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:03/01/2023

  Type:Customer Service 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 recently tried to register on *********.com but was banned without ever being approved on 12/19/22. On the same day I was banned from *******.com, *************.com, and ************.com. All of these forums are managed by VerticalScope Inc.
  
  I have tried to contact all 4 forums via their 'Contact Us' feature but have had no response. I have also tried contacting VerticalScope with no response.
  
  I would like all of my accounts reinstated.
  
  thanks

  

  Business Response

  Date: 04/01/2023

  The accounts referenced in the customer’s complain were banned from our forums for violating the websites’ publicly available Terms of Use by posting spam. These accounts will not be reinstated.
  

  Customer Answer

  Date: 05/01/2023

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

  I have not posted 'spam' of any kind. Only my true and honest experience. Please provide a copy of the alleged 'spam'.
  
  
  
  Sincerely,
  
  
  
  ***** *****

  

  Business Response

  Date: 06/01/2023

  Under our publicly available Terms of Use, we “reserve the right to deny access to the Web Site or any features of the Web Site to anyone, for any reasons, including as a result of persons who violate these Terms and Conditions of Service or who, in our sole judgment, interferes with the ability of others to enjoy our website or infringes the rights of others”. The accounts referenced in the customer’s complain were banned from our forums for violating the websites’ Terms of Use in our sole judgment and will not be reinstated.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:15/12/2022

  Type:Customer Service 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 or about 12/8/22, my ******************** dot com account was suspended for "Spam". No further explanation was given. I received no email or explanation. No information on the definition of Spam can be sound in the site's ToS or FAQ. I have not posted anything derogatory, inflammatory, or something that could be considered a personal attack, nor have I attempted to sell something to anyone. I've been contributing on a regular basis.
  
  When I go tot he site, I get a message that states I've been banned for spam, and I should contact the administrator. There is no email address for the admin, so I used the contact form with the site's pre-defined subject "Ban Appeal." Twice. Once on 12/9/22 and again on 12/12/22. Vertical scope's platform has not sent an email to my profile's registered and verified email address acknowledging the receipt of my appeal, and I'm unable to see if I have a private message from Vertical Scope because the result of a ban prevents a resisted user from seeing private messages.
  
  So VerticalScope, what gives?

  

  Business Response

  Date: 19/12/2022

  Hello,
  
  We have looked into your ********************.com account and we have lifted the ban which occurred on your account due to a spam filter error.
  
  Your account is now unbanned. If you have any technical issues going forward, you can reach us at **************@*************.com.
  
  Regards,
  
  Policy Support, VerticalScope

• Initial Complaint

  Date:13/12/2022

  Type:Customer Service 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.

  ************* sites have a prompt that ask you to log into ******, and when browsing, I set up an account with this (because why not) and continued browsing without posting anything or otherwise interacting with the site other than viewing. Around 40 minutes later, I was banned for supposed "spam" despite posting literally nothing. Even after calling and emailing them, I have not received any response at all in over a week.

  

  Business Response

  Date: 23/12/2022

  Hello,
  
  To allow us to investigate this matter, please provide us with the below
  information by email at **************@*************.com:
  

  (a) Username
  (b) The forum you were
  registered to
  (c) Email used to register to forum
  
  If you
  have any technical issues going forward, you can reach us at **************@*************.com.
  
  Regards,
  
  Policy Support,
  VerticalScope

• Initial Complaint

  Date:06/12/2022

  Type:Customer Service 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.

  Unfortunately this company has no function to delete your online account without emailing them. I have made three attempts to close and delete my account. All have gone ignored with no response and my account is still on their forum with my content.
  
  At this time I am making my request to DELETE my account and all my content.
  
  Let this be a warning to all that are looking for a forum, this company now owns most of them, collects your data and then seems to ignore your request to delete YOUR information.
  
  I did reach out to the Admins on the forum, all telling me I had to reach out to corporate they have no control over account deletion.

  

  Business Response

  Date: 07/12/2022

  Hello,
   
  If you have a registered account on the forum, we can assist with deleting your account. Please provide us with your username for the forum so that we can proceed.
   
  Please note that posts and/or threads will not be deleted. As per our Terms of Use, which may be found at https:/********************************, VerticalScope has a perpetual license for any information posted on the forum. However, we can anonymize any of your posts that contain personally identifying information if you provide us with links to such posts.  

  Regards,
  
  Policy Support, VerticalScope

  Customer Answer

  Date: 08/12/2022

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

  
  These request have already been submitted numerous times with the company giving zero response. 

  Why would a company make a "contributor" ask multiple times to delete account, and get zero response. Only to now waste my time filing a BBB claim. 

