【Hunt, "Introduction", in Hunt ed., Eroticism】

As MoviePass fights to hang on Hunt, "Introduction", in Hunt ed., Eroticismafter the business reality of not being profitable came crashing down over the summer, a new tactic has emerged: Force lapsed users to resubscribe without their knowledge.

Only one reaction GIF comes to mind at this juncture.

To understand how we got here, we first have to look back to the golden days of August, which was approximately 100,000 years ago in 2018 time. Toward the end of that month, MoviePass forced all of its annual subscribers to downgrade to the company's new (and now, only) three-movies-per-month-for-$9.95 plan.

Bear in mind, these annual folks were pre-paid. But they were a grandfathered-in headache for the money-troubled MoviePass, and the company decided that forcing its most loyal subscribers to accept a downgrade was preferable to... whatever would've happened if that move hadn't occurred.

Those annual folks were offered an out, and this is what's important to this week's latest developments: Annual subscribers that wanted to opt out of the downgrade could quit the service entirely, receive a refund for any remaining months in their subscription, and that would be that. They only had a week to act on that "offer," but many apparently did.

Fast forward to the late days of September now. Some of those former annual subscribers have received emails from MoviePass informing them that, hey, they subscribed again! There's a new unlimited plan being tested, and those "lucky" former subscribers have been chosen to participate -- but they have to pay.

Those people can opt out of paying for the subscription they didn't ask for, but only if they click a link in the email. What.

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"Because we really hope you begin enjoying your MoviePass subscription again, we have chosen you to be a part of a select test group, who beginning Friday, October 5th will be restored to unlimited movies (up to one new movie title per day based on existing inventory) -- the same subscription that you signed up for and previously enjoyed."

Here's the important bit: "If you decide that you do not want this you must 'opt out' before Thursday, October 4th at 9:00 p.m. EDT."

So. Uh. The good news I guess is that MoviePass appears to be bringing back an unlimited plan, where you get one movie per day for $9.95 per month. The bad news is the company is literally forcing former subscribers into rejoining.

I don't know about you, but I generally ignore emails from companies I no longer patronize. When I switched from Sprint to AT&T way back when, I didn't keep up any kind of communication with Sprint. My eyes simply blazed right past the company's sales emails.

It's probably the same for lots of former MoviePass subscribers! This move of forcibly re-subscribing someone who already opted out of their payment plan is, at best -- best! -- underhanded and questionably legal.

If you're one of the "lucky" members of this "test group," be sure to let the company know.

MoviePass sent along the following statement:

As we said, there are a small number of people whose accounts have had conflicting status – whether they opted out and then back in again or their cancellation didn’t complete.  In case this was the result of a glitch in the system or an incomplete cancellation, we put anyone whose account status was unclear into a suspended status and did not charge them.  And we have now included them in what we think is a terrific one-time promotional offer.  If they are interested in returning to their original unlimited subscription, they can.  If they are not, they simply click the link below and opt out.  This is nothing more than a promotional offer that has been well received by many members who have been asking for it.

UPDATEDOct.3, 2018, 9:01 a.m. ET with a statement from MoviePass.