Complaints

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

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• 

  ESPN, Inc.

  935 Middle St ESPN Plaza Bristol, CT 06010-1000

• 

  ESPN, Inc.

  PO Box 641793 Omaha, NE 68164

• 

  ESPN, Inc.

  1230 Washington St Newton, MA 02465

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:10/02/2022

  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.

  Tried to cancel ESPN+ today. Their website was down so We called directly. We were on hold for 20 minutes waiting for a confirmation before being told the subscription was through *****. It is not. We re-confirmed that with their agent. We waited another 10 minutes on the phone before being hung up on. We called twice, and the second time it took another 15 minutes. When we asked for a confirmation of cancellation email to be sent, we were told they don’t have email. Needless to say it appears as this is a total runaround. Just bad business. Please help confirm cancellation and help obtain any refunds accordingly.

  Business Response

  Date: 10/03/2022

  Good Afternoon -

  We have reached out to fan to advise them that a confirmation email of their cancellation request was sent earlier today.  We also reconfirmed with the fan that their subscription was canceled on October 1st.  Their current subscription is valid until October 13th.  Their subscription will not auto-renew after this date.   We apologized to them for the inconvenience they experience with their interaction with our support team.

  Thank you,
  ESPN+ Customer Support.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:09/26/2022

  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.

  I never recieved what i paid for. Starting last year i paid the $30 for the ****** plus bundle. I couldnt watch ESPN without a tv provider (though they took my money). I tried emails, i tried calling with no solution, i canceled. With so many people cutting cable, i tried again this year (8/28/22) through ****** *********. Today i finally got time to wake up & watch ESPN, again now the app is back to signing in through my provider after taking my $9.99 on ******

  Business Response

  Date: 10/10/2022

  Good Afternoon -

  We reached out to the fan, their complaint of access issues due to TV Provider Prompt. We explained to customer the requirements needed to view ESPN linear programming. The customer also expressed a refund request on an *** though ******. We aided the customer in contacting ****** directly to process the request. The customer was satisfied.

  Thank You,

  ESPN+ Customer Support

• Initial Complaint

  Date:09/19/2022

  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.

  On September 17th, 2022 I attempted to cancel my ESPN+ Subscription. I followed the FAQ's on their website here:
  
  ************************************************************************************************************ **** ******** ******* ***** *************" I was met with a blank grey screen as documented below in the "Manage ESPN Plus" and "Grey Screen" attachments. This is a violation of the Illinois' Automatic Contract Renewal Act per 815 ILCS 601/10 which states in (b-5):
  
  "(b). A consumer who accepts an automatic renewal or continuous service offer online must be allowed to terminate the automatic renewal or continuous service exclusively online, which may include a termination email formatted and provided by the business that a consumer can send to the business without additional information."
  
  Furthermore, I contacted customer service who, after a 45 minute phone call, was unable to resolve the issue. ESPN provided me with a phone number to a Samsung Fizon(sic) at 411-030 which was discontinued. I am billed directly by ESPN+, not through Samsung as may be presumed, and have attached documentation of the many charges I have received from ESPN+ in the "Credit Card Statements" attachment below.

  Business Response

  Date: 10/04/2022

  Good Afternoon

  Our team reached out to the fan. The subscription has been canceled and we confirmed the cancelation with the customer over the phone. His complaint was due to getting met with a blank grey screen after going to "Manage ESPN Plus" when trying to manually cancel.  We not able to find the root of the issue the customer had at that time but the recurring billing for their annual plan has been canceled and they are still using the remainder of the sub. 

  Thank you,

  ESPN+ Customer Support

   

• Initial Complaint

  Date:09/19/2022

  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.

  Recently canceled cable. Wanted to be able to watch **** *** (******** ** football games (especially *** gams). ESPN app pitched an ESPN+ subscription as the answer to watching "**** ********," so we signed up for a subscription on my *Phone (using my ******** and, when I logged in, it forced me to use my ESPN account credentials. When I got into the ESPN+ account and looked at the schedule and offerings, it's all lame *** and Group of 5 offerings, with only a random smattering of ***** * games and even fewer *** games, which are scattered among other ESPN/*** channels such that you can't reliably count on being able to watch any particular team's game on any particular date, HARDLY the answer for a fan wanting to watch "**** ********." Absolute bait-and-switch scam. Immediately canceled the subscription via ******* but it won't take effect for a month, while they keep $11.04 for that month of BS programming NO ONE would pay to watch, and there seems to be no way to cancel from within the ESPN app itself.

