ComplaintsforStripe, Inc.

• Initial Complaint

  07/08/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Product Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I am writing on behalf of **************** to lodge a formal complaint against Stripe regarding the handling of our business account. We registered with Stripe in June 2023 to process payments for our customers, who primarily purchase our high-value luxury items both locally and online. Due to the nature of our products, we only permit well-known customers to use credit cards for their purchases.This week, we were expecting to withdraw over $40,000, only to be notified that our account had been suspended. Stripe has demanded additional documents before allowing us to withdraw our funds, citing our account as "high-risk" without providing any further explanation.As a luxury goods retailer, we acknowledge the importance of risk management. However, such requirements should have been communicated at the time of our account registration. Instead, we find ourselves in a situation where, after delivering $40,000 worth of products to our customers, ******************** is withholding the funds and threatening to return the money to the buyers. This decision has put us at a significant financial disadvantage, as we have lost both the money and the goods without any clear rationale from Stripe.The lack of detailed communication and justification for these actions is unacceptable. While we respect a private company's right to establish its standards, Stripe's actions have caused irreparable damage to our business by interfering with the transaction process and refunding buyers without proper cause.We request the BBB's assistance in resolving this matter by urging Stripe to release our funds promptly and provide a comprehensive explanation for the suspension of our account.Thank you for your attention to this urgent matter.

  

  Business response

  07/09/2024

  Stripe confirms that it has received the complaint filed on July 9, 2024, reference number ********. Were sorry to hear about the Complainants experience and are currently investigating their complaint. In order to protect the Complainants information, Stripe will issue its response to the Complainant directly via email.

  Customer response

  07/09/2024

   
  Complaint: 21959945
  
  we did not receive any useful response from Stripe. 

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

  

  Business response

  07/10/2024

  Stripe is unable to provide additional details here and requests that the Complainant email it at *********************************** if they have further questions or concerns.
  

  Customer response

  07/11/2024

   
  Complaint: 21959945
  
  I am rejecting this response because:

  I have not received any response from stripe at all. The funds in my account have been held by stripe until November, and we are unable to process refunds for our customers. Their actions are completely illegal.
  
  Sincerely,
  
  ******************

  

  Business response

  07/12/2024

  Stripe has emailed the Complainant on July 11, 2024. Stripe is unable to provide additional details here and requests that the Complainant email it at *********************************** if they have further questions or concerns.

• Initial Complaint

  07/08/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  Stripe is holding my funds for no reason. They have over $7000 of my money and have no reason to. None of my clients have filed a dispute so my business is good. There are so many cases like this and they never respond to my emails

  

  Business response

  07/09/2024

  Stripe confirms that it has received the complaint filed on July 8, 2024, reference number ********. Were sorry to hear about the Complainants experience and are currently investigating their complaint. In order to protect the Complainants information, Stripe will issue its response to the Complainant directly via email.

• Initial Complaint

  07/07/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Product Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  Our company made one (1) payment on Stripe's platform and received a notice stating that there were many unauthorized payments and that they intend to discontinue our account. We wrote ******************** and told them this was not the case. However, while they corrected the record reflecting one payment and the amount of payout expected they never corresponded with us about it being an error. So thereafter we requested written confirmation of our account status. However, to this day they remain silent on the matter. Instead, they since changed our Dashboard reflecting intent to refund our customer, though he never requested a refund and has yet to receive the funds promised. Due to the issue at hand being no fault of our own, we hereby request that Stripe's $9.00 processing fee be paid to our company for frustration of process (inconvenience) and that the entire $285.00 be refunded to our customer.We value our customers and prefer doing business with companies that share the same sentiments. Stripe is very hard to contact. So they do not value customer interaction. We tried calling them on numerous occasions to resolve the matter, but the only point of contact was voicemail and chat. This is not acceptable in the wake of threatening to close an account. Instead, this matter should be escalated to a conversation with Stripe staff.

  

  Business response

  07/09/2024

  Unfortunately, we are not able to locate any accounts registered to the Complainant as Company Representative. Stripe requests that they resubmit their complaint via stripe.com/complaints using the information found on their Stripe account. Please note that privacy is very important to Stripe and therefore we will never release information to parties not authorized on the Stripe account.

