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Business Profile

Apps

TextNow

Headquarters

This business is NOT BBB Accredited.

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Complaints

This profile includes complaints for TextNow's headquarters and its corporate-owned locations. To view all corporate locations, see

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TextNow has 3 locations, listed below.

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    • TextNow

      420 Wes Graham Way Ste 200 Waterloo, ON N2L 6R2

    • TextNow

      1 Sutter Street, Suite 800 San Francisco, CA 94104

    • Text Now Wireless

      1 Sutter Street, Suite 800 San Francisco, CA 94104

    Customer Complaints Summary

    • 66 total complaints in the last 3 years.
    • 27 complaints closed in the last 12 months.

    If you've experienced an issue

    Submit a Complaint

    The complaint text that is displayed might not represent all complaints filed with BBB. Some consumers may elect to not publish the details of their complaints, some complaints may not meet BBB's standards for publication, or BBB may display a portion of complaints when a high volume is received for a particular business.

    Sort by

    Complaint status

    Complaint type

    • Initial Complaint

      Date:20/05/2025

      Type:Customer Service Issues
      Status:
      Resolved
      Resolved:
      The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.
      Unresolved:
      The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.
      Answered:
      The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.
      Unanswered:
      The business failed to respond to the dispute.
      Unpursuable:
      BBB is unable to locate the business.
      I recently registered for an account but when I went to log back in, I got an alert saying my account was disabled for some reason even though I hadn't even done anything. I filled out their "Disabled Account Appeal Request" form and nobody has responded. I was going to purchase a sim card but after getting my account disabled and not being able to contact support has made me reconsider that decision. There is no support email or any way to actually get support which is ridiculous.

      Business Response

      Date: 28/05/2025

      After reviewing the case owner's complaint, we would like to confirm that our team has reviewed the case owner's account and reinstated it. We would also like to clarify for the case owner that we have live chat support available every day of the week at help.textnow.com as well as email support at *********@*******.com, should they require any further assistance with their account. 

      Customer Answer

      Date: 29/05/2025

       
      Better Business Bureau:

      Thanks for reopening my account but the support email you provided is mentioned nowhere on your website so there is no way for anybody to know that is your email.  

      Sincerely,
      ****** *******

    • Initial Complaint

      Date:30/04/2025

      Type:Service or Repair Issues
      Status:
      Answered
      Resolved:
      The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.
      Unresolved:
      The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.
      Answered:
      The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.
      Unanswered:
      The business failed to respond to the dispute.
      Unpursuable:
      BBB is unable to locate the business.
      I lost my phone in ********** 3 hours away. I downloaded textnow so i could keep in touch with my elderly mother. after sending a couple texts, my account was hobbled making it all but worthless.

      Business Response

      Date: 09/05/2025

      After reviewing the case owner's complaint, we can confirm that it appears that the case owner may have experienced an account limitation. We have these systems in place to prevent abuse of our platform, and have more information on our support site here: https:/*****************************************************************************

      As the limitation is not currently applied to the case owner's account, and it does not appear that they spoke to support regarding it at the time, if the case owner has further issues in the future we invite them to contact us via live chat at help.textnow.com and we would be happy to look into it for them. 

    • Initial Complaint

      Date:28/02/2025

      Type:Billing Issues
      Status:
      Resolved
      Resolved:
      The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.
      Unresolved:
      The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.
      Answered:
      The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.
      Unanswered:
      The business failed to respond to the dispute.
      Unpursuable:
      BBB is unable to locate the business.
      ** **** ** **** *******. I’ve paid TextNow $3.17/month for their service for over 5 years with no problems. They informed me over 2 months ago that I violated some policy of theirs and cut off my service immediately, and did not even explain what policy they were talking about. They continue to charge me in the month of January 2025, and February 2025, and they cut off my service Jan 4, 2025. I emailed their customer service and they told me I would have to go through their “online chat team”, which I did, which was nothing more than an AI bot which only addressed preprogrammed problems and mine was not one of them. I called their phone number and got a prerecorded message that hung up at the end. I want TextNow to stop charging me, every month, for a service they cut off with no explanation on January 4, 2025. I’m sorry I’m not able to provide you with an account number because they will give me no access to the account, while they continue to charge me for it. I have a new number and no longer need their service.

