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$5 Per Month for 1 Movie Ticket Per Month, $7 for 2 Tickets Per Month (Billed Annually) (+ $10 Activation Fee) @ Sinemia

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Looks like they've just launched in Australia but not much info about it yet. Currently supported cinemas are severely lacking in all major cities at the moment, no idea if that's just because they haven't added more yet. Does anyone have any more info?

Edit: I bit the bullet and signed up. I'm hoping that it would be easy to cancel if they don't add more cinemas given that their whole motto is "Any cinema, any time".

Edit 2: There are a lot more participating cinemas in the app compared to those on the site. Almost all the major ones from what I can see, more info in the comments.

Edit 3: Make sure you enter the coupon to see the pricing. The website does not always automatically apply it, sometimes the correct pricing isn't even displayed. Try again later if it's not. If (high) pricing exists for multiple days, mark expired.

22/6 Mod note: See this comment. Warning that users are being told to pay a $4.99 - $9.99 fee to be able to use the service immediately (despite the annual fee having been already paid).

31/7: Activation fee reported to be $10 in all cases.

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    • To be clear, I have a two ticket plan and the weekend booking is only one of the two.

      • Maybe someone will correct me, but I believe you can't book more than two tickets at once. If you wanted to book both, your only option would've been to book and go to the Thursday one, and then after you'd seen that, book the one for the 8th.

        I'm no expert here though, just going by some hazy memory of reading something a few weeks ago.

        • Yeah, thought it was abit of a long shot, thx.

  • Which is the Best Village Cinema in the Melbourne Eastern Suburbs? I know Chadstone Hoyts is the best but whats the equivalent in Village Cinemas? Atmos in only Available in the City and Jam Factory (Paid Parking)

  • Glen Waverley probably?

  • +1

    A head up. I tried adding a VCC recently to paypal and got an error

    "Your card was declined by the issuing bank. Please try a different card or contact your card issuer with questions."

    I questioned them on Twitter and got this response.


    We would like to help you with this matter. Please go to the Planning tab on Sinemia App and create an Advance ticket. After that, the app will provide you a one-time payment information which you can use it to purchase your ticket online. We advise you to purchase your ticket via Paypal. You can simply add your one-time payment information to your Paypal account and complete the purchase through there. If you encounter any issues please share the ticket details so we can look into it.

    In case you have just created an advance ticket and received an error during purchase, please allow approx. 20 minutes after creating an advance ticket for the Cardless payment information to become fully operational. If the Cardless payment information was provided less than 20 minutes ago, you do not need to create another advance ticket before trying again.

    During busy hours, it may take longer than usual for the Cardless payment information become fully operational. That is why it is recommended to allow 20 minutes before attempting to make the ticket purchase.


    So if you get the same error, wait the 20 mins as stated above and it should work. Hope this helps someone…

    • I'm guessing it worked for you?

      • Didn't work for me…

        • If someone has already in his PayPal account.It will not work.

        • I'm also having issues with all methods of booking with Hoyts and Village. Paypal isn't working and neither is direct credit card payment. I have cancelled the VCC and tried another yesterday and same result. Anybody else having issues? I'm trying Twitter support now to see if they can fix this. Anyone know what the best time is to try Twitter support as i have posted questions via DM and haven't had a response in over 1hr?

          • +1

            @Karlman: Card number 6 worked. Three were already in other PayPal accounts, and two were "invalid" error. Looks like you just need to keep trying until PayPal accepts one

            • @benjamin: How were you able to get 6 cards? Isn't there a limit on how many times you can cancel?

              • @KoalaTeaPuns: Your card will automatically cancel if you don't use it within 2 hours. You can then get a new card. I don't think there's a limit on the number of times you can do this other than having to wait 2 hours each time.

                I got the card was declined by the using bank yesterday. It did work for me after about 30 minutes.

                • @twadds: You can only cancel the card twice manually, unlimited if you don't use it within 2 hours. Been getting invalid error and it's linked to a different Paypal account

                  • @KoalaTeaPuns: Yes card 4 worked for me via PayPal on Hoyts. Makes it hard to book on the day when you have to try so many cards before one works, now having to wait 30mins after VCC is generated also!

      • Did it work for me? Not sure yet. After I got this I tried again and it worked.

    • This actually worked for me after getting the virtual card. Immediately after I tried booking online but I got a payment declined error. Waited for around 15 - 20 mins later and it worked.