• Initial Complaint

  07/06/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  Elements Massage-******** is a small business where "Stripe" is the vendor used by "Hownd" that handles online gift card purchases. The account has been in place since 2020 and Stripe recently did some type of software update which led to account being "frozen"wherein funds owed to us won't be released nor can clients purchase gift cards, leading to further revenue lost. For the last 4 weeks we have had a multitude of emails and phone calls, wherein we do what we are advised to do, only to continue to have issues. Each person via or phone gives different information and often conflicting what the other said. For example one person says change the business name from PD Enterprises to Elements M and the next person says that is wrong, it should be PD Enterprises. We are told the reason for funds not being released are due to a period in the business, the business being in lower case when it shold be in upper case, lack of correct documents whichh have been uploaded repeatedly and even verbally told that ********* on the account is okay, only to get an email 30 minutes contradicting that and stating there is an issue with the account. We continue to be run around in circles despite following what is being asked. In essence, their shady business practices are holding our approximately $46 ****** hostage and those funds are needed. We are unable, through the phone support, to engage higher level personelle in the company, Their business practices are highly suspect. I am attaching 2 of many emails asking for the same information we send and this information is reviewed and verified as being correct while on the phone with the representative.

  

  Business response

  07/09/2024

  Unfortunately, we are not able to locate any accounts registered to the Complainant as Company Representative. Stripe requests that they resubmit their complaint via stripe.com/complaints using the information found on their Stripe account. Please note that privacy is very important to Stripe and therefore we will never release information to parties not authorized on the Stripe account.

• Initial Complaint

  07/05/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  The business advertises themselves as a payment processor yet they try to steal and hold your money acting like a bank.They close accounts that have customer funds in them and will not release or give the funds back. They steal money, they are fraudulent scammers that act as good people.You cannot call them on the phone, you cannot do anything. They hide, they cheat, they steal.They simply steal money. They need to give my money back. They already stole $3k from me and now are t try not to steal this other almost $2k.1940$ theyre trying to steal and not provide me

  

  Business response

  07/09/2024

  Stripe confirms that it has received the complaint filed on July 5, 2024, reference number ********. Were sorry to hear about the Complainants experience and are currently investigating their complaint. In order to protect the Complainants information, Stripe will issue its response to the Complainant directly via email.

  Customer response

  07/09/2024

   
  Complaint: 21945800
  
  I am rejecting this response because: they do not have the right to steal money just because they SAY they put it in the fine print of their terms. Reading the links they sent here there is no mention of taking mine and my clients money.

  
  MY MONEY IS STILL IN THE ACCOUNT AND THEY WILL NOT GIVE IT TO ME. THIS SCREENSHOT S TODAY, JULY 9 2024. THEY KEEP CITNG THIS EXACT PART OF THEIR STRIPE PAYMENTS CODE, '5.6' SEE THE SCREENSHOT. THIS DOES NOT SAY THEY CAN TAKE MY MONNEY. THIS DOES NOT SAY THEY **** KEEP MY FUNDS. THIS DOES NOT SAY THEY ARE A BANK OR REGULATORY AGENCY THAT CAN CONFISCATE FUNDS. IT SIMPLY SAYS THEY CAN DECIDE NOT TO DO BUSINESS WITH ME. WHICH IS FINE, BUT I WANT MY MONEY. (see all screenshots)

  
  They keep saying they have done a review.. there has been no review because there s genuinely nothing to look at.. I took a payment from a client for ALREADY COMPLETED and contracted consulting work; Stripe allows consulting payments as one of their terms, so I chose to use them for this. After the client sent $4.5k stripe tried to steal it all.
  
  I was able to get my client refunded $2.5k of it. Now there is still $2k and stripe will not give the funds or return the funds because they want to steal them. 

  
  Just because they say they have reviewed my case and decided they want to take my money does not mean it s legal or right for them to do it.

  
  We showed Stripe the contract. My client even wrote a hand written note saying he meant to pay us this money 100%, he wrote a hand written letter with his ID and the Card he charged and took a selfie holding all of it etc and stripe stll tried to take and keep the funds.

