ComplaintsforPhilo, Inc.

• Initial Complaint

  05/29/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Product Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I was told I was signing up for a free trial. So I did. I called to cancelled at the end of the free trial. They never actually cancelled it. I was charged ***** For 12 months. I would like a refund of 336. This is an awful unethical business Practice of bait and switch. I am So upset that they never canceled it. And they advertised it as FREE. I want a full Refund. I made sure its cancelled Today. I didnt know it was Charging me because it was advertised as free!

  Business response

  05/31/2024

  Good afternoon,
  
  We are following up on the complaint from our customer *********************************** who mentioned contacting Philo to cancel their trial but it wasn't cancelled.
  
  We reached out to the customer in order to gather more information. We currently have no record of the customer contacting support during or before their trial end date on 5/23/23. We do have a record of a recent contact to support on 5/29/24 in order to downgrade their subscription to our Free Package. It does appear that support was able to help get them on the Free Package and the customer will not be billed while on this plan. We'd like to investigate the claim further and have reached out to the customer for more information.
  
  We hope this information was helpful and if theres anything else we can help with or provide, just let us know.
  Sincerely,
  HF

  Customer response

  05/31/2024

   
  Complaint: 21776995
  
  I am rejecting this response because:

   

  i was told in my voice mail, I would get an E-mail. I got no email. There is no contact info for me to call ****. He sent the message private. So I cant contact them back. I called to cancel to the free one after the free trial. WHY would I want to pay for something when its free???? I was told it was done  when I got an email stating it was going from 25 to 28 a month I checked and saw I was charged for a year and they never cancelled  I want all 320 refunded  this is very upsetting  and also, contact info for Hugo **************************************************************************

  Business response

  06/06/2024

  We get the customer's frustration. However, after a thorough search in our system, we were unable to locate any previous interactions requesting cancellation but we do show that we regularly sent an email confirmation of the monthly subscription charge to the email on the account.
  
  With regards to the free trial, it is free for the first 7 days and then transitions into a paid subscription. It's possible that the customer may have contacted our support team using another phone number and without that, we cannot locate that conversation.
  
  As mentioned in our previous response to the customer, we reviewed the last chat interaction they had on 5/29/24 with one of our support agents requesting a cheaper option and if one was not available, they would need to cancel due to cost. We'd love to keep them as a customer and as a courtesy, we have processed a refund for the last 3 charges even though we have a no refund policy.
  
  Our customer can always reach out to support at ************. 

  Customer response

  06/06/2024

   
  Complaint: 21776995
  
  I am rejecting this response because:

   

  I called in May of 2023. And said I did not want the free trial. I was told there is a free plan of some channels. WHY would I want to continue to pay for something that is supposedly free anyways, considering I DONT EVEN USE IT. I was NOT aware this was a re-occurring charge. I recieved an e-mail the day I reached out to their chat team because OBVIOUSLY they do not keep records of their phone support. Nor do they do what they say they will do. 
  

  The only reason I reached out to chat was I got an email stating it was going up to ***** a month. 
  

  I thought I was not paying for it because I cancelled the free trial. 
  

  I did not get an email that I was being charged period. 
  

  this is UNETHICAL.  I DO NOT ACCEPT. I WANT ALL MY MONEY BACK. 

   

  IT IS NOT MY FAULT I CALLED TO CANCEL AND IT WASNT DONE. 

   

  I WILL NEVER SIGN UP FOR A FREE TRIAL OF ANYTHING EVER AGAIN. 

   

  HAD I NOT GOTTEN THE ***** STARING THE ***** WAS GOING UP TO ***** I NEVER WOULD HAVE KNOWN BECAUSE ITS IN AUTO PAY!!!

   

  I want a full refund  for all 12 month  

   

  obviously they Dont care  **** left me a message to call him back with NO contact number  and the number came through as unknown  

   

  I have attached a screenshot  Philo does not do what is promised  and this goes against the **** guidelines  

   

  I want my money back 

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

  Business response

  06/06/2024

  We understand that the customer has rejected our response. We have done what we can internally and after a little more internal investigation, we would like to mention that we did find active playback sessions up until January 2024. As mentioned in our previous response, our records do indicate that confirmation emails of payment for their monthly subscription were delivered/sent to the email address we have on file, which is the same email address mentioned in this complaint.
  
