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:05/30/2023

  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.

  Paid for Pawboost service to spread the word about my cat *****. I have reviewed my cc account and they have been paid each month $89.99. However, I cannot update the picture of him without being charged another $89.99 and I dont see him as a featured pet or on the sites any longer. Not sure what Im paying for.

  Business Response

  Date: 06/03/2023

  Hello ******, thank you for taking the time to share your feedback with us! We have sent you an email to offer assistance with this. For further assistance, please reply to that email or reach out to us for help. 
  
  We want to let you know that you do not need to pay to have *****'s picture updated. Please reach out to us with a new photo of ***** and we will update the alert for you! 
  
  Keep in mind that its free to add a pet to PawBoost, which includes posting to the lost pets ******** page for your area, emailing local members of our Rescue Squad, creating a printable missing flyer, and adding the pet to our lost & found. The Rescue Squad is a group of rescue owners, shelter employees, veterinarians, and volunteers. You do have the option to turn the post into an advertisement that is forced into peoples ******** feeds for a fee if you choose to do so. Unfortunately, all advertisements have a cost associated with them, but this is optional.
  
  We can see that you have purchased the Maximum ******** Alert. When you purchase ******** Ads, we take the most recent ******** post for your pet and promote it with an ad campaign. Your pet's post will continue to be seen, liked, shared, and commented on as long as the ad campaign is running. The ad campaign targets people within 10 miles of your pet's last seen location. Keep in mind, this does not mean that everyone within 10 miles will see the post.
  
  PawBoost FAQ's about our free and premium lost and found pet services, including how to cancel active paid advertisement subscriptions, can be found at the following website ************************************************************************ under "What premium services does PawBoost offer?, and What free services does PawBoost offer?.
  
  Please reach out to us for assistance at ************************************ We are happy to help any way we can. Please let us know if there is anything else we can do to assist you with using PawBoost. - Sincerely, The PawBoost Support Team

• Initial Complaint

  Date:04/11/2023

  Type:Customer Service 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.

  PAWBOOST:I paid pawboost to spread the word about my missing cat. The second they confirmed payment, they sent me a text stating that there was a scam about people responding saying they found your lost pet but they needed a 6 digit code they would send you so that they would send you a picture of your pet. I got the text from someone random doing this exact thing. Luckily I was not duped. Then, this site uses your ******** contacts to spread the word about your lost pet. Now, my FB contacts are all getting contacted by grammatically challenged people from who knows where asking them to add them as friends, how they loved our walls, etc. I cannot find a number to get in touch with pawboost, but I did find an email account . I sent them a scathing email, I am still receiving random texts and emails (as are my friends) trying to get us, them to friend them. This is Dispicable. Lowest time in your life, wanting to believe someone had found your pet. And then, s******* with all your friends private ******** account (which I gave them access to without knowing it). Please help! *********************** ************

  Business Response

  Date: 05/25/2023

  Hi *****, thank you for sharing your feedback with us! We are immensely sorry to hear about this experience and to hear that you have received scam messages. We see where you were able to reach out to ** via email. We have replied to your email to offer further assistance with using PawBoost. 
  
  PawBoost is not a scam and we are not attempting to scam you. PawBoost is an online platform providing a place for people to share information about Lost and Found pets to help reunite them with their families. People that are searching for their lost pets or trying to reunite lost pets with their owners, are trying to spread the word to as many people as possible. Unfortunately, this may sometimes attract unscrupulous scammers looking to profit off their desperate situation. We're continuously battling these scams and are actively trying to notify our users via email about lost & found pet scams. Our email notification includes a link to our blog post that we keep up to date with active scams we are aware of; ******************************************** under "Recognize and Avoid the Lost Pet Scam". 
  
  We can confirm that we do not use your ******** contacts to spread the word, and your ******** contacts should not be getting messages by scammers. We do not have access to your ******** account, neither do we have access to your contact list. When you purchase ******** Ads, we take the most recent ******** post and promote it with an ad campaign. The ad campaign targets people within 10 miles of your pet's last seen location. We would love to hear more details on this so we can try to help and understand what happened and why your ******** contacts have received scam messages. 
  
