Complaints

• Initial Complaint

  23/11/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Billing Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I have been running a small arts school in my spare time for the past 9 years, and the past 8 or so of them, having been using Wellness Living as a scheduling platform. They originally marketed to my to my school, as they did to many peer organizations, as an alternative to the main competitor, which I had been using. I was promised that my rate would never exceed $99 per month for the service should I sign on. I was an early adopter, and I guess they just wanted to bring in enough new clients to get the word out. (I had actually been paying the same amount or perhaps a little less with the competitor.) A couple of weeks ago, I received an email stating that my rate would now go up to $160 per month, a whopping 60% increase. I have repeatedly complained that this is unacceptable to me, that we are a small nonprofit who doesn't need marketing bells and whistles, and that I just want the promised price honored. Their explanation is that the "plan" I was on no longer exists, that the new pricing tiers replace the old. Of course this just means they changed the names of the plans. There is no good reason why I can't have the same services at the same price. I wasn't getting anywhere with emails, and spoke on the phone with customer service per his urging, who was clearly trained to defend against what is probably a barrage of complaints from customers like me. His best offer, which was clearly a practiced one, was a compromise of $129/month. I don't even agree that a 30% increase is fair. Perhaps it wasn't a good idea for Wellness Living to make those promises to the early customers, but that's not my problem.

  Business response

  30/11/2022

  We just want to start by saying thank you for being a WellnessLiving customer for these past 8 years. We started our company as an option for small businesses everywhere who were frustrated with a complete lack of viable alternatives on the market to the dominant provider in the industry, which was, and continues to offer a stagnant and unreliable feature set, very frequent price increases and a total lack of support for customers (us learning this firsthand!). We totally understand where you’re coming from after 8 years on the same rate and we apologize for any frustration.  
   
  Our focus as a company has always been to help our customers succeed and we’re doing absolutely everything in our power to see through to that. Since our inception, we’ve been consistently building new features that add value for your business by helping generate new revenue streams, improving ease-of-use and by increasing staff productivity with automations. We’ve also continued to make huge investments in improving system performance and stability by increasing our number of servers, even as over time the cost of everything has gone up, including the tools we use to communicate and administer databases.  
   
  After conducting extensive research into feature demand and software usage patterns, we found that many of our customers, depending on factors like industry and business size, are consistently using certain specific features while avoiding others entirely (similar to the scenario you described). In the fall of this year, we replaced our existing plans and pricing tiers with a new structure designed to bring our customers greater value, and as part of these changes the Professional Plan was retired. On October 24th we sent customers an email informing them of the changes, with customers who were on the (now retired) Professional Plan at $129/month being automatically upgraded to the Business Plan at $159/month on their next billing cycle. I see that your account had an additional, unique $30 discount grandfathered on your Professional Plan which would explain why you were paying $99/month up until now.  
   
  To reiterate, our goal is to help you succeed and our objective with these recent changes is to deliver better value with our software plans. Please know that the features under each plan have changed under the new structure, and we have plans available at or below your previous $99/month pricing with most or all the features you are currently using. A representative from our customer care team is reaching out to you to provide further information on the features included in each plan and to help you choose the right one for your business needs.  

• Initial Complaint

  27/10/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Billing Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  Wellness Living lied to me about a this: Their promotion in 2015 said this... "$299monthly - Special Offer $99 monthly Your rate will NEVER increase - No Setup Fees - No Data Migration Fees - No Training Fees - 20%-50% Savings in Merchant Processing Fees LIMITED TIME ONLY - $99/month (reg. $299) If you are switching over from MINDBODY, you will get the $299/month Professional Edition for only $99/month. That is a savings of over 66% and your rates will never increase! The Professional Edition is our most popular plan and gives you everything you need to manage and grow your business. *Signup before May 31, 2015 to take advantage of this promotion*" I talked to the cofounder a year ago (2021) about the ending of this same "grandfather program" I was promised @ $99 when I started with wellness living. We came to an agreement where I would pay $129/month, but part of that agreement was that I was promised me that I wouldn't have this same conversation about another rate increase in again in another year. Yet here I am with an email saying my rate will increase again to 156/month. This is not the "grandfather program" I signed up for. Additionally, since we initially talked another extra charge was added automatically to my account my monthly billing for a zoom service charge bringing my total to over 200/month. Whats the deal... Can Wellness living keep there word and also not add charges without my consent?

