Hibu

this business tricked me into getting into a contract with services they don't even have I called looking to see if they can build me a website that's it they told me they can build me a website but it will cost monthly and they do advertising it all sounded good to me but the price didn't I told them I'm just starting out my business I cant afford to pay this much money a month they told me I will sell my products guaranteed because of they ads and things they told me if I don't like the website and isn't happy they will give me my money back guaranteed then they told me I only can have 10 products to sell on the website. so long story short I got my ads going and I'm fixing my website but as I'm fixing the website up their is a problem they don't even have the features a website should have at check out they didn't have options to choose sizes and colors so now all my customers are complaining to me and I'm not making any money off this expensive website and ads so I call them and tell them the problem and they say yes we don't have those features were expanding so we are working on getting all that we were originally just adverting we have expanded to making websites so I'm like wow at this point why didn't yall tell me this before I got into a contract with you guys they tell me sorry you can get a third party ecommerce for your shopping cart I looked into but its like a whole new website half the cost of their website prices and I'm just starting out so I cant afford to have to bills so I told them I don't want their services anymore they told me I have to stay in the contract for 6months even though I cant sell anything off the website because my customers cant choose sizes or colors so they said I have to continue services with them so I decided not to pay them so they cut off my ads and they are still billing me for services they are not letting me use and the a website that wont let my customers order from its not fair at all

I am very pleased with the results my business is getting since starting a PPC campaign and display ad campaign with Hibu. I have always been able to speak to my rep and she, Julie Barnes, is always responsive. I read some of the negative comments about how difficult it is/was for some to cancel with Hibu. I actually had told them to cancel my display ad campaign and got an email today saying it was done. I then met with Julie and she showed me the results I have been getting from that campaign so I reinstated that campaign. I couldn't be happier with Hibu and I am especially fond of Julie!

We have worked with Hibu for years. And, have kept the same Rep (Jonathon) during that time--he is wonderful. We think there is value in their product and service.

Recently, we updated our entire Website thru them and are extremely happy with the result.

Madeleine Ammeter from Hibu, Inc. was very helpful and got what we needed done as quickly as possible knowing I was in the middle of payroll!

We have been with Hibu for many years.They do all our advertising.
Madeleine Ammeter was so great to work with and help us get the most out of our ads and save alot of money.AAA+

I agreed to a six month contract with *** in February 2018. I was complacent about using their service, although it sounded interesting. The salesperson I dealt with seemed very knowledgeable about the ***'s service and digital marketing in general. Being a business consultant, I was impressed by his follow up and aggressiveness to make me a customer. I told him that if the site works as he said it would, I'd invest a lot more money in marketing.

The marketing started in April. By May, I was completely dissatisfied with the service. The salesperson exaggerated the functionality of the site, the capabilities of the support team, and the value of the SEO service. The site launched under the wrong brand name. When that was corrected, the video still utilized the wrong brand name. It took an extra month to make the correction on the video. The ads have duplicate words in it. I requested a change to the ad twice, but nothing happened. So, I basically gave up. I e-mailed customer service in May to cancel, and was advised of my six month commitment. I spoke with my support rep last week, and she also advised me of the commitment.

Today, I spoke with customer service rep and a supervisor. I explained in more detail about how the sales rep, who is no longer with the company, exaggerated the capabilities. He also told me that the company would cancel the contract if I wasn't satisfied.

The customer service supervisor could not do anything about the fact that I had been lied to in order to agree to the service. She was very patient and professional, but she cannot resolve this. My next step is to go to my credit card company. I've been paying for this service and don't even use it anymore, because of my disappointment.

There are better options than ***. I suggest you use them.

Jamie was extremely nice and helpful to make changes needed to our account.

My complaint is that I am being billed for services that I did not consent to or approve. My office Manager, ***, called HIBU and was told because we did not responds to their email, they published the ad anyway and were responsible for the bill. She talked to their representative " Liks".

I started getting emails from these people about an account that I have never initiated. I emailed them and explained to them that they have the wrong person. I've never requested their services and don't even know what they do. They are looking for someone who shares my name but we are not the same person and he does not have the email address ***. Despite explaining this to them they have apparently now retained a collection company which is harassing me.

Based on the information the harassing collection company provided I did a *** search and found that there is a *** that does construction in *** who is clearly the person they are looking for. The collection company continues to harass me and I will be getting a lawyer and suing both this company and the collection company for harassment.

