MoviePass terminated a 'small percentage' of its customers for violating the terms of service, but people are desperately trying to reactivate their accounts

Movie theater subscription service MoviePass terminated a "small percentage" of its customers, claiming violations of its terms of service.
Numerous users were told by customer service representatives that they did not violate the MoviePass terms and conditions, and are now going through an agonizing process to get their cards reactivated.

On Friday, the movie theater subscription service MoviePass shocked many of its customers when it sent out an email to a "small percentage" of them stating they had violated the company's terms of service and their accounts had been terminated.

This led to a wave of frustration and confusion, with users taking to social media to ask what they had done wrong. Though the MoviePass email said they purchased part of a premium ticket with the app, many felt they did not do so — or did it unwittingly — and didn't deserve to be taken off the service.

Numerous customers who received the email and contacted customer service to plead their case have since contacted Business Insider about their ordeal.

One customer, who asked not to be named in this story, learned that the ticket flagged by MoviePass was incorrectly processed by the app. MoviePass' records showed the ticket was more expensive than what the MoviePass app allows at that theater, but the customer had a picture of the ticket stub and sent it to the customer service rep, proving the person did not violate the app's terms of service.

After spending the weekend speaking to numerous customers service agents, this person is still nowhere closer to getting their card reactivated. All they were told is that their case has been expedited to the proper team that reviews account reactivation.

Another customer told Business Insider their account was deactivated because the person did the dreaded split transaction (such as, ordering two tickets and paying one with the app and the other without).

The person said the MoviePass customer service rep even admitted to the person it was an honest mistake, but because it was done multiple times on the account the rep said they could not do anything and their account would stay deactivated.

The kicker here: It does not state in the MoviePass terms of service that split transactions are a violation.

In a statement on Friday, MoviePass stated:

However, customers believe MoviePass should have been more specific about the violations. Though the original email said their accounts were being terminated because they purchased a premium ticket, in many cases the reason for the deactivation was due to another reason, leading to the confusion and frustration.

MoviePass sent the following statement to Business Insider on Monday:

"When MoviePass members call into customer service, we review their account on a case-by-case basis and if a mistake has been made, it is rectified. Our number one priority remains preventing fraudulent activity so that our model continues to be sustainable for the overall MoviePass community."