ComplaintsforInternational Association of Professional Writers & Editors

• Initial Complaint

  06/11/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Product Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I have been charged repeatedly by IAPWE even after I've cancelled contacted disputed etc for at least 2 years. They have charged my PayPal accounts my Venmo accounts even recently June 8 2024. I am furious. They have probably taken at least ****** or more. When I call the number no one answers. They are scammers. I want my money back. My email addresses on my cards are ****************** ******************* And ********************** They find a way to zap my cards constantly. Sick of this!!!! *************************** ********** Thank you

  Business response

  06/15/2024

  We can confirm that the complainant was provided with instructions on how to cancel their account but never followed these steps. We can confirm that the complainant's account is now cancelled, however, a refund is not indicated due to the specifics surrounding the complainant's situation and relevant account details.

• Initial Complaint

  06/07/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Billing Issues

  Status:

  Resolved

  More info

  I was contacted by the business via LinkedIn promising me an official job. When I signed up for a free trial subscription with this business, I learned afterward there was never a job actually offered and was being made to pay for their services, and my personal information was being given away. I followed the cancellation instructions on the website and received the confirmation email, that instructed me to cancel the automatic payment to IAPWE on my PayPal account itself, which I complied and even de-linked my debit card in use from there. However, despite canceling automatic payments, it appeared that I could still log in to my account, and the ********************** membership status remained active. I tried requesting IAPWE to cancel my membership and permanently delete my account via email. However, customer support email asked for my PayPal ID, even though I have already cancelled my account directly from PayPal and their website.

  Business response

  06/19/2024

  We can confirm that the complainant's account is canceled, their subscription is canceled, and their information has been removed from our servers.

  Customer response

  06/21/2024

  Better Business Bureau:
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me and the matter has been resolved.
  
  Sincerely,
  
  *********************
  
  
  
   
  
  

• Initial Complaint

  05/03/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Product Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I signed up for a free trial subscription with this business. After it expired and I attempted to cancel my subscription VIA their website and email to customer support, I am still being charged for a subscription, even though I terminated my account. Their customer support email explained that they still would have to put in a "request for cancellation" and a "request for refund" even though I have already cancelled my account directly from their website.This was over a month ago, and I am still being charged. I suspect this happens to many people, and it is unethical.

  Business response

  05/15/2024

  The complainant already canceled their subscription before filing this complaint and already filed a dispute through PayPal and was refunded.

  We can no longer provide any support via this platform since we were forced to follow PayPal's resolution process.

• Initial Complaint

  03/25/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Product Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  Feb 2nd - found an old email (from Jan 2020) with the authorization code to join the IAPWE job board. Currently, between jobs, I thought I would check it out. I was not informed there was a fee nor did registration require I enter in any cc information. Nor is there a place on their website to enter cc information or change cc information or how much they plan to charge you through PayPal. Mar 3rd - I noticed an unauthorized charge on my brand new PayPal account from ********************. I have no idea how this was possible because I did not give them the email associated with that account and my cc had not arrived yet. I contacted the merch and she informed me I would receive a refund. Mar 15th - 10+ days later no refund. I followed up. They replied Thank you for reaching out to us. We have sent a follow-up to our team lead and the refund should be processed shortly. Mar 21st - 6 additional days later, an authorized charge did not go through on my PayPal account because ******************** still had not refunded me for their unauthorized charge. This is 18 days after our initial communication. It takes 3-5 business days for a refund to process. That means after each of our communications on the issue promising a refund absolutely nothing was done to resolve the issue. There are so many reputable, transparent, and ethically operating job boards online. IAPWE appears to be a scam and is not worth the hassle of exploring.

  Business response

  04/04/2024

  Complainant has already initiated a dispute through PayPal's platform, forcing us to follow their resolution procedure, thus preventing us from being able to provide any outside or alternative resolutions. This will be resolved according to PayPal's dispute/resolution proccess.

  Customer response

  04/07/2024

  Better Business Bureau:
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID# ********, and have determined that my complaint has NOT been resolved because:

  I have not received any notifications from PayPal or their resolution center regarding IAPWE's unauthorized charge or refund status, therefore have no reason to believe this issue is in any sort of resolution process with PayPal.

  I have, however, repeatedly received PayPal notifications that "there wasn't enough in your balance to cover your purchase."The most recent ISF notification was yesterday, attached. Please note that no purchases have been made on my end and the only two companies who have access to that account are ******************** and Hulu. Hulu is the original authorized charge that was declined bc IAPWE had not followed through on their refund. Hulu is a well known and reputable company that doesn't repeatedly try charging your cc weeks after cc decline. Because I keep getting these PayPal ISF alerts I have not used that account since, as I'm concerned IAPWE may still be trying to, without authorization, charge my PayPal account. 

   

   

   

   

  In order for the BBB to appropriately process your response, you MUST answer the question above.

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

  Business response

  04/28/2024

  We are sorry to hear that the complainant does not find our response satisfactory. We are not seeing any documentation that the complainant states they have provided and we are showing their subscription was canceled back in March.

