ComplaintsforPicMonkey LLC

• Initial Complaint

  09/20/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Billing Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I reside in **********. In approx August 2022 I signed up for an online service called PicMonkey (owned by ************). The annual membership fee is $120 which I charged to my own personal credit card. In January 2023 my company closed. To my recollection I have not used the PicMonkey service since Dec 2022/early Jan 2023. In April 2023 I tried to cancel my membership online. Strangely I was unable to do so. I contacted customer support and here is the timeline of correspondence: April 24th, 2023 I reached out to PicMonkey Support to cancel my subscription because (alarmingly) I was unable to locate a cancellation option on the website. April 25th, 2023 they told me I had a non-payment account and that is why I was unable to cancel my subscription. August 11th, 2023 PicMonkey charged my credit card $120 for annual membership. I was overseas at the time and did not notice the charge. August 21st, 2024 PicMonkey charged my credit card $120 for an annual membership again. I noticed this charge (when I checked my bank statement on September 6th 2024) checked my statement from August 2023 and noticed the charge of $120 then too. September 6th, 2024 I contacted them about the problem. Again they told me there is no membership affiliated to my email address. I then asked them to check if there was an account affiliated to my previous work email address - there was. After 2 weeks of correspondence they have only refunded the charge from 2024. They refuse to refund the charge from 2023 as it is against their internal policies. They state they send an email 7 days prior to members to alert them of their autorenewal charges. If they did in fact send that email twice (once in August 2023 and again in August 2024) they would have received an automatic alert saying the email address is no longer in use. Yet they continued to charge my card anyway - twice. This strikes me as non-compliance with the company's legal notification requirements. I records of all correspondence.

  Business response

  09/23/2024

  Hi there,
  
  We are sorry to see a BBB complaint for your ongoing inquiry. As we've said in our correspondence via email we are genuinely sorry this wasn't picked up and resolved last year.
  
  As you mentioned yourself in your BBB complaint, the email address you reached out to us on isn't linked to any account at ******************. We have replied to your latest email, so this might seem repetitive, but last year you never advised us you were charged or offered an alternative email to search with. We had no data to use for a search to find any fees linked to you at the time. And you seemed satisfied with the outcome. Now, over a year later you have requested a refund as the plan was not cancelled, to which we have obliged. However, we cannot offer a refund of a fee more than a year old.
  
  Now, to confirm, we offer all customers the option to cancel the service 24/7 via the site. I'm not sure what happened when you attempted to do this, however, the cancellation flow is located in the billing tab of your account view which is not in any way hidden or hard to find. That said, if you cannot use this option, we also have this email you've been corresponding with us to do so *********************************************************. We also notify any renewing subscriber 7 days in advance. And I appreciate as you mentioned in your complaint and during our conversation that you no longer use the email registered with the site. Therefore never received the reminder emails, however, as you can see we are compliant with the law.
  
  Regarding receiving a notification of the email not being delivered. While I appreciate this is true for standard email correspondence, it is not for automated emails. We send thousands of emails per day via our financial assistance tools. We do not get a notification back from your email server. The law, not only in ********** but across more jurisdictions that operate the same practice states the responsibility for up-to-date information is the responsibility of the consumer. We as a business have the task of updating the information when informed by our customers, but, it is your responsibility to let us know the changes in advance.
  
  Again, we are sorry this decision is not to your liking. The offer we made to you, of access to the tool for the time paid but not used, still stands. Please get in touch if you'd like to take advantage of this.
  
  All the best,
  
  PicMonkey Support Team

  Customer response

  09/23/2024

   
  Complaint: 22316178
  
  I am rejecting this response because PicMonkey repeatedly has avoided making the customer whole. Rather their response to this situation created a lot of wheel-spin and delays, Im guessing by design to ultimately make the customer walk away in frustration without full resolution if any. I would imagine an audit of their membership renewals will show others being exploited in a similar manner. 
  
