Important information
- Customer Complaint:BBB with the use of artificial intelligence, analyzed the complaints on 6/26/24
BBB shared the findings and recommendations with Constant Contact.
The findings appeared to show:
Difficulties obtaining refunds or exchanges
Billing discrepancies or unexpected charges
Service quality issues
Unsatisfactory customer service experiences
Constant Contact on 7/21/24 responded to BBB with:
Constant Contact has reviewed the findings, trends and recommendations and appreciates the learnings.
In addition to the above, the company would like to note the below responses that are consistent with our efforts to further enhance and improve the customer experience.
The Company sets forth its terms and conditions for the use of its SaaS platform services in its Terms of Service, which are publicly available on the Company’s website and in each customer’s account. Each customer must agree to the Terms of Service prior to using any Company services. In addition, the Company’s website includes additional disclosures with respect to its services and fees. The Company also provides extensive Knowledge Base resources on its website – a collection of articles, video tutorials and quickstart guides to help customers find answers to their questions. The documents and materials are reviewed regularly for potential changes and improvements. These measures are designed to ensure transparency and provide support in managing service expectations and billing questions. The Company will take into account the Findings and Trends as part of future updates to the Terms of Service, its website disclosures and information included in its knowledge base materials.
Prior to speaking with customers, our support agents must complete a rigorous multi-week training program designed to elevate the customer service experience, and the agent’s technical and communication skills. Agents must also pass a capstone exam and recertify their knowledge regularly. The Company will conduct a review of the training program, taking into account the Findings and Trends to determine whether changes should be made, especially concerning the handling of inquiries relating to billing and refund inquiries, customer satisfaction strategies and escalation procedures.
Over the last 12 months, the Company has taken several actions to improve the overall customer and product experience. The actions include, among many others:
Moving the Company’s Billing team under the Head of Customer Experience Operations to enhance the quality of services.
Hired a new Senior Manager to oversee the Billing Department and its operations.
In the past two months, the Company has hired an additional 18 new customer support agents in an effort to reduce call response and wait times for customers.
The Company continues to review its resourcing needs to ensure it maintains appropriate customer support and call wait times. As a result of these ongoing efforts, since the beginning of 2024, average Billing Department call times have been reduced significantly.
The Company has implemented an updated training curriculum to improve staff knowledge of the product and billing resolution best practices, and it regularly revamps existing curricula as needed to adapt to the ever-changing needs of our customers.
Thank you for these recommendations, and for the opportunity to express our commitment to delivering a
positive, impactful, and memorable experience for our customers. We believe that the recent actions we have taken, along with our ongoing efforts, will continue to result in improved strategies, an overall improvement in the customer experience, and a reduction in the number and severity of any complaints.
Complaints
This profile includes complaints for Constant Contact, Inc.'s headquarters and its corporate-owned locations. To view all corporate locations, see
Customer Complaints Summary
- 112 total complaints in the last 3 years.
- 58 complaints closed in the last 12 months.
If you've experienced an issue
Submit a ComplaintThe 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:12/31/2023
Type: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.
Volunteers of **************** Services had a community called The Homestead at *********. That community is going through the process of being sold. I was billed $45 today for the month of ******* which I cannot use due to the sale. The ONLY way they will allow a customer to cancel is via telephone - they do not accept any other method such as chat, email or mail. I called the required number at 9:03 am Central and was on hold for 24 minutes - the result is the call was disconnected on their end. I then called 9:30 am Central and have been on hold for 1 hour and 5 minutes. Noone is answering the phone that they require you call in order to cancel the service. I tried their chat feature and the representative informed me that they could start a support ticket for billing, and that a response would be received in **** days. This seems to be a fraudulent way to keep customer's paying for a service they are not using. Most professionals do not have over 2 hours to sit on a telephone and cancel a service. I simply want the account for ********** cancelled and the refund for ******* of $45.00.Customer Answer
Date: 01/12/2024
[A default letter is provided here which indicates your acceptance of the business's response. If you wish, you may update it before sending it.]
Better Business Bureau:
I have reviewed the response submitted by the business and have determined that the response does satisfy my issues and/or concerns in reference to complaint #********. I understand that by choosing to accept the business response that my complaint will be closed as resolved.