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

  

  Business response

  07/10/2024

  Stripe is unable to provide additional details here and requests that the Complainant email it at *********************************** if they have further questions or concerns.
  

  Customer response

  07/10/2024

   
  Complaint: 21945800
  
  I am rejecting this response because: theyre not saying anything. 
  

  have this business call me to resolve this issue . 
  

  I have already filed a lawsuit against these criminals 
  
  Sincerely,
  
  *************************

• Initial Complaint

  07/04/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Billing Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I just started a consulting LLC, starting with my prior company. Given my familiarity I used Stripe to invoice the parent org, since I've had a valid merchant account for a decade now.The parent org paid three invoices for a total of $9000 USD on June 20th. Apparently the payments failed; Stripe did not notify me of this. Also, the payments did not fail; the parent org sent me receipts. I had to dig around their dashboard to fix my personal / business details; they had a bug that overwrote what I had entered. Then several days later the payments failed on because I had to provide more information; again, no notification and digging on my part.Everything is setup now, but they refuse to disburse my payments. If they took my parent org's money, based upon the receipts, and refuse to payout... well, I'm just a little guy, but the parent org in question is a 50 billion CAD company.This seems to be in line with the experience of many others, hence the 1.05 rating.

  

  Business response

  07/09/2024

  Stripe confirms that it has received the complaint filed on July 4, 2024, reference number ********. Were sorry to hear about the Complainants experience and are currently investigating their complaint. In order to protect the Complainants information, Stripe will issue its response to the Complainant directly via email.

  Customer response

  07/10/2024

   
  Complaint: 21942925
  
  I am rejecting this response because:

  No good faith effort has been made my Stripe. Their support desk has sat on this for 20 days, and now they are saying 15 more after waiting 5 days to respond to this.

  Unacceptable. I am also taking stronger measures alongside this.

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

  

  Business response

  07/10/2024

  Stripe is unable to provide additional details here and requests that the Complainant email it at *********************************** if they have further questions or concerns.
  

  Customer response

  07/11/2024

   
  Complaint: 21942925
  
  I am rejecting this response because:
  

  Repeated intentional delay tactics and obfuscation on the part of Stripe

  
  

• Initial Complaint

  07/04/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I am writing to appeal the permanent closure of our Stripe account due to an "unacceptable level of risk." We believe this decision was made based on a misunderstanding, and we would like to provide additional context to clarify our situation.Recently, we received a random review request from Stripe, asking for our website and additional verifications. At the time of this request, our main website was temporarily down as we were in the process of rebuilding it. Consequently, I provided our .webflow.io domain, which is our staging domain where we were developing our new site.After submitting the requested information, including our staging domain, our Stripe account was permanently banned. In our appeal, we uploaded our Employer Identification Number and the last six months of bank records to demonstrate our legitimacy and compliance, but unfortunately, this appeal was denied.One of the concerns raised during the review process was related to the domain email verification. When I provided the .webflow.io domain, Stripe requested confirmation of an email address with the same domain. Since we were using our staging domain, we did not have an email address associated with it at that time.Since then, we have completed the necessary updates and reverted to our original domain. Our main website is now fully operational, and the email address associated with our domain has been reinstated, ensuring consistency and compliance with Stripe's requirements.We are a legitimate business committed to complying with all necessary regulations and maintaining the highest standards of customer service and satisfaction. The temporary situation with our website and staging domain was an unfortunate but essential part of our business growth and development process.We kindly request that you reconsider our case and reinstate our Stripe account. We are more than willing to provide any additional documentation or information needed to facilitate this process.

  

  Business response

  07/09/2024

  Stripe confirms that it has received the complaint filed on July 4, 2024, reference number ********. Were sorry to hear about the Complainants experience and are currently investigating their complaint. In order to protect the Complainants information, Stripe will issue its response to the Complainant directly via email.

  Customer response

  07/09/2024

   
  Complaint: ********
  
  I am rejecting this response because of a few reasons. Allow me to explain below. 
  
  This afternoon we received the following email from Stripe: 
  "Hello,
  
  Thank you for bringing your concerns to our attention. We appreciate the opportunity to investigate your complaint. Please find below Stripe's final response to your complaint submitted on July 4, 2024 via the Better Business Bureau.
  