  • Tried booking today. Got a card that was linked to another Paypal Account and one was declined by the card provider. I'm also getting a "We've detected an issue with your card. To use this card for future transactions, you'll need to confirm your card" if I confirm it, I'll need to put a "$2" deposit which will be refunded after it has been confirmed. Should I do it?

  • Has anyone upgraded their plan? I'm on the Elite for 2 people for 2 movies per mth and would like to jump up to 3 people per mth. Do you know if they allow you to just upgrade during a 12mth plan and just pay the difference or do you have to signup for a full new 12mth plan?

    • No upgrades generally, if you "extend" the new purchase will be added on to the end of your current 12m.

      • I thought i had read in comments that some people had been able to sign up for a different plan and get refunded the balance of the old plan which means you start a new 12mth plan. I will ask on twitter support and see what they say.

        • Yup twitter confirmed you have to wait until the end of your current 12mth plan before changing plans. According to their FAQs they are "working on this" but no ETA as to when this will be available. I want to pay them more money but they don't want it for another 6 months. :<

          • @Karlman: How do you know you won't get auto renewed after 12 months? I want to go on month to month plan after 12 months. Will there be an initiation fee for existing customers?

            • @El Grande: I don't know if i will get auto-renewed but i will want to change my plan so will confirm with support how this works before May 2019. Good question about the initiation fee also.

  • +1

    Their website is down and app is not working, hope this is just temporary….

    • Both are working for me at the moment.

  • -1

    Does anyone know what the $$ limit is, per ticket?

    Just tried purchasing two tickets from Village Cinemas - chose two concession tickets as the people using it are concession card holders, and was able to add a large combo on top of it, and the payment went through.

    Two adult tickets would be $44, whereas the two concession tickets came to $37, and the large combo was $15.50. So there seems to be a bit of a buffer; could’ve perhaps even afforded a third concession ticket which is interesting.

    • How do you add popcorn on top?

      Edit: Never mind just tried it. I won't risk it. They have been banning people for making multiple paying accounts. You don't want to miss out on your remaining movies.

  • +2

    FYI the check in time is now 2 hours (before and after designated movie time) instead 30 mins.

    • Edit: 2 hours (before and IN the designated movie time)

  • +1

    Also there's been reports on reddit of people getting dedicated virtual cards. I've asked Sinemia and they said it's not available in Aus yet but they're working on it.

    • This should be good.

  • +1

    Currently 30% off Sinemia gift cards (https://www.sinemia.com/gift-cards) , these can be used for account renewal/new plan purchases and with the latest version of the app processing fees.

    Note if you cancel an advance ticket (card already linked to another PayPal for example) the processing fee is not automatically returned to the gift card balance.

    • Does the processing fee get returned to the gift card eventually instead of automatically? Or do you lose out on the processing fee?
      Cause that's a deal breaker right there for me.

    • Gift cards seem to take 16 hours to activate :-/

  • Anyone been able to pay directly with VCC at village? Its been working great since they updated the payment system afew months back but yesterday I couldnt use it, had to use paypal again. Also noticed village updated the payment system slightly again, maybe breaking sinemia VCC?

    • +1

      It was working for me as of Tuesday. Can’t provide much more than that until I watch my next movie, sorry.

    • +1

      Yeah just managed to pay directly booking on Village, it's great. Hopefully it's not just a once off.

      • Hmm, must have just been a problem with that VCC then.

        • Confirmed that it worked for me. Managed to book two VPremium tickets (plus an Our Combo add on!)

      • What did you put in the "first and last name" fields when you book directly ?

        • Are you booking via Village cinemas? If so they only have one field for Name which I put Sinemia. Not sure about other sites.

    • Sometimes you need to wait 20 mins after the VCC is generated for it to work. Happens to me like 1 in 5 purchases.

  • If we can't add VCC in PayPal .After 2 hours I can get new card?

    • Yeah, you'll just need to do the "planning" (i.e. put in movie time and cinema location) again.

  • +1

    Also just something to be aware for those planning on purchasing Sinemia gift cards. It says in the FAQs that after 12 consecutive months of inactivity, a $3.60 dormant fee will be charged each month until it expires.

  • Hey all, Have they dropped the annual plans so the only option is to pay per month? And if so, do u have to manually use a promo code each month to keep getting the discounted rate?

    • What I'd like to know is what's stopping me buying a subscription in the US (if you switch the currencies around, the US seems to be the only one still offering annual subs).

      Both from a perspective of - is there any reason I can't use my subscription if I'm overseas, and potential better value on exchange rate?

