ComplaintsforFRONTSTEPS

• Initial Complaint

  10/30/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Delivery Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  There is a software bug in some of the inclusive date calculations for the temporary visitor portion of the software. The software is supposed to allow for 15 days for the visit, but at times will not. I tried entering in a start date of 30 October, with an end date of 13 November. I received an error message that indicated the maximum time allowed is 15 days. I could find no way to let their IT department know that the date calculation utilized by their software was failing. It begs the question, what other software bugs are in their system.

  Business response

  11/08/2023

  Hello,

  We see that ****************** reached out via our demo request form and our team sent him to the DwellingLive support team. If he is still experiencing any issues, please reach out to us via our Technical Support: ****************** OR ************************************.  These are all listed on our website at  ***************************************

   

  Thank you.

• Initial Complaint

  04/05/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Billing Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I have auto pay set up with this company. When the monthly dues increased, they were unable to adjust it automatically, so they began charging the incorrect amount with no notification. I called last month to speak with someone, and they helped walk me through removing the incorrect autopay amount and adding the correct one. I checked my bank account yesterday and I see I am now being billed for BOTH the correct and incorrect amounts. I called today to speak with an agent to have it removed. I was advised by the agent that they are unable to access their own system to remove that incorrect auto pay amount. They instructed me to access their payment portal - which is not working. I tried to login both on my phone and a computer - both of which will not go past the login screen. The agent refused to assist with removing the incorrect auto pay, and stated she couldn't access it and refused to escalate it since the 'home owner' is not on the line. I am the home owner, my name is on the deed and mortgage, and they somehow have my wife's maiden name on their listing. She hasn't used that last name in over 6 years, and we refi'd two years ago so there's no reason that maiden name should be on there.

  Business response

  06/21/2023

  Dear Sir or Madam: 

  ******************* called FRONTSTEPS Resident Support on April 5th, 2023, at 11:40 am, requesting assistance with removing a scheduled payment. ************** claims that he called FRONTSTEPS the previous month to add a new scheduled payment with a new amount and to remove the old one. We do not have a record of any inbound calls from his phone number, *************, prior to his interaction with us on April 5th. We do have a record of ************** reaching out to us via our Support form on March 10th, 2023. In that interaction, ************** was emailed a link to the homeowner portal and instructions on how to delete a scheduled payment. 
  

  On the call on April 5th, the FRONTSTEPS representative confirmed **************** reason for calling and proceeded with our validation process. The validation process helps ensure we speak to the owner listed on the account they are calling in for. The support team validates the account using data housed in our FRONTSTEPS Caliber product. The data in the product is managed and updated by the homeowners property management company, in this case, HOAMCO. When attempting to validate **************, the FRONTSTEPS agent confirmed the caller was not listed on the account. However, ************** was able to verify his spouses information, which was listed, with the agent.  
  

  The agent proceeds to confirm they see two scheduled payments set up for the account. We informed ************** that we would not be able to modify his scheduled payments on his behalf since a) the account has online access for the homeowner to do so themselves and b) he was not listed on the account. This is a protective measure taken by FRONTSTEPS to mitigate security and liability risks. The agent informed ************** that he or his spouse can do so themselves within their homeowner portal and offered to guide him through this process on the call.  
  

  The agent attempted to work with ************** to get him logged into the homeowner portal HOAMCO uses through FRONTSTEPS. ************** did not know the credentials to gain online access to his account. This also conflicts with his previous statements on the call, where he mentioned that he had done this the month prior. The agent attempted to assist by suggesting a variety of troubleshooting steps (resetting password, different browser, accessing the portal directly versus through the HOAMCO site) however ************** claimed that he was unable to even access the homeowner portal (**********************************). HOAMCO utilizes this portal for thousands of homeowners and there were no reports of the portal being inaccessible.   
  

  After several troubleshooting attempts with the agent, ************** was unable to log onto the homeowner portal to remove the scheduled payment. Due to the previously mentioned restrictions on assisting the caller, the agent asked if there was a direct number for us to call his spouse, to assist with removing the scheduled payment. At this point, ************** was combative, mentioned filing a complaint with your office, and declined our offer, stating that he did not want us to bother her with his concerns.  
  