  Summary
  Stripe has reviewed your account again in light of this complaint and determined that it is unable to reopen it.
  
  Details of our review
  During a routine review, Stripe determined that your account was too high risk to support. As such, it closed your account. The closure of your account is in accordance to Stripe's Services Agreement:
  
  **************************************
  
  Given the high risk of losses associated with the charges on your account, ******************** is unable to immediately release these funds. Instead, they'll be held in a reserve until December 18, 2024. After this date, the funds will be released to you.
  
  Stripe has reviewed your account again in light of this complaint and determined that it is not able to take further action here.
  
  We trust that the above clarifies this matter; however, if you have any further questions or concerns based on new information, please do not hesitate to contact us again. 
  
  Your Stripe Services Agreement (stripe.com/legal/ssa) contains information regarding Stripe's right to take certain actions in relation to your account. If you have any further questions about the actions that Stripe can take under your Stripe Services Agreement, you can contact us back. Prior versions of the Stripe Services Agreement may be relevant depending on when the issue complained of occurred.
  
  -*******
  Complaint Operations, Stripe"
  
  ----
  Hi there, 
  
  I am writing to formally reject Stripe's response regarding our complaint (Case Reference: ********). Their response was unsatisfactory and did not address the core issues we raised.
  
  We received an email from Stripe on July 7th, asking us to provide our domain and informing us that we are no longer fully banned. However, when we attempt to submit our domain, there is no field or option to do so. Additionally, any support tickets we open are automatically closed without review.
  
  Today, we received a separate email from Stripe stating, "given the high risk of losses associated with the charges on your account [...]". This assessment is baffling, as we have not had a single chargeback, have not violated any terms of service, and have had only 2 voluntary refunds in the last 4 years. Our high Lifetime Value (LTV) with customers indicates strong client relationships and satisfaction. Furthermore, our Stripe payments have consistently grown, and we have submitted the last 6 months of bank statements showing an increasing balance. We have no history of legal issues or challenges with any US payment processor.
  
  Furthermore, Stripe adjusting the future payout date by a further two months without any further explanation clearly shows the company is acting in bad faith. 
  
  Given these facts, it is illogical to classify us as "high risk." Stripe's response appears to be a boilerplate reply and does not reflect a thorough review of our account.
  For all the reasons outlined above, we are rejecting their claims. We are extremely dissatisfied with Stripe's response, and it defies logic. We request a thorough review of our case to rectify this situation.
  
  Thank you for your attention to this matter.
  
  Best regards,
  *****
  
  Sincerely,
  
  *********************

  

  Business response

  07/10/2024

  Stripe is unable to provide additional details here and requests that the Complainant email it at *********************************** if they have further questions or concerns.
  

  Customer response

  07/11/2024

   
  Complaint: 21942639
  
  Hi *******,
  
  Thank you for your response. However, I am rejecting this response. 

  I would like to bring to your attention an email we received from Stripe on July 7, 2024, which requested us to submit our domain for review. I have attached this email for your reference.
  
  Unfortunately, we have been unable to find a field or option within our account to submit this information. Additionally, any support tickets we open regarding this issue are automatically closed without review. 
  
  Therefore, I am sending the domain details directly to you for further investigation:
  
  Domain Details:
  - Domain: www.blankstudio.io
  
  Please look into this matter and let me know if any further information or documents are needed. We are eager to resolve this situation promptly and ensure compliance with all of Stripe's requirements.
  
  Thank you for your assistance.
  
  Sincerely,
  
  *********************

  

  Business response

  07/12/2024

  Stripe is unable to provide additional details here and requests that the Complainant email it at *********************************** if they have further questions or concerns.
  

  Customer response

  07/15/2024

   
  Complaint: 21942639
  
  Please note, we did not receive a response from Stripe after our last interaction. We've checked Spam as well. Please see our previous response below for context:
  
  Thank you for your response. However, I would like to bring to your attention an email we received from Stripe on July 7, 2024, which requested us to submit our domain for review. I have attached this email for your reference.
  
  Unfortunately, we have been unable to find a field or option within our account to submit this information. Additionally, any support tickets we open regarding this issue are automatically closed without review.
  
