Animoto

Never received a notification of "auto-renewal." The cost was almost twice what I paid for the subscription last year. I canceled and asked for a refund; Animoto claims they do not refund. I filed a PAYPAL claim; an email from Animoto claimed they will refund if I close the PAYPAL claim. If I did that, I could not file again. Is it "proper" to do that? It seems like bad business, and with their lack of integrity regarding their subscriptions, it would be difficult to trust them.
Here is the text of the email: "Amanda (Animoto)
May 29,2023, 11:36 AM EDT
Hello,

Animoto does not promise a customer a refund and then refuse to honor the refund.

If you close the case, as soon as Animoto has confirmation from PayPal, we will issue a full refund.

I apologize that your trust in us has been so shattered, and I truly wish there were another way for this to be resolved other than going through the dispute process you have started. If you do decide to close the PayPal case, I will be happy to issue that refund. I will also keep an eye on our open cases to see if your case is closed.

Regards,
Amanda

Animoto's features are very limited, video previews are slow and low quality and frankly, it's expensive for being such a bad software. When we exported videos to instagram everything was blurred becausebthe video quality was so low.
Customer service is completely useless - they always say thank you for writing to them, but don't even try to solve the issue you contacted them for.
Don't buy it. There are way better alternatives out there!

Firstly, animoto is very limited in the things you can do with it.
Secondly, without any warning they renewed my service after a year, despite the fact that I turned the renewal toggle off right away after being charged and not using the service for so many months prior to it being renewed... they will only give me a partial refund.
If I turned it off right away, does it not warrant a full refund?!
This is outrageous, a horrible refund policy! I will never be using this service again and I will surely be telling my colleagues about this!

Epic fail from a company that doesn't value consumers. Animoto does not notify its consumers prior to the renewal dates. I subscribe to numerous services on line, and all demonstrate this ethical practice of ensuring the consumers choice.
Yes, these details are deep in the fine print, but that says a lot too. Inadequate customer service, lack of communication. Defiantly not a company or service I will ever recommend again.

Overpriced and the company sends political messages to their customers pushing their political views, completely inappropriate. We will take our business elsewhere.

I cancel the auto renewal subscription on the date of renewal, and Animoto refused to accept it stating that it was late. I even had my credit card company protest charge. Will never use again and would never recommend.

Terrible business to work with. I stopped using this service over 6 months ago and just received a yearly renewal charge on my credit card. I had no idea I was on there defaulted option of auto renewal. When contacting the company they will not correct the charge. This is a prime of example of poor business practices. There is no reason why they can't correct this charge. They can clearly see that I don't use the service. No way to contact them by phone as they don't take calls and refer you to contact them by email only. Just bad in every way!

The way they structure their subscription is such that you get no warning and they can take the money from your account or Paypal with no notice. You think you've cancelled; or assume that your subscritpion will expire; and then BANG; money taken. It's a scam and rather than build a good product and charge accordingly; they have an average product and lock you in. Disgusting company.

The service offered is fine, though the same can be found from many other providers. Their business practice, however, is nothing less than theft. I purchased a once month subscription for a single project. I did not renew. Animoto continued to charge my credit card for the next 15 months. When I contacted them, they refunded 3 months of charges, stating that "policy" prohibited them from doing more. Now they are unavailable via email and provide no other contact information. Buyer beware.

This company scammed our non - profit. They charged $16 the first month, with no notice, $23 the next and $42 for the last year. Since it was a company card, this was noticed only when i went in to re-download a video. Do not trust them.

I don't know why my first attempt in May of 2018 was never received. I cancelled, assuming it went through. It disgusts me that you can clearly see that since May of 2018, I never used the service again. I know that you could do something to resolve this issue but you choose not to. And no. I don't want you to reinstate services for 6 months at no additional charge. I cancelled initially because I was not satisfied with your product. Why would I want it back? I imagine you will only start charging me again, after your offer is over, and I will be back in the same boat as before. That would make no sense.
I am very sad and heartbroken. I will never ever again sign up for a program that automatically collects my money. This company doesn't have integrity.
I hope you are enjoying the $700 that you have taken from my account.