  Sincerely,
  
  ******* *********

• Initial Complaint

  09/11/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Billing Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I have just been made aware that Ive been charged $47.88 annually for the past three years on a PicMonkey account that I have literally never used. *** tried to cancel this supposed subscription, but going into my PicMonkey accounts billing section, it shows that I am not subscribed (because I cancelled after the free trial period years ago when I realized the service wouldnt work for what I needed at the time). Despite that, I am still getting charged from PicMonkeythe latest charge was in June 2024, so I would like a refund for that false charge at the very least, as its within the past six months. I would also like my account to be terminated completely. I somehow have two accounts (both claiming that I do not have an active subscription), one with the email ********************** the other with the email ************************* I would like them both terminated and any and all charges to stop.

  Business response

  09/11/2024

  Hi *****,
  
  My name is *****, I'm with PicMonkey.
  
  I received your complaint (#********) via the Better Business Bureau (BBB) - we are sorry that you felt you could not reach out to us to assist you with this first. We are more than happy to assist you with your inquiry.
  
  I've checked the two email addresses you provided, ********************* and ************************* While both of those email addresses are registered with a PicMonkey profile, neither of them have ever had a paid subscription, they are both FREE accounts, and there are no billing details on either account.
  
  That said, hearing that you've been billed $47.88 indicates you have a different email address registered to our site, with an active (paid) legacy ANNUAL BASIC plan. The legacy rate is for subscriptions that have been continuously subscribed (paid) since 2017 and before. The rate for the current ANNUAL BASIC plan is $72.
  
  We aren't able to bill for subscriptions that have been canceled. Since you've been billed, it sounds like the subscription was never canceled, and has continued to auto-renew each year. We are sorry to hear you haven't had a chance to use the subscription and have forgotten the subscribed email address. Not to worry we can assist you with this today!
  
  Since you indicated you were billed in June 2024, we can help locate the account via the billing details associated with that June charge.
  We can trace the account using the billing details that have been charged. Depending on the billing method I will need different information, see below.
  
  As we're asking for specific payment information, please note the intended use of this data is to search for an active subscription for which you do not know the registered email address. Do note, that if we locate an account with the details you provide, we may email the registered account to confirm the owner would like this action carried out. This is for security verification.
  
  Via bank card or credit card, wed need the following*:
  - The last 4 digits from the credit card that's being charged.
  - Name as it appears on the card.
  - The expiration date of the card.
  - The card type ****** MC, etc.).
  - The date of the most recent PicMonkey charge.
  - The amount of the charge.
  - A screenshot of the transaction (if possible)
  
  *Please note, that charges that have occurred via *************** or Apple, even though linked to your card, require different information. See below.
  
  For ****** Charge: We will need the ****** Transaction or invoice ID.
  For ****** Charge: We will need the order number that starts with GPA.
  
  
  Once we are able to locate and verify the account that was billed, we will be more than happy to help cancel the subscription, preventing any further auto-renewals, and offer a refund for the most recent charge.
  
  We are looking forward to your reply and helping you with this, *****.
  
  
  Best,
  *****

• Initial Complaint

  05/27/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  This is the 3rd year in a row that picmonkey has pulled money out of my account.I have called and requested refunds every time and "canceled " my subscription everytime and also have contacted Paypal everytime. No one will refund me. And they assure me my subscription is canceled and I won't be charged "next year" but here we are for the 3rd year and I've been charged again. Now I want the refund for the past 3 charges! I do not even visit the site anymore for fear of reactivating a canceled subscription. But that didn't even stop it from happening again!

  Business response

  05/27/2024

  Hi there, we are so sorry to hear you continue to be charged for a subscription that you no longer need. Sadly, we've had no correspondence from the email address provided here previously and the information is not enough for us to locate the subscription account you've been charged for. May I ask you to reach out directly to our support team directly via the email address ******************************* with more details to aid us in locating the account, we'd be happy to then action your cancellation request. 

• Initial Complaint

  05/16/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Billing Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I just learned Ive been charged $47.88 eight times and $41.19 one time since 2017 for a PicMonkey account that I canceled after a free trial. This comes to $424.23 in charges. (I even got charged twice in one year for an annual membership I never agreed to or used!) Additionally, I didnt receive a single email notification about any charges or auto renewals. This is fraudulent. I contacted PicMonkey and theyre only willing to return one $47 fee. My next step is contacting an attorney.

