MoviePass temporarily shuts down service to work on its app
The outage could last ‘several weeks.’
The monthly movie ticket subscription service MoviePass temporarily shut down today. The company claims it did so to complete work on its mobile app. It's unclear how long the outage will last, but in a tweet MoviePass said the service could be down for "several weeks."
Hi! Due to maintenance related issues, MoviePass services have been put on a temporary hold. Once we have resolved these technical problems, the service will be live again. We estimate this process will take several weeks. We sincerely appreciate your patience.
— MoviePass (@MoviePass) July 3, 2019
MoviePass says it will credit customers for the number of days that the service is down, and no new subscribers will be enrolled. "There's never a good time to have to do this," said CEO Mitch Lowe. "But to complete the improved version of our app, one that we believe will provide a much better experience for our subscribers, it has to be done."
Movie ticket subscription services are clearly a challenge to run. This spring MoviePass competitor Sinemia shut down shortly after customers said their accounts were wrongfully terminated. MoviePass has experimented with new plans, offering its original $9.95 unlimited plan, free movie tickets in exchange for watching ads and more. It's hard to say whether the benefits of improving the app will outweigh the headache of interrupting the service.
