Free Legal Movie Downloads by iReel
November 15, 2009 by Admin/Neil
Filed under Movie News, Sponsors
Movie streaming and movie downloading have become very popular in the digital movie age where people want film entertainment at the push of the button. The challenge for ethical movie goers is finding a site that provides free legal movie downloads like iReel does with its free trial subscription. Because of the quality of its service and its legal credibility, Movie Room Reviews has chosen iReel as its movie download affiliate partner.
Many of the best movie downloads sites from user perspectives are actually illegal and typically pirate content and have no legal movie downloads arrangement with studios. iReel on the other hand has a contractual arrangement with Paramount for the provision of their legal movie downloads service.
Other benefits of the iReel movie streaming service include:
- Just Press Play – No waiting to download movies.
- Instant Playback – Pause, Rewind, or Fast Forward your movie.
- Watch movies anywhere – from your TV, PC or Mac!
- Save money and save time – No due dates. No late fees.
- Patented adaptive streaming technology for top-quality.
- Comprehensive library of movies in HD Quality.
- Browse movies easily by actor, director, genre and more!
- No special software required – no downloads and no installations.
Perhaps the best feature of the iReel legal movie downloads service is that you can choose the plan that is right for you. In fact, iReel offers a 5-day Free movie downloads trial so that you can test the merits of the service. Simply cancel your membership anytime before the five days are up by calling or emailing their customer support.
There are monthly, quarterly and annual plans and the longer you subscribe the better your value (1 year plans equate to around $7-8 per month). Your subscription gets you access to hundreds of movie downloads in their library. Without a subscription, you pay a fee a la carte for all the movies.
Some wonder is iReel safe? iReel is a safe movie downloads service because it is legal, they have a detail page explaining terms and conditions of the legal movie downloads service, and they provide support contact information directly on their home page.
If finding a legal movie streaming site is important to you and you want to test the iReel service at no risk, get started with a 5 day Free Movie Downloads trial and cancel iReel anytime within the trial to avoid billing.
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Are you sure this is not a scam? I heard that many of them have negative feedbacks about IReel. I just signed up with them hours ago but did not validate my e-mail and did not attempt to try their 5-day trial. I immediately cancelled my account through their technical support section and BANG! Finally my regular account was cancelled. Will I still be charged by them monthly even I’m cancelled and did not attempt to upgrade even once?
Hi Jeff,
Thanks for the question. This site was recently restructured and unfortunately, this iReel page had to be reposted. There was a similar concern raised previously that had a nice 4-5 comment conversation including a thorough response directly from iReel. Essentially the concerns raised have been that people don’t like automatically billing if you don’t cancel your free trial and others suggested it was difficult to get through on their support line and that it was based in the UK.
First, let me state that while I am not a representative of iReel, it is important to me to be comfortable with companies I promote and partner with (as an affiliate). Thus, I asked several questions of their affiliate manager and called their support number myself. I was able to get through in less than one minute and spoke to an American English speaker. I also have reviewed their terms and conditions and sign up page details.
In rewriting this spot discussing the benefits of iReel, I was careful to include links to their terms and conditions, support contacts, etc., so people knew those were available. It clearly states in their terms and conditions (and sign up page), that you will not be charged if you don’t upgrade. Not unlike most other services that offer a free trial, they do bill after 5 day promo periods unless you cancel. Assuming you have a cancel confirmation prior to the end of your promo period, or if you signed up for free without the trial, my understanding is you will not be billed.
For further questions, feel free to contact iReel support using the links in this page. They have made their terms and support information much more accessible recently because of concerns from customers. They also now have a direct page set up for cancellation, which is linked in the article.
Just to let all of you know, IREEL is a HUGE scam. I signed up for the free 5 day trial. They asked me for my credit card and charged me a dollar to ensure I was of legal age and a US citizen. Fine, I’ll pay the one dollar, no problem.
Little did I know (better yet, little did they inform me), if you do not cancel the free trial within the 5 days, they charge you $35 dollars. Not to mention, after they charge you the monthly fee, you have to pay extra to watch or buy the movies.
My advice is to steer clear of this site, as they will do everything they can, it seems, to rip you off and take your money.
Hi Ben,
Thanks for sharing your concerns. I have referenced the iReel terms and conditions and cancel request pages in this post so that anyone choosing iReel using this site is fully aware of how the site works. These pages were carefully reviewed prior to this post about the iReel service. Not unlike many other sites that have free trials (common industry practice for subscription services), they bill at the end of the 5 day trial if you elect not to cancel. This is communicated on the aforementioned Terms and Conditions page and the sign up page. Please reference those for more details.