  Business response

  05/17/2024

  Here is the copy of our first reply to the customer:

  From: ************************************************************
  To: ******************
  Subject: Re: Help ticket - I have an unknown or unauthorized charge
  Sent: May 15, 2024 9:52 PM
  
  
  Hi there,
  Thanks for reaching out to PicMonkey. My name is *****, I'm happy to help you with this.
  The subscription fee is not based on use, it's based on accessibility, much like a subscription to ******* or Spotify. We offer our subscribers a 14-day cooling-off period from the initial charge, and monthly subscribers have the flexibility of being able to cancel from month to month.
  We currently practice a 14-day cooling-off period from their initial charge date for our subscribers. I've canceled your subscription and issued a refund for the recent charge. It usually takes 3-5 business days to reach your bank. I've removed the billing details from the account for peace of mind. The canceled status will prevent any further auto-renewals or charges from occurring on your account.
  Please note, that due to parameters in place by our billing partners, we are unable to issue refunds on charges older than the last 6 months; as such, we are not able to issue any further refunds on your account.
  I hope this helps. Please let me know if you have additional questions, I'm happy to help.

   

  Here is a copy of the second email we sent this customer:

  From: ************************************************************
  To: ******************
  Subject: Re: Help ticket - I have an unknown or unauthorized charge
  Sent: May 16, 2024 5:51 PM
  
  
  Hi there,
  Thanks for your reply. I am very sorry that we have disappointed you.
  We are very sorry you were billed for a subscription for so long without realizing it or using it. We do indicate at the time of account creation that the subscription will continue to auto-renew until canceled by the subscriber. While the subscription may have been forgotten, the annual renewal and charge are not fraudulent as the subscription was never canceled.
  
  We do offer a 14-day cooling-off period, so while we previously didn't have reminder emails sent in advance of the renewal, subscribers would see the billing on their credit card and reach out for assistance. Beyond that, we are human and understand things may go unnoticed from time to time, and as such, we can, and do, offer refunds within 6 months as an exception. We do wish you had reached out to us sooner regarding the annual charges so we could assist in canceling the subscription sooner for you.
  As noted in my reply yesterday, we are bound by parameters in place by our billing providers, and even if we were to make an exception in your case, we are unable to process any further refunds as they are older than 6 months. I do apologize.
  While we are unable to process additional refunds, we are happy to add time to your account so you can use the subscription you previously paid for. I've updated your account with access to the PRO PLAN through May 17, 2026.
  I'm happy to have the manager reach out to you. As a small customer support team, we have no telephone services set up. That said, I've forwarded our correspondence to management for review. Do note, that because we are unable to process additional refunds due to limitations in place by our billing providers, management will not be able to facilitate any additional refunds either, however, they will be happy to reach out to you.
  I hope you will be able to find use of the Pro plan I've updated your account with, please let me know if you have any questions regarding the account, I'm happy to help you. And please be on the lookout for a reply from management, they are also happy to speak with you.

   

  Here is a copy of the most recent email we sent this customer:

  From: ************************************************************
  To: ******************
  Subject: Re: Help ticket - I have an unknown or unauthorized charge
  Sent: May 16, 2024 8:20 PM

  
  Hi there,
  
  Thanks for your reply.
  
  I'm afraid I don't see that the subscription was ever canceled. We can't bill or process any sort of payment on a canceled subscription. As your subscription remained subscribed until May 15, 2024, all renewals and billing are earned upon payment. This is noted in our Terms of Use. You were provided a refund for the most recent renewal because you reached out within the 14-day cooling-off period.
  
  Again, we do apologize that you were billed for a subscription that you did not use, however, as noted, we would have been happy to help you cancel the subscription at any point before your only outreach to us on May 15, 2024. Since the subscription wasn't canceled, it continued to auto-renew, this is why you were accurately billed each year for the renewal. We understand you may not actively use the card that was billed, however, you would continue to receive a monthly statement from your credit card that advises of charges and any bill that is due to them. If you were not interested in having the PicMonkey subscription, we would have anticipated hearing from you much sooner than 6 years after the first unwanted billing.
  
  You were not charged twice in 2020; we updated our billing system in October 2020, so what you see posted on October 10, 2020, is a credit used to migrate the subscribed account over to our new billing system. You were not billed $41.19 - please feel free to check your credit card to verify.
  