  Business Response

  Date: 10/10/2022

  Good Afternoon -

  We have reached out to the fan via email in regard to their complaint.  We have asked for more information since the email as they provided does not pull up any account. Being that they state that their subscription is an in app purchase via a third party vendor (******), they would need to cancel via their ****** account and request a refund through ***** as we do not have access to ***** billing. 

  Thank you,

  ESPN+ Customer Support

• Initial Complaint

  Date:09/12/2022

  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.

  I signed up for an ESPN+ membership in order to watch the mens final of the US Open. Based on information provided on the ESPN website, it appeared that I could watch the match with an ESPN+ subscription. After I signed up for the subscription, I was still unable to watch the match. I am unable to request a refund on their website and waited for an hour for their chat service, which never connected although it was during their hours of availability. I want a refund for the amount that I was charged as ESPN provided false advertising on their website.

  Business Response

  Date: 09/26/2022

  Good Afternoon -

  We have reached out to the fan on a couple of occasions but have not been able to hear back from them.   We reached out via phone on 9/12 as well as 9/19 and left voicemails.  We followed it up with an email on 9/19.   On the voicemail, we notified them that we have processed a refund on their behalf.  They should allow 5 to 7 business days for the refund to reflect in their account.

  Thank you,

  ESPN+ Customer Support

  Customer Answer

  Date: 10/02/2022

  
  
  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:09/11/2022

  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.

  I am entering the correct login information and it won't let me in without resubscribing.

  Business Response

  Date: 10/05/2022

  Good Afternoon -

  Mr. ****** issue was logging into the application. He states in the complaint that he enters the correct log in information and it ask him to resubscribe. 

  
  We made several attempts to call the fan and left messages. We were able speak briefly on Thursday, September 28th.  He stated he wasn’t able to get into the application at home and that’s where he’s getting the resubscribe prompt. He was at work and unable to troubleshoot at the time. We scheduled a follow up call for Friday 9/29 which we called but not able to get in touch with the fan. We called again on October 1st and was not able to get in touch with the fan.  We followed it up with an email with some troubleshooting steps.  We spoke with him today (Oct. 5th) and he said everything is working now. Customer is satisfied with the resolution. This is officially good to be closed. 
  

  Thank you,

  ESPN+ Customer Support

  Customer Answer

  Date: 10/06/2022

  
  
  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:09/09/2022

  Type:Service or Repair 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.

  I am a current ESPN+ and ****** **** subscriber under ****. Under ESPN's ******* football website, you're able to access premium services (such as premium articles and line-up optimization) for $5.99 / month or free if you subscribe to ESPN+. Every attempt to obtain this free service has failed. When I click the link to access premium services on ESPN's ******* football's website, it acknowledges that I have ESPN+ but it does not unlock these features. I called ESPN a couple days ago and was given the nunber to speak with their ******* department. After being on the phone with the ******* team for over an hour, I was told that it's a known problem and asked me to call ESPN. I told them that ESPN sent me to them! That's when they told me to basically wait it out. ESPN is knowingly taking advantage of its customers and locking us out of premium ******* Football website services due to their technical issues.

  Business Response

  Date: 09/23/2022

  Good Afternoon -

  We attempted to reach out to the fan to advise them that they should be able now access articles on their ESPN+ subscription now that the subscription was resynced.  We attempted to call on 9/9 but the phone number listed on this complaint has one too many digits.  We emailed the fan on 9/9 as well but have not heard back from the fan.  

  Thank you,

  ESPN+ Customer Support

  Customer Answer

  Date: 09/26/2022

  
  
  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:08/31/2022

  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.

  I purchased an annual ESPN+ subscription for $99.98 (receipt attached).
  However, the one-year subscription expired the same day of the purchase.
  I paid for a one-year subscription but only received a one-day subscription.
  All documentation attached.
  Multiple emails, phone calls and messages have been exchanged.
  ESPN agrees via emails that I am due a refund, however nobody at ESPN will process or assist with this.

  Business Response

  Date: 09/26/2022

  Good Afternoon -

  We reached out to the fan and made him aware of our findings. Explained that per our systems this chargeback was initiated and processed. Therefore prohibiting us from refunding the amount requested due to no longer having access to the charge.

  Thank you,

  ESPN+ Customer Support

  Customer Answer

  Date: 09/29/2022

  
  
  Complaint: ********
  
  
  
  I am rejecting this response because:

  ESPN continues to state that they initiated a refund without any evidence.

  No transaction dates, no info on the account they credited, no info on the "processor" who handled the claim.

  The credit was never received.

  Please provide transaction details to the fan to permit a proper investigation by the receiving bank.

  This is the typical blow-off response I have been receiving for months and the motivation for my complaint to the BBB, the FTC (for streaming complaints) and Consumer Affairs.

