Complaints

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

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  GoFundMe

  855 Jefferson Ave Redwood City, CA 94063-9992

  
• 

  GoFundMe

  815 E St Box 121270 San Diego, CA 92101-6426

• 

  GoFundMe

  PO Box 1329 Redwood City, CA 94064-1329

  

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.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:01/25/2023

  Type:Sales and Advertising Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  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 had opened an account with gofundme.com unfortunately I have ******** and was forced to stop working. Thankfully Many people donated so that i could pay my bills while getting treatments. Everything was going fine until one day I tried to sign in and my account was suspended. Im not sure as to why. I tried to call...no customer service phone number! Ive tried to email no response! I was able to find a chat service and the individual **** said she sent to some department and that that would reach out to me by EMAIL!! Yeah not as of yet. I would like to know what I did. Especially, since i spend my days going to get chemotherapy. This is absolutely a disgusting business model!! I would think that a for profit company handling peoples money transactions would have a customer service department and phone number. Actually I'm not even sure that is even legal since gofundme takes a percentage of donations. Needless to say Im disappointed with how *** been treated. And after reading all of these complaints Im at a loss for words except that perhaps gofundme me can actually engage with people are encountering issues with their platform *************************** MD ******************** Please feel free to email with your explanation.

  

  Business Response

  Date: 02/02/2023

  Thank you for getting in touch, *************** 
  
  
  We're sorry to say that GoFundMe is no longer able to process donations for your account. As a result, we have removed your GoFundMe account and any fundraisers within it.
  
  
  This decision was made in order to keep our platform safe and to assure GoFundMe is abiding by our Terms of Service, payment industry requirements, and applicable laws.  
  
  
  We appreciate your understanding.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:01/24/2023

  Type:Product Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  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 set up a funding page for my friend's family after her sudden and tragic death to help them access funds to receive mental health services to help them cope with their loss. Since the set up in October, I have been attempting to transfer the funds so that they can finally have it. The system is constantly just giving error messages every time I try to get to the page where I put my direct deposit information. I have contacted the help center four times for the past two months. There are never any live agents! I received a very unhelpful and delayed email just repeating the steps that are already on the website. Meanwhile I continue to receive automated emails that if the funds are not transferred by Feb 1st, they will be returned to donors. It has been very stressful, unprofessional and irresponsible for gofundme to continue to hold the funds without a way to receive them. This is a breach of trust. I would also like to alert this website for compromising consumer protection standard with their help center being disastrously dysfunctional. I hope that my friends family can receive their $2570 funds to finally start getting support!

  

  Business Response

  Date: 01/24/2023

  Hi Heba,
  
  
  Thank you for alerting our team to this, and please accept our apologies for any undue delay and frustration.
  
  
  It appears a rare system error occurred on your account that prevented you from setting up your transfers following the expiration of your beneficiary's invitation.
  
  
  We've since resolved that error and sent you instructions on how you can successfully set up your transfers via the on-going email thread you have with our team.
  
  
  As for consumer protection, we'd love to learn more about your experience and encourage you to follow up with further information in a reply for our team. GoFundMe takes the security of your information seriously. For more information regarding our Security Practices, please see the following link: *************************************************
  
  
  Should you have questions or need any other assistance at all, please know our team will be here to help.
  
  
  Take care,

• Initial Complaint

  Date:01/20/2023

  Type:Product Issues
  Status:

  ResolvedMore info

  Complaint statuses

  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.

  Gofundme is holding funds donated to our campaing ************************** My name is ************************* from ********* ************************* **** a ******* non-profit organization.Gofundme has refused to release the funds donated to our fundraiser even after we have submitted all the documents they have requested.They don't have a customer service number to call so I sent several online messages for the last 7 days but never got any assistence.We have complied with everything listed and they have yet to communicate the status of the process and are still holding our funds. all I want is to have the funds released to our business checking account.

  Customer Answer

  Date: 01/24/2023

  This claim has been resolved.

   
  Thank you!

