MoviePass has done a poor job of providing information to its subscribers and participating movie theaters on how to use its service, evidenced in mounting complaints.

The $10-a-month service that allows moviegoers to see a film a day at cinemas, if they choose, has been blindsided by strong demand. The company had just 20,000 subscribers before lowering the cost in August. In half a year since the price change, that number has ballooned to more than 2 million.

Some users whose accounts were canceled due to fraudulent activity are upset with how the rapidly growing company has handled customer service and are criticizing its lack of transparency. The company last month said it had secured partnership deals with more than 1,000 movie theaters and several major Hollywood studios.

In February, MoviePass abruptly canceled service for hundreds of users, sending emails explaining that their accounts had been flagged for fraudulent activity and informing them that they were banned from the service.

For the company’s part, the crackdown was a show of its new focus on fraud prevention, according to Ted Farnsworth, chief executive of MoviePass owner Helios & Matheson Analytics Inc. HMNY, -16.66% .

Read:MoviePass defends abrupt subscription cancellations over terms-of-service violations

A number of affected subscribers, however, have pleaded that they’ve done nothing wrong, prompting the company to take a second look.

MoviePass head Mitch Lowe said the company found that subscribers weren’t always at fault, and reactivated roughly 10% of the accounts they initially terminated.

“It’s people, we believe, probably inadvertently had this happen,” Lowe said.

'The Shape of Water:' The Creature Feature That Goes All the Way

To be sure, there are MoviePass subscribers scamming the system — a quick Google search yields articles and video on tricks and hacks to “get the most out of your subscription.”

A lot of confusion among users and movie theaters, however, seems to involve split-tender transactions, or when MoviePass members try using two cards to cover one transaction made for two tickets.

Read:Lagging 2017 movie receipts put Hollywood on the defensive for 2018

Josh, a former IT contractor from California, who didn’t want his last name used, said in an email that the company seems unprepared to deal with the influx of customers and that it’s made little effort to educate users on using MoviePass.

Josh said his wife’s account was terminated by MoviePass after the couple went to a movie together. An employee told them the theater had to run all MoviePass tickets together rather than as two separate transactions.

“We had both previously skimmed through MoviePass’s terms of service and frequently asked questions trying to find direction on how to go about the purchases,” Josh wrote in an email. “Although we didn’t get the impression that we absolutely had to complete separate transactions, we assumed that the cards would be loaded with just enough money for a single ticket.

“There was literally no mention on their website of split-tender transactions, no reminder to always do separate transactions, and no warning that some movie theater employees think otherwise and try to run your cards together.”

Don’t miss:How MoviePass plans to make money from its 2 million subscribers

Also see:MoviePass removes AMC theaters from its service in battle for revenue share

Josh said his wife’s account was eventually reactivated, but that the company provided zero explanation, nor did MoviePass acknowledge the error, outside of reactivating the account.

MoviePass has tried to lower the barriers to adoption. On the company’s homepage there are three steps: Get your card, choose your movie and enjoy the show.

But it’s a process increasingly more complicated than that, say users.

Since terminating accounts and fielding hundreds of inquiries and complaints, MoviePass has added to the frequently asked questions section of its website. The section now includes articles on why an account may have been canceled, whether a MoviePass card can be used for two people and details on split-tender transactions.

Lowe admits that the company hasn’t done a great job at customer service. One of the most common complaints from MoviePass subscribers who reached out to MarketWatch was the lack of response and communication from the company.

“It’s been the big disappointment for me in my time here,” Lowe said.

“ ‘We have been falsely accused and seem to have no recourse. That is what gets me angry.’ ” — Brad Kordic, MoviePass subscriber

In the same timeframe as the subscriber growth, MoviePass’s customer service team has gone from five people to 100, and Lowe said they only recently hired someone to oversee the team. In a lot of ways MoviePass is still playing catch up.

Check out:When are the 2018 Oscars?

The company also recently hired someone to lead the charge on fraud protection, Lowe’s old head of fraud protection at Redbox, where he was CEO.

“Believe me, we’re not just randomly kicking people off,” Lowe said. “We know exactly how much the [movie] ticket costs and when we see a difference between that and what’s charged, that’s when we investigate.

“We’re doing an active education of the terms of conditions through social media,” Lowe said.

When a MoviePass subscriber uses the app to check in to a specific movie showtime at a theater, the amount for the ticket, plus a couple dollars extra just in case, gets put on the card.

Lowe claimed that movie theaters have been overcharging, taking advantage of the additional amount the company puts on the cards. This is likely what happened in a lot of the cases where people had their account flagged for fraudulent activity, he said. Representatives of the participating theaters did not immediately respond.

The pass holder named Josh told MarketWatch he often has to instruct theater employees how to use the card for a transaction.

“I understand that MoviePass has absolutely no control over what theater employees are saying or doing, but they are aware and should make a greater effort to advise their subscribers,” Josh said. “My wife and I know what to do to keep our accounts open, now that we’ve gone through this, but other new subscribers probably still do not.”

According to Lowe and Farnsworth there has been only a small number of subscribers who have been affected, but they’re a vocal and passionate bunch.

Brad Kordic, head of a California-based environmental engineering firm, told MarketWatch that he believes MoviePass is the one committing fraud.

Kordic’s account was canceled — based on false information, he says — and despite reaching out to MoviePass multiple times he hasn’t received any response.

Read:MoviePass reveals its true ambitions at Sundance

Also see:How much economic value do you get from winning an Oscar?

“I understand that if people are abusing the card they need to be targeted. However, those that operate within the system need to be heard,” Kordic said in an email. “We have been falsely accused and seem to have no recourse. That is what gets me angry.”

—Kari Paul contributed to this article