Again, thanks for sharing your concern. Great care has been given for full disclosure of the sign up and billing process within this post so our readers can accurately decide if the iReel movie downloads service is right for them. I wholeheartedly encourage anyone to review the site and its product, terms and conditions to see if it is the right service for you. All common questions and concerns about this service can be found in the materials if you look over them ahead of time.
Best,
Neil
This site is clearly a scam, and I must say it is unethical to promote the site without discussing its misleading practices. It appears likely that you work for the ireel.com site or are otherwise being compensated for promoting the site. Ireel does not engage in honest marketing – on the “Sign up” page, it repeatedly states that watching the HD movies is completely free. Nowhere on the page does it even mention a “free trial” period that ends after 5 days. I entered my e-mail address assuming that it would take me to all of the “free” movies. Once it had already gotten my personal e-mail information, it then took me to a page that asked for my credit card information. Unbelievably, it stated that it only wanted the information for licensing reasons – again, nowhere on the page did it mention I’d be charged for any reason.
Of course, I did not give my credit card information, but all over the internet you can find people who were scammed out of $35. You imply here that YOU are being upfront about the terms and conditions, and that may be true, but it’s sleazy to promote a site that is not honest in its own marketing. The company obviously knows that people are being charged without their conscious approval, yet they continue to have a “sign up” page that says nothing about the service costing anything. If fact, it says, and I quote,
“Join HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS of satisfied members who became tired of waiting for DVDs in the mail, and now watch the hottest NEW RELEASES and CLASSICS on our site.
It’s QUICK. It’s EASY. And best of all, it’s FREE.”
Right there, it tells me that I can watch the hottest new releases, and then says “It’s FREE.” Other sites such as Netflix are very clear about how users will be charged after the free trial, and do not ask for personal information BEFORE informing people about the company’s charging practices.
Because you are so intent on promoting the site, I hope you will be as proactive about pressuring the site to include information about their charging practices on the sign up page.
Hi Megan,
I’m going to look past the personal commentary in your post (eg. sleazy, etc.) and simply respond to your business concerns:
1) Regarding the concern that there is no communication that after the 5 day trial you are charged… There are multiple locations on the site where I see that message communicated and it is also sent in a follow up email once you join. It is in the terms and conditions I referenced and on the page where you select the Free Trial in the content on the left that says you won’t be billed if you cancel before it ends (exactly as Netflix, Blockbuster, and Cinemanow) do with their trials.
2) Regarding your concern about people being knowingly charged without their conscious approval… iReel signs up thousands of people every day and the percentage of complaints and cancellations is very minor relative to total membership. You can see in browsing movies that there are sometimes 50,000-100,000 views on particular movies, which indicates fairly sizable membership.
3) Regarding your point about Netflix, they do ask for your sign up and credit card information before you are first billed… again, this is common industry practice for subscription-based services.
Finally, regarding your last comment… I have thoroughly exhausted people at iReel to ensure I understand fully their process. You mentioned that it is clear I have some connection with them… I tried to make it as clear as possible in the opening paragraph buy stating that I was an affiliate of their service. I can tell you that iReel is only 8 months old and similar concerns were issued about Netflix and other sites before they became established. iReel has actually just recently changed some of the language on their sign up pages to more clearly distinguish between Free Trial and free membership. They are attempting to make things as simple as possible and have evolved the site over time to show that.
Any suggestion that the site is a “scam” when it is given licensing rights by a major studio like Paramount is silly in my opinion. I did a google search on “Cinemanow.com scam” and found similar commentary expressed by people who didn’t cancel free trials as well. I think anyone who signs up online for free trials and a credit card just needs to be aware that this is common practice.
Finally, the notion that a company charging for license movies is unethical is ironic given that most of the movie industry people find that the unethical aspect of movie downloading comes when sites offer pirated movie content for free. Ultimately, you should expect to pay something for legal movie viewing.
I do appreciate your concerns. The “sleazy” thing would have been to not post negative comments like this and to ignore them. However, I encourage any site working as an affiliate to investigate companies it represents. I am confident iReel sells a reputable service and its thousands of maintained customers goes to show that.
Thank you for your response. You frame part of your response as if my concern is with the practice of charging people to watch movies. This is not my concern, which is why I did not state such a concern in my first post. Perhaps I am not being clear. First, let me clarify that I’m referring to the sign up process for the site itself, and not for the free trial. I have two related concerns:
My first concern is that the site promotes itself, and I’m quoting the first paragraph of your promotional post, above, as having “‘free’ legal movie downloads”. As you say yourself later in your post, the movies are not in fact free. There is a monthly charge for the movies. No site that charges to watch movies should call itself “free” other than in reference to its free trial.