  We would like to let you know that its free to add a pet to PawBoost, which includes posting to the lost pets ******** page for your area, emailing local members of our Rescue Squad, creating a printable missing flyer, and adding the pet to our lost & found. The Rescue Squad is a group of rescue owners, shelter employees, veterinarians, and volunteers. You do have the option to turn the post into an advertisement that is forced into peoples ******** feeds for a fee if you choose to do so. Unfortunately, all advertisements have a cost associated with them, but this is optional.
  
  PawBoost FAQ's about our free and premium lost and found pet services, including how to cancel active paid advertisement subscriptions, can be found at the following website www.pawboost.com/blog/ under "PawBoost FAQs".
  
  Please reach out to ** for assistance at ********************************** We are happy to help any way we can. Please let ** know if there is anything else we can do to assist you with using PawBoost. - Sincerely, The PawBoost Support Team

  Customer Answer

  Date: 05/25/2023

   
  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 understand Paw Boost is not a scam, it is a fabulous way for people to reunite with their pets.  I was in a total panic and over reacted when I reached out to you and to Paw Boost.  I apologize.  There are always bad people who figure out how to scam legitimate companies who are offering a much appreciated service.  
  

  thank you for offering this service Paw Boost!!!
  
  Sincerely,
  
  ***********************

• Initial Complaint

  Date:03/29/2023

  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 found a stray dog. Went to their website and entered in all my personal information. At NO time was there ANY mention of a fee until AFTER I had already entered all info. This is very poor business practice. They should be upfront about the fact that there is a fee before someone spends time and enters personal information in good faith. I would like BBB to tell them to be transparent that they are CHARGING FOR A SERVICE UP FRONT!

  Business Response

  Date: 04/09/2023

  Hi ****,
  
  Thank you for sharing your feedback with us! We see where you were able to reach out to us via email. We have responded to your email to offer further assistance with using PawBoost. We would like to let you know that its free to add a pet to PawBoost, which includes posting to the lost pets ******** page for your area, emailing local members of our Rescue Squad, creating a printable missing flyer, and adding the pet to our lost & found. The Rescue Squad is a group of rescue owners, shelter employees, veterinarians, and volunteers. You do have the option to turn the post into an advertisement that is forced into peoples ******** feeds for a fee if you choose to do so. Unfortunately, all advertisements have a cost associated with them, but this is optional.
  
  PawBoost is an ***** alert service for lost pets. We exist to help people with lost pets raise local awareness for their situation so that they have a better chance at reuniting with their family member. As part of this service, we need to collect contact information for purposes of putting out the alert. What information we collect, how it is collected, and how it is used is all outlined in plain English in our privacy policy, which can be viewed here: **********************************************************
  Protecting our users' personal information is extremely important to us, and we actively take steps to help protect the sensitive information submitted.  
  
  Please reach out to us directly for further assistance with using PawBoost or to request your information to be removed, we are happy to help any way we can. You may reach out to us using the following email address *******************************

  Customer Answer

  Date: 04/10/2023

   
  Complaint: 19866250
  
  I am rejecting this response because:
  

  When I was navigating the site;  there WAS NO FREE OPTION; either that; or it was obfuscated completely.  In order to progress, I had to enter in my credit card information.  Again; I would not have wasted my time, nor given out my personal information, if I knew I would be directed to a credit card information site.  If indeed, there is a free option; it needs to be spelled out up front, rather than going right to the credit card information page with no indication that a fee was involved beforehand.  I stand by my claim that it is a dishonest business practice.  
  Sincerely,
  
  *******************

• Initial Complaint

  Date:03/03/2023

  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 used paw boost alerts received a text message saying they found my cat the number wanted me to send a ****** verification code so they can send me a picture of my cat to prove that I was the owner within minutes after the text my cat showed up so I knew 100% scam youre trying to get into my ****** account

