Complaints

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• Initial Complaint

  Date:05/27/2025

  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.

  What was promised:
  Halal Watch World, led by Imam ******* ***** ****, offered us a one-year halal certification free of charge in spring 2024, which he confirmed via email. We signed the agreement in May, and after a five-month audit, the certificate was issued on Nov 13, 2024, with an expiration date of Nov 12, 2025.
  
  Nature of the dispute:
  In May 2025, Imam ***** falsely claimed the certification had expired and began demanding $15,000 to remove defamatory content he had posted online. His own contract states that $4,900 was due on May 11, 2025, with a 15-day grace period — making May 26 the true due date. His demand violates the agreement.
  
  Rather than resolving this professionally, he filed a separate BBB complaint and began harassing our employees, affiliates, and partners. He published false religious claims and misused our trademarked brand name across his website and ********.
  
  Resolution attempts:
  We showed clear documentation disproving his claims and offered to pay the $4,900, even though we believe nothing is owed, since we haven’t received a full year of certification. He refused, instead demanding we either pay $15,000 upfront or stay in a four-year contract — or else he’ll keep the defamatory content online.
  
  He continues to alter web content, delete our comments, and suppress evidence. On a call, he admitted we hadn’t committed any religious wrongdoing, yet continues to repeat that claim in writing to pressure us.
  
  He’s made other false allegations and has harassed us for days. He also told us he’s had “similar experiences” with other companies — suggesting a pattern of misconduct.
  
  Advertising involvement:
  He uses our brand name in misleading content, causing reputational damage and harming our relationships.
  
  Requested resolution:
  We ask the BBB to help stop the harassment, remove the defamatory content, and investigate what appears to be a pattern of bad faith by Halal Watch World.
  
  we have documented all of this with evidence we can provide.