My second and related concern is that there is absolutely no mention of any charge (or any “trial” period) on the sign up pages for the site, where people are giving their e-mail and credit card information. You state that iReel sends a follow up e-mail AFTER people sign up for the free trial, and that terms and conditions are present on their site. Wouldn’t it make the most sense, and be the most ethical, to provide access to these terms and conditions during the sign up process for the SITE itself?
Again, I must emphasize that when it asks for credit card information, it is NOT in reference to signing up for a free trial, as you imply in your response to my first post. The sign up page FOR THE SITE clearly says that a regular membership is free AND will allow me to watch movies for free. It says, and I quote, “You are about to sign up for our FREE Regular Membership and get: Full access to our movie library”, and then also lists other “free” benefits. It is interesting that I can only get these “free” benefits if I give them my credit card information.
I have no problem with paying to watch movies. I do have a problem with sites that promote themselves as free when they are not in fact free.
i am from jamaica and joined this site too and they told me it is free but yet still they charged me this site is really a scam. SHAME SHAME AND SHAME AGAIN
IReel is a scam, pure and simple
Dear Admin,
I have to agree with Megan. Your signup page is deceptive advertising due to the following;
“Signing up is FREE! Due to contractual rights with the movie studios, we ask you to provide a valid U.S. or Canadian credit card. No charges will be applied to your credit card for signing up as a regular member.
Today’s charge: $0.00″
“Secure Purchase Description: Free Regular Membership. Today’s charge: $0.00
Credit card information is only required to facilitate future purchases.”
Hence, your page clearly defines the membership as “FREE” and does not disclose a “5 day free trial” or allow the consumer to view your Terms of Service prior to signing up. My suggestion is that anyone who is not happy with ireel.com simply file a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission. You can access thier site at http://www.ftc.gov or go directly to the complaint page here https://www.ftccomplaintassistant.gov/FTC_Wizard.aspx?Lang=en
Hi Terry,
Thanks for sharing your comments!
I have already thoroughly stated the case for iReel and there isn’t much point in rehashing them repeatedly. But, I do see it necessary to keep things accurate, so let’s clear things up…
First, it is not our/my “Sign Up Page” as I/We have no direct connection to the iReel business. This site is an affiliate partner of iReel. This obviously means that we generally endorse it is a credible business and present it as such to our readers, realizing that with hundreds of thousands of consumers using any business there will be some concerns. Any opinions expressed here are our opinions and experiences related to the site including communication with its representatives.
Regarding your two quotes about the “Free” descriptors: 1) Everything you noted is accurate… there is no charge for membership, but without one you must pay for downloads a la carte (rent/buy prices are on every movie page). 2) You are completely right in your final paragraph – the Free membership and Free Trial are completely separate… only when you select the 5 day free trial are you entering a potential agreement to purchase if you don’t cancel by trial’s end. 3) Your concern about the consumer not being able to view Terms of Service prior to signing up is false – you can access Terms of Support, Support, Q&A, etc. all from the home page near the bottom.
Finally, some personal reflections on the whole movie downloads industry not necessarily related just to iReel:
It is somewhat ironic that people are making a point to call out new online download companies with legal movie arrangements with studios because they feel they have been misled into thinking they could access free movies… The harsh reality is that generally speaking, if you are seeking out sites that do offer totally free streaming of new (unlicensed) movies (other than those offered directly from the movie maker) you are most likely supporting illegal, pirated movie content.
Seriously, think about what people are going to say to the FTC should they file such a complaint… “I was seeking out free (unlicensed/pirated) movie content and was hoodwinked.”
Truthfully, the whole movie industry is in the midst of a revolution… eventually, internet-based streaming sites like iReel/Cinemanow will likely be the norm. I have been totally fine approving every comment made on this post because I think it is fair, first of all, and leads to good open discussion secondly.
I have spent hours researching iReel and talking with their affiliate manager regarding concerns I hear because I am very concerned with being comfortable in the credibility of companies promoted here. iReel is one of the top 2,000 most visited websites in the world according to Alexa and is 8 months old. For a major company to set up shop with a business model of “scamming” people for $34, after they have paid a large portion of that in advertising/operations dollars would make no sense. They receive thousands of new sign ups every day and the amount of negative feedback is minute compared to their total customer base. I do know that they have, and are, making ongoing efforts to improve all aspects of their business, including communications. I have already seen several improvements just in the short while this site has been an affiliate.
Again – thanks to all who have shared and expressed concerns. I am 100% in favor of anyone interested in legal movie downloads reading through the terms and conditions (linked above) and other provided information above to decide if iReel is right for you.
I will make a commitment that should Paramount or any of the other studio that provides licensing rights to iReel decide that they are not comfortable doing so based on their methods of doing business, we’ll withdraw affiliation immediately. My suspicion is that more studios will likely be coming to the company as revenue from in-store rentals falls.
Neil