  We appreciate the link you've shared; it's partly due to laws such as this and also transparency on our part, that we have started sending out renewal notices. That said, while we are fully onboard and are sending renewal notices to all subscribers at this time, the link you provided indicates the law pertains to contracts opened on or after January 1, 2022. Your PicMonkey account has been actively subscribed since May 6, 2017. Again, we would have anticipated outreach from you much sooner than 6 years after the first unwanted billing so we could help you cancel the subscription you were being billed for.
  
  We are unable to action your request for any additional refunds. We will respond to the Better Business Bureau ticket you raise when it comes through. Our team works on BBB tickets as well, and we will be glad to provide them with the information we have. Management will reach out to you on Friday, May 17, 2024, by email and will be happy to discuss this with you.

• Initial Complaint

  03/21/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Billing Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  Tonight my credit card was charged for a service I have not used in 2 years. I checked with my PicMonkey account and it states that my membership expired 1/14/22 and has not been renewed. However, I got an alert a couple of hours ago about a pending charge on my credit card for Pic Monkey. The credit card billed was one that I never provided to the company, as I had the number changed and the card replaced a few months ago. The new number is listed under my account, but I never provided the card number to this company as I no longer require their services.

  Business response

  03/22/2024

  Hi there,

  We're very sorry to hear you were charged without notice. We do send a billing reminder a week in advance of the charges, however, this can only be sent to the registered email address.

  I've looked into your account and see you did have a plan with PicMonkey under this email before, it was cancelled and hasn't been charged since 2021. So you are correct when you say it expired in 2022. However, as we mentioned when we replied to your email if you have a charge from PicMonkey it's likely you are subscribed via another email address.

  We cannot go into the details via the BBB, so I urge you to reply to our Customer Support Team. They can help locate the charge and the linked account to help cancel the plan.

  All the best,

  PicMonkey Support Team

  Customer response

  03/22/2024

   
  Complaint: 21469984
  
  I am rejecting this response because my credit card was billed without my consent. I filed a complaint with the company and they have not replied.
  
  Sincerely,
  
  *******************************

  Customer response

  03/22/2024

   
  Complaint: 21469984
  
  I am rejecting this response because my credit card was billed without my consent. I filed a complaint with the company and they have not replied.
  
  Sincerely,
  
  *******************************

  Business response

  04/04/2024

  Hi ****,
  
  My name is *****, I'm with PicMonkey.
  
  I'm sorry to hear you were not satisfied with the assistance my team has provided thus far and felt the need to reach out to the Better Business Bureau. We aim to make sure all users are satisfied, so I'm sad to hear we missed the mark.
  
  That said, I did further research on this and I am happy to let you know that I've issued a refund for the fee you were charged on March 21, 2024. Please allow me to explain further.
  
  The account you were billed for is registered with a different email address; it's not associated with the email address you reached out to us from. Please refer to the email I have sent you for additional details on the other account. 
  
  Further research shows that while the account was not manually updated with the new billing details since the transaction is reoccurring, your bank chose to push the renewal fee through to avoid any service disruption. Banks do this as a service for their customers on the assumption that the customer is using the account that has the recurring charge. I'm sorry for the bill shock and just want to reassure you that the charge was not malicious in any way, it was just a renewal of the uncanceled subscription on that account.
  
  That said, I've canceled the subscription on that account and issued a refund for the fee you were charged on March 21, 2024. I've sent you copy of the refund invoice for your reference. 
  The canceled status will prevent any further auto-renewals or charges from occurring on the account. For peace of mind, I've removed the billing details from the account as well.
  
  I've also provided a copy of this communication to the BBB so they can handle the case on their end.
  
  I hope this helps, ****. Please let me know if there is anything else I can help you with, I'll be happy to help.
  
  Best,
  *****
  

• Initial Complaint

  09/29/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Product Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  This business is a scam. Three years ago I signed up for a free trial and immediately cancelled but they have been charging me without my knowledge. I havent gotten a single email since I cancelled the trial until this morning that STILL didnt say they were charging me just thanks for signing upDo NOT download their app! Its a scam!