  Business Response

  Date: 05/27/2025

  The claims made by this organization are absolutely
  ludicrous, and further showcase their immature understanding of facts. Halal Watch World is a halal surveillance and watchdog
  organization that certifies and investigates companies and their products for
  halal compliance. We are a trusted organization with nearly 40 years of
  experience, and take our work very seriously. We are called upon by government
  agencies, educational institutions, and other prominent organizations for
  expert advice and halal management guidance. Effectively, *** ********* is
  complaining about us doing our job, as will be shown below.  *** ********* recognized our authority in this space, and first
  engaged us by responding to an ad we posted offering halal certification
  service for 1 year free of charge. This service began on May 11th, 2024 after
  their owner signed the agreement with us (See attached signature). From this
  point, the 1 year countdown began. Our team worked tirelessly to vet and check ** of their products, a litany of ingredients, their manufacturing facilities, and
  their staff. We spent hundreds of man-hours dedicated to making sure the
  consumer was provided a proper answer as to whether or not they would be able
  to use their nail polish. We maintained direct transparent communication
  throughout the entire time so that they were aware of what was taking place. We concluded our investigation by November and sent a
  contract for signature which clearly and unequivocally stated the first invoice
  due date of May 11th, 2024, which is in line with our initial offer. This is
  the second point of clarity (after the initial proposal engagement) where the
  client was aware of their financial dates and responsibilities. They signed the
  contract, and we issued the certificate. The certificate date was listed as
  expiring November 12th, but it was supposed to be May 11th,
  2025 because of the deal we had with them. We explained this to them within minutes
  of the issuance: “Your welcome! Also, I wanted to mention that we had a
  slight mistake with the certificate that was fixed and re-uploaded about 10
  minutes ago. The expiration date was supposed to reflect May 10th,
  at which point the first payment will be due for remittance and the new
  certificate will be issued. Please use the corrected version. Thank you! -*****” and they responded with acknowledgement, thanking us for our
  hard work as demonstrated in the email attached. They stated in their email “Hi *****, No problem at all, thank you for letting
  me know. It's been a pleasure working with you and your team. Thank
  you, *******” This is the third point of clear agreement and acknowledgement
  of their financial obligation and responsibility as a client of ours that their
  first invoice must be paid by May 11th. Sometime thereafter, we began receiving complaints from
  consumers about their claims that they were claiming we tested their products
  for wudu compliance and water permeability, which we never did. Our
  investigation launched to determine this, which was ongoing throughout April. We
  concluded that the company had lied to customers on multiple occasions, and
  carried over this lie into other media, including their website, ********, *********,
  and other public platforms claiming that we had tested their product and
  approved it for wudu compliance. This all came out as the due date for their service
  came near. It states clearly in our contract terms “*** ********* shall not
  compromise the credibility, nor put into disrepute Halal Watch World, nor the
  halal industry as a whole through its certification.” When they falsely
  advertised themselves as being tested by us and approved for certain religious
  practices that we did not, this violated our contract terms. This matter is a religious
  matter separate from the billing. From here, our billing department sent an errant invoice on
  April 2nd, with a due date of April 11th. This was corrected
  and updated to the proper bill date of May 11th, 2025, as originally agreed to.
  The email states: “Hi *******, Thank you for reaching out. Upon reviewing the
  contract, I can confirm that the first bill is due on May 11th. I have updated
  the invoice due date to reflect this and ensure it aligns with the contract
  terms. If you need any further clarification, please don’t hesitate to reach
  out to me. Best regards,”, to which the email was responded to by *** *********: “Hi *******, Perfect! Thank you, have a great week. Best, *******” They responded: “Hi *******, Thank you for the
  clarification. I’ve forwarded your response to the owners and am currently
  awaiting their feedback. In the meantime, I received the audit notification and
  meeting invite. Since I’m not local to the office, I’ve added Jason to the
  meeting — he’s the same person who attended the last audit. Please don’t
  hesitate to let me know if you need anything while we wait for the owners’
  response. Best regards, *******  This is now a 4th time sharing the same
  information to the client as to when the first invoice due date is, and when
  payment is expected. It is completely unmistakable that we expect payment on
  May 11th. They responded to this on May 12th by saying: “Hi
  *******, Thank you for your message. I’m currently waiting on the owners’
  approval before we can move forward. I’ll be sure to keep you updated as soon
  as I hear back. Please let me know if there’s anything else you need from me in
  the meantime. Best regards, *******” We then proceeded to email and call them for the next 9 days
  regarding their overdue invoice. The client references a 15 day grace period, and
  that the true due date is March 26th. This couldn’t be further away
  from the facts. Our contract states, regarding 15 days, the following: “Payments
  not received within fifteen (15) days of invoice receipt in whole or in part
  may bear an administrative late fee of no more than fifty dollars ($50).” Never
  once in the contract do we offer a 15 day grace period. The client has blatantly
  twisted facts to obfuscate and take advantage of our company and denigrate our
  good name. The consequence of not making good on their payment, and
  breaking their contract, as stated in our terms of service are as follows: 10.  Terminating
  Agreement: With reasonable cause, Halal Watch World may terminate this
  Agreement by giving a notice of termination for cause. Reasonable cause
  includes: a material violation of this agreement by *** *********. *** ********* shall be charged a payment penalty for early termination of this agreement
  whether initiated by Halal Watch World or *** ********* . Halal Watch World shall
  be entitled to full payment as is due prior to the effective date of
  termination (remaining minimum term length X (multiplied by) annual fee). This means that their obligation would be to pay $4,900 X 3
  years = $14,700. However, as a gesture of goodwill, we verbally offered the
  client a path forward: if they demonstrate humility, take responsibility by show
  accountability for their actions, and issue a written apology to the consumer
  for the misleading information, we will agree to take down the public post. We also offer this to the client, as an additional concession,
  we are also willing, should the client follow through, to limit the financial
  requirement to only the original amount due on May 11. Our goal is not to
  escalate, but to encourage the client to do the right thing and be socially
  responsible. They must also fulfill the terms of their signed contract,
  including removing all Halal Watch World signs, seals, and logos from their
  online profiles, web pages, and other media. Our goal is not to escalate, but
  to encourage the client to do the right thing and be socially responsible. Our terms were very clearly expressed through phone
  conversations, documented emails, and signed contracts. All of this
  information is uploaded here. There was not a single complaint from the company
  throughout this entire time, not even one. Had the client had issues with the
  dates and timelines, why didn't they complain about it when the contract was
  issued for signature, or when we emailed about it multiple times before May? The
  complaints only began 9 days after the invoice was due! This is because they do
  not respect our organization, an never seems they never intended to pay to
  begin with. *** ********* should be held accountable for shirking their
  financial responsibilities, not upholding their contract, lying to consumers,
  and disrespecting the entire halal industry. They should be ashamed of their disrespectful
  attitudes, and lack of commitment to truth and honesty. We are appalled by
  their lack of professionalism, and ashamed of their fudging of truth and facts
  to blame-shift our organization. We hope to see this issue justly concluded.