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:11/07/2023

  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.

  Unsubscribe is missing from your main screen.

  Business Response

  Date: 11/08/2023

  Hi there, 

  There is not an "unsubscribe" button, you will need to call our business and speak with a representative if you're looking to cancel services. 

• Initial Complaint

  Date:10/31/2023

  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.

  I canceled the service several months earlier and keep getting billed each month, *********** was horrible and they didn't do what they promised. Then 1 month ago I brought it to their attention again and once again I got billed after it. They are the worst company on the planet all they do is bill you credit card and not give you any realistic answers. I would never use them again. Then the customer service representative just wants to argue with you on the phone instead of doing the right thing

  Business Response

  Date: 10/31/2023

  Hi ****, 

  I am sorry to hear you did not enjoy your experience with Townsquare, and understand this can be frustrating. After looking through your account and call history - there was not a cancellation request made on your account. 

  I see our representatives tried to reach out to you over the last few months, leaving voicemails to discuss your website. 

  We are so sorry if you feel there was a lack of communication, however, we will not be able to provide a refund as Townsquare did everything they could to try to contact you about your website. 

  Your account is cancelled out and you will NOT be charged moving forward. 

  Customer Answer

  Date: 11/02/2023

   
  I am rejecting this response because:  I did speak to a representative and informed them they are not managing my account months earlier and asked them why am I getting charged for services you are not doing for me?  Thy informed me its an auto billing system.  That is not acceptable.  They bill you and come up with excuses for why they bill you  and tell you too bad.  Very poor service is why I left and the over billing is just the icing on the cake.  I would never use them or recommend anyone use them.  They will hurt your business.
  
  

  Business Response

  Date: 11/02/2023

  Hello ****, 

  If you can provide us with time stamps of your cancellation request - we would be glad to give you a refund. However, we cannot provide refunds if there is no cancellation request. As I mentioned, we reviewed your campaign and did not see a request to terminate services. 

  If you are able to provide me with an email, or dates you called - I would be more than happy to bring this to finance. 

   

• Initial Complaint

  Date:10/23/2023

  Type:Product Issues
  Status:

  ResolvedMore 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 regret getting in touch with this company to run my website S.E.O. I was paying $350 per month. the 3-4 month they ran my website I got 0 calls 0 traffic. I went from being the top 5 landscaper in my city, doing my own S.E.O. ( with 0 website experience) to top 20 landscaper after they took over my S.E.O. I told them to cancel my account 8/16/2023 and the customer service representative told me they will give me 1 free month so see if I want to change my mind and stay with them but we both 100% agreed that I would not be charged after that free month and that my account with them was canceled. Last month they charged me $250 and when I called them to discuss this, they are basically telling me they have me on audio agreeing that if 'I DO NOT CALL BACK AND TELL THEM THAT DONT CHARGE ME AFTER THE FREE MONTH, THEY WILL KEEP ON CHARGING ME' which is false me and the agent agreed that account was deleted and he was supposed to reach out to me on 09/16/2023 and see if I still want to continue with them, but obviously I never received a single call from them or even a voice-mail. When I asked to listen to the audio they started giving me the run around and this week I was supposed to have their manager get in touch with me to resolve the refund and same thing 0 calls, 0 texts, 0 emails, and 0 voice-mail from them. THEY DIDNT NOT DELIVER ON THEIR SERVICES AS AGREED, I LOST SO MUCH BUSINESS THE MONTHS THEY WERE RUNNING MY S.E.O. AND THEN THEY LIE ABOUT CONVERSATIONS, AND WILL GIVE YOU THE RUN AROUND SO THEY DONT HAVE TO GIVE YOU THE REFUND. DONT DO BUSINESS WITH TOWNSQUARE.

  Business Response

  Date: 10/23/2023

  Hi ********, 

  I hear you frustration and understand where you are coming from. As we discussed on our phone call earlier, I have sent you an email with the *** optimized content that was on your website. I have reached out to our tech department to ensure the domains are transferred back to your account. I have also reached out to our finance department to ensure you are refunded the $250 that you were not supposed to be charged. 

  I apologize this is how your experience went. I am glad we were able to discuss this matter on the phone and determine a solution moving forward. 

   

  Customer Answer

  Date: 10/26/2023

   
  Better Business Bureau:
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to my complaint, and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me.
  
  Thank you. 
  

• Initial Complaint

  Date:10/10/2023

  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.

  ******************************** has been working with this TERRIBLY, BAD, NOT GOOD company TOWNSQUARE for over 6 months. They did the bare minimum. All of their focus was on the front end to get our money locked in. The main reason for this complaint is we just found out from another marketing company that our website has been down for weeks. Furthermore, the communication was terrible. We spent $6,000 on the initial "campaign" which generated us NO business. Our company has generated less business since we started working with them. The content they posted on social media was never approved by us and had ZERO value.