  Although we have a no refund policy, which is clearly stated in our Terms of Service, we did process 3 months worth of refunds as a courtesy and in good faith.
  
  Please reach out if there is any additional information we can provide.
  
  Thanks
  HF 

  Customer response

  06/06/2024

   
  Complaint: 21776995
  
  I am rejecting this response because:

  Complaint: 21776995??I am rejecting this response because:
  I called in May of 2023. And said I did not want the free trial. I was told there is a free plan of some channels. WHY would I want to continue to pay for something that is supposedly free anyways, considering I DONT EVEN USE IT. I was NOT aware this was a re-occurring charge. I recieved an e-mail the day I reached out to their chat team because OBVIOUSLY they do not keep records of their phone support. Nor do they do what they say they will do. 
  The only reason I reached out to chat was I got an email stating it was going up to ***** a month. 
  I thought I was not paying for it because I cancelled the free trial. 
  I did not get an email that I was being charged period. 
  this is UNETHICAL.  I DO NOT ACCEPT. I WANT ALL MY MONEY BACK. 
  
  IT IS NOT MY FAULT I CALLED TO CANCEL AND IT WASNT DONE. 
  
  I WILL NEVER SIGN UP FOR A FREE TRIAL OF ANYTHING EVER AGAIN. 
  
  HAD I NOT GOTTEN THE ***** STARING THE ***** WAS GOING UP TO ***** I NEVER WOULD HAVE KNOWN BECAUSE ITS IN AUTO PAY!!!
  
  I want a full refund  for all 12 month  
  
  obviously they Dont care  **** left me a message to call him back with NO contact number  and the number came through as unknown  
  
  I have attached a screenshot  Philo does not do what is promised  and this goes against the *** guidelines 
  
  I want my money back. 
  

  nothing was clearly stated. I did not know it was charging me. I did not know it was monthly. I cancelled it!!
  
  ?Sincerely,??***********************************
  
  Sincerely,
  
  ***********************************

• Initial Complaint

  05/05/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Customer Service Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  Dear BBB my account was hacked they took my funds so I called but they never got back to then I had to call my bank to get my money and my bank did when I tried to open a new account and get services because of another account hack they locked my new account and there was they wanted me to pay them I try to tell my account was hacked they won't hear me at all its not they me to pay them back because it was hacked they want what is money and they don't care people with Disability and that wrong they think that they are above law I'm asking from BBB to investigate them get them to unlock new account it's not fault that my other was hacked that's I create new my old wont be a hack but they wound not listening to me. and There BB investigator therefore Im coming to you because the company would not work with me and they would not listen to me. I contacted them a lot of times and they would not listen to me. I finally got a hold of them this time and they refuse to listen to me they want me to pay for my old account that was hacked. Thats why my account was hacked. I could not get into it, thats why the reason my bank is to let my bank know and they agreed that I should get my money back now. I feel like they retaliating against me. The company contacted my bank. I tried to contact them but they wouldnt listen and they never responded to me today. They contacted me but they want me to remove a reverse charge to get paid for them to get paid. How is that far when my account was hacked?I want them to unlock my new account now please thank you, please investigate

  Business response

  05/09/2024

  Good afternoon,
  
  We are following up on the complaint from our customer ***************************** who mentioned filing a dispute for Philo charges due to their email being hacked.
  
  When a cardholder reports a claim as fraudulent, it is our responsibility to ensure that any claim of fraud is taken seriously. Once charges are reported as fraud, it is unfortunately out of Philo's hands. In order to move forward, the customer needs to contact their bank and reverse the chargeback. To regain access to Philo, the customer would need to provide us with documentation of the reversal.
  