Regards,
*********************Initial Complaint
Date:12/11/2023
Type: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.
We stopped using this service last year. I thought we had cancelled it formally (but I don't have a record of that). The company sent a renewal notice at 4 am on Sunday morning. I called them on Monday and said please discontinue. They said they could not. There was no way to cancel. I insisted they at least cancel it as of today. They said I could not speak to a manager. There was no supervisor or any form of contact to dispute the billing. I said I would be willing to pay for a month of service. They said, no it had to be the full year. This seems like it violates cancellation notices for purchasing something of this magnitude ($449.63). That there is no point of contact for a complaint at this company is ridiculous. So my only contact, a guy named "******" who would not give his last name was the only decision maker on this.
Business Response
Date: 12/20/2023
Hello *****,
First let me apologize for the lack of service you received, this is not the experience we want for any of our customers. I will be looking into these interactions to try and understand why this was your experience and provide coaching to those involved. A refund of $449.63 has been processed on our end. It can take 5 - 7 business days for the credit card company to process on their end. You account is set to be canceled tomorrow, December 21.
Best,
*********
Customer Answer
Date: 12/22/2023
[A default letter is provided here which indicates your acceptance of the business's response. If you wish, you may update it before sending it.]
Better Business Bureau:
I have reviewed the response submitted by the business and have determined that the response does satisfy my issues and/or concerns in reference to complaint #********. I understand that by choosing to accept the business response that my complaint will be closed as resolved. Thank you to your organization for facilitating interaction between customers and decision-makers in organizations.
Regards,
***************************Initial Complaint
Date:12/06/2023
Type: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.
Constant Contact charged me $80.00. I was a monthly customer to be charged only $12.00 a month. My account was somehow altered to a premiere status without my consent. Not only that but my information was sold to a third party I contacted billing several times and was on hold for 2 hours. No result. I called again and waited on hold for another hour. No response. I contacted the chat line and they said they couldn't help me.Business Response
Date: 12/11/2023
Hello ****,
I apologize for the long hold times you experienced and the poor service you received. That is not what we want for any of our customers and I am looking into what happened. We have refunded the $80.00 that was charged to your account. I can see that in 2021 you were under the impression we sold your information as well as now. We absolutely did not and have never sold any of your information. It is against our policies for anyone to use purchased information within our products and we would not sell any of our customer's information. I am sorry for the poor experience you had with us and if you were to give us another opportunity, I'm certain we will do better.
Best,
*********
Initial Complaint
Date:11/16/2023
Type: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 setup an account with ******************** and initiate payment for one month of service. Upon logging in we received a message that the account had been deactivated but would continue to be charged and to contact customer service. Upon ************************* customer service we were told the account did not meet their specifications but they would not provide any additional details. Upon attempting to call customer service back numerous times, the phone is disconnected each time after a very short hold time. Absolutely unacceptable company behavior.Business Response
Date: 12/11/2023
Hello ****,
In going over the notes in the account, I can see here was an issue with content and our Terms and Conditions. It appears that the issue has been resolved, however, if you would like to have a member of the Account Review team ********************** you again, please respond and I will make sure that takes place.
Best,
********
Initial Complaint
Date:10/23/2023
Type: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.
Constant Contact is an email marketing platform that profited from selling my personal information, i.e., email, without my consent, to advertise to subscribing members. I received an emailed subscription offer 10.23.23 from 303 Magazine that showed Constant Contact was their source for my contact. I would have to create an account to correspond with Constant Contact, which would give them more of my private info, which I dont intend to do. I unsubscribed from 303 Magazine, but want to permanently prevent Contant Contact from any future contact by any and all of their subscribers or entities now or in the future. Its an invasion of my privacy that Constant Contact monetarily benefits from and it needs to end.Business Response
Date: 10/26/2023
Hello ****,
I apologize that you received an unwanted email however, I can assure you that we did not sell your email address, nor have we ever sold any email addresses. We are a permission based email marketing company and our customers are only to use emails that have been provided by their customer with their permission to email them. Our customers sign a contract stating they will abide to those regulations set forth by Constant Contact. The company that sent you the email somehow, not through us, obtained your email address and used our service. They have been reported to our legal and compliance department due to sending a non-permission based email and your email address has been removed from their account, they will not be able to email you again, using Constant Contact. We are investigating the collection practices of the company in question.
