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

  PO Box 1329 Redwood City, CA 94064-1329

  
• 

  GoFundMe

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

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:12/14/2022

  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.

  Mid this year, my son ***** decided to leverage GoFundMe (***) to raise funds for his Boy Scout Eagle Project. He launched his fund raise effort on the *** platform in mid June. By early October, close to $14K had been committed to his *** fund raise effort. In early October, *** emailed ***** and advised he needed to hook a bank account up to the fund raise effort, and provide additionally requested information. He engaged in and completed the bank account task, and provided all info that *** requested. *** advised on screen that things were all done and set, but then --- days later --- ***** went back into the platform, and he discovered that things WEREN'T done, and he needed to redo / re-provide everything. ***** experienced this same sequence MULTIPLE times (between 5 and 10 --- not kidding) over the next several weeks. Considering ***'s obviously broken process, ***** contacted *** for help. Multiple times, he requested via their website and chat function for a phone call. *** said they tried to call, but it is an ABSOLUTE 100% CERTAINTY that they never did.On the morning of 11/17, ***** engaged in another chat-based help session with a rep at ***. During that chat, the rep told ***** (quoting here) "I'm actually seeing that your current deadline is not until January 5, 2023. So we do have some time". ***** saved a screen shot of that chat. Despite being told that***.*** *** without warning, calling to provide assistance, and/or working with or supporting Colin *** summarily refunded all money that had been committed / donated to his project to all original donors. They did this on the afternoon of 11/17. *** destroyed *****'s multi-month fund raise effort in a single instant. Efforts to engage in phone-based discussion with *** after this incident were rejected by ***. What *** did to *****'s project was criminal! Help is requested via this complaint, and consumers need to be made aware of ***'s shoddy methods / practices.

  

  Business Response

  Date: 12/19/2022

  Hi ****,
  

  Thank you for reaching out regarding this. We're sorry those funds were not able to be withdrawn prior to the deadline. Our team knows how disappointing that outcome can be and works hard to prevent it if possible.
  

  In this case, it appears there were several email outreaches and live chat sessions between ***** and our team regarding the deadline. Unfortunately, communication was intermittent and the necessary verification items were not completed prior to the deadline.
  

  Our team had the deadline extended by a week in an attempt to ********************* more time, and also sent proactive emails and phone calls in attempts to try and establish communication.
  

  With refunds now processed, all donors should have received 100% of their funds back within 3-7 business days of the refund date.
  

  With that, *****'s fundraiser remains active and he is welcome to continue raising funds for as long as he'd like.
  

  Should you have questions or need any other assistance at all, please feel free to reach out to our team via our Help Center and we'll gladly answer any questions you have.
  

  Take care,

  Customer Answer

  Date: 12/20/2022

   
  Complaint: 18575565
  
  I am rejecting this response because:

  1) The business did NOT --- even to a MINIMAL level --- try to help and/or fix the problem, which was on THEIR END of the equation.   ***** hooked his bank account up to the fundraiser somewhere between 5 and 10 times.  Each time, GoFundMe removed all that he did, sent him and the entire sequence back to the starting line, and it offered no help to alleviate the situation.
  
  2) Per the chat session that took place on the morning of 11/17, ***** was told by the GoFundMe rep that morning that there was more than enough time to get things fixed.  The rep told ***** had until JANUARY!  ***** saved a screen shot of that chat session, and that will be presented to a court if this situation isn't rectified through this action with the BBB.
  
  3) The response from the business MAKES ABSOLUTELY NO SENSE.  If things weren't done and fixed prior to the afternoon of 11/17 -- which is when GoFundMe refunded all the money back to original donors --- why would GoFundMe keep the fundraiser in an active state?  Nothing has been done to the fundraiser since 11/17.  If things weren't sufficient before 11/17, what makes things "all okay" now????????? 
  
  4) The response from the business says "should you have any questions or need for any other assistance at all, please feel free to reach out to our team via our Help Center and we'll gladly answer any questions you have."  -------  WE ALREADY DID THAT.  Via MULTIPLE communications after 11/17, we asked that someone from GoFundMe CALL US to discuss things.  GoFundMe REJECTED the option for a phone call, which is clearly the only way on earth things could be fully understood and driven towards a fix.
  
  Given these reasons --- which are highly logical --- the response rec'd from the business is universally rejected.
  