  Your websites are now plagued with paying ********. Your Admins have posted warnings over the last 2 weeks on ******** paying for premium memberships only to **** your members. Your platforms are a mess and you have ZERO in place to protect your users. As this shows with no "delete my account" button, lack of moderation and clearly ignoring the safety of your users. 

  Since I do hold knowledge in this field I will again make the request before moving forward outside the BBB.... At this time I am requesting Vertical Scope pseudonymize the account on ****** Forum  on this date December 8 2022. 

  You have been supplied with my user email on the account. If you truly own the web domain this information would be sufficient for deletion. 

  Odd how a company want MORE information when someone is asking for them to remove their information?

  I have also included a copy of your "terms" and my complaint to the Florida Attorney Generals office. 

  
  
  
  **** ****

  

  Business Response

  Date: 19/12/2022

  Hello,
  
  The email address you provided for this complaint is not in our database and does not show any associated account on ******forums.com. This may be because (a) a previous request to anonymize your account based on this email address has already been actioned by our team; or (b) your forum account is associated with a different email address. You have not included any other username in your complaint. If you believe you still have an identifiable account on ************.com, please provide us with the username, and we would be happy to pseudonymize any related identifiable information. You can reach us at **************@*************.com for further assistance.
  
  Regards,
  
  Policy Support, VerticalScope

• Initial Complaint

  Date:28/11/2022

  Type:Customer Service 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 3/14/2022 we purchased a Annual Advertising Vendor agreement with Vertical Scope for one of their online forums. In Previous months we were making quarterly payments but due to increase in costs for advertising we were offered an annual agreement whereby we would pay up-front for a full year of advertising vendor posting rights.
  
  On 8/3/2022 we had our account and advertising login banned and our only notification was an automated email from the forum of the account banning. Immediately on 8/3/2022 I contacted Vertical Scope Support via email about this banning and informed them that this was a breach of contract and they should explain and issue a refund based on a breach of agreement.
  
  On 8/8/2022 I finally received a response from Vertical Scope informing me that they banned my account because my website where the advertising pointed to was down and that I had not been posting on the forum. I replied that none of that mattered and that how i choose to use or not utilize the advertising I've paid in advance for was my business an that they had no right to ban my account with no form of contact. Vertical Scope made no attempt whatsoever before banning to contact my business with forms of contact that the had on file. No email made to my business email account on file, and no phone call or messages to my phone contact on file.
  
  On 8/8/2022 I replied letting Veritical Scope representative Nadia know that I expected a full refund for their breach of contract, they declined and only offered a potential partial refund.
  
  I am writing to inform the BBB that this business is operating outside of business ethics *** ** ********** ***** by taking advance payments for services and then making decisions without contractual support to decline services and keep the payments for services no rendered. **** ** ****** 
  I expect a $1164.15 refund for the loss.

  

  Business Response

  Date: 06/12/2022

  Dear **** ****,
  
  In May 2022, your business website had an update noting the following:
  
  "Due to health problems, this business division has now closed, the website will no longer take sales. As of this writing is is not known when and whether this will be able to resume. Due to the health problems and a hostile business climate in general, it has been requested by the business owner that this website be disabled as there isn't a reasonable way to delegate the processes to others." *********** ******** *** **********
  
  Consequently, the decision was made to deactivate your member status. Both the Community Management and Customer Success team made attempts to contact you, and there was no response. 
  
  In August 2022, you responded with a demand for a full refund and denial of ever being out of business. You were then offered a partial refund covering the period between August 2022 and the end of your membership term. You were then asked to confirm which vendor status you preferred (a standard procedure in processing refunds), and we received no response from you until November 25th, 2022. 
  
  Despite this, we can now confirm that your refund (covering the period between August 2022 and the end of your contract term) has been processed. ****** *** *** ******** ****** ************. 

  Regards,

  Policy Support, VerticalScope

  Customer Answer

  Date: 07/12/2022

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

  "Both the Community Management and Customer Success team made attempts to contact you, and there was no response."

  This statement above is false. Vertical Scope made no attempt to contact us through any means that they had access to. No email, no phone call, no voice mail for a customer account in which they had this information. Being the online account was in a "banned" status that means that no login could occur. So, if any messages were sent via the internal private messaging system on the forum, they could not be retrieved. As of this writing no proof of this correspondence has ever occurred. While a partial refund has been issued the Vertical Scope team, I view this is unsatisfactory considering the breach of agreement without any reasonable business notification. Vertical Scope also would not reinstate the account as a free account which was originally offered in writing because "Due to community
  violations related to business practices, the ban in the community will remain
  in place." When asked about what community violations, as in a policy, no reply was given. So, even if correspondence existed in the private messaging system I have no way to see that because the general login account is blocked. The decision to continue to block to be a general poster seems petty and unfounded.
  

  Sincerely,
  
  
  
  **** ****