Best,
*********
Customer Answer
Date: 10/27/2023
[A default letter is provided here which indicates your acceptance of the business's response. If you wish, you may update it before sending it.]
Better Business Bureau:
I have reviewed the response submitted by the business and have determined that the response does satisfy my issues and/or concerns in reference to complaint #********. I understand that by choosing to accept the business response that my complaint will be closed as resolved.
Regards,
*********************Initial Complaint
Date:09/25/2023
Type: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.
Was not told that the billing was subscription, prior to billing I emailed ******* mult times to ask simple a simple question of info needed from IT **** to be able to use service, with no response. Before signing up, he was ****** on the spot and very responsive. The communication was awful! I called on 9/12 and explained all the info and told a refund request was put in and someone would email be directly about my concerns. I have not received an email or phone call, and no money has been refunded. I called again on 9/25 and was told there was no refund because it was subscription service, and I explained that we were not told this upfront and we have not been able to even use the service and ignored.Customer Answer
Date: 10/06/2023
I have not heard from the business in response to my complaint.Business Response
Date: 10/20/2023
Hello *******,
I have put in a request to our finance department to credit back to your credit card $63, which is what you have paid ** in total.
Best,
*********
Initial Complaint
Date:09/22/2023
Type: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 making a credit card payment yesterday when I noticed 3 charges from Constant Contact. This is the second company that has been making charges to my credit card that occurred on the very same day. Starting Sept 12 this company charged me $26.65. then made 2 more charges on Sept 16 for the amounts; $8.33 and $8.87. I contacted the company after googling them. I spoke with a woman who said she could not find any accounts in my name or under my credit card number. She asked me to send her photos of this. Which I did. I did not hear back from her or get any more additional information. She asked if I was at a particular college in ********** as something came up under that but she said that must have been in error. This is the second company to have my credit card info in *******. I live in ****** and had never heard of these companies before yesterday.Business Response
Date: 10/02/2023
Hello ******,
I'm can understand your frustration with this situation. Unfortunately, without more information, there is nothing I can do to help you at this point. Who did you speak to at Constant Contact, who did you email and when did all of this occur? Can you please send the images of the statements here so I can investigate? Without an account to look at, there is nothing for me to move forward with.
Best,
*******************
Customer Answer
Date: 10/02/2023
Better Business Bureau:I have reviewed the response submitted by the business and have determined that the response does not satisfy or resolve my issues and/or concerns in reference to complaint # ********. Please add your rejection comments below; if you do not provide any details, your complaint will be closed as Answered.
I spoke to 2 representatives at Constant Contact on Sept 21, 2023. One was at 4:50pm EST the other at 4:56pm EST. The first rep hung up on me. I spoke with a female in the billing department. She told me to email her my credit card statement and additional info to her email ********************************* Which I did and I never received a response. There are 3 separate charges on my card dated sept 12 and two on sept 16 in the amounts $26.65 (sept 12) and $8.33 and $8.87. Totalling $43.85. Today as I was going through my emails I seen the Constant Contact logo at the end of Timewell Auctions. A company who has my credit card info for auction purposes but was never used.
Businesses and Customers should be civil, courteous and polite in their responses to complaints. It is important to remain professional and productive when participating in the BBB complaint process.
FAQ
Regards,******
Business Response
Date: 10/04/2023
Hello ******,
I reached out to *********************** whom you mentioned in your email. She called you today and left a message on your voice mail. She is also sending you an email so she can help get to the bottom of these charges. She will need more detailed information regarding the credit card charged in order to assist. I hope the two of you working together will be able to figure out what happened and come to resolution.
Best,
*********
Initial Complaint
Date:09/21/2023
Type: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.
They tripled the price without warning for my subscription and took away the option to cancel online and I cant cancel and have been paying for months now for a s Revive I dont use that is now four times the price of when I originally signed up.Business Response
Date: 10/02/2023
Hello *******,
I have canceled the account for you. You will have access to all the information within the account until October 21, 2023, you may want to consider exporting your contacts. If you need any assistance in exporting your contacts, please call our support team at ************.