  To summarize, FRONTSTEPS does not schedule, modify, or delete homeowner payment information due to liability and security concerns. Additionally, we have no record of ************** calling us in March but do see that we were in communication with him via email. In both interactions, we attempted to provide ************** with the next steps needed to cancel his scheduled payment. We did not tell ************** that we cannot access our own systems at any time, only that we cannot modify the payment on his behalf. Regarding the homeowner information listed on the account, this comes from the property management company, HOAMCO, and FRONTSTEPS does not modify it. This ensures that FRONTSTEPS is verifying homeowners against the record of truth, which comes from HOAMCO. 

• Initial Complaint

  12/19/2021

  Complaint Type:

  Billing Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  On September 27, 2021, I made an HOA payment in the amount of $840.00 through our ***************************************** ****************** This payment was processed by "Frontsteps" who charged a service charge of $33.18, which was understood. I received a receipt of the payment on 9/27/21 from both the management company and Frontsteps. On October 7, 2021, I received a notice from frontsteps for a charge back to my credit card of the listed payment stating the reason "No cardholder authorization." In addition to the money being charged back, I was charged an additional $33.18 for a service fee and $15.00 for a chargeback fee. I contacted my credit card company who advised that there was no need for the chargeback, since the payment was authorized, processed and cleared on October 4, 2021. I contacted the management company who advised that the additional cost of $48.18 that I was required to pay was billed by frontsteps, not the management company, they just passed the **** on to me, since frontsteps passed it on to them. I contacted Frontsteps, explained the issue, they advised that they would look into it. After several months with no resolution, I contacted Frontsteps again for my reimbursement and they advised that I had to take it up with the management company. I spoke to the management company again who repeated that they just passed the **** onto me from frontsteps, and I would have to get the reimbursement from them. I spoke to frontsteps again, and they advised that the credit card company had requested the chargeback due to fraudulent activity on my account. I did have fraud on my credit card, well after the issue with frontsteps and the credit card affirmed that the fraudulent activity had nothing to do with the frontsteps payment. I contacted frontsteps again and presented the inconsistencies of their statements, their response was too bad we are not giving you your $48.18 back. Our management company has discontinued service with them

  Business response

  06/21/2023

  We reached out to the 3rd party payment provider (Propay) on 12/2/21 with a copy of the customers complaint and the following request:

   I am wondering if you can send information you have about what happened with this payment as we have received the below from the resident, and he is stating there needs to be a refund issued in the amount of  $48.18. All I am seeing on our end is processed, chargeback unresponded, and a reversal. I just need a more in depth explanation of this payment to translate over to the resident. All assistance is greatly appreciated. 
  
  We received the following response from the 3rd party payment provider on 12/2/2021:
  
  Our records confirm that the payment was charged back on 10/7, totaling $888.18 (the full payment amount of $840, the original service charge of $33.18, plus a $15 chargeback fee). This was a valid chargeback that was submitted via the payer's card issuing bank. 
  Based on their inquiry, it looks like the *** then passed on the service charge portion of the chargeback to the payer (the $33.18 fee) and the $15 chargeback fee. The payer then processed a payment for this amount on 10/27, ref ********, totaling $48.18. And they are asking for this payment to be refunded. As far as this goes, they would need to work this out with the ***, as passing on the chargeback fees would be an *** policy, and not an action taken by ProPay.
  However, the chargeback itself was valid, and was processed as requested by Mastercard. While the chargeback itself was not contested by the ***, the bank has yet to conclude the review (I.E, it is still pending).
  
  We then sent the above response to the customer on 12/3, and they responded on 12/3 with:

  That will be an unacceptable response and inaccurate to say the least. The monies are owed to me by Frontsteps not the ***, since you charged the *** for the process fee and chargeback fee. 
  Rest assured this matter has not been concluded. I will be exploring additional solutions involving Frontsteps/Propay with regulatory agencies and social media solutions as well. 
  Thank you for your efforts and time. 
  