I started to receive bills from this company after my contract was up for a phone book ad and an online presence manager. I thought it was odd, since I paid my agreed upon contracted amount already months prior to this bill coming out. So I called the company and spoke with a Stephanie M, and she placed a hold on my account with the option of renewal with my permission after they were able to prove to me that they were helping my business online. Well after 9 weeks or so they were finally able to produce a report for me that showed what their company does for mine, well the report was less then flattering for them, it showed that with the sites they manage, which is supposed to be 90 or so, I only got 2-3 clicks from them. So after spending quite a bit of money with them, and then having Hibu put me on a month to month basis which I never agreed to and they never did that to me in the past ( I have used them since 2009) I finally found that they essentially did nothing for my company besides take my money. I received a call from an employee (I did not get their name) and I thought I made it clear that I do not want their services anymore and thought this problem was over, but I started to receive bills from them again starting in May 2018. I sent this letter to them:
To Whom It May Concern,
This account # *** was canceled due to lack of proof from your company that my money was being used to benefit my company. And now you are trying to bill me again for a service that I do not want and have already canceled, I expect this bill that is enclosed to be voided and my account closed. If I get another bill from Hibu without my consent with a purchase by me for my company I will be contacting the Revdex.com and the FTC for your company fraudulently charging me.
I expect this concern to be addressed ASAP,
Have a nice day,

***
Member, *** So I was hoping this would resolve any issues with Hibu, but I guess I was not clear enough, today June 11, 2018 I received another bill from them and with late charges added on for the May bill not being paid. So here I am trying to get this company to stop their fraudulent charges against my company.

I have advertised in Yellow Book for years. Sept 2017 I renewed my Yellow Book listings. The agent on the phone last minute asked if I'd like a web listing, and I thought she said for an extra $30 total. I said ok. The contract came, I verbally ok'd it.

Someone called me & also contacted me via email for access to my web advertising in Oct, Nov & Dec. Each time, I stated I did not want to share that, & I wanted to cancel the web listing. I started getting monthly bills for the web listing. I returned them multiple times with a cancel notice written on them.

I got a phone call from someone at Hibu in Feb 2018 stating I needed to pay the account. She said I could not cancel till the account had been settled. I said I had been trying to cancel for 5 months. I said I would not pay for a web listing, and was paid in full for the Yellow Book. She was going to forward my information and problem to another department. I said I was going out of the country for 2 weeks, gave her the date I was leaving, and she said she would see that I was contacted before I left on vacation. I was contacted 2 or 3 days after leaving, and was unable to settle with the new department, as I did not have phone service in Europe. My 'debt' was turned over to a collection agency after multiple phone threats from Hibu legal department. That was the final straw for me.

I feel like this company has taken advantage of me. My past accounts with them have had problems that I have managed to get corrected. I have always paid a year in advance for a 3% discount, rather than get monthly bills to pay. Even though my representatives know that, I repeatedly have to ask for a yearly bill for the discount after they start sending me the monthly billing.

I didn't have problems with Yellow Book, until Hibu bought them out. I have seen other consumer complaints about Hibu. I am 66 years old. This type of improper business solicitation feels predatory upon me and others. I have also reported them to MI Atty Gen. Office.

Hibu is engaging in unfair business practices.

-In March 2017, my rep and her supervisor persuaded me to enter into a twelve month advertising campaign that includes search standard/paper clicks and social standard. I was promised that my firm's information would always be on the first page following an internet search and often would appear at the tope of the page. From the outset, I complained that my firm never showed after a search. Hibu insisted that it did. I later found that my monthly paper clicks budget of $399.00 was insufficient as attorneys must contribute at least $899.00 monthly. I have this in writing from one of Hibu's employees. I also found that regardless of my budget, my firm would not show because *** does not recognize businesses that use residence addresses. My rep and her supervisor were both fully aware that I work out of my home. As such, I went from spending $96.96 monthly to approx. $1000.00 monthly for a product that did not bring me any business whatsoever.
-My rep told me that I must sign up for social standard in conjunction with paper clicks to get the full benefit. This was not true either. I spent $249.00 monthly for that feature.
-I was double billed for my website video.
-I have been billed above and beyond my contract amount since March 2017, often as much as $275.00 monthly.
-Even after I cancelled a portion of my contract, Hibu continued to bill me.
-Hibu has admitted in writing that they double billed my *** during the contract period but they will only agree to give me an "advertising credit" wherein I must use them for the next three years. I must also forego all other issues mentioned above. I never gave them permission to charge my credit card. They are holding the monies owed to me hostage unless I settle according to their terms.

I have advertised with HIBU n the past and decided not to renew my contract with them. They contacted me by letter (attached) stating I needed to let them know by April 11th to renew or it would be done automatically. I cancelled and did receive a letter from HIBU stating they received my cancellation of my advertising program. (attached) Now they are telling me the "program" did not include internet advertising and are trying to bill me for 2 months of advertising. I have never been billed by them for this in the past. It was a bundled program. (bill attached) I feel they are trying to scam me now. They tell me they are sending the bill to collections if I do not pay it.

