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:10/19/2022

  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.

  When I first contacted Podium to discuss what their business will do for me, they stated that you will get leads form them. They also said that the more reviews you get the more leads the can push in your direction. I am not very was not very savy at the internet marketing and so forth, so I finally after about a month of hard manipulative sales techniques, I signed up. After a little while, I noticed that I was not getting any leads form Podium. I called them, and after speaking more to them, I am finding out that they do not get you any leads. Basically, what they do is use YOUR website to create the illusion that it is they who are generating business for you. They manipulate and deceive. I hope that either I get the energy, or someone else, to go after this Company in a class action lawsuit.

  Business Response

  Date: 10/21/2022

  Hi *****,
  We apologize for your frustrations; we are surprised to hear that you were told that youd be given a repository of prospects/leads once you became a subscriber, because that is not something we do, nor is it something that a trained account executive would say. We will certainly be digging into this more on our end to see where the miscommunication was. It looks like we have a call scheduled with you on Tuesday, so we have updated Support on your complaint and they will be sure to address this. If you have any documentation supporting your complaint, could you please send it to us so that we can review? Thank you for taking the time to share this feedback. We apologize again for your experience and we hope we can work together to reach a resolution soon.
  

• Initial Complaint

  Date:10/06/2022

  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.

  My complaint is similar to most of the complaints on this page. Podium sounded like a good idea, but it wasn't. We decided to cancel the subscription. We tried earlier in the year, but was told not to cancel until August when our subscription was up. My operations manager called and cancelled the subscription. She was told it was cancelled. No follow up email was sent to let us know that it was indeed cancelled. We have now been told we are signed up for another year of their services with no ability to cancel prior to August of 2023. I am furious! They are incompetent. I am filing a complaint with the Attorney General in both ****** and ****. This is a scam. They know exactly what they are doing and will continue to do this until they are shut down!

  Business Response

  Date: 10/11/2022

  Hi ********,
  We apologize for your frustrations. We had Support look at your account and found that unfortunately, you had never requested to cancel in writing, which is required in order for us to terminate your contract. Regardless, it looks like Support still decided to honor your request to cancel, effective 8/31/2022. There are 2 pending refunds totalling $640 that should be credited to your payment method on file within 10 business days. If you have any further questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact us at ***********************************

• Initial Complaint

  Date:09/07/2022

  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.

  In June I was contact by Podium, I was a previous customer at a different business. I enjoyed their product and service in the past, so I scheduled a call with a sales rep and went through a demo to see new features.The owner of my company was on his honeymoon, so I was not willing to commit to purchasing at that time.The sales **** ******* told me that he could delay the purchase and allow me to use the service for a couple weeks at no charge - also told me I could cancel the service at that time and not be charged.Fast forward a month (I indicated early July that I was not interested and would like to cancel) I was charged $289. First I tried contacting the sales rep who completely ignored me. I disputed this transaction, had to contact customer support four different times through phone and email. A kind lady told me over the phone she had cancelled my subscription and that it had been taken care of.Fast forward another month, they charge me an additional $289 and I go through the same process of making sure I was not enrolled in their service once again. They refuse to reimburse, pro-rate or even discuss the experience that I just covered in this complaint. I have not, do not and will not use their service. They are using predatory sales/business practices by lying about free trials and the ability to cancel before you're charged, then they delay their internal processes for as long as they can in hopes that they can charge you for another month.What used to be a great service has turned into "how quickly can I get this customer's payment information" only to neglect that customer for as long as possible to maximize the number of billing cycles.

  Business Response

  Date: 09/07/2022

  Hi ******,
  Thank you for taking the time to provide us with this feedback; we are sorry to hear about your frustrations. Support took a look at your initial sales call with us on 6/30/22 (also the day your contract was signed) and could not find any evidence of a free trial being promised. It seems that you requested a 1-2 delay before being charged for the first month, but nothing more extensive than that was mentioned by either party on the call. We received your cancellation request on 7/19 and proceeded to process it. Since your contract was month-to-month with a 30-day notice of cancellation requirement, you were responsible for the second and final bill on 7/30/22. We do apologize if there was any confusion around this process, but the cancellation information is outlined in your contract. We are very sorry to hear that your sales rep ignored you, that is certainly not how we want to treat our customers; this has been flagged to Support as well so they can investigate. 
  Please let us know if theres anything you wish to discuss further.
  

• Initial Complaint

  Date:08/02/2022

  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.

  After signing up for Podium services on a month by month basis, my company decided to cancel their services. On 5/3/2022 I emailed Podium and gave them an official 30 day written notice of cancellation (as required). That same day I received a response from their product support specialist C**** D***** confirming that my last billing date would be 5/31/2022 (case #********). After receiving what was to be our last bill, I emailed Claire again on 6/3/2022 asking again for confirmation that the 5/31/2022 bill was the last one, which she confirmed.
  
  On 6/28/2022 my company received yet another charge from Podium. Again I emailed Podium customer support reminding them of our cancellation and providing them with the case number, asking again for our account to be canceled and for a refund in the amount of $648.31. That same day I received an email response from D**** S*****, another product support specialist, confirming that they have canceled and archived our account.
  
  On 7/31/2022 I received yet another charge on my credit card in the amount of $648.31 and have emailed again, thus far with no response.

  Business Response

  Date: 08/02/2022

  Hi *****,
  We are so sorry to hear about your experience with us. I escalated this issue with our support team and they have assured me your account has been canceled. The reason it didn’t cancel in the first place is because of a billing error - for which we apologize and have processed a refund for the two months you were billed in error. Additionally, support is going to set up a time for a phone call so that this can be fully resolved. Please be on the lookout for an email scheduling that call.

  We apologize again that this has been your experience but please know that we are attempting to make it right and get you the refunds as soon as possible. We appreciate your patience.
  

  
  

  Customer Answer

  Date: 08/03/2022

  
  
  Complaint: ********
  
  
  
  I am rejecting this response because:  Until I am able to verify that my business credit card has been refunded in full, and that the billing has actually stopped (I cannot verify this until 9/1/2022 when I would normally be billed), I will not consider this complaint satisfied.  For the past two months, with two different Podium representatives, I have been assured in writing that this problem would be corrected.  Having a third person "assure" me of the same thing unfortunately holds no weight.

  I have been contacted by a member of their management team by email and expect that we will speak by phone today.

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