Complaints

• Initial Complaint

  01/27/2025

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Unanswered

  More info

  I recently faced a really upsetting situation with Change.org. They took down a petition I created against my neighbors, who have wrongfully accused me of harassment. I initiated this petition to hold them accountable for the distress theyve caused in my life, and it was gaining tractionalmost 100 signatures! But then, Change.org removed it, claiming I was stalking and harassing my neighbors, which was completely untrue. I can't help but feel like my status as a single woman played a role in how I was treated. It feels like the employees are around the same age as my neighbors, which makes me wonder if bias influenced their decision. Honestly, this isnt the first time Ive felt unfairly targeted; its a common theme in my life experiences.These married couple have manage. To convince change.org that I was harassing them. When its them who are harassing me. Change.org employees believed their side of the story. Which is the normal as soon my petition was getting attention.These neighbors will continue to paint me as the harasser. Because everyone lets this married woman have her way. Which she bragged to me that she always gets away with everything.

• Initial Complaint

  11/18/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Product Issues

  Status:

  Unanswered

  More info

  First, I really hate to file this BBB complaint because Change.org has been highly effective in my advocacy for critical campaigns. Without Change.org, none of the issues that I am fighting for would have ever seen the light of day. So, I am extremely appreciative of the Change.org platform. Having said all of that, Change.org is known for being extremely slow to respond on occasions and *** about paid promotions. No one knows how the paid promotions really work, but we do know that Change.org staff has the ability to choose campaigns that they wish to promote and suppress other campaigns by not effectively promoting them. We get it. I am actually running two campaigns, and one is highly successful and nearing ***** signatures. However, due to an urgent perilous situation involving Elder Abuse that could turn fatal, I have stopped all advocacy on the one campaign to focus on my newly-created petition. I paid $50 for ***** views. After three days and 81 views, I have 2 signatures. Unacceptable and I want my money back. At this rate, a $50 petition aimed at ***** view will net 30 signatures. Definitely not cost-effective. This is shady because I have paid $25 for ***** views on multiple occasions and netted at least 55 signatures each and every time, so I know there are some issues with the current paid promotion. Again, Change.org can do what it wants to do and can amplify or suppress paid promotions as it sees fit. I just want my $50 returned so that I can go back to my normal paid promotion strategy with Change.org. It's an effective platform, but when Change.org does not want to answer questions or refund your money, they won't respond at all. Disappointing but not surprising. Change.org is also having glitch issues with petition photos because mine has not been updated in 2 days. Again, no one has responded.

  Customer response

  11/21/2024

  Change.org has changed my petition cover photo back to the old photo. I had updated my photo, and it was working just fine when sharing the petition on social media platforms. However, the old photo still shows. Despite sending Change.org over 10 emails requesting help, I get no answer. I had respectfully requested to work with a customer support *** other than ******, and because I made that request, I think my requests for assistance are being deleted from the Change.org queue and Change.org is unexplainably still using the old photo. I would like these issues resolved so that I we can being effectively marketing our petition. We've paid $50 to promote it through Change.org, but we can't even effectively share it with others because someone at Change.org keep switching back to the old photos. Always had a great experience with the Change.org platform, but this feels like some sort of sabotage. I just want it cleared up. Stop using my old photo and please stop deleting my requests for assistance from your queue. Thanks.

• Initial Complaint

  08/20/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Product Issues

  Status:

  Unanswered

  More info

  My son started a online petition with Change.org, their web site is designed in such a way that it makes the donation section like part of the peition itself. Actually my son does not seek any donation at all. It tricks a lot of ppls donating money. It is not right, it is cheating and it is fraud.

• Initial Complaint

  08/16/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Unanswered

  More info

  EVERY SINGLE TIME I SIGN A CHANGE.ORG PETITION, I GET SPAMMED TO HOLY H*** WITH REPEAT MESSAGES. They're often links to other petitions for causes I've never heard of (and am not interested in getting information on), and solicitations for money.I think it's wonderful they have a platform for supporting causes, but repeatedly ignoring my requests to NOT receive emails (they finally made it where you can opt out of further communication when you sign), is discouraging me and others from participating in signing petitions on their site. This has been an ongoing issue for years, and I'm frankly sick of it. I have also filed a complaint with the ****

• Initial Complaint

  07/30/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  It has come to my attention that I have been receiving charges from Change.org in the guise of "contributions" in the amount of $20 on a monthly basis. I have no recollection of ever donating through this organization and most certainly not setting up a recurring contribution. I have seen countless other complaints about this organization. I would like a full refund and an explanation of how this came to be.

  Business response

  07/31/2024

  Hi,

  I have cancelled your membership, and have refunded you the charges from this year, which is beyond our usual 3 month refund policy. 

  You signed up for a membership with us back in 2022, likely after signing a petition and/or chipping in. 

  If you have further questions please don't hesitate to reach out at ***************

• Initial Complaint

  07/26/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Product Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I initially signed up for a one-time donation. I then noticed a charge the next month as which tiime I sent an email to change.org to cancel my membership. I then noticed a new charge the following month, and again the month after. I emailed again to cancel my membership but I continue to get charged each month. Today I disabled my acccount and also email change.org to obtain a refund and also to make sure then cancelled my membership.