  Business Response

  Date: 10/10/2023

  Hi *****, 

  We are so sorry to hear this feedback and understand any frustration you may be having. We would love to get these problems resolved as soon as possible, and also address any/ all concerns you may be having. I see a representative is working on the *** for your domain. Your website is up and running - this *** will just add necessary security onto the website and domain. Someone from our team will be calling to address the rest of your concern and determine the best course of action moving forward. 

• Initial Complaint

  Date:10/09/2023

  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.

  These people are crooks. If they build your website and host it which you pay for, guess what happens when you cancel? The website will have to be REBUILT! They use their own "themes" so what you will get is content that's easily available by highlighting the content on any website and copying. Buyer beware also they concentrate on key PHRASES not Key WORDS. There is a big difference. Meaning if someone enters in that exact phrase, sure you will come ** in an early ****** index however what are the chances that someone will enter that exact keyword phrase? Slim to none.

  Business Response

  Date: 10/10/2023

  We are so sorry to hear you have not enjoyed your experience with TSI and would love the opportunity to make things right. We think it *** be beneficial to clarify a few things regarding our services, to ensure we are on the same page moving forward. Our websites are built on a custom platform, meaning they can not be transferred away from said platform if a client cancels services. This is something written in an agreement signed initially, however, we try to make it as easy as possible if you choose to leave TSI. We save all written content that is SEO optimized, that way if you choose to add it to your next site - your SEO work is already done. We will also assist with any domain questions or issues that *** rise during your transition away from TSI. Regarding our SEO practices, we do you key terms, not key phrases. I think the confusion *** come from the location in which is added to the key term / key words. SEO takes time before you will start ranking page 1, but it does not mean someone has to type in an exact sentence in ****** for you to show up. A representative will be reaching out to go over these services a bit more in depth and hopefully come to a resolution moving forward!

• Initial Complaint

  Date:09/27/2023

  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.

  My company signed up with Townsquare to build a new website. They built the website and were extremely difficult to work with so I decided to cancel my service. Upon cancellation they continued to hold my website hostage. I am losing revenue because my website remains inaccessible. I would like a refund of all money spent on Townsquare.

  Business Response

  Date: 09/27/2023

  Hello ****, 

  We are sorry to hear you did not enjoy your experience with Townsquare - and we would love to help resolve this matter the best we can. The website Townsquare created for you was created on our own custom platform, which means when an account is cancelled - the website is removed. However, the domain is yours. As you can see, your domain is attached to your current website (*********************************). If there is specific content you would need from the site we created for you, we are more than happy to send you that file via email. Seeing that services were provided such as building you a custom SEO optimized website, we would not be able to refund you. We are more than happy to explain if you have further questions.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:09/25/2023

  Type:Product Issues
  Status:

  ResolvedMore 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'm compelled to address this matter publicly because Townsquare management has left me with no other choice, as my concerns have been neglected. The level of incompetence displayed within Townsquare is astonishing. They have awful communication and record keeping so I'm not surprised that BBB is full of responses about them "having no record" of correspondences. These lapses in communication led to significant errors in my campaign, such as misrepresenting my business in a way that could've had me expelled from organizations and neglected to update my ****** contact information (Web team didn't communicate to ****** team). Despite stating my expectations for resolution before next payment, they not only failed to address the issues but exacerbated them, while still processing my next payment. I attempted to take control of edits myself, only to find that some were being undone, presumably for SEO reasons. After explaining this and more to Manager *****, I asked for my last two payments to be refunded since the things I wanted fixed prior to next billing cycle were not fixed, and for the cycle afterwards my own edits were being undone. He said, he would have to get that approved, later returning with an offer of one month refund. I accepted, so to part amicably, however, the refund never materialized. I called back to discover they instead applied that amount to a balance they put on my account AFTER I called to cancel. I spoke to multiple people BEFORE I was promised the refund, who all agreed that charge should not have been there and it would be removed. That was supposed to be canceled AND I was to get a refund. I spoke to ***** again on 9/7, and he agreed that was the deal and he would try to have the refund expedited. The refund still hasn't arrived. After they promised my refund I took money out of my tax fund to cover a new website (I was expecting a replenishment). Taxes are now past due and I still don't have my money. Townsquare needs to make this right.

  Business Response

  Date: 09/25/2023

  Hi *****, 

  After reviewing your account it looks like there was a conversation checking on the status of your refund today. We are so sorry to hear this has been your experience, however we must follow a strict process when submitting refunds. We understand this is a frustrating matter - however, the refund should be hitting your account soon. We appreciate your patience during this matter and if you have further questions please give us a call. 