• Initial Complaint

  Date:01/19/2023

  Type:Sales and Advertising Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  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 name is *********************** made a GoFundMe account my dog felon got hit by a car and has a broken femur I created the account for 3000cause felon need surgery.. I had friends and family share my GoFundMe accountsome said they donate.. the next day the took my account down no explanation no nothing I reached out to GoFundMe.. and they said we will send you something through email I was so shaken up.. I must had type my email address wrong they told me just create another one.. now my loves one and friends dont wanted donate cause they dont wanna enter their card number on they again so I never got the help I needed.. I also ask to speak to a manager.. they never contact me again

  

  Business Response

  Date: 01/24/2023

  Hi there, Tene. We are so sorry to hear about the circumstances that have brought you to GoFundMe. Thinking of you and ***** as you navigate his healing journey.
  
  It looks like our team has sent you a follow-up email to your inbox (ticket #********). They have confirmed that all holds have been cleared and your page is now live again here: ****************************************************
  
  Our sincerest apologies for any trouble there. It is our goal to make sure that you have the best experience possible with GoFundMe, so please don't hesitate to let us know if there is anything else we can help you with.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:01/17/2023

  Type:Product Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  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 set up a Gofundme webpage to help finance my trip to ******* last year where I had volunteered to help distributing humanitarian aid to ********** in need at the front line of the war with ******.Apparently, I did not provide one piece of ID by a deadline so Gofundme started refunding donations. . . . As you maybe aware, Gofundme does not have a public phone number or a public email address. Questions on their website chat are answered by robots. You never get to speak to or contact a human being, I did manage to partially stop the refunding by spending hours on the chat form.. . . However, Gofundme threatened to cut me off from future fundraisers unless I paid the refunded donations. I have requested the refund information (names, contact info and amounts) but I was declined. . . . I am hoping by filing this complaint that I can receive the needed donor info, so I can request that the donors redonate the amount that was refunded to them. Otherwise I can never use Gofundme again.

  

  Business Response

  Date: 01/18/2023

  Thank you for reaching out about this, ********* 
  
  
  We currently offer full customer support via email and live chat, and apologize for any inconvenience that *** cause. 
  
  
  First, we're sorry to see that refunds occurred on your fundraiser. For reference, our payment partner works to verify all entered transfer information, to ensure funds can securely and successfully be sent to you. Their reviews can happen at different stages throughout the duration of your fundraiser, and possibly after some funds have already been sent to you. Any required verification documentation will need to be uploaded and fully verified before the noted deadline in order to avoid refunds. This is because our payment partner is unable to hold onto raised funds for long periods of time, for legal and compliance reasons.
  
  
  We try to be as transparent as possible about relevant deadlines and needed actions within our *********** and your account dashboard. In addition, we sent emails to remind you of the approaching deadline and outstanding action needed as well.
  
  
  It does look like you were able to get in contact with our ************* team back in November when those refunds occurred, and they were able to send outreaches to your refunded donors asking them to resubmit their donations to your fundraiser. For privacy and security reasons, we're unable to provide you with the email addresses of your donors.
  
  
  To ensure all of your questions are answered, our ************* team will be reaching out to you via email shortly. You can follow up there directly with any additional concerns. 

  Customer Answer

  Date: 02/10/2023

   
  Complaint: 18825800
  
  I am rejecting this response because:

  I have not received the contact info on the persons receiving the refunded amounts, so I can contact them directly. Claiming privacy is just a lame excuse.
  Gofundme has 3 choices:
  1. Replace the total funds refunded.
  2. Provide the contact info on the persons receiving the refunded amounts.
  3. Be sued in Small Claims Court for total amount refunded.
  
  Sincerely,
  
  *******************

• Initial Complaint

  Date:01/15/2023

  Type:Service or Repair Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  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.

  On Friday, January 13, 2023 a plethora of donors contributed a total of $155 to my go fund me. The money was not sent to me. When I checked the activity section of my dashboard it says I have zero funds to withdraw. The last withdrawal transfer amount was under $25 and it was sent on 12 January. This is for bereavement which means that time is of the essence. Go fund me kept my money and did not transfer it into my account. That means that they have committed theft.

  

  Business Response

  Date: 01/24/2023

  Hi *******,
  
  
  We apologize for any confusion or inconvenience this presented. We show that our team has followed up with you to confirm that all available funds have been transferred. You should have received those funds within 2-5 business days (excluding weekends and holidays) from the date they were sent.
  
