Complaints

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:11/13/2023

  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.

  Good Afternoon, I am reporting on the BBB to get some assistance as I did not get the proper customer service via email with Photobucket. I paid the $5.99 in June in hopes it would be similar to the last time I used photobucket. I had glitches with my account after paying and wasn't even able to do what I needed to get done and cancelled the same day on the website and terminated my membership. Come to find out, I am getting billed monthly for an account I terminated on the website and have a total of three fraudulent charges that I am awaiting my refund for. I explained everything in detail to the customer support team, but they were unable to assist. I look forward to my refund that was stolen from my account.Very Respectfully, ********

  Business Response

  Date: 11/15/2023

  Hello,
  
  Thanks for your concern. On September 3, 2023 the customer contacted us regarding their subscription not being cancelled. We looked in our system and did not see that their subscription was successfully cancelled.
  
  They asked for a refund for their previous payments; however, the refund request was out of our refund policy. Per our Terms of Use, a refund request needs to be made within 48 hours of the initial purchase.
  
  The customer has disputed their payments with PayPal. We cannot issue any refunds while these payments have been disputed so the customer will need to wait for PayPal to resolve this now.
  
  Please have the customer contact us if there are any further questions or concerns.
  
  Thank you.

  Customer Answer

  Date: 11/17/2023

   
  Complaint: 20865895
  
  I am rejecting this response because:

  Good Morning.

  I did indeed cancel my subscription on the Photobucket website and never received a receipt to my email or a conformation per say. I recall the website was already acting glitchy and I kept having to refresh the webpages. I have been charged for a total of three months thereafter cancelling on the webpage and contacted the company with no resolution. My next step was to reach out to PayPal as that is how I made my original payment. I have three disputes filed with no outcome as Photobucket already refused to refund on that platform as well. I did an appeal and I am awaiting a reply, but this simple $17.97 refund that is owed to me has been going in circles with no resolution. Just after tis experience alone, I will no recommend anyone to use Photobucket and share my awful experience and zero customer service. They are saying I did not cancel according to their glitchy system, in which I did. My initial cancellation was within 24 ***** as explained in my previous messages so again, this is not out of their refund policy. I contacted PayPal originally for assistance as I was not receiving any through photobucket, and if I did not get the assistance I needed with that dispute, I was taking it to the BBB, which here we are. Photobucket responded to my disputes and keeps denying my refund on PayPal. The only reason the case is still considered open is due to the fact that I keep amending the dispute as Photobucket keeps refusing the case and refund.

  Please have the customer contact us if there are any further questions or concerns.
  
  Thank you.
  
  Sincerely,
  
  *************************

  Business Response

  Date: 12/01/2023

  Hi ********,
  
  Thanks for your response.
  
  Our Refund Policy is that the requests must be made within 48 hours of the initial payment, which we advised the customer on. As there were no refund requests for the other payments within our refund policy, we will not be issuing any further refunds. 
  
  Since the customer has open disputes with PayPal, they will be the company that handles any refunds at this point.
  
  If the customer would like to provide us with feedback or more information on the issues they were experiencing regarding our systems, please have them contact us.
  
  Thank you.

  Customer Answer

  Date: 12/01/2023

   
  Complaint: 20865895
  
  I am rejecting this response because:

  Good Morning.

  I did indeed cancel my subscription on the Photobucket website and never received a receipt to my email or a conformation. The website was glitching and I kept having to refresh the webpages. I have been charged for a total of three months thereafter cancelling on the webpage same day and contacted the company with no resolution. PayPal is no longer a part of this case as they have closed out the claim as I am resorting to BBB now. The simple $17.97 refund that is owed to me has been going in circles with no resolution. After this experience, I will not recommend anyone to use Photobucket and share my awful experience and zero customer service. They are saying I did not cancel within 48 hours, in which I did in fact cancel within 24 hours. My initial cancellation was within 24 hours as explained in my previous messages so repeating, this is not out of their refund policy.

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

• Initial Complaint

  Date:10/13/2023

  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.

  This ridiculous company is holding all my photos and videos hostage unless I pay for an account. No prior notification this would happen. This is illegal!!!

  Business Response

  Date: 10/17/2023

  Hello there,
  
  Thank you for your concern. We are offering a seven day evaluation period and we would be happy to assist this customer in starting it. Please have the customer contact our Member Engagement Team so we can do that.
  
  Thank you.
  

• Initial Complaint

  Date:10/10/2023

  Type:Billing 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.

  Bait and switch, they stole my photos and now ask for $5 per month

  Business Response

  Date: 10/17/2023

  Hello there,
  
  Thank you for your concern. We are offering a seven day evaluation period and we would be happy to assist this customer in starting it. Please have the customer contact our Member Engagement Team so we can help them with this.
  
