Sinemia Class Action Says Subscriptions Are Wrongfully Terminated

Sinemia faces class action allegations that the discount movie ticket service wrongfully terminates subscriptions without offering full refunds.

Plaintiffs Henry Yeh, Jeremy Rynca, and Kathy Braun argue that their subscriptions were wrongfully terminated after they had paid for a full year but they were not refunded for the amount of time left in their subscription.

Yeh allegedly experienced this issue in March 2019. He says he paid the full year subscription cost on July 31, 2018 for a total of $179.88. He did not choose to expedite the activation of his account and his service began on Aug. 14, 2018. From this date, he assumed he would receive a year of service.

In March 2019, Yeh was allegedly told that his subscription with Sinemia had been terminated after the company detected “examples of your membership use that violates the terms of service.” Yeh argues that he had not engaged in any sort of fraudulent behavior that could prompt a termination of his services.

The company agreed to refund “the difference between a user’s membership payment & fees and ticket purchases to the user’s payment card.” However, the Sinemia class action claims this offer ignored the five months remaining on Yeh’s subscription which he had already paid for. Yeh says he contacted the company and told them that the refund they offered was “unacceptable” and that they still owed him $74.95.

When the company responded via email, they reportedly stated “we will not be able to discuss this any further as stated above. If you need assistance on a different topic, please let us know.”

Rynca claims to have experienced a similar issue in 2019. Beginning in January, Sinemia allegedly started to charge him processing fees and convenience fees well beyond his subscription fees and purchase price. In March 2019, he allegedly learned that his subscription had been wrongfully terminated. Attempts to reach out to Sinemia reportedly went unanswered.

Braun reportedly purchased an annual subscription with Sinemia for $359.88 on Sept. 21, 2018. After learning that she would have to pay additional fees for movies, she sought to cancel her subscription. In the same day, Braun disputed the charge with her bank and was granted a full refund through her bank. However, the very next day, Sinemia allegedly charged an additional $359.88 – rendering her refund useless. The company has since refused to refund the charge.

The plaintiffs claim that Sinemia knowingly steals money from its customers by failing to provide refunds and even goes so far as to intentionally reverse refunds granted by banks.

The customers seek to represent a Class of consumers who, since April 19, 2015, purchased a Sinemia movie ticket subscription but had their subscription canceled before the end of the service period.

Additionally, the Sinemia class action proposes two subclasses of California and Michigan Sinemia consumers.

The plaintiffs also seek to represent a Class of consumers who purchased a subscription from Sinemia, cancelled the subscription, obtained a refund through their bank, were charged against by Sinemia, and did not obtain another refund since April 19, 2015. For this Class, the consumers also seek a subclass of California consumers.

The Sinemia class action lawsuit seeks injunctive relief, statutory damages, monetary damages, punitive damages, court costs, and attorneys’ fees.

The Sinemia customers are represented by Michael R. Reese and George V. Granade of Reese LLP.

The Sinemia Movie Ticket Subscription Class Action Lawsuit is Yeh, et al. v. Sinemia Inc., Case No. 4:19-cv-02145-DMR, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.

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