  Customer Answer

  Date: 09/26/2023

   
  Better Business Bureau:
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to my complaint, and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me.
  
  Thank you. 
  

• Initial Complaint

  Date:09/14/2023

  Type:Product Issues
  Status:

  UnresolvedMore 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 hired Townsquare Interactive in April 2021 to improve my SEO. I have been faithful and paid them $300 monthly since then. Several times, I expressed disappointment in their results and voiced my complaintsevery time, they had someone promise to immediately make things better.In June 2023 I sent them two keyword reports that were 24 months apart. In those reports, almost EVERY keyword had regressed by PAGES in the rankings. I have attached the email and the two keyword reports to this dispute. Once again, I was promised it would be addressed immediately. In August 2023 I met with an independent SEO expert who used a tool called SEMrush to confirm that Townsquare Interactive had done nothing in the last twelve months to improve my keyword rankings. I have attached the SEMrush data to this dispute. I was furious and called to cancel my services immediately. I also demanded a refund of the payments I had made over the last twelve months. I was directed to someone in the Account Resolutions team. This person promised to address the issue with his management and then get back to me ASAP. After a week of not hearing anything I called again. This time I spoke to someone named **** in the Account Resolutions team. **** also promised to speak with his management and get back to me. Will did the same thing as the first Account Resolutions rep. ** never contacted me again. I demand a REFUND of $3,600 to cover the last twelve months of payments. Townsquare Interactive clearly did not do the work I was paying them to do.

  Business Response

  Date: 09/14/2023

  Hello ****, 

  We are sorry to hear you are dissatisfied with the results of your campaign and take this matter very seriously. We are sorry if you felt communication was too lengthy when dealing with this issue, and I am more than happy to explain this process a bit more in depth. When dealing with any refund request, this goes through a variety of levels of approval, especially with a large amount as you request. I apologize if you expressed concern regarding your campaigns success and felt things did not improve to your satisfaction. I have looked at the most recent report on your account prior to your campaign cancellation. I have attached screenshots of the most recent report that includes the key terms we optimized within your website, and their current ranking (mainly all page 1). The screenshots added are not ALL of the terms we had for you, but I wanted to show you examples of the terms we had in 2 different locations. TSI has the number one goal of getting your business and website to the top page of ******* however, we are not a lead based company and cannot push leads to your business. We are so sorry if you feel these services were not accurately explained to you. Our monthly fee includes the search engine optimization, directory listings, retargeting ads, and reputation monitoring. These are services we would provide month over month, and would not be able to provide a refund when services were rendered. We would be more than happy to explain this situation more in depth, and talk to you over the phone and answer any questions you may have. If you would like more information, or the report emailed to you, please reach out! Again, we apologize for any miscommunication and hope this helped resolve some confusion. 

  Customer Answer

  Date: 09/14/2023

   
  I am rejecting this response because: Most of what the business told me did not make sense or apply to my complaint. I never asked or expected them to directly give me leads so I am not sure why that was even mentioned. They also never offered me a solution to my problem beyond "explaining things" to me. On multiple previous occasions, I have accepted their explanations and promises to do better. This time, I want my money refunded. I hired this company to improve my SEO and I provided copies of their own reports to prove they failed miserably. I also never hired them for the secondary services they say they have been performing every month. Those services were bundled in with me hiring them for SEO. Therefore, the secondary services are not justification for not refunding my money. Furthermore, why would I believe that they even performed the secondary services when they clearly have not performed the primary services they were hired for. I will not accept another phone call from their Account Resolutions team, but I would speak to someone with enough authority to resolve this with me directly. I don't want to escalate this even further than the BBB but I will if necessary.     
  

  Business Response

  Date: 09/15/2023

  I understand your frustration. As I mentioned in the previous response to your complaint - the reason you would not be given a refund is because there were services rendered to your account. As I previously attached to the response, our SEO services got your website on the top page of ****** for the services you provide. Townsquare stands by the promise of getting your business to the top of ****** - as you can see in the attached reports of the most recent SEO report prior to your cancellation, we had your business at the top of ****** in two locations. We are more than happy to discuss this offline and on the phone so you can better understand why a refund would not be given. Again, we are sorry for the frustrations you feel you have encountered. We are unable to provide a refund when Townsquare stood by their promise on promoting your business online and getting you to the top of ******. 

  Customer Answer

  Date: 09/22/2023

   
  This response will be clear and concise for anyone considering hiring your company for its SEO services.
  