  Business response

  05/11/2022

  We apologize for any frustration, and we totally understand where you’re coming from. Our goal as a company has always been to help our customers succeed and we’re doing absolutely everything in our power to help see through to that. Since our inception, we’ve been consistently building new features that add value for your business by helping generate new revenue streams and by increasing staff productivity with automations. We’ve also continued to make huge investments in improving system performance and stability by increasing our number of servers, even as over time the cost of everything has gone up, including the tools we use to communicate and administer databases. Aided by extensive research into feature demand and software usage patterns, in the fall of this year we replaced our existing plans and pricing tiers with a new structure designed to bring our customers greater value, and as part of these changes the Professional Plan was retired. On October 24th we sent customers an email informing them of the changes, with customers who were on the (now retired) Professional Plan at $129/month being automatically upgraded to the Business Plan at $159/month on their next billing cycle. To reiterate, our goal is to help you succeed and our objective with these recent changes is to deliver better value with our software plans. The feature set in each plan has changed under the new structure, and we have several plans available at or below your previous $129/month pricing with most or all the features you had been using. A representative from our customer care team is reaching out to you to provide further information on the features included in each plan and to help you choose the right one for your business needs. Please also know that we do not add any paid add-on features to your account unless you opt in manually. Our representative will be happy to assist with this inquiry as well.  

• Initial Complaint

  03/10/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Customer Service Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  Original Transaction 9/24/2022 We use Wellness Living Systems as our point of sell software. This is the second time we have had issue with their software and our clients credit card charges. We were selling products at an out door festival this weekend when we experienced issues processing credit cards through the app. On Monday, 9/26 we realized that there was an issue with the charges over the weekend. We approached them about the problem. It is 4 days later and they still haven't offered a solution to the charges our customers insured. We are the middle man between our customers and the processor. Wellness Living is doing nothing to offer relief for the charges or accept that there is a problem. They continue to not call us back when they say they are going to and pass the blame to someone else that they will not let you talk to. Customer service is non existent.

  Business response

  14/10/2022

  This customer originally contacted WellnessLiving support on September 27th inquiring about several client credit card payments that had declined, concerned that there may have been an issue preventing them from processing certain credit card payments. After assessing the inquiry, the representative on our team informed the customer that additional investigation would be required by our payment processing department to determine why the payment declines occurred, and the customer agreed to a follow-up call once our team had an update.    
  As of the next day, September 28th, our team had not yet followed up and the customer made several additional calls to support (through the 29th) conveying the urgency behind the matter and their anxiousness for a resolution.    
  Unfortunately, due to an error made by support, the inquiry’s urgency level in our internal system was not increased following those discussions, and it wasn’t until September 30th that a follow-up call was made to the customer with a resolution.    
  Another, more senior representative called the customer to explain our findings, which was that the payment declines had occurred due to varying, legitimate reasons (such as incorrect card info being inputted, the card being flagged, etc) and that there was no issue with processing credit card transactions at the business.  
  The customer rightly complained about the delay in obtaining a resolution to this inquiry and our representative apologized, explaining the reason for the delay and that the fault certainly lay with us. They explained that the matter had now been rectified with our support team and they would not encounter this type of situation again moving forward.   
  On a related note, the customer declined our offer to provide a rebate or compensation for their difficulties, and they have elected to continue with their WellnessLiving software subscription. We view them as a valued customer, and we look forward to our continued business relationship.   

  Customer response

  18/10/2022

  
  Complaint: ********
  
  I am rejecting this response because:

  There was actually a problem between the software company and their processor. The charges went through and were not showing on the business side of the software. The customers were charged multiple times. Wellness living did not have a quick response regarding holding my customers money. They took no responsibility for their actions and were offering no relief for the customers money. We actually had to go around wellness living and use a portal through the processor to void the transactions. I could not see the charges on my side. There were charges that were declined because of standard issues but the ones in question were an issue with their software and the communication with their processor. 

  This is the second time in a year that I have had a problem with their business and the way they handle credit card charges and information. I am looking of the exit strategy for my company leaving their system. The issues that we are having are inexcusable and they have offered no resolve for these issues. I do not want to remain with a company that does not care about me as a small business or my customers. 

  Customer service is non existent. The delayed and non responses are in excusable when dealing with other peoples money. 

  I would like to come to an agreement on my company leaving their software and compensation for having to move my business and over charges for services that were not used. 