  Business response

  10/18/2023

  Hi there,
  Very sorry for the late reply to your BBB complaint.
  I noticed you also reached out to PicMonkey on Sept 29th advising us you no longer use the service. A refund was issued within a few hours and the subscription was cancelled, as per the email no more fees will be taken and you should have received the refund by now.
  We're sorry you thought you couldn't come to us before raising the complaint. We previously allowed a 14-day cooling-off period for all annual subscriptions. Now we've introduced reminder emails so everyone gets a notification 7 days before their fee is due.
  Please get in touch if you need anything further.
  PicMonkey Support Team

• Initial Complaint

  10/12/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Product Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I don't even know what this company is and they have been taking money out of my account for at least a year...I swear I will find them and sue ********** in the world did they even get my debit card number?? How are they able to do this?? You better find my info and issue me my money back or I will be taking this to court

  Business response

  10/13/2022

  Hi there,

  Very sorry to hear you've been charged for a plan you don't need or want.

  Having looked up your email I see you reached out to us yesterday. We've already responded to your query and are awaiting further information in order to help solve this.

  The email address you contacted us on, the one linked to this BBB complaint is not registered with PicMonkey. I'm sure you can understand that without the correct email we cannot solve your issue. The site is fully self-serve, we don't have salespeople nor do we offer to sign people up. You have to do this yourself and since you are being charged by PicMonkey, it would seem your payment information is tied to an account under a different email address.

  In order for us to find this plan, we need additional information. We sent this request in our reply yesterday, once we hear back from you we'll begin the search and help you find and close the active subscription.

  Thank you.

  PicMonkey Support Team

• Initial Complaint

  09/25/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Product Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I signed up for a pic monkey trial to see how it was and if it would help me with my schoolwork but it wasnt helping me so I canceled the subscription. A few days later (today), I look at my bank account and I see it has billed $72 to my account on September 24th, 2022. It says the transaction is still processing, but I dont want to be charged for an amount of money that I didnt spend. By didnt spend, I mean, I didnt use any of the premium features that came with the trial. I canceled the subscription a bit ago but it still said I was subscribed when I checked the website and I had to unsubscribe again. Please fix this and refund my money.Thank you,*****************************

  Business response

  09/26/2022

  Hi ********,
  I'm sorry to see your BBB complaint.
  Had you reached out to us directly we could have helped you solve this without any fuss. We currently practice a 14-day cooling-off period from your charge date once the site has not been used.
  You should know that BBB has no influence on our refund decisions and cannot submit one for you. If you would like our help, you can reach out via our contact page on the website or ******************************** You are still within the 14-day window based on your charged date.
  We look forward to you getting in touch.
  Thank you.
  PicMonkey Support Team

• Initial Complaint

  09/11/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Product Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I signed up for a service because that was the only way I could determine if it could do what i needed. Within a couple of hours I determined it could not and cancelled my 12 month subscription. the company refuses to refund my money.

  Business response

  09/12/2022

  Hi there,
  I'm very sorry to see your complaint with the BBB. Your conversation with our support team is still open.
  It was only a few hours ago that you sent your last message. The team are primarily based in Ireland and although you did have quick responses to start with, it was late when you sent the previous email informing us of the cancellation and request for a refund. And only an hour and a half before you advised you submitted the complaint to the BBB.
  FYI, we currently offer a 14-day change of mind period once the site hasn't been used. Our team will respond to you soon with an update on your request.

• Initial Complaint

  08/11/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Billing Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  Decided to try picmonkey for photo editing, they had a free trial so I signed up. I was not impressed and cancelled the trial a few hours later. Imagine my surprise being charged $120 for a free trial. I reached out to the company and was told that they would only issue a partial refund. I screen shotted the fact that this was a free trial and anything suggesting it wasnt was misleading marketing. After that the rapid responses stopped and I have still not received a resolution. At this point I am escalating with my credit card company and reporting this company to the attorney generals office as this seems to be a predatory practice of this company.

  Business response

  08/12/2022

  Hi there,
  Very sorry we couldn't sort this out via our back-and-forth email correspondence. Apologies for the delay, our team is based in Ireland and so there can be some delays depending on the time of day.
  In relation to your query the prorated offer for a refund is still an option. We cannot issue a full refund of the fee when you manually opted to upgrade the plan and use the tools we offer. We do offer a free trial but not all tools are included, which is stated on our pricing page as you sign up. You also clicked to upgrade and submitted the payment yourself, with the fees fully outlined.
  If you would like for us to submit the prorate refund please get back in touch, we are currently waiting on your reply to our last email.

*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. ↩