      • Might complicate things with multiple currencies, time zones, volume of theatres etc but probably not the demand for it either so don't think this would even be implemented. I was recommending it to my Sister-inlaw and told her you have to pay annually upfront but then when i checked the plans its now only month to month. So with M2M, do you have to keep using current promo codes to get the discounted rates or does it leave you on the rate you originally signed up for unless you change plans? I have always had an annual plan so not sure how M2M works. Thanks.

        • I've read on the FB Sinemia Chatter group that M2M customers are getting slugged the non-discount rate when on auto-renewal. So $89.99 charge for the 30 movies/month plan.

          • @MovielandDom: So do M2M users have to be on auto-renewal or do you have a choice?

            • @Karlman: M2M are on auto-renewal but you can cancel before the renewal date. Others manually extend the M2M period anytime by going into the account and clicking Extend Membership. Here you can enter the current promo code to extend at discount rate.

              Some auto renewals are at the discount rate some jump back to full price. It will tell you in your account how much you will be charged on the auto-renewal date.

  • +1

    Just a tip that might help. If you have trouble getting in contact with Sinemia on Twitter, reply to one of their tweets with something like: "I DM'd you but I haven't heard back. Could you please reply back?". I did that tonight and got a response back in around 10-15 mins.

    • Good tip thanks. I have tried Twitter support sometimes and they don't respond after you DM them.

      • Yeah I've been spamming them for ages. Then I saw Sinemeia responding to replies from other people on Sinemia's tweets.

  • +7

    Well that was a weird experience.

    Just had a video conference hookup to mediate between myself, the LA County Consumer Affairs and Sinemia.

    Sinemia got caught out in a few lies. I'll try to publish their written response once I remove some personal info. Got full refund back. Apparently I was the 16th of 20 mediations for that day involving Sinemia.

    • What was your case? Did they ban/block you?

      • +1

        Ban/blocked - still yet to ascertain why, they've changed the story on numerous times, and even in the meeting just went with "Well we can as per our T&C's".

        Appealed the $1.80 processing fees as they were hiding behind the new T&C's, not the ones in place at time of purchase which stated this would apply at the end of my subscription.

    • Looking forward to an entertaining read. With so many horror stories I'm glad I didn't end up signing up.

      • -1

        You don't like discounted tickets? I have been using them for 8 months and have paid on average $5 per ticket. Yes they suck with customer service and yes they have changed their terms to charge more, but still, its a $5 movie ticket any time….

    • +1

      @CTJR Good on you for taking on Sinemia and winning. Looking forward to reading the transcript

    • Hi i also have a problem with them could you please let me know how to start the mediation procecss and did you get your refund back?

      • Contact your bank, dispute the transaction. There is a template on the Sinemia Reddit that I used which was super helpful in pointing out the discrepancies. But without knowing what the problem is, I'm not sure what else to say

    • @CTJR How did you request mediation? LA County Consumer Affairs doesn't let me put Australian address.

      • New website by looks of things - I think I put down Victoria, Australia in the state, and then put the zip code down as 90210

  • +2

    https://i.imgur.com/fcaAZkA.jpg

    Sorry it's not that interesting - pretty generic stuff. Basically they went with "As per our terms and conditions", and mediator cut them off by pointing out that these were the terms recently updated and that she had a copy of the original terms dating back to May when I signed up which had no such reference, and the guy just shut up.

    My request at mediation I thought was more than reasonable. Reimburse me for the months I'd already paid up front and been suspended, and I'll pay for another 12 months on the new unlimited plan, with the understanding that the $1.80 transaction fees would not apply till the end of that 12 months.

    They declined on the basis that they couldn't modify my account like that. Which was possibly a case of not knowing how I guess, but, hey, I was prepared to give them another $300+ despite this bullshit and they knocked it back, so I'll take my money back and the free movies.

  • Great stuff. Thanks for sharing

  • My Annual subscription is expiring soon, anyone know what they do when that happens? Will they automatically resubscribe me annually for the same price or will they roll me onto the monthly subscriptions which works out to be cheaper than what I'm on now actually.

    • They don't offer annual plans now so i would assume you will goto Month to Month. Also interesting to see if they will charge your the Commitment Fee per person considering you just finished an annual plan (i would guess they will). Best bet would be to contact support on Twitter and see what they say. Let us know what happens as mine will be coming up soon also. :>

      • Thanks, will let you know what happens!

        • I'm also curious about this. When I try to cancel my membership, the page tried to offer me a deal:

          "You have a special offer!

          Did you know that your special campaign continues and as long as you do not cancel, your membership will continue to be renewed for $19.99 instead of $44.99?
          If you cancel your membership, this discount will not be valid when you return."