Best,
*********
Customer Answer
Date: 10/03/2023
[A default letter is provided here which indicates your acceptance of the business's response. If you wish, you may update it before sending it.]
Better Business Bureau:it should not be so hard to cancel and your incredible price hikes that came with no warning at the same time you removed the ability to cancel online is very underhanded. I would not ever recommend this company when there are so many better and more affordable options out there.
I have reviewed the response submitted by the business and have determined that the response does satisfy my issues and/or concerns in reference to complaint #********. I understand that by choosing to accept the business response that my complaint will be closed as resolved.
Regards,
*************************Initial Complaint
Date:09/18/2023
Type: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 used Constant Contact to supplement our third party emails for a few months. I thought I'd cancelled our subscription late January. I got two emails the following two months saying I'd been billed so I reached out to CC and explained again we stopped using their service and asking why they were billed. I got an email last week that we were again billed $500 so I called them today when I returned from vacation. Despite them taking $3,500+ for a service we were not using - they offered the most minimum of reimbursements - as in one month. They also offered me to stay a client at $480 a month to get three months of credits applied to our account. Very unreasonable "support" staff and disappointing experience. As I don't have access to my business credit card statements, I didn't see these charges. The owner of the company assumed we were still using them. I wish they would've been helpful in the slightest and treated paying customers with respect and empathy instead of what they instead chose.Customer Answer
Date: 09/29/2023
I have not heard from the business in response to my complaint.Business Response
Date: 10/02/2023
Hello *****,
I have spoken with the management team in Billing, We do have a no refund policy and do not show any communication on this account until the call to cancel September 2023. We have refunded $510 and that the extent of the refund that we can approve.
Best,
*********
Customer Answer
Date: 10/03/2023
I thought I'd cancelled Constant Contact early this year when we stopped using their services. All the way back to March, I emailed them when I got two billing emails asking why we'd be getting billed as we stopped using their services and I cancelled. I never got a response and, since I don't have access to the billing statement to my work credit card Constant Contact was billed to, I had no way of seeing the billing was ongoing and assumed it had been cancelled. When I got another billing email in September, I called to see what was going on. They can see my communications to them regarding billing and no longer using their services as well as us not using them since the beginning of the year. The refund of one month is not adequate and I truly believe we deserve the total amount refunded. Thank you for your time + help!
Better Business Bureau:I have reviewed the response submitted by the business and have determined that the response does not satisfy or resolve my issues and/or concerns in reference to complaint # ********. Please add your rejection comments below; if you do not provide any details, your complaint will be closed as Answered.
[You must provide details of why you are not satisfied with this resolution. If you do not enter a reason for your rejection, your complaint will be closed as Answered.]
Businesses and Customers should be civil, courteous and polite in their responses to complaints. It is important to remain professional and productive when participating in the BBB complaint process.
FAQ
Regards,*****
Business Response
Date: 10/04/2023
Hello *****,
As stated earlier, "We do have a no refund policy and do not show any communication on this account until the call to cancel September 2023. We have refunded $510 and that the extent of the refund that we can approve." There was no communication until the cancelation request in September and we canceled and refunded for the last month of service at that time. We will not be able to provide any further funds as a refund as your account was open and housing your data up until that time.
Best,
*********
Initial Complaint
Date:08/28/2023
Type: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.
for the last 2 months this company has been calling my cell phone number at ************ they have been calling and calling me and I have reported them to the *** and they haven't stopped calling me I am getting tired of them calling me I have not done any business with them the number that I receive on my caller id is ************ this is the same number that keeps coming up on my caller id please have them to stop calling me if not then I file a harassment suite against the companyBusiness Response
Date: 09/01/2023
Hello ***,
I have placed your account under Do Not Call. You should not receive any further calls regarding your account.
Best,
*********
Customer Answer
Date: 09/01/2023
[A default letter is provided here which indicates your acceptance of the business's response. If you wish, you may update it before sending it.]
Better Business Bureau:
I have reviewed the response submitted by the business and have determined that the response does satisfy my issues and/or concerns in reference to complaint #********. I except the response and I will wait for the business to full fill there promise if they don't then I will call the police and file a report for harassment
Regards,
***************
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