      Business Response

      Date: 12/03/2025

      After reviewing the case owner's complaint, we can confirm that the account in question was disabled due to behaviour/activity that went against our Terms of Use. While we aren't able to disclose details of the violation for security purposes, we do believe that it was applied correctly. We would also like to confirm that we will be following up with the case owner at the email address provided with instructions on how to cancel their in-app subscription, as those subscriptions are handled by the **** *****/App Store and are not something that we are able to cancel for them. 

      Customer Answer

      Date: 12/03/2025

       
      Better Business Bureau:

      I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me.

      Sincerely,

      **** *******

    • Initial Complaint

      Date:27/02/2025

      Type:Service or Repair Issues
      Status:
      Answered
      Resolved:
      The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.
      Unresolved:
      The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.
      Answered:
      The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.
      Unanswered:
      The business failed to respond to the dispute.
      Unpursuable:
      BBB is unable to locate the business.
      When I login to my TextNow account on my phone, it asks me to push a button asking to confirm i am a human. It keeps repeating me to push that button and not allow me to use my account on my phone. I am requesting that TextNow fix this bug.

      Business Response

      Date: 07/03/2025

      After reviewing the case owner's complaint, we would like to confirm that we are aware that some users have been having issues completing captchas on the TextNow app and have recently made adjustments to improve this. If the case owner is still experiencing this issue, we invite them to reach out to our live support chat at help.textnow.com to speak with an agent for further assistance. 

    • Initial Complaint

      Date:18/02/2025

      Type:Service or Repair Issues
      Status:
      Answered
      Resolved:
      The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.
      Unresolved:
      The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.
      Answered:
      The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.
      Unanswered:
      The business failed to respond to the dispute.
      Unpursuable:
      BBB is unable to locate the business.
      My phone cannot send or get sms since last monday 10 Feb. I send them emails and chat. All their respond goes: Hi, my name is ****, how are you doing. And the next sentence is the conversation is closed. the other one is same, Hello, this is ****, thank you for contacting textnow. the next message is he close the conversation. In the message I told them that i cannot send out message, what has been done for example reinstalling. or using the web. I also tell them I cannot contact my landlord and friends. My banks also not able to contact me as well. I have at least 12 message sent to them and they didnt even take a look and did nothing. I also sent email to them but they said i have to contact customer service at chat. I request the company ***** *** * **** ****** ****** ********** ******* *** to fix my account AT SOONEST MANNER. Whats more they still charge me money from my ****** for the number service. This service never came in effect. I told them this issue and one of the chat agent ended the conversation as well. No refund and no resolution. Contacted apple and apple ask me to contact textnow. They charge this fee since 2022 and I raised this to them in 2023 and 2024. None of them helped so far. This is absurd for them to misfollow up like that

      Business Response

      Date: 04/03/2025

      After reviewing the case owner's complaint, we can confirm that we will be reaching out to them at the contact information provided regarding their experience and issues texting. 

    • Initial Complaint

      Date:10/02/2025

      Type:Customer Service Issues
      Status:
      Resolved
      Resolved:
      The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.
      Unresolved:
      The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.
      Answered:
      The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.
      Unanswered:
      The business failed to respond to the dispute.
      Unpursuable:
      BBB is unable to locate the business.
      For absolutely no reason at all and without warning, Textnow suspended my account. And any time that I have attempted to submit an appeal, their form does not work **** *********.

      Business Response

      Date: 28/02/2025

      After reviewing the case owner's complaint, we would like to confirm that while we are not able to disclose the exact violation in this case for security reasons, our team has reviewed the account and confirmed that the disable was applied correctly. 

      Customer Answer

      Date: 03/03/2025


      I am rejecting this response because: They sent me a generic robotic email saying "It appears that our system has disabled your account. We detected activity that violates our Terms of Use."

      They did not look into anything. The number was new. In addition, I created ANOTHER account and it was disabled the next day. They are not even looking into anything.

      Sincerely,
      ****** ******

      Business Response

      Date: 12/03/2025

      After reviewing the case owner's rejection, we would like to clarify that as per our Terms of Use we reserve the right to disable accounts that we believe are in violation of those Terms. We would again like to confirm that this disable was manually reviewed, and confirmed to have been applied correctly. Additionally, we would like to advise the case owner that they are not able to bypass this by simply creating a new account. 