  
  If you have any other questions, please feel free to reply back to us directly in Ticket #******** and we'd be glad to assist.
  
  
  Thank you.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:01/14/2023

  Type:Service or Repair Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  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.

  They are allowing criminals indicted on multiple felony charges such as armed robbery violence unlawful use of weapons to use their services to obtain legal fees which directly violates their terms of service. Several people have reported it over the course of a year with evidence of court orders and they continue to leave this up. The accountholder has already collected over $10k and over $4k of the funds have already been misused/stolen by the fundraisers. This is completely unethical business practice and is endangering the community.

  

  Business Response

  Date: 01/18/2023

  Thank you for getting in touch with us and voicing your concerns, ********. Rest assured, we have a dedicated Trust and Safety team that reviews each fundraiser to ensure it is in alignment with our Terms of Service. They see a high number of requests, and we appreciate your patience as they work to review each of them. We can confirm that the fundraiser you reported has been removed from our platform. In addition, you can view GoFundMes Terms of Service by clicking on this link: ********************************************

• Initial Complaint

  Date:01/04/2023

  Type:Service or Repair Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  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.

  Last month I made a $250 donation to a crowdfunding campaign set up by *********************** to cover funeral and burial expenses for her brother ***********************. At some point during the campaign, the organizer suddenly changed the purpose of the fund to be ear marked for legal fees to *** the deceased party's wife. I gave money for the purpose of a burial not legal fees or to *** a widow. I contacted GoFundMe to advise that I wanted a refund and that I felt a fraud was being perpetrated. GoFundMe supposedly looked at the request and determined there was no problem with the misdirection of funds. As far as I'm concerned GoFundMe has an obligation to monitor its site and fundraisers and immediately shut down a fundraiser as soon as there is any indication that funds are not being used for the stated intended purpose - especially when there have been multiple complaints about the same fundraiser. I know other people have also complained to GoFundMe on this fundraiser, and we have all been told we cannot have a refund; and that if we think a fraud has taken place to contact law enforcement. If multiple parties are complaining about the same is*** with the same party, obviously a problem exists. As far as I'm concerned GoFundMe is now an accomplice in the fraud by refusing to address the problem. I will be making a police report both against the organizer and GoFundMe directly. I also intend to file a complaint with the *** and the local district attorney's office.

  

  Business Response

  Date: 01/13/2023

  Thanks for contacting us, *****,
  
  
  Our unique GoFundMe Giving Guarantee Policy (********************************************************************************) protects donors from fraud and misuse of funds. Our dedicated Trust & Safety teams review claims and make decisions based on the information gathered.
  
  
  In this case and at this time, we have found no indication of misuse of funds.
  
  
  As a result, we are unable to refund this donation under the GoFundMe Giving Guarantee. For more information, please review our GoFundMe Giving Guarantee Policy: ********************************************************************************
  
  
  Of course, if you still believe the organizer or beneficiary of the fundraiser is committing fraud or breaking the law, we encourage you to contact law enforcement officials in your area.
  
  
  Kind regards,

  Customer Answer

  Date: 01/16/2023

   
  Complaint: 18687014
  
  I am rejecting this response because:
  

  1 - If GoFundMe is referring to the forged document showing payment at the funeral parlor as proof of no wrongdoing, please be advised that ***************************** family is part owner of the funeral parlor. That document was created when people started complaining. There' is no proof of a withdrawal of those funds from any bank account.  Further, I have seen the charge on the credit card of the person who actually paid. There has been no reimbursement to that party from *************************.  

  2.  I received a notice from GoFundMe dated 1/11/23 at 7:59AM stating my money was going to be refunded and to allow 3-7 days for the refund. As of today, there has still been no refund applied to my credit card. Was this a deliberate miscommunication to attempt to stop my complaint? 

  Sincerely
  
  *****************************

  

  Business Response

  Date: 01/23/2023

  Hello *****,
  
  
  Thank you for following up on this matter. At this time, our team is not able to issue a refund for your donation due to the aforementioned review by our Trust and Safety team.
  