  Business response

  07/29/2024

  Hi!
  
  Your membership has been cancelled, and I have refunded you the 3 payments you made - this should hit your account soon.

• Initial Complaint

  07/23/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Billing Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  Like other complaints listed here, change.org has been collecting monthly charges from my credit card without my knowledge. I do not remember enrolling in a monthly subscription, but what's worse, is there is no paper trail about any of these charges. I don't have any emails notifying me of enrollment in the program, no emails about monthly charges, nothing. I can't even figure out when/where this started, and I can't find the account that these charges are linked to. I've submitted an email through their help department, but I also want to post here as the whole thing feels really shady, tbh. I've never submitted a complaint with the BBB, because I'm normally not the type of person to post reviews / complaints / etc. online, but this feels really wrong. I think the company knows this as I am clearly not the first person to have this experience. Sad. Change.org markets itself as a part of the solution, but it seems like they prey on people who want to make a positive difference in the world. In actuality, they seem to be part of the problem themselves - profit-driven and fraudulent.

  Business response

  07/29/2024

  Hello,
  Im sorry to hear that you are unhappy with your experience on our site. 

  
  Unfortunately, from the information you provided in this BBB forum, I am unable to identify your account to investigate whether the recurring payment has been canceled by our Help Desk team. If it hasnt been resolved, please directly email our Help Desk team at **************** If you did not intend to become a member, you can request a refund in addition to the cancellation of any future payments.
  

  In the standard processing of a new monthly membership, the person agreeing to become a member should receive an emailed receipt indicating the amount of the payment. If you did not receive a receipt, please let our Help Desk team know that you didnt receive it. They can escalate the issue to our internal engineering department to identify whether there is a bug in the receipt system. 
  

  (Please email the Help Desk team from the email address you use to login to Change.org so they can investigate the appropriate account details.) 

  
  I am hopeful and confident that we can resolve this issue for you. 

  
  Sincerely,
  Change.org
  

  
  

• Initial Complaint

  07/21/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  First of all, I wish to commend Change.org for allowing people to bring their petitions to this platform. I have run two very successful petitions and am now running a third petition. Without the Change.org platform, none of the prior issues would have ever been addressed much less investigated. My problem has to do with timely customer service for the most recent issue. Yes, I am clear that promotions are a hit or miss and the Change.org team actually manually promotes favored petitions. I get it. However, I would like to supplement my advocacy efforts with strategic promotions to start on weekends only. For some odd reason, when I try to run a promotion, the petition preview does not include the photo. Since Friday, I have emailed Change.org five times about this. I have not received a response from ***** or *****. ***** normally responds promptly, so she may be out of the office. However, ***** sent me an email on Saturday offering to fix this and advised me to clear cache, check browsers, and so forth. All of that was done, and the problem is not on my end. So this is now my 6th request for answers. 1. Why is the photo missing from the promotion preview ad? 2. When will I be notified that it has been resolved? 3. Did Change.org run the prior promotions without a photo? All signatures for the past few days have come directly from my contacting organizations and individuals who have an interest in the cause and social media sharing. Some supporters are even Change.org members, but my previous petition promotions never reached this target audience. Supporters advised me that although Change.org promotions run on a preferential system, its still a good idea to occasionally run the promotions regardless of the outcome because you may connect with 2 or 3 people who have massive reach. Now that I clearly understand, I can wisely invest in promotions. As such, I would like some resolution so that I can schedule promotions to supplement advocacy.

  Business response

  07/22/2024

  Hi ******,

  The best way to resolve these questions is to email us directly at **************** as you have in the past. That allows us to dig in and do our best work to help you. Can you please email us there?

• Initial Complaint

  07/13/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Billing Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  Change.com has been fraudulently charging me monthly subscription money without my knowledge. I signed up to pay a ONE TIME $10 donation in July of 2023. Change.org charged my credit card TWICE in July (on 7/21/23 AND 7/23/23) and then once monthly Aug. 2023 through June of 2024 without my knowledge. I think this company is tricking people into monthly subscriptions without their knowledge.I tried contacting Change.org via an email form about three weeks ago and have not received ANY acknowledgment. I would like my subscription to be stopped immediately and get refunded on the money that I paid last few months

  Business response

  07/15/2024

  According to our records, we replied to your email on July 13th. Please have a look in your spam or junk folders! That is the best way to resolve your concern.

• Initial Complaint

  07/04/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Order Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  Change.Org has been manipulating signature totals for the Rethink Awarding ********************* Award To ***********************. CEO *********************** is friends with ***** and affiliated with his and other foundations associated with this award. Inserted flag warning 3 days ago warning potential signers to research first due to false information. This, after the petition took off to over ******+ signatures in just 7 days. It now reflects ******. Requests for specific info from company have resulted in run a round responses. They / ******** are suppressing signatures to benefit their own financial / personal gain. Hold them accountable

  Business response

  07/08/2024

  Hi there,

  It sounds like you have some concerns regarding fluctuating signatures. Signatures can be removed from a petition for a couple of reasons: 

  1) the signer never confirms their signature via email, or asks for it to be removed

  2) our team believes the signatures to be spam or otherwise false/inauthentic

  If you would like more information about your particular petition, please reach out to us at ***************

*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. ↩