Legitimate software developers don't have refund schemes. They do. I bought the hype about how great the product allegedly is and jumped in, creating one video then realizing it's true worth. Within 24 hours I requested a refund and Ravenna ('billing advisor') informed me that they would keep $42 because "you created a video". Yes. Yes. Yes. There's cya in the refund policy - an immoral excuse for conducting business this way.

Don't ever trust this site with your card details, I've filed a paypal dispute for an incorrectly applied Annual subscription renewal.

NEVER ASKED FOR IT, Didn't let me turn it off before and now I've FILED A DISPUTE,
Such a waste of time.

Ever only created 1 video, there are better and cheaper products out there, especially ones that won't auto charge you a renewal sneakily.

The product is good but their service is terrible. I paid for my subscription over 10 days ago on their site. They deny receipt of payment, even though the payment went through and reflects clearly on my bank statement as payment made on Animoto.

They no longer respond to my emails and seems like I have lost my money.
In South Africa, we call this theft! After numerous emails to try and resolve this, they have shut down and I am getting no response. I had bought from them previously and know how its meant to work.

Scam- Will charge your account and not reimburse you even if you dont use it. DONT GIVE THEM YOUR INFORMATION!

Some way this company got my charge card and charged me $30 for a service I've never heard of. Calling their number on my bank statement lead me to a recorded message and reference to their webpage. Going to their webpage there is NO WAY to contact them and dispute the charge. Furthermore their website says there are no refunds. Go to your card company and dispute the charge. Contact the better business bureau in the town the are in and report them.

Paid for a 1 month subscription to create a memorial video for my best friend who lost his young daughter July of 2017. Found out I've been charged by the company every month since then to the cost of $200. Contacted the company and was encouraged by their initial response. Since then they have stated they can't find a paid account in my name. I went back and tried to log in only to find my account gone. I sent screenshots of the charges on my credit card and browser history of my last login to their site and have not heard anything. I wish I would have read the other reviews and have learned to review my credit card statement more closely. Please warn others to stay away from this site. I will be spreading the word at my conferences. Too bad, the product is decent enough for them not to conduct business in this way.

My account was renewed prior to the renewal date and they say you have to change it days before it renews. Customer service won't respond for 2-5 days? My account is now overdrawn. Reading all the reviews here... Maybe not a good company to do business with. We'll keep everyone apprised as to how this is resolved.

I've been charged for 15 months not using it a single time! And when you want to turn off your auto-renewal, surprise: there's an error!

Similar to others reviews, their pricing practices is slightly dishonest and deceptive at best. Absolutely do not sign up for even one month with this company. Customer service practices are appalling, they must not plan to have return customers. I don't leave many reviews, but this was such a horrible experience its warranter.

The Billing tab does not appear on my account, so there is no way to check this or turn it off. I may have to cancel the card. Thanks Animoto! Pending email through their customer service/help forms. I do not recommend this product!

I signed up for a month free trial with animoto. I cancelled before the month was up. I was never notified that my account automatically renewed, and I just discovered fees on my credit card dating back three years! Customer service is horrible, they are only going to refund three months of the fees. I was completely unaware that I was being charged these fees, I didn't receive an email from them the entire time! Customer service is horrible, you cannot speak to anyone by phone, they only accept emails. And they take days to respond. Just stay away, no video is worth dealing with them.

I WAS EXTREMELY UNHAPPY WITH THIS COMPANY. I WAS UNABLE TO SUCCESSFULLY CREATE ONE VIDEO AFTER SEVERAL ATTEMPTS BECAUSE THE SOFTWARE KEPT DELETING OR REORGANIZING MY ADDED PICTURES.

Also, very unhappy with the billing because they stated a monthly fee, but I was charged an annual fee instead. I was given a partial refund after complaining.