  
  Sincerely,
  
  ****** ******

  Business response

  18/11/2022

  We have confirmed that on Sept 27th - Sept 30th the customer experienced issues with their ability to process payments, in addition to issues with the assistance they received from our support team (specifically, the urgency level and timeliness of resolutions being provided). As mentioned, the fault certainly lies with us, for which we apologize and take full responsibility. We take this sort of issue very seriously, and remedial measures have been taken with members of our support team to ensure that we don't see a recurrence of that type of situation moving forward.
  It should be noted that various senior members of our support team later spoke with the customer several times from October through November (with regard to this inquiry, and others) and a refund was made to the customer in the value of $463 USD on 10/26. Unfortunately, the customer has informed us that there were other, additional payment-related issues in the past, as well as other poor interactions with our support team where they felt that their concerns were not taken seriously or adequately addressed. A manager on our teamspoke with the customer on 11/17, where they explained that due to the poor level of customer care from their perspective, they were still strongly considering moving to another software platform. Although frustrated with their experience, they established that there was still a chance they'd remain with our company if they felt convinced that in the near-term their concerns with customer care were addressed, and the situation fully made right. We informed them that the customer experience is always our highest priority, and with the help of the information they had provided us, we are currently conducting an extensive review of their account history in order to understand where things had gone wrong and our next steps to fix this.
  We also informed the customer that we expect to have an update for follow-up next week, that we remain committed to their success on our platform and that additional compensation is on the table, pending the results of our investigation. At WellnessLiving, we do everything we can to help our customers succeed, and if there's an issue, we do absolutely everything possible to get it fixed fast, and to make it right.

• Initial Complaint

  08/09/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Customer Service Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I was building my business platform on Wellness Living (WL) while working for another business that used the same platform. I made it clear via email and phone conversation that the business were not to be affiliated in any way. I lost my job at the other business when I was told by the studio owner that WL shared my profile information with her. I spoke with WL to understand why there was a breach in confidentiality and trust in July and it is now September and they are continuing to drag their feet on the issue while still charging me full price for using their service. The research they have completed to date determined that allegedly there was nothing shared on their end (this has not been confirmed by an independent researcher) but that the system behaved in a way such that the old business owner was able to see confidential information without creating an account. I told them that as a result of the harm created all I wanted was to be released from my contract with them. They offered a "few" months compensation initially, then told me that they would take away all my functionality but continue to charge me through the end of my contract. At this point, I no longer trust the business to maintain mine or my clients confidentiality. Additionally, through these conversations, I found out that the account manager failed to inform me of a month-to-month option which would have allowed me to leave the business with no issue (of note - this is also not advertised on their website any where obvious). So not only did their system have a fatal flaw that allowed for confidential information to be shared BUT they withheld critical information that did not allow for me to make the best decision for my business. At this point, they are treating this as a low priority because they can continue to make money all while the small business owner suffers.

  Business response

  23/09/2022

  Our customer care team first discussed this issue with ****** over the phone on August 7. *******s fear was that her confidential business information was being shared through WellnessLiving, because another business owner was able to see her business's online waiver and that she was operating another business on her own, through our software (information that she wanted to keep hidden). 
  
  We conducted a thorough investigation and determined that there was no breach and that no confidential information had been shared with other users. Although we aren't able to definitively establish the sequence of events that had occurred (as our system does not track incomplete user sign up attempts), we concluded that the other business owner likely accessed *******s (publicly available) online waiver by proceeding through a sign up link freely-accessible to prospective clients visiting her site.
  
  Customization of the business site and online waiver is a component of the extensive onboarding process our team conducts with every business owner using WellnessLiving, which is personalized to the individual business's needs and during which we make point of asking about any important requirements they have for using the software. 
  
  After a follow-up discussion on August 18th, ****** requested an early termination of her WellnessLiving account, having signed up on a 12-month commitment in May of this year in exchange for a 50% discount on her subscription. 
  
  The only fee billed during this time was a past due subscription fee dated August 6th (successfully billed on August 16th), so ****** was not charged for services rendered while we worked to address her inquiry. 
  
  It's regretful that it came to this despite the extensive time spent by our onboarding and support teams to set up *******s account, but we respect her decision as a business owner and we have now closed the account without fee and hopefully ****** can find the right platform for her business. We also ensured that her account with the merchant processing company has been closed without fee.  

• Initial Complaint

  27/04/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Product Issues

  Status:

  Resolved

  More info

  Called to sign up with this company for software related to my Pilates business in may of 2021. Once signed up I decided to cancel as the service offered did not fit the needs of my business. Since September of 2021 I have been trying cancel the service which I am not currently using and has never been used as a live software for my business. They have been unresponsive and continue to state that they need to look into my account further before they can cancel my contract. Meanwhile they have been charging me monthly for the service which I am not using as well as credit card processing fees which they are not processing as I am not using their service.

  Business response

  05/05/2022

  Consumer Response /* (2000, 7, 2022/05/04) */ This matter has been successfully resolved.