  We hope this information was helpful and if theres anything else we can help with or provide, just let us know.
  Sincerely,
  HF

• Initial Complaint

  04/12/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  They charged my account without my permission. Said they sent a refund of $28 but I never received it. I talked to my bank first and looked on the app. Then I contacted Philo and they told me they werent going to do anything because my account was closed.

  Business response

  04/12/2024

  Good Morning,
  
  We are following up on the complaint from our customer ************************* who mentioned not receiving a refund.
  
  After investigating the information provided, we can confirm that a refund was processed as shown by the screenshot the customer provided. Looking at the account, we can see that the charge was refunded the same day. This would have reversed the initial charge attempt making it seem like the Philo charge never occurred. This happens when a "pending" charge is refunded. It won't show as posted charge on the customer's bank statement. We reached out to the customer in order to once again assure them of the refund but could not get a hold of them. We left a voice mail. 
  
  We hope this information was helpful and if theres anything else we can help with or provide, just let us know.
  Sincerely,
  HF

• Initial Complaint

  04/09/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I went online to subscribe to Philotv and tried to log in and could not so I canceled immediately. I was stilled charged for the service even though I never used it and tried to get this resolved through Philotv and was told I could not have a refund and would have to wait until it expired on April 2,2024. Im requesting my money back.

  Business response

  04/09/2024

  Good afternoon,
  
  We are following up on the complaint from our customer ************************************* who mentioned getting charged for Philo after canceling their account.
  
  After investigating the information provided, it appears that the customer first created their account on 2/19/24. The account was cancelled the same day on 2/14/24 and was immediately deactivated after the trial phase on 2/28/24. It looks like on 3/2/24 the account was logged into an ******** device and the subscription resumed through Apple billing which charged the customer for their first month of service. Looks like shortly after the account was resumed, the account was cancelled through Apple on the same day, 3/2/24. The customer contacted support about the charge and the customer support representative confirmed that the account was already cancelled as well as advised the customer to get in contact with Apple for a refund. Due to the charge coming from a third party billing source, Philo does not have access to Apple's billing system to complete the customer's request. In this case, contacting Apple is the recommended course of action.
  
  We hope this information was helpful and if theres anything else we can help with or provide, just let us know.
  Sincerely,
  HF

• Initial Complaint

  04/01/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Product Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I signed up for a free trial from this company on December 21st. I inputted both my phone number and my email and verified my accounts through both assuming that it was duel factor authentication. Without my consent or authorization I was signed up for two separate accounts so that when I canceled my free account (also on December 21st) the company was able to continue to bill me through the second account. I did not use this service after December 21st. This was clearly misleading in an effort to continue to charge me after I had cancelled my account. My Apple subscription show that this subscription expired on December 28th (seven days after the free trial). A screenshot of this account information will be provided. The business gave me a partial refund but did not issue a full refund. I am requesting the remaining $25 from the $100 I was charged.

  Business response

  04/02/2024

  Good afternoon,
  
  We are following up on the complaint from our customer *************************** who mentioned getting charged for Philo after canceling their account.After investigating the information provided, it appears that the customer created 2 separate accounts and enabled 2 separate billers. The account under the mobile number was set to be billed through Apple and was cancelled. The other account with the email address was billed directly through Philo which was not cancelled. The customer would have had to enable a third party ****** using the mobile number, as well as manually enter billing information on the Philo website with the email address to create the accounts. Philo also sends an automated notification when a payment is processed to the email address associated to the account. We understand mistakes happen and as a sign of good faith we have applied a full refund to the customer. It is important to note that per our terms of service, Philo has a no refund policy.
  
  We hope this information was helpful and if theres anything else we can help with or provide, just let us know.
  Sincerely,
  HF

• Initial Complaint

  03/26/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Billing Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  Philo operates on predatory practices with its customers. My girlfriend has had an account over the past year or so, and did not realize her account was being charged TWICE because she logged in to it at my house as well as hers, since we spend time at each place. The customer service is only reimbursing her for 4 MONTHS, meaning she lost over $150 for the 6 months they are literally stealing from her. Not to mention, what kind of a tv subscription service charges $25 a month (which is wild in itself), and STILL makes the viewers sit through 2 minute long, repetitive commercials throughout episodes???