  Sincerely,
  
  *******************

  ************  (here is my phone number for GoFundMe AGAIN) ----- (this number was given to them MULTIPLE TIMES after 11/17, but never once did anyone from GoFundMe call to engage in discussion)
  

• Initial Complaint

  Date:12/11/2022

  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 11/29/2022 I initiated a fundraiser for a friend in ******* who has been negatively impacted by the war: Loss of income, no heat, 22 hours without electricity each day, low food supply. The funds raised would go towards the purchase of a generator, two convectors, solar LED lanterns, and food. On 11/30/22 I submitted all of the information and documents GoFundMe requested: copy of drivers license, bank statements, along with my routing and bank account number. However, the transfer of funds have been on hold since. I have made several documented attempts to reach their support team, only to get a response that I would be contacted in 1-2 days. I cannot believe this is happening. I feel as if all of the donors, including myself, have been scammed by this organization. Additionally, I hate not being able to get the funds to my friend, when the temperatures are getting colder with each passing day. Many people have responded with their support, but at this point, we are unable to get him the help he deserves because of zero contact from this organization. Please help. If GoFundMe isnt going to remove the hold on the account, they need to at least refund all of the donors so their money can reach this man in dire need through alternate channels.

  

  Business Response

  Date: 12/20/2022

  Thank you for reaching out to us, ****. We apologize for the delay in messages received from our team 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 transfer holds, and we apologize for any inconvenience caused.
  
  
  In this case, we can confirm our team completed its review of your fundraiser and your transfers are active. If you havent started receiving funds by December 21, 2022, you can follow up with our team via email to help you further.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:12/10/2022

  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.

  We ran a GOFundMe a year ago, The site has still not paid **?

  

  Business Response

  Date: 12/16/2022

  Thank you for reaching out, Clet.
  
  
  We apologize for the delay and any inconvenience this has caused. After taking a look here, we see our Charity & Business team has connected with you and they are assisting you in Ticket #********.
  
  
  If you have further questions, please don't hesitate to reach out on that support thread and our team will continue to assist.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:12/09/2022

  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 fund raising to provide funds for a charity. https://www.gofundme.com/f/******-is-helping-kids-hungry-for-music $988 has been raised to date and none of the money has gone to the charity.I have gone through the help bot on the site and have been unable to get anyone to do anything. When I chat I get a message that an agent should respond in two minutes and it never happens even in hours. There is no phone number to call at gofundme for help.I believe the funds are still sitting in some account but can't get them moved to the proper recipient.

  

  Business Response

  Date: 12/17/2022

  Thanks for contacting us here, ********. We're sorry to hear you had trouble getting connected with our support team. It looks like the fundraiser in question is connected to a different name and email address than what was submitted here, but we can see that it is a certified charity fundraiser, which means that funds are automatically delivered to the charity via our charity payment processor, ******************. We've sent an outreach to the email on file with the account with more details about this. If you have any further questions at all, you can reply directly to the email conversation and we'll be standing by to help further if needed. 

• Initial Complaint

  Date:12/05/2022

  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 was hospitalized 11/05/2022. Following this I lost my job. A friend of mine created a fundraiser to help with medical bills and living expenses. The date money will be transferred keeps being pushed back. Their website says funds will be available in 2-5 business days. It has been almost a month. They are withholding close to $800 and I am unable to pay bills I need to survive because of this

  

  Business Response

  Date: 12/07/2022

  Hi ********,
  

  Thank you for alerting our team to this and we apologize for any undue delay in those transfers.
  

  It looks like you've since reached out to our Support team and they were able to help send you a new beneficiary invitation for the fundraiser.
  

  We're glad to report that funds have successfully transferred to your GoFundMe payment account now and you have a fund transfer en route to your added bank (details included in our support message thread).
  

  We hope this helps offer some peace of mind. If there's anything else we can do for you, please don't hesitate to reach out on the support thread and our team will assist in any way we can.
  

  With kindness,

• Initial Complaint

  Date:12/03/2022

  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 was told 7 days ago my money was transferred to my bank account, however, it didnt not come to my account. I tried contacting GoFundMe and I could not get in touch with anyone. Im very upset because my money is missing. Im very concerned about this problem seeing as how I can not contact them. All I can do it talk to a bit that is not helpful at all. Can you please help me figure this out and contact them.

  

  Business Response

  Date: 12/12/2022

  Hi ******,
  
  
  Thank you for contacting us about this. After verification, it looks like you were able to get in touch with our ************* team last week, in a ticket with number #********
  
  
  They are currently working with you to help locate the missing funds, which can take as long as 10 business days to be rejected by our payment processor. If after the 10 business days the money still is not returned to your payment account, our ************* team will continue to help you by having a look at your bank statement, as indicated in our last email.
  
