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:04/16/2023

  Type:Billing 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.

  Around June or July I ended up putting down 3,000 as a down payment for "services" provided by inventhelp. I chose the $12,000 option they had but they put me down for the $16,000 option without my consent or knowledge. Well, once I put in the down payment, 3 months to by with No update and no service whatsoever. It wasn't until i stopped paying that they actually tried getting in contact.
  Well, turns out they have a ton of lawsuits against them which I shouldve researched before hand.
  
  Im not expecting a refund, but I want this "debt" cleared from my credit report for the 2 reasons of
  1. Having a different pay rate chosen behind my back and without consent (the $16,000 instead of the $12,000 I chose)
  2. For the lack of services I was promised but never received

  Business Response

  Date: 04/18/2023

  We are in receipt of the above referenced complaint.
  
  In July 2022 this complainant contracted for the assistance
  in submitting his invention to industry in an attempt to obtain a good faith
  review. 
  
  This complainant’s claim that he received no services is
  simply untrue.  In fact, we prepared an Invention Summary, Press Release,
  and a New Product Submission Brochure which were sent to him for his review and
  input.  Shortly after sending these materials, the complainant sent us
  revisions, which were promptly revised and re-sent for his approval. 
  After approving his New Product Submission Brochure, we proceeded to submit his
  invention information to companies registered in our Data Bank with the hope of
  obtaining a good faith review of the idea.
  
  Furthermore, this complainant was fully aware of the cost of
  the services and signed a retail installment agreement agreeing to the monthly
  payments owed for the services.  We also provided him with copies of the
  contracts and retail installment agreement at the time they were signed.
  
  While we have provided services for this complainant, he
  stopped paying for the services and is currently over $2,000 in arrears on his
  account.  We encourage him to pay for the services he is receiving.
  
  Thank you for bringing this matter to our attention.
  
  Sincerely,
  Maura RREMOVED
  Compliance Manager
  InventHelp

• Initial Complaint

  Date:02/24/2023

  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 complaint as follows
  My last phone call with a manager he said this is not getting anywhere, and there is no need to continue this conversation it's ending. I requested all further communication to be in writing. They submitted to 75 companies the majority did not pertain to my idea. Some of them are out of business. Exposing the idea unnecessary. If the brochure requires my input recommendations why didn't the first one?. Now they indicate that they do not give input information to the brochure. They had all vital information from the beginning. The brochure repeats itself over and over with one aspect of the idea, with their first for brochure design. I revised the brochure to the best of my abilities leaving me in the dark whether or not this would be effective. An average person like myself this is not possible I will need to hire an outside firm to design and format the brochure ranging from $900 to $2,000. And most will not signed an NDA. To protect nearly $20,000 investment I would have to hire an outside firm and jeopardize my invention without an NDA.
  As seen on TV they guide you step by step process. They say that they have 9,000 companies that they can submit to. They did not Target my invention to the appropriate companies using an inadequate brochure. Leaving me with 50 submissions.
  The above complaint is supported by original documents, that have additional complaints within.

  Business Response

  Date: 02/27/2023

  This complainant contracted for our services last year for
  the assistance in submitting his invention to industry in an attempt to obtain
  a good faith review.  Our records indicate that the services are being
  provided in accordance with the contract.  Additionally, he contracted for
  our Patent Referral Services referring him to an independent patent attorney
  for the preparation and prosecution of a patent application.  It is our
  understanding, his patent application was filed with the United States Patent
  & Trademark Office and his invention is patent pending.
  
  To date, we prepared a New Product Submission Brochure
  announcing the availability of the complainant’s invention, which the
  complainant approved on April 22, 2022.  We submitted the complainant’s
  New Product Submission Brochure to companies in the InventHelp Data Bank that
  have agreed to review our clients’ inventions in confidence.  We followed
  up with certain of these companies in an attempt to obtain feedback on the
  invention.  We also prepared an Invention Summary and Press Release, which
  announces the availability of the idea, but does not disclose the working
  details.  The Invention Summary is sent to companies outside the
  InventHelp® Data Bank, and the Press Release is utilized for an online publicity
  distribution service, where it will be distributed to search engines,
  journalists, and bloggers.   A Virtual Invention Presentation (VIP)
  was prepared which contains 3-D renderings and computer-generated animation
  highlighting the main function or use of his invention.
  