  1) Since I filed my complaint with the BBB, no one from your organization has attempted to contact me about this. That should be disturbing to us all.  2) For the last twelve months until June 2023, when I complained, our rankings were terrible. Suddenly, now, you say they are very good. If you can get us to the top so quickly and easily, why haven't you done it every month that I paid you?   3) I realized that people reading this cannot access the files we attached as evidence. Therefore, I want to show everyone the data. They can read how you avoided addressing it in your response. The following is where we ranked on some critical keywords for a crucial location. The comparisons are for the EXACT keyword and location. You will see the keyword,location, and overall ranking in June 2023 and June 2021. THE JUNE 2021 OVERALL RANKINGS ARE IN PARENTHESES.     1. Debt Help ***** **  46 overall, (13 overall);     2. Debt Relief Program ***** **  20 overall, (5 overall)     3. Debt Relief ***** **  27 overall, (11 overall);     4. Debt Settlement ***** TX  49 overall, (9 overall);     5. Debt Solutions ********  20 overall,  (3 overall)
  
  4) After my June complaint, you suddenly stopped sending me monthly ranking reports.   5)You market yourself as an SEO company, which I hired you for. You are saying now that bonus services,which I never asked for, justify not refunding my money. I am open to negotiating this with you. However, I don't expect them to account for much of the $300 monthly charge.   6) Unless you agree to refund my money, this complaint will remain unresolved, and those reading it will know that you refused to take responsibility. If you refund my $3,600, I will mark this complaint as successfully resolved. The choice is yours. 
  
  

  Business Response

  Date: 09/22/2023

  Hello Again, 

  I think there still may be some confusion on your end with my responses - so I will try to clear this up a bit. We both attached documentation of your rankings at different points in your campaign. Online rankings can fluctuate DAILY. This means you could be on page 1 on Tuesday and be on page 2 on Wednesday. However, it does not mean that our team is not consistently working to fight for the number 1 spot for you. We ensured to you and your business that we would get you to the top of ****** and continue to fight for that spot - as we did. Townsquare stood by their goal and promise to your company. We understand you are frustrated, however, we are explaining the situation to you as best we can. When you first signed up with our company, you signed up for multiple services which were outlined in the service agreement you signed. This shows you were aware of the other services within your campaign. You paid a monthly fee, which allowed our company to continue working for your business and continue to fight for the top spot on ******. If rankings did not fluctuate, then you would not be required to pay a monthly fee for our work - you would be able to pay 1 time fee to be at the top of ******. Just as you get paid for your services that you provide, so does our company. The difference is, we have to continue to work on your campaign every month in order to continue to improve your rankings. The reason you would not be warranted a refund in this situation is due to the fact that our company provided a service month over month. As I mentioned previously, you can speak with a member of our account resolutions department and they would be more than happy to explain this situation. We are sorry if you feel this situation can not be resolved, however, we can not provide you a refund of $3,600 seeing our company worked on your campaign, and provided results. 

• Initial Complaint

  Date:08/30/2023

  Type:Product 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.

  contacted Townsquare interactive in April of this year, informed them our Business was closing did not need their services for advertising and wanted to cancel services. In August started getting over drafts from my account that's when I found out Townsquare was still deducting payment of ****** from my account tried to call them several times to resolve this matter and seek reimbursement, after two weeks they still have not reimbursed my account. Spoke with **** in finances today and his claim is that we never called to cancel their services which is untrue.

  Business Response

  Date: 08/31/2023

  Hello *******, 

  We are sorry to hear you are going through what must be a very frustrating situation, and we would love the help the best way possible. When looking through your account - we do not see a cancellation request or any mention of business closing and needing to close your account. We do not cancel any accounts unless there is an actual cancellation request made. I see in your complaint you mention you did request to cancel. If you have record (date, time, the name of who you spoke with, email correspondence), anything that can back your claim on requesting to cancel - we would be more than happy to get your refund processed! We have looked through our call logs and have not found any call requesting to cancel your account - but if you have something that can show this, please send it to ********************************************** Your account has been cancelled and you will NOT be charged moving forward. If you have further questions or concerns, you can reach out to the email listed above. 

• Initial Complaint

  Date:08/08/2023

  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.

  I paid this company to host my website They hosted for a year and then stole my website domain by hacking into my account at godaddy They have a pattern of predatory sales agents with zero oversight They generate searches in ** and my business is in ******* They did this to me twice and I know ten other companies that had the same experience They are a bad company, if I depended solely on web traffic my business would have failed They are just bad people

  Business Response

  Date: 08/16/2023

  Hello ******,

  The reason *********, ** shows on any website traffic is because that is our office location. That shows our team is working on your campaign diligently. When a cancellation of an account takes place, TSI does not steal any websites. The domain is always yours, and if you need assistance in transferring this back over to you, you can call our tech department. Our company does not hack into an individuals GoDaddy account, as mentioned, the domain is always yours regardless of the situation.