  Business Response

  Date: 03/15/2023

  Hi there, So sorry to hear that you received scam texts while using PawBoost. PawBoost is not a scam and we are not attempting to scam you. PawBoost is an online platform providing a place for people to share information about Lost and Found pets to help reunite them with their families. People that are searching for their lost pets, or trying to reunite lost pets with their owners, are trying to spread the word to as many people as possible. Unfortunately, this may sometimes attract unscrupulous scammers looking to profit off their desperate situation. We're continuously battling these scams and are actively trying to notify our users via email about lost & found pet scams. Our email notification includes a link to our blog post that we keep up to date with active scams we are aware of: ******************************************** under "Recognize and Avoid the Lost Pet Scam". Adding a phone number to PawBoost is optional, and we have implemented measures that make it more difficult for potential scammers to view phone numbers on PawBoost.

  Please reach out to us for assistance if needed using the following email - ********************************* We are happy to help any way we can. Please let us know if there is anything else we can do to assist you with using PawBoost. - Sincerely, The PawBoost Support Team

• Initial Complaint

  Date:12/19/2022

  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.

  Pawboost claims to be solely an entity wich exist to facilitate the reunion of an animal; such as a dog,cat,so on and so forth; with their human beings from with wich they have,unfortunately,been separated. However if the person who has taken possession of the displaced animal should choose to ignore the attempts of the animals loved one to contact them the loved one is left with no information on the whereabouts of the missing animal. As well as no actual contact information for the possessor of said animal. They will not release a phone number or name nor physical address of the poster/ possessor because of "legal reasons" wich essentially means they are afraid that someone will do something drastic when faced with a situation where the person who has taken possession of their animal friend, instead of helping them to return home to their family they chose to not help them they instead decide to keep the animal. Wich is not only incredibly selfish it is criminal... As well as if the information was released then that would sease to be an option because they would not be able to hide behind the platform that was to intended to help reunite them because if we knew their identity they wouldn't even try it so no one would be compelled to do anything unpleasant that has them worried about liability. In the first place. If you know who has the animal they can't just decide to hostage your pet because if you knew who it was you wouldn't let them. So you are actually creating the issue that you are trying to say you are concerned about by keeping the identity a secret

  Business Response

  Date: 12/22/2022

  Hi *******, we are sorry to hear that ******* is missing. Unfortunately we have not received an email from <************************ We have reached out to ************************ to offer further assistance. To try and help, we have also reached out to the finder of pet ID# ******* on your behalf and provided the message you sent them. We encouraged the finder to reach out to you directly with more information. We are happy to assist you with contacting the finder, however we cannot force them to respond. Additionally, we do not know where the pet is, nor where the finder is.
  Please keep in mind that PawBoost acts as an intermediary company providing a place where people can connect and share information online. We do not have any direct contact with the pets, nor users, unless they reach out to us for assistance with their account. We do not have any information in reference to the pet, except what is displayed.
  PawBoost is an amber alert service for lost pets. We exist to help people with lost pets raise local awareness for their situation so that they have a better chance at reuniting with their family member. As part of this service, we need to collect contact information for purposes of putting out the alert. What information we collect, how it is collected, and how it is used is all outlined in plain English in our privacy policy, which can be viewed here: ****************. Protecting our users' personal information is extremely important to us, and we actively take steps to help protect the sensitive information submitted. We do require a valid email address to sign up, however we do not provide this information publicly. PawBoost creates an encrypted email address to display to the public. A phone number is not required to post, but if it is provided in the 'Phone Number' field upon sign up, it is placed on the pet landing page and not directly on the public ******** post in attempt to provide further protection. It is optional for a person to add their contact information to an account. In order to protect the privacy of our users, we cannot give out personal information without going through the proper legal channels. If you believe that someone has the wrongful custody of your pet, that is a matter for local law enforcement. Please contact local police for advice and assistance. The rules around pet ownership depend on your local property rights laws and ordinances. They will be able to advise you on the best course of action to take. If we hear something from the finder in the meantime, we will reach out and let you know!
  Please don't hesitate to send an email to [email protected] for further inquiries. Thank you again for reaching out to us, PawBoost Support Team.