  The complainant’s claim that he was not given an opportunity
  to make revisions to his brochure is simply untrue.  In fact, after
  initially approving his brochure in April 2022, we allowed him to make late
  revisions in December 2022, at no additional cost.  We sent him a draft of
  his revised brochure in December 2022, which he confirmed receiving via
  email.  As a courtesy, we also agreed to include his invention information
  in the Virtual Invention Browsing Experience (VIBE) at the Licensing Show in
  Las Vegas, Nevada being held June 13-15, 2023, at no additional charge.
  
  The complainant also questions the companies to which we
  submitted his invention.  We reached out to the complainant to obtain
  specific information regarding his vague claim so that we could investigate the
  specific company or companies further.  However, he would not provide us
  with any details.  Nevertheless, we reviewed the companies we selected and
  remain confident that they are appropriate selections based on the companies’
  areas of interest, product lines, and/or manufacturing
  capabilities. 
  
  If the complainant wishes to provide us with specific
  information regarding the companies he is questioning, we would be happy to
  respond in more detail. further.
  
  Thank you for bringing this complaint to our attention.
  
  Sincerely,
  Maura RREMOVED
  Compliance Manager
  InventHelp

  Customer Answer

  Date: 02/27/2023

  Better Business Bureau:
  
  
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID REMOVED, and have determined that this does not resolve my complaint.  For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below.
  
  
  
   
  
  Regards,
  
  
  REMOVED

• Initial Complaint

  Date:02/22/2023

  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 want to get out of the contract with Universal Payment Corporation as they are holding me responsible for paying for an invention promotion service scam. They gave me false hope of submitting my ideas to a data bank of businesses that were seeking new ideas, but failed to mention that a lot of the businesses they were going to be sending my ideas to were dissolved or had nothing to do with the industry my ideas were for. My ideas were also supposed to be featured in their trade shows, which never took place. I know it never took place because I had a representative there and did not see my product at InventHelp both when he went and checked, so Ron lied and sent me a letter from a company that had "interest" in my product. So once again they failed to honor the contract which is another breach. InventHelp lose in court for breach, fraud and scamming inventors, I want my money back and I'm not paying another penny for violations of the American Inventors Protection Act, 35 U.S.C. 297(b), and breach of contract against InventHelp. Your payment verification code is: 394286

  Business Response

  Date: 02/27/2023

  Nearly four years ago, this complainant contracted for a
  two-year service for the assistance in submitting her invention to industry in
  an attempt to obtain a good faith review.  Our records indicate that the
  service was provided in accordance with the contract.  Additionally, she
  also contracted for our Patent Application Referral Services where we referred
  her to an independent patent attorney for the preparation and prosecution of a
  patent application.  It is our understanding, a patent was granted for her
  invention as a result of this service.
  
  During the course of her services, we prepared a New Product
  Submission Brochure announcing the availability of the complainant’s
  invention.  We submitted the complainant’s New Product Submission Brochure
  to companies in the InventHelp Data Bank that have agreed to review our
  clients’ inventions in confidence.  We prepared an Invention Summary and
  Press Release, which announces the availability of the idea, but does not
  disclose the working details.  The Invention Summary is sent to companies
  outside the InventHelp® Data Bank, and the Press Release is utilized for an
  online publicity distribution service, where it was distributed to search
  engines, journalists, and bloggers.  A Virtual Invention Presentation (VIP)
  was prepared which contains 3-D renderings and computer-generated animation
  highlighting the main function or use of her invention and is created based on
  the invention brochure information, which the complainant approved.   The
  complainant’s invention information was made available in the Virtual Invention
  Browsing Experience (VIBE) in May 2022 at the Licensing Expo in Las Vegas,
  Nevada as well as in an edition of our Invention Catalog, which circulated to
  companies registered in the InventHelp Data Bank.   Finally, her invention
  information was made available in our Virtual Tradeshow, which is a secure,
  electronic showcase of our clients’ ideas and is made available at a tradeshow
  on an iPad or similar device.  Confirmation of these services was sent to
  her upon completion for her records.
  
  The complainant’s claim that her services, specifically VIBE
  at the Licensing Expo, were not provided is simply untrue.  In fact, we
  received four responses from companies as a result of VIBE, one of which
  requested additional information about her invention.  
  
  Additionally, our records indicate the complainant
  stopped paying for the services over two years ago and is in arrears over
  $9,000.  At this time, we encourage the complainant to make arrangements to
  pay for the services which she received.
  
  Thank you for bringing this matter to our attention.
  
  Sincerely,
  Maura RREMOVED
  Compliance Manager
  InventHelp

  Customer Answer

  Date: 02/27/2023

  Better Business Bureau:
  
  
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID REMOVED, and have determined that this does not resolve my complaint.  For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below.
  
  
  
   
  
  Regards,
  
  
  REMOVED