      Customer Answer

      Date: 23/03/2025


      I am rejecting this response because: It was a NEW account and I wasn't even able to submit an appeal. Their app was saying something about submitting more than 1 form but I did NOT SUBMIT ANOTHER ONE. Thus company is not addresing the issues at all.

      Sincerely,

      ****** ******

      Business Response

      Date: 07/04/2025

      After reviewing the case owner's response, we would again like to confirm that this situation has been manually replied by our team, and that our team has confirmed that what we are seeing does not line up with the case owner's versions of events. Our team has confirmed that this disable was correctly applied. 

      Customer Answer

      Date: 19/04/2025


      Better Business Bureau:

      I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me.

      Sincerely,

      ****** ******

    • Initial Complaint

      Date:17/12/2024

      Type:Service or Repair Issues
      Status:
      Resolved
      Resolved:
      The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.
      Unresolved:
      The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.
      Answered:
      The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.
      Unanswered:
      The business failed to respond to the dispute.
      Unpursuable:
      BBB is unable to locate the business.
      I continue to receive texts from this carrier. Text from +***********. Block all texts and calls to my number from your service, my number is on the DNC list. I do not want to receive texts or calls from the **** ******* that use your service.

      Business Response

      Date: 23/12/2024

      After reviewing the case owner's complaint, we would like to confirm that we have added a block for their number as requested.

      Customer Answer

      Date: 23/12/2024


      I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me.

      I reserve the right to seek counsel,  should any client of the business in reference, circumvent their block and contact me using their service.

      Sincerely,

      ***** ********

    • Initial Complaint

      Date:12/12/2024

      Type:Service or Repair Issues
      Status:
      Resolved
      Resolved:
      The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.
      Unresolved:
      The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.
      Answered:
      The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.
      Unanswered:
      The business failed to respond to the dispute.
      Unpursuable:
      BBB is unable to locate the business.
      I have a textnow number and it was disabled on 11/30/2024, due to alleged TOS violation. However I have never violated TextNow TOS and need my number back. I do login via VPN sometimes but I am located in San Diego County, CA area and am a legitimate TextNow user.

      Business Response

      Date: 23/12/2024

      After reviewing the case owner's complaint, we would like to confirm that we will be reaching out to them at the email address provided to discuss their account. 

      Customer Answer

      Date: 25/12/2024


      I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me as long as my TextNow number remains active.  Thanks!

      Sincerely,

      ***** ******

    • Initial Complaint

      Date:04/11/2024

      Type:Billing Issues
      Status:
      Answered
      Resolved:
      The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.
      Unresolved:
      The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.
      Answered:
      The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.
      Unanswered:
      The business failed to respond to the dispute.
      Unpursuable:
      BBB is unable to locate the business.
      I have an unauthorized charge from Textnow for 39.99 yesterday. I have never gave permission to Textnow to charge my card. There is nothing o their site about autopay or recurring charges. I need my money back Asap and cancel this service. T*** ** **** ****** ******** **********

      Business Response

      Date: 06/11/2024

      After reviewing the case owner's complaint, we can confirm that they have already spoken to a support agent via our live chat and have been issued a refund for the monthly wireless plan they had purchased, which was set to auto-renew. 

    • Initial Complaint

      Date:25/10/2024

      Type:Billing Issues
      Status:
      Answered
      Resolved:
      The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.
      Unresolved:
      The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.
      Answered:
      The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.
      Unanswered:
      The business failed to respond to the dispute.
      Unpursuable:
      BBB is unable to locate the business.
      One year ago I signed up for text now to let out child have a phone in the home to use but we decided against it and I never used the phone number. I signed up for one year only and now a year later they keep attempting to charge my credit card five dollars and 29 cents I think. I’ve had multiple emails to them and I told them I don’t know the account info but I know my name is ***** ******* and the **** card they keep trying to charge ends in **** and would they please stop trying to charge my card. They keep trying

      Business Response

      Date: 06/11/2024

      After reviewing the case owner's complaint and the screenshot the case owner provided, we can confirm that the charge in question would be coming from a yearly TextNow subscription via the ****** **** *****. As in-app purchases like this are handled by the **** *****, and the actual subscription agreement is handled by the **** *****, we unfortunately have no way to see or view a subscription that the case owner has through that platform. We would recommend that the case owner reach out to **** ***** support with the charge information for further assistance, as this is not something that we are able to investigate or see on our end. 

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