  
  Further information about the review, and the subsequent refund notice you received, can be found in a new outreach on your existing ticket with our support team (#********).
  
  
  Please reference that email thread at your convenience for additional details concerning the donation, and available options going forward.
  
  
  We hope this helps. If there's anything else we can do for you, please don't hesitate to follow up with us on the existing email thread.
  
  
  Warm regards,

  Customer Answer

  Date: 01/25/2023

   
  Complaint: 18687014
  
  I am rejecting this response because: The response from ************ sent to me # ******** means nothing. It says they have received my complaint and IF they decide to give me a refund someone will contact me within 24 hours. They have already received my complaint 3 times and 2 times from the BBB. They have also previously answered on 1/11 that a I was getting a refund in 3 to 7 days. It's been 2 weeks and I haven't received a refund. They have already made a statement and a commitment to refund there's nothing to review, other than their unethical practices. 

  I have tried to send a copy of the GoFundMe refund notice through the attachment section of this response page. Unfortunately, every time I attempt it, the entire file content of my computer transfers over. Is there another way I can send the copy?  

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

• Initial Complaint

  Date:01/04/2023

  Type:Order Issues
  Status:

  ResolvedMore info

  Complaint statuses

  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 family and I lost everything to a house fire. My niece created a GoFundMe account on December 20, 2022 under the name The ***** Family and listed me ********************* as the beneficiary. $7,855.00 was the total amount that has been donated. They deposited $1700.00 in my account after I provided the documentation they requested. After the $1700.00 was deposited they requested the same information saying they could not verify our account information. We sent the same information several times and still received notices that they could not verify our account. We switched the beneficiary to my daughter's name *********************** on December 30,2022 in hopes of getting the remainder of our money. They are still requesting the same information and saying they can not verify her information. Our family and friends donated this money in good faith that we would receive the money they donated. This has been going on for two weeks and we still haven't received anymore money. Can you please help us?

  

  Business Response

  Date: 01/16/2023

  Hi there, ***********
  
  
  We am so sorry to hear about the circumstances that have brought you to GoFundMe, and are wishing you and your family safety during these uncertain times. We also apologize for any trouble here in receiving the remainder of your funds. It does seem that our payment processor was having troubles verifying your bank account, however after adding ****** as the beneficiary we see that they were soon after able to successfully verify the account for transfers. All remaining funds have been sent as of 2023-01-07, and our ************* team has sent you a confirmation email as well.
  
  
  It is our goal to make sure that you have the best experience possible with GoFundMe, so please don't hesitate to let us know if there is anything else we can help you with. Thank you.
  
  

  Customer Answer

  Date: 01/18/2023

  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:01/04/2023

  Type:Order Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  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 created a Gofund me account to help a family in need in ********* through the Holiday season 2022.I had donations for $100 deposited in the Gofund me account. 4 weeks ago i follow the instructions to set up the transfer account, however i received an email questionnaire from Gofund me as they needed additional verification from me. I filled out the questionnaire and sent that back to them via email as requested. I am still unable to transfer the funs out of Gofund me, i tried to chat online multiple times but no one is ever available. I have wrote them multiple emails and received another reply with the same questionnaire, in which i sent back with all the answers. I am yet to receive an answer on how to transfer the donations out. there is no customer service number and it's impossible to get a hold of someone at Gofund me.Since the purpose of the Gofund me was to help a family in need through the Holidays i took money out of my personal account to send to this family trusting Gofund me would eventually refund me or allow me to transfer the funds out ($100). I am simply requesting them to help me find a way to transfer to my personal US account or as a last resort send the money back to the donors so they can refund me another way (not ideal).

  

  Business Response

  Date: 01/13/2023

  Hello *********,

  Thank you for reaching out to us. We apologize for the delay given the urgent circumstances.
  
  
  Our Compliance Team conducts reviews on accounts in order to maintain compliance with strictly enforced standards set forth by the payment industry and the appropriate regulating bodies. This may result in withdrawal holds and we apologize for any inconvenience caused.
  
  
  Please keep an eye on your inbox for an email from our ************** the status of your account review as well as the next steps. We appreciate your patience and understanding.
  
  
  Kind regards,
  The GoFundMe Team