counter together and use two cards, or just buy their tickets on their own.

It's just a convenience thing.

Abob Teff

The answer to all of the problems is in your in-box ... MoviePass merch is NOW available!

Declare your undying love to a dying company by sporting the latest fashion trend ... MoviePass merch! Enjoy a night on the town while we track you in this plain black t-shirt with the MP logo! Don’t want to be seen alone at the movies? Try our plain white MoviePass hoodie!

As if our deeply discounted stock sale wasn’t enough, we’re taking 25% off all merch orders placed in the next 48 hours. After that the terms will change repeatedly. And the shirts may not come with sleeves (but you can add them for an additional convenience and service charge).

DJariya

The convenience surcharge is BS. So you would be paying an extra $5 or so plus $1.50.

But I guess how else will they make money on these additions?

bluetoast

Bonus: Wear that merch to a theater and get mistaken for a representative and yelled at. By customers and theater employees.

TomOpus

I have absolutely no problem paying the difference for an IMAX movie. Beats paying $15. I like having that option.

Obi-Wanma

The difference + a convenience fee. Yes it's still better than paying full price, but it's also BS.

Decker

It's the perfect thing to wear when your red MAGA hat doesn't piss enough people off.

TomOpus

Better than the price doubling. I think they're trying everything to avoid a price increase.

tonyc3742

Yeah and with this nickel and dime (or fifteen of them), many people won't really notice or consider it the same way they would if the price went to 19.95 or something.

Not sure what I think. I'm totally supportive of paying the delta between regular and 3d. But the convenience fee is a little annoying.

And paying 1.50 for the convenience of covering the other ticket? No thanks. If I can buy the tickets online then maybe. So I'll just continue to annoy the cashier and say "Two tickets for Show X, paid for separately".
[Last weekend there was an elderly couple buying tix for Incredibles with MP right in front of me. The annoying part is they basically stood right there at the kiosk trying to take a picture, and it was clear they had never done it before. The guy was, 'No, click MP, no, to the right, no, do this' and the woman was just getting nowhere. I took my pic after getting home.]

That apparel is crazy. They should have released them back when they charged 30/40 a month and had 20k customers to try to build more customer base then. Too cheap, too big, too fast, too crazy.

RoboDad

You would be paying the difference between a standard 2D ticket and a 3D/IMAX ticket, plus $1.50. I don't see the problem. But maybe that is because, before I signed up for MP, I was already used to paying the extra fee whenever I purchased tickets through Fandango (which was most of the time, because of the convenience). Or are you all saying that Fandango is "BS" as well?

DJariya

No I have no problem with Fandango. I've used them many times and have paid the $1.50 convenience fee as they are acting like a ticket broker like Ticketmaster to provide convenience. With AMC's stub program the fee is also waived.

What I find annoying is Movie Pass changing the rules constantly because they're running low on cash and need to raise funds in desperation. Cutting off repeat viewings was the start of this craziness and then the peak times thing. The peak times surcharge being the most absurd. And now they're trying to sell Movie Pass swag. Like anyone's going to buy them.

I have no issue paying the difference for a premium show. They should have allowed it from the start. I know they cost more and someone has to make money out of it. But, it seems like every other month there is a new rule change.

fujishig

What if they start charging the convenience fee for loading your debit card up for each movie you want to watch, what are you going to say then? The claim they made that this is similar to a credit card transaction fee is ridiculous, they load up the card every time you see a movie, are you telling me they're losing a buck in addition to the cost of the movie every single time?

Not to mention that this "convenience" is only for theaters they partner with for e-ticketing, where they reportedly already get a discount on each ticket anyway. So you're paying them full price for an extra ticket, plus the fee, on a ticket they (probably) get a discount on. And even the shenanigans where you can have your friend sign up and they refund the ticket? They don't refund the convenience fee.

On a side note, if you're going to a showing where you're in fear that there won't be enough seats to sit next to each other and you have to put it in the same transaction... that's going to be a crowded theater. Tack on a few extra surge pricing bucks (on your ticket, not on your friend's).

I get it, it's a revenue stream (just like the merchandise), and the fees have not added up to the point where you're disgusted with the service, Robodad, but don't tell me you can't see why others are starting to get there.


edited to add: So the unofficial official moviepass reddit guy says that there won't be a convenience fee on the premium tickets:
https://www.reddit.com/r/MoviePassCl...gk&sh=c0b0bf84

So this is good. Doesn't give me a lot of confidence that they don't play fast and loose with what they're doing but for now, good. There is no way that this was just a typo, though, the premium section and the companion ticket sections of the faq are completely separate.

tanman

I think that Fandango convenience fee is BS. And I especially think the convenience fee of buying a ticket from the theater's own app is total BS. However, I don't have much of a problem with this convenience fee and don't understand why everyone is such up in arms over this change. MP is $10/month for AYCE movies. That is a ridiculous price so if they charge a small amount as a convenience fee for something that is optional I don't have a problem with that. Would you rather the company go out of business and go back to paying $10+ per movie? It's like complaining about baggage fees for budget airlines. Yeah you have to pay for a bag because you just paid $50 for a flight. You're still likely saving a lot more money vs a standard airline.

It's not like this is Ticketmaster who absolutely unequivocally don't provide any kind of a service anymore in the internet era and charge a RIDICULOUS amount for the privilege of using their website that doesn't even work very well. Those are the companies that are ripping people off.

Abob Teff

... and now exclusive Black Panther merch!

Why So Blu?

I have the Sinemia 3 movies a month plan and I have to pay the Fandango convenience fee, which is still a deal since I am basically getting 3 tickets for the price of one at my preferred reserved seating theater.