  Therefore, I am sending the domain details directly to you for further investigation:
  Domain Details:
  - Domain: www.blankstudio.io
  
  Please look into this matter and let me know if any further information or documents are needed. We are eager to resolve this situation promptly and ensure compliance with all of Stripe's requirements.
  
  Thank you for your assistance.
  Best regards,
  *****
  

  

  Business response

  07/16/2024

  Stripe has no additional information to share outside of its email issued to the Complainant on July 10, 2024.

  Customer response

  07/16/2024

   
  Complaint: 21942639
  
  I am rejecting this response because: we once again did not get a response from Stripe. We're getting ghosted at this point, with the last 2 submissions on Stripe's part claiming to submit a response, but we haven't received anything. Can BBB please step in, thanks. 
  
  Sincerely,
  
  *********************

• Initial Complaint

  07/03/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Billing Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  Stripe has frozen $2724.18 in legitimate funds that were raised from a crowd funding company "Fundly". Stripe is claiming that my account was associated with fraud by I have received no proof of that. These funds were raised for our office secretaries' holiday fund in December 2023 by our fellow employees.My account is associated with my email address ***************** Please assist me in getting the funds released. I have been trying to do this for 6 months, with no success. I filed a BBB complaint against Fundly, but it was left unresolved and they never replied (complaint ********).

  

  Business response

  07/09/2024

  Stripe confirms that it has received the complaint filed on July 3, 2024, reference number ********. Were sorry to hear about the Complainants experience and are currently investigating their complaint. In order to protect the Complainants information, Stripe will issue its response to the Complainant directly via email.

  Customer response

  07/09/2024

   
  Complaint: 21937733
  
  I am rejecting this response because:

  These funds raised were legitimate. I have not been advised of any wrong doing on my part. I can identify each of my coworkers that contributed to the fundraiser. The funds have been held for over 7 months, and if they are not released immediately, I will have no other options remaining than to file a lawsuit to recover Stripes THEFT of charitable donations.

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

  

  Business response

  07/10/2024

  Stripe is unable to provide additional details here and requests that the Complainant email it at *********************************** if they have further questions or concerns.
  

• Initial Complaint

  07/03/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Product Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  Stripe placed the funds in the account ************************* acct_1P1mL8KZJk099L6k (the Account) on hold, without a proper reason. $9,876.48 USD is currently locked in Stripe and they are not providing any feedback, they are refusing to release the money after issuing chargebacks without my authorization and without the card holders filing a chargeback which resulted in a loss for me.Stripe has closed my account for presenting a high level of risk, although there has been no chargebacks or any issues with customer satisfaction.The main issue right now is that they are holding my funds and not providing any updates, I am at significant loss and my business is very constricted and I need the funds released. Stripe is telling me that my balance will not be made available to me... I would like to pursue legal action against them but i feel helpless and cannot afford to since they have taken my money from me.

  

  Business response

  07/03/2024

  Stripe confirms that it has received the complaint filed on July 3, 2024, reference number ********. Were sorry to hear about the Complainants experience and are currently investigating their complaint. In order to protect the Complainants information, Stripe will issue its response to the Complainant directly via email.

  Customer response

  07/03/2024

   
  Complaint: 21936650
  
  I am rejecting this response because:
  
  Sincerely,
  
  *********************************

• Initial Complaint

  07/02/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Billing Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  Hello, my name is ***** and I am the owner of a women's clothing e-commerce brand. Over the past 4 months we have been seeing great success in our business and decided to use Stripe to process payments for our brand. We have processed a total of $100,000+ through Stripe with a 0.91% chargeback rate. Recently though, our account was flagged and disabled, and we currently have $32,000 on hold without explanation. As you can imagine this is a large issue for a small business like ours. We would love to continue working with Stripe but this payment hold has brought our business to a halt. Attached is a screenshot of our dashboard.

  

  Business response

  07/03/2024

  Stripe confirms that it has received the complaint filed on July 3, 2024, reference number ********. Were sorry to hear about the Complainants experience and are currently investigating their complaint. In order to protect the Complainants information, Stripe will issue its response to the Complainant directly via email.

*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. ↩