Our problem began in July of 2017. We were offered an upgrade to our website to make it more mobile friendly. The amount of service was to be $99 (regularly $399) with 10 days to approve of the changes. If I did not approve the changes, the $99 would be refunded to my account. The changes were not to my liking, so I requested a refund, which was approved. It took 9 months and several phone calls and emails before the $99 was deposited back in to our checking account. The following month after the refund, we were charged double the amount of our regular monthly charges, those funds being directly withdrawn from our checking account. I called Hibu to make them aware. I was told that they had inadvertently submitted that we have two websites and the problem would be fixed. After 3 months of doubled charges, I was informed that the problem had finally been resolved and that I would receive a credit of $284.52. However, since we have "live products" with Hibu, our credit would be applied to our regular monthly charge in place of receiving a bill for 2.5 months. I requested to instead receive the full refund deposited back into our checking account from which Hibu withdrew the money. At first, I was told that was not possible. After I pointed out that Hibu had refunded the original $99 back into our checking account, the representative I was communicating with (Dave D) told me that he would have the money deposited back in to our account. Hibu has returned to charging us the regular monthly amount of $79.97 but the $284.52 has still not been refunded. I was told on May 9, 2018 that the refund should show up by the end of the week. In summary, it took 9 months to have $99 refunded to us and it is going on 4 months trying to have $281.52 refunded. I have spent literally hours of my work time trying to resolve this issue, which will never be compensated. This was their mistake, but it's costing me in money and time.

Hibu has my voice (yes) on a recording that I would like to request deleted now that my contract will be ending this July 2018. Since last year I have been trying to get Hibu to agree that my subscription will not be automatically renewed and could not get that re assurance. Hibu has given me nothing but a hard time regarding this matter. The advertising department never showed me the ads that were going out, they have my voice recording, I requested a letter advising me no more automatic renewals would be going out after this July 2018, and written in the letter this sentence was in there. ( Hibu cannot provide any guarantee that additional contracts will not be authorized in the future by the business or business employees at the location of . ***. ) As long as my voice recording ( yes) is in the Possession of Hibu I do not trust that my contract will not be automatically renewed. I also do not want Hibu calling my office anymore.
I would appreciate you looking into this matter.

Thank You

HIBU has taken care of my website for years and I could not be more satisfied with their services. I'm too busy during the work days to manage a website or worry about details. If there is a change to our business, I call my rep and usually within hours it is resolved. My rep keeps my website up to date with current technology.

Though the actual complaint is about inability to cancel the account. I will touch on their overall poor product quality and sales practices. They promise a great product however deliver a very basic product. This is why I reached out to cancel my account.
Since reaching out to cancel I have had no response from the company despite receiving an email stating they would be in contact within 48 hours. Needless to say that that time has lapsed without any contact.
Two things. Their product is very poor but their customer service is worse. They just don’t communicate with their customers.

In November of 2016 we were given a preview of our website, we sent several changes and after a month we were sent another preview and in the email it stated that it would be set live soon so that we could get our business online. After a year the website was never set live, we asked that we were reimbursed for the year that we paid for services and didn't receive a website, they sent us emails showing the "activity" but we never received any contact from our website. We tried sending ourselves a "lead" through the facebook ad they setup and never received those either. We have asked several times that they cancel over a period of 3 months, we have not received any contact from them and continue to be charged.

Do yourself a favor and do not advertise with this company. My sale manger lied to me about the savings last year and when trying to cancel my advertising with a written cancelation notice, he wont even acknowledge me. I served out my years contract and now i'm trying to cancel and can not get a response. Terrible customer service and products.
Gail Cloud
S

I started using Hibu on March 12th, 2018 and spoke with a representative named Kristin W. She offered a bunch of numbers of searches for what my business offered locally and in select regions nationally. She guaranteed that going with Hibu would not only increase my website traffic, but would get my phone ringing with new potential customers. On March 20th, I still had received no results, so I sent Kristin an email to find out if I had to do anything further. She responded that I needed to do nothing further and I should start seeing results within a week. On April 4th, I emailed her back that I still had no results and this time she inquired if I had received a postcard from ***. I assumed they had sent whatever that was to the wrong address since I use a PO Box. She stated that she would get a new one sent to the PO Box and I should receive it within 3 to 5 business days. It is now May 15th, 2018 and I have still not received any postcard that was supposed to be sent almost a month ago. I contacted both Kristin and Hibu customer service that I wanted to cancel the service since I was not getting any satisfaction and cannot see continuing to pay $170 a month for a service that is not providing any results as they promised nor can even send a simple postcard to the correct address. I was told by both Kristin and customer service that I was on a 12 month contract and they would not cancel it and I just had to keep paying for the full 12 months. I had previously raised this issue on the phone with Kristin before signing up and she told me that if I was not satisfied that I could cancel the contract. Now that we have reached that point, NOW they are telling me that I cannot cancel the contract and have to continue to pay for services that I am not receiving. That sounds like fraud to me. I just received a new bill in my email for $170 as well. I am not looking for a refund, but I am looking to get this contract cancelled and be billed no longer for a service that is not providing what they promised.