  Business response

  04/02/2024

  Good afternoon,
  
  We are following up on the complaint from our customer *********************** who mentioned his girlfriend was getting charged for Philo services and was not aware.Since the information provided in the initial complaint was not the info associated with the account, we need the mobile number or email address to the account that was charged. We are working directly with the customer to find out more details of the account that was charged. We hope to come to a resolution ASAP and clarify the events that transpired with the customer.
  
  We hope this information was helpful and if theres anything else we can help with or provide, just let us know.
  Sincerely,
  HF 

• Initial Complaint

  03/25/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Product Issues

  Status:

  Resolved

  More info

  I made payment of $25 to Philo to restore streaming services. Payment was made through ****** and services were restored. On 3/25 I logged into Philo and my account was deactivated. Additional $25 was requested to restore services. I contacted customer service who confirmed payment was received by Philo but for restoration I would need to contact ******. I contacted ******, following the prompts for my issue but was routed to ended call. I contacted Philo and asked for a refund since Philo couldn't restore services I paid for even after confirmed payment was received. Per Philo ****** would have to issue refund and/or restore services. Neither ****** nor Philo have been able to resolve, refund, or restore.

  Business response

  03/27/2024

  Good afternoon,
  
  We are following up on the complaint from our customer *********************** who mentioned getting charged for Philo services and did not have access. After investigating the customer's account, it does appear that a ****** payment event was posted on the account under the email address provided. A couple of days later, the account billing info synced and service was deactivated. We have limited visibility on our external billers but can confirm that when the account was synced, there was no payment which is why the account was then deactivated. We were able to get in touch with the customer to explain the events and help restore access to Philo.
  
  We hope this information was helpful and if theres anything else we can help with or provide, just let us know.
  Sincerely,
  HF

  Customer response

  03/27/2024

  Better Business Bureau:
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me. I  appreciate the ****** rep for reaching out to me and helping to resolve this issue. This was the level of customer service I expected and appreciate.
  
  Sincerely,
  
  ***********************

• Initial Complaint

  03/12/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Customer Service Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  Philo began billing me 2499 a month after the free trial was canceled. They will not refund my money.!

  Business response

  03/13/2024

  Good afternoon,
  
  We are following up on the complaint from our customer ******************************* who mentioned getting charged from Philo after they had cancelled.
  
  After investigating the customer's account, it appears that a free trial account was created on 5/15/22 with a mobile number. This account never went past the trial phase and was never billed. Another account was created on 1/7/24 with an email address, which did become a subscription after the 7 day trial. The billing source for this account is Roku. Since the account was never cancelled, the account remained active until the customer reached out to support on 3/11/24. We do not have a record of the customer contacting us prior to 3/11/24. Our support agent cancelled the account and granted a one-time courtesy refund for the most recent charge. It is important to note that Philo has a no refund policy per our terms of service. Any additional refunds cannot be processed by Philo due to limitations with the external ******. We recommend that the customer reach out to Roku support for any additional questions about the charges.
  
  We hope this information was helpful and if theres anything else we can help with or provide, just let us know.
  Sincerely,
  HF

• Initial Complaint

  03/01/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Billing Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I cancelled my subscription on 02/25/2024. Within the trial period. On 02/28/2024 my debit card was charged in the a.ounts of $27.06 and $10.76. Then on 02/29/3024 another $27.06. I took a screenshot of my ****** play account and it clearly shows that my subscription was cancelled on 02/25/2024.

  Business response

  03/05/2024

  Good afternoon,
  
  We are following up on the complaint from our customer *************************** who mentioned getting charged on their card from Philo after they cancelled.
  