  It's $99.00. Please ESPN, make arrangements to return my funds.

   

   

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

  Business Response

  Date: 10/05/2022

  Good Morning -

  We have reached out to the fan this morning via email.  We have advised them that their bank/card processor filed a dispute claim against the transaction on their behalf on August 4th, 2022.  By disputing the transaction, their bank/card processor took back the funds.  The confirm number (ARN) that this is associated with is ***********************.  They can present this ARN number to their bank/card processor so they can track the funds on their end.   

  Due to the dispute on file, we are unable to process any refunds on our end for the fan.

  Thank you,

  ESPN+ Customer Support

  Customer Answer

  Date: 10/06/2022

  
  
  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:08/29/2022

  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.

  6/13/2022 - I called ESPN (###-###-####) to complain about streaming errors on the ESPN app. They did something to fix the issue, but it only lasted for a couple weeks.
  
  7/22/2022 - I called again to complain. Someone took my number, but never called me back.
  
  8/28/2022 - I was unable to watch any *** videos:
  ***** ** ******** **** ** *********** ***** ** ********  When I click the videos, I get this error message:
  “An internal error has occurred. Please call our Support Helpdesk at ###-###-#### or via email at [email protected]”
  
  I called ESPN 6 times. Only once did someone answer, but she hung up on me. After 90 minutes of calling, I eventually got through to technical support. We tried to work through the issue, but they were unable to fix the issue. After an hour of trying, the tech support agent hung up on me, and never called me back even though he had taken my phone number. I've been having problems playing videos on the ESPN app installed on my Fire Cube for over a year. ESPN has not been able to resolve the issue.

  Business Response

  Date: 09/19/2022

  Good Afternoon -

  We have reached out to the fan on several occasions to assist in resolving their issue with ESPN+.  We reached out via phone on 9/7/22; 9/14/22 & 9/16/22 without any success.  We have left a voicemail in each attempt.  We also reached out via email on 9/14/22 to ******************* but have not received any response back from the fan.

  In reviewing their account, we do see heavy media usage as recent as 9/12/22.   We are still willing to assist the fan any further if they are still having issues but we have not received a response from them.

  
  Thank you,

  ESPN+ Customer Support

  Customer Answer

  Date: 09/23/2022

  
  
  Complaint: ********
  
  
  
  I am rejecting this response because I did speak with Michael at ESPN number ###-###-####.  He has not resolved my technical issue.
  
  
  
  Sincerely,
  
  
  
  **** ********

  Business Response

  Date: 10/04/2022

  Good Evening -
  
  We reached out to the fan via phone on 9/29.

  The customer’s complaint stems from access issues for two specified reasons: 
  TV Provider prompt -  We initially assumed the customer was having issues due to not having a provider for linear network services but he does subscribe to ESPN network through his cable company. The issue here was simply the frequency of the prompt. He feels he shouldn’t get asked as much as he does. We explained that when the connection is interrupted between logins he will most likely get the prompt. So if the device, modem, or connection is ended he will potentially be prompted as a security measure. However, the prompt does not prevent access to the service. He is able to get access after authenticating. We also noticed his email address may is ****** *** ** *** ****** for BBB. Instructed customer ensure he is logging in with correct email or username for both us and his cable provider. Customer understood. 
  
  The other error message that has plagued the customer and caused some inaccessibility is “An internal error has occurred. Please call our Support Helpdesk…”. He says it has happened 2-3 times over the last 2-3 months and coupled with the first error he was displeased with the service. We informed the customer that this error message can be the result of several different issues and I wouldn’t be able to proactively prevent them from happening again. We instructed the customer when it happens again be sure check his location settings, switch his Wi-Fi and try restarting the app, device, and modem. Customer Understood. 
  
  We additionally apologized for the missed calls and delays that prompted his initial complaint and granted access to the upcoming *** event as compensation. Customer accepted.

  Thank you,

  ESPN+ Customer Support

• Initial Complaint

  Date:08/11/2022

  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 have a membership to ESPN+. I can acces jr on my phone, but cannot on my tv. I have to every time I need my tv connected.
  
  They can’t solve the problem, but readily offer to create a new account for a duplicate account and twice the money.
  
  It seems very predatory. Why cannot I connect multiple devices w ease.

  Business Response

  Date: 08/26/2022

  Good Evening -
  
  We have attempted to reach out to the fan with no success.  We initially called the fan at the number they provided on this BBB complaint on 8/16 and left a voicemail.   We followed up with two emails on 8/17 and 8/19.  The fan has not responded back to any of our contacts.   We are currently at an impasse as we are more than willing to assist the fan but have atttempted contact but with no success.

  Sincerely,

  ESPN+ Customer Support