          Not sure if this is a bluff and if it is worth continuing, considering all the negative feedback on here and the fact that I haven't been going to the movies twice a month.

          Has anyone else been in a similar situation when considering cancelling the membership?

  • I tried everything but nothing works. Paypal, event , hoyts are declining. Hence I just cancel the membership. Wasted money for nothing. I guess we should complaint about it. Seems like a scam in Australian context.

    • +2

      Event works directly without PayPal. I use it three times a week on my 30 movies / 30 days plan.
      If there is an issue with the card on Event's site, try again 10-20 mins later as them loading credit on the card is not always instantaneous.

    • Works every time for me. Village, Hoyts through paypal works a treat. Pity your experience was different but it is NOT a scam….

    • In IMAX and Village no need of Paypal.Only in Hoyts you need PayPal have watch more then 20 movie till now

    • I did have to get Hoyts to remove a block on my account to allow credit card payment to allow payments to work directly. I also now wait 20mins before i attempt to use the VCC as recommended by Sinemia. I have seen movies at Imax, Village and Hoyts and it works for me on over 14 movies.

  • They've updated the plans for Australia again.

    Now it's only annual plans with no initiation fees and the 30 movies a month plan is now only $19.99/month ($10 saving).

    • Interesting. Do they still charge a $10 activation fee to use the service straight away?

      • But of course they do. Still $10 split over 12 months is negligible. I'm just annoyed that I have another 8 months to go at $29.99/month.

  • I spoke too soon. They've just increased their price to $28.99/month for the 30 movies a month plan.

  • +1

    Seems like a new feature has been introduced to all plans that allow one unused movie to be rolled over to the next month. Applies to new and existing members

    • Now thats a handy feature for when theres a month of not so great movies!

      • -4

        Now if I have 30 days movies month plan and its ticket also roll over to the next day. Like I didn't watch the movie for a 1st week on 8 the day I have 8 tickets?

        • +6

          You really like to rock the boat don't you, first on-selling tickets and then complaining that they cancelled your accounts, but to answer your question, on the unlimited plans, you already get 1 movie a day, there is no point rolling over since sinemia only allow 1 advance ticket a day, so you cant buy 2 tickets in 1 day anyway.

          • @cuball: Don't comments on matter which you are not aware of it .First of all yes I tried to sell it ,but never actually sold it. Secondly reason for cancelling my account was I switched my phone,which I was allowed there time.It was unfair to me .

    • Has anyone successfully tested this yet? How does it show up in the app?

      • No one has tested this new feature yet?

        • Dunno if you've had an answer to this yet - but I had 1 ticket I didn't use last month, and just noticed this in 'Current plan usage' within the app:

          https://drive.google.com/file/d/14hVo2jY5guB5d6nkqgCCw_5abie…

          Didn't have to do anything, in fact I didn't know about this feature until I checked this thread! So that's pretty cool :)

          • @fLaMePrO: Ok so thats how it looks. Let me know if it works as expected!

  • +1

    Just saw the following condition on Hoyt's booking just now:
    Please bring the credit card used to make the booking

    I assume, they are not enforcing it but if they do, Sinemia VCC won't work!

    • +3

      Been like that for years. Only time its ever come up is when I've needed to get a refund on a ticket as the projector shit itself, and even then they put the money back onto my personal debit card anyway. Beyond that, just take your phone in.

      • +2

        Agreed…..It has been saying that for a LONG time. The 16 year old scanning tickets only cares if you have a valid bar code…Hoyts staff really don't care….

        • Yep, I can confirm that I didn't have any issues. Thanks @Savitar and @CTJR

  • Direct VCC didn't work for me at Village (it had worked before) so I had to use the PayPal method instead.

    • +1

      Did you wait 10-20m after activating the card? sometimes the funds are not loaded instantly.

      • I didn’t know there was a delay in loading funds. Have you found that waiting helps?

        • Yes it works. It happens maybe one in every five transactions for me where I try again 10 mins later and it works.

      • Yes, I waited.
        The first time, I tried straight away and it didn't work (it had always worked straight away before). I remembered reading the comments here and waited and tried again, still didn't work. So I cancelled the advanced ticket (forgot to try PayPal method).
        Second time, I waited and tried, didn't work. So I tried PayPal but the card was attached to another account. So I had to wait two hours for the advanced ticket to cancel automatically.
        Third time, I didn't bother with direct VCC. I tried PayPal straight away and it worked.

    • Can anyone tell me if the new Village theatre at Plenty Valley mall in Mill Park Vic is in their list?

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