  After investigating the customer's account, it appears that a free trial account was created on 2/18/24 with the mobile number. The account was created while enabling ****** as their billing source. 
  A couple of hours later, we see that billing information was added to the account manually in order to also sign-up for the Starz add-on trial. This action switched the ****** from ****** to Philo direct billing. Since ****** is an external ******, it is the customer's responsibility to cancel all external billers on their end after switching to Philo direct billing. We see that 2 days later on 2/20/24 the customer was able to cancel ****** billing but did not log into the account to cancel the free trial. At the end of the trial period, the customer was charged for the base subscription plus the add-on Starz since both were not cancelled prior to the end of the trial phase.
  We have no record of the customer reaching out to support based off the information provided to us with this case. It also seems that the customer may have already reached out to their financial institution and performed a chargeback. Due to the chargeback, we are unable to process a courtesy refund. The charges seen on the customer's end would have to continue to go through the dispute process.
  
  We hope this information was helpful and if theres anything else we can help with or provide, just let us know.
  Sincerely,
  HF

• Initial Complaint

  02/27/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Billing Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  On 2/19/2023 philo charged my wrong card for my account. Also while the wrong card was charged, that card was locked and the company was not supposed to let anyone access to my account at that moment. I contacted the bank and they gave me my money back and I contacted the merchant philo to give new payment and they locked my account. Once talked to representative, she told me that I had to have my bank reverse the transaction. Talked to my bank they said they could not I would just make a new payment. I contacted philo again and they explained because I have to pay a charge back fee they lock customers accounts in retaliation until its reversed. I have read every fine print and thats not noted. I also again never reported as fraud as the representative said she could see and that my bank dropped the ball. This is wrong and should not be doing business like this with loyal customers.

  Business response

  02/29/2024

  Hello,
  
  We are following up on the complaint from our customer *********************** who mentioned reaching out to support in regards to a chargeback.
  
  We have reached out to our customer to inform them of the resolution for this case. We were able to review and unlock the account and provide the next steps for the customer.  We look forward to hearing back from the customer and as always, support is available 24/7 to help answer any questions our customers may have.
  
  We hope this information was helpful and if theres anything else we can help with or provide, just let us know.
  Sincerely,
  HF

  Business response

  02/29/2024

  Hello,
  
  We are following up on the complaint from our customer *********************** who mentioned reaching out to support in regards to a chargeback.
  
  We have reached out to our customer to inform them of the resolution for this case. We were able to review and unlock the account and provide the next steps for the customer.  We look forward to hearing back from the customer and as always, support is available 24/7 to help answer any questions our customers may have.
  
  We hope this information was helpful and if theres anything else we can help with or provide, just let us know.
  Sincerely,
  HF

  Business response

  02/29/2024

  Hello,
  
  We are following up on the complaint from our customer *********************** who mentioned reaching out to support in regards to a chargeback.
  
  We have reached out to our customer to inform them of the resolution for this case. We were able to review and unlock the account and provide the next steps for the customer.  We look forward to hearing back from the customer and as always, support is available 24/7 to help answer any questions our customers may have.
  
  We hope this information was helpful and if theres anything else we can help with or provide, just let us know.
  Sincerely,
  HF

  Business response

  02/29/2024

  Hello,
  
  We are following up on the complaint from our customer *********************** who mentioned reaching out to support in regards to a chargeback.
  
  We have reached out to our customer to inform them of the resolution for this case. We were able to review and unlock the account and provide the next steps for the customer.  We look forward to hearing back from the customer and as always, support is available 24/7 to help answer any questions our customers may have.
  
  We hope this information was helpful and if theres anything else we can help with or provide, just let us know.
  Sincerely,
  HF

  Business response

  02/29/2024

  Hello,
  
  We are following up on the complaint from our customer *********************** who mentioned reaching out to support in regards to a chargeback.
  
  We have reached out to our customer to inform them of the resolution for this case. We were able to review and unlock the account and provide the next steps for the customer.  We look forward to hearing back from the customer and as always, support is available 24/7 to help answer any questions our customers may have.
  
  We hope this information was helpful and if theres anything else we can help with or provide, just let us know.
  Sincerely,
  HF

*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. ↩