  
  We will do everything in our power to help locate the funds before Christmas, and you can continue to work with our ************* team directly for further assistance.
  
  
  With kindness,Tell us why here...

• Initial Complaint

  Date:12/01/2022

  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 made a gofundme account on my own behalf early Aug 2022. Gofundme has yet to release the funds that were put into my account. Its been 3 months and they have yet to release any of my funds to my bank account. They keep giving me the run around as to Why they havent released my money! Im in stage 4 cancer nd its really hard on me and my family considering we have to drive 3 hrs back nd forth every week sometimes more each week. We have no money for all the care and traveling thus why we made a gofundme! It all seems like a scam!!! If this doesnt work were going to have to take higher measures to ensure we werent scammed this is outrageous nd Im very upset to even have to be going through this on top of my health!! We need answers and we are rightfully entitled to our funds that our donors helped us with! Gofundme will not be an option for us in the near future and will not recommend any of their services. Please help us BBB with this horrible situation!

  

  Business Response

  Date: 12/09/2022

   Hi **********,
  
  We are so sorry to hear about the situation here, and are wishing you a smooth and safe recovery during these uncertain times. We were unable to locate your account under the email ********************* however our ************* team has sent you an email to that inbox (ticket #********) so we can help you get this all sorted out.
  
  Please reply directly to that email, and our support team will be standing by to help. Thank you!

• Initial Complaint

  Date:11/30/2022

  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.

  While donating to a friend's go fund me page this morning. 11/30/2022 using PayPal, I was hit with 500 request for payment at the exact minute/time as my donation to my friend GoFundMe b(someone I know personally). My only concern is that perhaps GoFundMe has had a security breach. I caught and was able to cancel as I am diligent with my accounts. Many other may not be so lucky. I have reported to Paypal, FTC, and Gmail (as the email was from a Gmail account)

  

  Business Response

  Date: 12/09/2022

  Hi there, ***********
  
  We are so sorry to hear about this. On our end, we can confirm that there is only one charge for your donation. To help ensure this is resolved our ************* team has sent you an email (ticket #********). Please reply in that email thread and the team will be standing by to help get this sorted out.
  
  Thank you.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:11/25/2022

  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.

  Raised $3601 for ********************* of ************, GoFundMe informed myself and the above charity that their status was no longer active, ********************* is actively working to correct the issue. GoFundMe has sent out emails to all donors suggesting that they select a new charity to donate to as The charity did not respond to our attempts to arrange electronic delivery of the funds, and the cheque we sent was returned or refused;The charity closed down after you made your original donation, or is no longer accepting donations; or The charity does not meet the requirements of our Donation Delivery Policy. which is incorrect as the charity is attempting to fix the issue.

  

  Business Response

  Date: 11/30/2022

  Thank you for reaching out about this, *********
  
  
  The email your donors received was sent from our charity payment partner, ******************, as GoFundMe doesn't directly handle the money raised on certified charity fundraisers. Rather, our payment partners take care of donation processing and sending money to our charities. All of our payment partners are fully compliant with industry standard and federally-mandated information safety and data privacy regulations.
  
  
  Due to the charity being revoked with the *** for an extended period of time and inactive with ******************, ****************** reached out to donors to select a new active charity to forward their donation to per their Donation Delivery Policy because ****************** cannot send funds to charities with an inactive government status. While we never wish for this to happen, reassignments are not reversible.
  
  
  This issue is best handled by ****************** directly to ensure reactivation of the charity's ****************** account once they have resolved their status with the ***.
  
  
  You can contact ****************** directly for more information: https://www.paypal.com/CA/smarthelp/contact-us?email=ppgf

• Initial Complaint

  Date:11/22/2022

  Type:Customer Service 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.

  In July 2022 our friends started a Go Fund Me account for my late wife for medical funds. She has since passed away on August 17, 2022. The medical fund raised over $14,000. All communication is through email there is no live person to talk with, I have requested with no luck. They informed me that early on in the fundraiser, someone tried to "hack" into the account so they have the funds on hold. I have been trying to resolve this issue for 3 months and have been emailing and in constant contact with them. They will not release the funds to me and they stated that if the issue isn't resolved by December 19th all of the funds will be refunded to the donors.

  

  Business Response

  Date: 11/30/2022

  Hello ****,
  
  Thank you for getting back to us and our apologies for the frustration. That is certainly not our intent and want to resolve this as soon as possible. 
  
  Since we are in contact through email, we will follow up there to continue working through this.
  
  Regards,