  We responded to the customer on 12/6 with:

   Hi *******, 
  

  I completely understand your confusion, as this can get a bit complicated. Just to provide a bit more insight to what happened, I have included some further information below. 
  

  On October 7th, we sent a chargeback notification to contacts at *************** that stated: 
  

  Good afternoon ****,
  

  If possible, please forward this email to the appropriate parties for chargebacks from owners/residents of *********************** ***.
  

  Our records show that a chargeback was initiated on your account for a client payment. Please note that this chargeback was not initiated by ProPay/Aptexx but indicates that the card holder is disputing a payment.
  

  A chargeback occurs when your customer, the cardholder, formally disputes the transaction you processed on their card, claiming it was unauthorized. The dispute is initiated by the cardholder through their card issuer. As required by the card brand regulations as part of the chargeback process, the amount of the transaction has been deducted from your bank account and given back to the cardholder as a conditional credit.
  
  We advise you to treat these chargebacks as an NSF. We STRONGLY recommend that you reach out to the payer immediately to discuss why they have requested a chargeback. The payer is able to reverse the chargeback by cancelling the dispute with their credit card issuer, which will then put the money back into your account.
  
  We also advise that you dispute the chargeback. Please see the ProPay/Aptexx link for more information regarding the chargeback.
  
  Name of community: *********************** *********************** ****** 46759
  Name of payer: ***************************
  Payment: 72442275
  Chargeback Reason: No Cardholder Authorization
  URL: **********************************************
  Deadline: October 14, 2021
  
  We then received the following response from ***************: 
  
  Hi Everyone,
   
  I spoke with this homeowner today and his account has been shut down by the bank due to suspicious activity.
  
  Essentially, your *** is responsible for processing and submitting the refund since we do not receive or refund the service charge or chargeback fee. Just to clarify, we do not have your money as we only use Propay as a third party service that allows our customers to submit payments, we do not collect the payments. I have confirmed with Propay that while the chargeback itself was not contested by the ***, the bank has yet to conclude the review (I.E, it is still pending).

  To summarize, the customer was providing conflicting information to both FRONTSTEPS and ***************. **** confirmed that there was suspicious activity on the account and declined the option of refunding service fees for the customers failed payment

  The $48.15 are fees Propay charges for the processing. The service fee and the chargeback fee are paid by the payer because that's how service fees work and the chargeback is paid by the payer because they are the ones that had the activity on their accounts that lead to the additional processing. If it were to be refunded, it would have to be covered by the ***, as FRONTSTEPS  would not pay for those fees to cover the payer's issues
  
  
  
  

  Customer response

  06/26/2023

   
  Complaint: 16380515
  
  I am rejecting this response because:

  First, there were no conflicting statements concerning this incident.  ************** version, I authorized a payment form my *************** on 9/27/21.  On 10/7/21 I was advised that there was a chargeback due to non-authorization of account holder.  I spoke to my credit card company who advised that there was no need for a chargeback, since the charge was approved on 10/4/21 by ******* Mastercard.  Frontsteps was contacted numerous times, with unsatisfactory explanations.  My HOA advised that they just passed the bill that they got from Frontsteps (service fee) onto me, and they could not reimburse me for the charge since it came from Frontsteps.  Our HOA discontinued doing business with Frontsteps for this issue and others that residents had with Frontsteps.  On October 12, 2021, the ******* account in question was closed and transferred to another ******* account, due to unrelated fraud issues.  I was charged a reversal fee of $15 and a service charge of $33.18, totaling $48.18 for no reason, according to my credit card company and the HOA.  The excuse of not submitting a credit for that amount to the credit card due to suspicious activity is just another excuse from Frontsteps.  If they were that concerned, they could have mailed a check, since they have all of my information. They can still mail a check.

  Please be advised that I will continue to pursue this matter until I receive the refund from Frontsteps.
  
  Sincerely,
  
  ***************************

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