Netflix is safer has more content and frankly a whole lot cheaper.

Thanks for your thoughts. First, I suspect based on your comments that you didn’t notice the update posted (at the top of the page) a few weeks back that Movie Room Reviews had dropped its affiliation with iReel and I was leaving the post as a forum for conversation and discussion on iReel and movie downloads in general.

Friendly conversation on your other thoughts…

You are very correct that free content supported by advertising happens, but no way do I think the ‘totally free’ legal movie content thing is going to happen anytime soon, other than with perhaps smaller or indie studios looking to promote themselves for bigger opportunities. Top movie studios aren’t going to let their films be sold for free online or anywhere, thus diluting their ability to drive top prices at theaters and for sell through of products. Have you seen any news of the Redbox legal situation? Studios aren’t overly enthused about the prospect of low rental prices and especially low sales prices, as this ultimately impacts their licensing and revenue opportunities? Therefore, I don’t see them enabling a business model that provides their product to end users for free at this point in time.

Comparing the online movie situation to my site is an apples to oranges situation for the reasons just mentioned. My site, as with most ‘original’ content sites, is advertising driven. Movie streaming sites that are not licensed to offer studio movies are not driving traffic based on ‘original’ content. They are driving traffic through generally pirated content and thus profiting off of someone else’s work.

By the way, you don’t have to guess that this site was supported when it was affiliated with iReel… I clearly disclosed the affiliation in the opening paragraph, just as I did the update in mid-January that the affiliation was ended.

Thanks for sharing and best,
Neil

Most people don’t complain and just eat the charge they are assessed. Plus, I’d venture to guess that a good portion of those thousands that sign up every day are expecting something other than what they get. Also, there is a way for such sites to offer “totally free” content and be legitimate as well. It’s called support via advertising. Niel, wouldn’t it be a safe guess that ireel is paying you for your support? In turn, don’t you think companies would pay to post ads on the ireel site? Or wouldn’t a studio offer ireel special pricing for supporting them?

Frankly all I can see is you sidestepping the point of all these complaints. As for ireel, I got to page two of their sign up routine and decided something wasn’t quite right. So I went out an searched a little. Needless to say, I won’t be completing the sign up process. Unfortunately they got my name and email before I stopped so I’m sure I will be inundated with spam from them and all the organizations they sell info to.

By the way, the money I don’t spend at ireel will now go to Netflix who clearly state what they are all about up front.

Megan, keep on fighting the good fight out there. You deserve and have my respect.

–Scott

Jennifer Denneau
Submitted on 2010/01/13 at 3:41am

Dear Neil,
I have been an affiliate marketer in the past. Megan, you are absolutely correct in saying that he must be getting some sort of compensation from the company to promote them. That is what affiliate marketing is and Neil has stated very clearly that he is an affiliate. Neil, you seem like a fairly honest person so I’m going to give you some unsolicited advice. The following was taken from scam.com:

The Director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection, David C. Vladeck, appeared at a press conference with officials from Visa and the Better Business Bureau (BBB) today to caution consumers about the free trial feature, known as a “negative option.” In a negative option feature, a company takes a consumer’s failure to cancel a free trial offer as permission to begin charging for the service. While many merchants use this billing process appropriately, others pre-check consent boxes, bury the details of the offers in the fine print, terms and conditions, and make cancellations or returns difficult, catching consumers in a cycle of recurring charges for products and services they do not want.

Full article at: http://www.ftc.gov/opa/2009/12/visa.shtm

Notice it says, ” bury the details of the offers in the fine print, terms and conditions,”. While you have made the terms and conditions clear here (and I commend you-you are the ONLY one I have seen do this!), the problem is, the promo page used by other affiliates AND YOURSELF do not! Click on the banner that YOU have provided here and tell me where the link is to the terms and conditions. Also, I couldnt find the exact amount of the fee listed there EITHER. You are correct in stating that the websites HOME page has a link at the bottom, but most people never see that page-all they see is the promo page. Be honest- tell everyone where that page comes from. Unless you are one of the few who make their own promo pages and banners, that page came from the company- which means the company IS being deceptive. On the actual website, I could find no mention of any fees or subscription prices BEFORE I gave my initial info. This almost guarantees that the company is going to get charge backs. I have never seen a credit card company who has failed to issue a refund under these terms. This is one of the fastest growing consumer complaints and causing a huge amount of refunds to be filed. Guess what happens when the credit cards start losing major amounts of money? You dont have to have a crystal ball to see the legislation coming. Even without it, when enough complaints are filed against ireel the company will shut down, take their money and run. (–).
Regarding the assurances you have gotten from the company- they are going to say whatever they have to to get you to feel comfortable;Thats what makes them good scam artists. Ask them why they dont offer Paypal. ANY legit company, especially one with supposedly that many customers, should be offering Paypal. The reason this is important- Paypal offers a 30 money back guarantee- regardless. If a company gets more than a certain number of unresolved complaints, they forfeit their account!
You have obviously put a lot of time and effort into your site. At the bottom of your website it states:New Movie Reviews, DVD Reviews & Blu-ray Reviews are honest & objective regardless of product provision. Our #1 priority is to be your best source for accurate movie information. Why would you want to risk your reputation and hard work promoting a company that has so many red flags?
(–).
For everyone else including Megan, please go to scam.com (and no-I do NOT profit in ANY way by promoting them) and read the thread “fighting back against free trial scams” and remember- If a company is asking you for your credit card info, no matter what reason they say, they are going to use it!
Jen