• Initial Complaint

  08/03/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Customer Service Issues

  Status:

  Resolved

  More info

  Why I wanted an investigation with Wellness Living: 1. The monies paid ( $478/month CAD) is supposed to cover off all needs and support 2. The support provided/ follow up calls is based on the individual agent's time availability- not the customer. Because they have outsourced this to Europe and other global points- the time changes are usually being available 4-7 pm- right when I teach. 3. I have had 50-70 people double charged for accounts in Nov 2021 after we switched our app over. I spent over 40 hours tidying this up- on my time and expense-and was fully charged for that month. 4. In January- I noticed that the members who asked to keep their memberships going to support me - I did not see those funds placed in my account. Wellness Living and ******* have been vague about this. It's almost $4000 I did not get. x that by 4 other lockdowns. 5. I have had an open ticket on price discrepancy open for over 3 months . 6. There are links not working on the website- people should be able to link to my non branded app-and it's not possible 7. 3 weeks ago- the majority of my members lost access to the app- and have had to multiple load/install/reinstall. This meant they called me for class bookings- another 20 hours. 8. I have a key metrics on my dashboard that is consistently not recording 3 memberships for revenue. ************************************** I've reported this 3 x to no avail. 9. I tried to leave last fall, and was coaxed back with the promise of better service, more personal service and a partial refund- for an app that was removed months before and I was not informed, but charged. 10. I will mention that the support staff are professional, kind, friendly and are truly trying to help- but the levels they need to go back and forth with to get answers is excruciating as a business owner. Being randomly called is not a fit to resolve issues. I'm a hard person to track down and waiting 3 weeks for a problem solve is not a fit. 11. I've been through 5 lockdowns, and with that not seen membership monies that customers kept going and did not put on hold. I reached out to WL and never received funds nor a satisfactory response. 12. There is a great deal of frustration here from a business owner, who has paid a company thousands of dollars over 2 years, who has had to take on a larger role in software ( which is not my expertise), had revenue not appear in my banking, and it's a relief to know I am transitioning away from WL to ***********. I am happy to provide screenshots of revenue in vs monies received/delegated from wl. It's probably better to just have vented my frustrations and to let this go. I've learned from this experience to ask better questions, to demand better service and to be more on top of my revenue/sales stream So that's a great lesson to learn (: **Update Apr 12/22** Anders and I spoke yesterday about having this amount adjusted because of the unavailable services of the app for 58% of my client base. Anders indicated yesterday he was following up with his team about adjusted payments and I would not be charged. I was charged this morning. $478.00 for : - a non functioning app for 3.5 weeks -a website that keeps charging members despite having current accounts I have reached out to ** to let them know this was not an accurate charge. I have also attached an invoice for my time dealing with the under delivery of this service from Wellness Living. Fitness and wellness is such a small industry and it's incredibly disappointing to have experienced subpar services despite being assured in Fall 2021 this would not happen again.

  Business response

  27/04/2022

  Business Response /* (1000, 15, 2022/04/12) */ We're really sorry you've had issues with WellnessLiving. We are passionate about helping businesses grow and succeed using our software, with an unrelenting focus on customer support. We understand the difficult situation the pandemic has put you in and as you know we have been doing everything we can to help accommodate all of your requests. Including reducing your monthly fees back in November of 2021. Our team members have spent countless hours on the phone training you at no additional cost. We've never ended a call no matter if it was 2 hours long without making sure your questions were fully answered. As you know, we are still totally committed to your success and we will continue to provide all the support you need to help you in your migration to another platform that works perfectly for your business. All that being said, we are all about you and are very happy that we were able to provide you with the refund and wish you much success on all your future endeavors. Consumer Response /* (3000, 23, 2022/04/13) */ Thank you for your assistance. Thank you also for your ongoing cc'ed support. The challenges are not resolved. A refund has not occurred. This is very much open and unresolved. The app remains inoperative for a majority of my members. I was recently charged for a bill that was incorrect. I am receiving random support. I did read their feedback. I did receive a 20% discount for 1 month for an inoperative website. I have had 4 phone calls lasting 1 hour based on ineffective data analysis. I also received 2 refunds from them for an app that was inoperative for 4 months in the *********** after 1 month of back/forth. I also do not see any specific information addressed in their response regarding the complaint other than recognising they've spent time on the phone with me. I am truly unsure what to write as a response online. Thank you, ****** Consumer Response /* (2000, 25, 2022/04/19) */ I have resolved things with WL. 1. I am still paying monies until the end of the month, but they are refunding part of the fees this month, which I have in writing. 2. They are keeping my software open until the end of the month for reports/just in case scenarios 3. They've agreed to cancel my contract- because someone else signed it without my approval I suspect this week with the transfer over-they'll be a few glitches- but that would be expected, regardless. I've decided to take this a good learn experience as a business owner as how to be more accountable, how to reach out if there are issues and it's my right to be treated fairly as a consumer. ***************************************************************** Regards, ******

*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. ↩