  Thank you.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:09/05/2023

  Type:Sales and Advertising Issues
  Status:

  UnansweredMore 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.

  This is a classic Bait and Switch scheme. Email existing customers that unless they pay money then their photos will be deleted. In this case my wife unknowingly ended up paying $50 only to find out she had no photos on there site. This requires a class action lawsuit in my opinion.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:08/31/2023

  Type:Service or Repair Issues
  Status:

  UnansweredMore 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.

  retired - senior citizen - fixed income - long time holder of free photobucket storage accounts - account deactivated by them because they are dropping all free accounts - they are holding all family photos stored for well over a decade hostage without being given the opportunity to retrieve them without paying for them !!!

• Initial Complaint

  Date:08/26/2023

  Type:Product Issues
  Status:

  UnansweredMore 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.

  This company eliminated without warning access to previous accounts setup as 'free' and are requiring a subscription to access any previously existing photos held on their site. This is also known as digital hostage taking. I see their responses to others concerned with this same problem claim that they warned of this change "for months." that's not what I have observed. In July, the company sent its first "URGENT Action required" email to me, stating the account was deactivated and requiring subscription to continue in any way. There was no previous announcement of this change sent to my email address, only a vague "you'll notice changes in the next few weeks" email sent a week prior to being locked out. This company is not trustworthy and needs to be put on notice that taking people's content for more than a decade under the guise of a 'free account' and suddenly, without warning, putting it behind a paywall, is no way to run a business. I can't think of a real-world example where this would be acceptable. it should not be acceptable in the digital world either.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:07/07/2023

  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.

  I made an account with them years ago because it was a free photo storage service. I stored many photos on this website. They claimed they would be safe. Now they deactivated my account without warning and now want me to pay for a service that I will not use to recover MY pictures. They are holding them for ****** and thats not how you conduct business. They should have sent out an email or something allowing people to get their photos before they would be kept from us. They should unlock accounts at least to have access to old pictures. I would understand not allowing additional pictures being added but holding our property from us.

  Business Response

  Date: 07/10/2023

  Hi there,
  
  Thank you for your concern. We have emailed for several months about the changes we've made for free accounts, and this includes that we will no longer be supporting a free account service. This is also detailed in our Terms of Use.
  
  The customer will need to purchase a subscription in order to access their images and we would be happy to offer them a discounted rate. Please direct the customer to contact our Support team if they need further assistance regarding their account.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:07/07/2023

  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.

  As others have stated, photobucket has decided to hold my images hostage till I pay a ****** by entering my cc info. When I entered into agreement with them many yrs ago, I was advertised to as FREE and never once was any talk of charges being instated. This is bait n switch and false advertising and both are crimes.

  Business Response

  Date: 07/10/2023

  Hi there,

  Thank you for your concern. We have sent emails for a couple of months with the changes we have made regarding the changes to our accounts, and we have visibility that the customer has opened several messages in regards to these changes.
  
  On Friday, July 7, 2023, the customer contacted us in regard to their concerns, and we provided them a link for a free, 7-day evaluation period. This allows the customer full access to their account and they can download their images as desired. If the customer needs further assistance regarding them, please have them contact our Support team. We'd be happy to assist them further with this. 

• Initial Complaint

  Date:06/07/2023

  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 received no communication that my free account (which Ive had for years and is full of images) would be deactivated. Today, I get an email that my account was deactivated and to access my own images I must pay for an account. They are holding my images hostage without any prior warning in order to gain financially. This should be a crime. Im appalled this is allowed to go on. You must give people a warning that they will lose access to their property first before requiring them to pay for it! Thats ridiculous.

  Business Response

  Date: 06/12/2023

  Hi there,
  
  Thanks for contacting us.
  
  We checked the customer's account and see that their account has been deactivated; however, they can start a 7-day free evaluation period to access and download their images. This will also give them a chance to decide whether they want to keep their account and subscribe.
  
  To get started, please have them sign in to the account and scroll down on the deactivation notification page to click the "Start evaluation period" link. Once they've started the evaluation period, they'll be able to download their images.
  
  If the customer has any further concerns, please have them email ** directly.
  
  Thank you.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:05/03/2023

  Type:Product Issues
  Status:

  UnansweredMore 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 forced to subscribe to their monthly subscription to get access to my photos they guarantee a refund if you cancel within 48 hours well Ive canceled within less than 48 hours I want my refund

  Customer Answer

  Date: 05/05/2023

  Company: Photobucket.com, Inc.
  Consumer: **********************;
  complaint #********.
  
  I filed a complaint the other day.
  The company watched out to me privately and refunded the money 
  

  
  

  Customer Answer

  Date: 10/30/2024

  I subscribed so I could get my photos. Then canceled within a few minutes. They refunded me but then took money from my account again