• Initial Complaint

  03/06/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Product Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  Received an email accepting me to their job, which is actually not a job but a database of available writing jobs-something a job seeker can easily do for free. Upon signup, was offered a free paid trial, which I declined. Signed up for the free membership which was supposed to be $0 per month (FREE). Couldnt complete signup without providing PayPal. Confirmed I would not be charged then was charged $4.99 a month later. Disabled my PayPal account as they advised me then I emailed them asking for a refund. They said they had submitted a refund request to their team lead. I email about a follow up only to be ignored, it has been 7 days since I heard back. For a writing organization they dont seem to be great at writing back, which is ironic. All I want is my refund I was promised and my entire account deleted. I have no business associating with a dishonest organization and I want nothing to do with IAPWE. This company or whatever its classified as should be ashamed of itself for preying on good honest people who are trying to seek employment. Give me my money back and delete my account immediately. I am ready to file fraud charges with my bank if no action is taken.

  Business response

  03/19/2024

  The complainant has already filed a complaint on PayPal's platform so we must follow PayPal's dispute resolution process and will unfortunately be unable to provide further resolution here on the BBB website.

  Customer response

  03/21/2024

  Better Business Bureau:
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID# ********, and have determined that my complaint has NOT been resolved because:

  [Your Answer Here]

  I filed a complaint with PayPal after filing on the BBB due to nonresponse from IAPWE. The status on PayPal regarding this dispute is still listed as awaiting response from seller, which by the way is supposed to happen by tomorrow. IAPWE ignores my emails after issuing a generic "we will submit a request to our team lead" template response. After that, no further response from them. I just want my refund and my account deleted, both of which I have not received confirmation of. I don't understand why it's so hard to respond to an email, to delete an account, and refund $5, especially after they said they would. I'm still waiting for my money. It's beginning to feel like they are intentionally trying to give me a hard time and refuse to simply resolve this. I applied to their job ad, which was not actually a job, so they already lied about that. Just give me my money back and get rid of my account please!

   

   

   

  In order for the BBB to appropriately process your response, you MUST answer the question above.

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

  Business response

  04/28/2024

  Since the complainant has already filed a dispute through PayPal, we are forced to follow PayPal's dispute resolutions process and will be unable to communicate on the matter further here.

• Initial Complaint

  12/14/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Billing Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I have been able to file a complaint regarding my subscription with IAPWE and successfully got my account there unsubscribed and permanently deleted. However, it appears that my presence with IAPWE is still present, albeit in a different portal called the IAPWE Freelancer Dashboard (************************************************************). I happened to log in; and unfortunately, the "Edit Profile" function serves no purpose other than to send me to my dashboard/homepage with tasks to do. As a result, I cannot be able to have my account there deleted manually. Therefore, I would like to request deletion of my account from the ******************** Freelancer Dashboard as well, for I do not wish to do any more business with them after I have my main account on ******************** deleted.

  Business response

  12/14/2023

  As per the complainant's request, their account and profile have been deleted. 

  Customer response

  12/21/2023

  Better Business Bureau:
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID# ********, and have determined that my complaint has NOT been resolved because:

  [Your Answer Here]

  My IAPWE Freelancer Dashboard account is still up, as though my account there has not been properly deleted yet. While I am satisfied that my IAPWE account on the iapwe.org website itself has been deleted thanks to a previous complaint I filed, it appears that I technically still have my IAPWE Freelancer Dashboard account still up (upon logging in to my account on ***************************************.org), even though I want to remove myself entirely from association with IAPWE in any form. I have attached a ZIP file with video and screenshots as proof that my other account there has not been deleted yet.

   

   

   

  In order for the BBB to appropriately process your response, you MUST answer the question above.

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

  Business response

  01/22/2024

  The complainant initially asked to have their membership account deleted and we fulfilled this request. We have now deleted the complainant's account on the freelancer portal as well as per the complainant's new request.

• Initial Complaint

  12/06/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Billing Issues

  Status:

  Resolved

  More info

  I want to cancel my IAPWE subscription and membership and have my account there closed and deleted permanently. I applied for IAPWE around October just days after I received their email of acceptance. However, I was forced to sign up via PayPal, with a Professional Membership free trial for one month. Unfortunately, the Professional Membership status continued even after the free trial period passed, and money for continued membership was charged to my PayPal account and thus deducting money from my linked debit card, even though I did not intend to renew my membership. As a result, I tried making use of their site's cancelation form. Their response was an email in which they instructed me to cancel the automatic payment to IAPWE on my PayPal account itself, which I complied and even de-linked my debit card in use from there. However, despite canceling automatic payments and requesting account deletion, it appeared that I could still log in to my account, and the ********************** Membership status remained active. I tried requesting IAPWE to cancel my membership and permanently delete my account, for the second time and this time via email instead of via the website's cancellation form. Soon, I received an email response saying that my account cancelation request was sent. However, as of this writing, my IAPWE account is still active and in Professional Membership status.

  Business response

  12/12/2023

  We are showing that the complainant successfully followed our cancellation instructions and canceled their subscription in their own account as of today 12/12/23. 

  Upon cancelling their subscription, the complainant's account is no longer active and, as per the complainant's request, we have deleted their account.

  Customer response

  12/14/2023

  Better Business Bureau:
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me and the matter has been resolved. Thank you.
  
  Sincerely,
  
  ***********************************
  

• Initial Complaint

  11/14/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Product Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I recently checked my bank account to see five payments of random amounts made via Paypal to the IAPWE. I never authorized such payments and I have no idea how they gained access to my information to get those payments. I have reached out to the organization demanding a refund for the full amount, but I have not gotten anything definitive from them yet.I have received no service from them, and all five charges were random amounts, which seems incredibly sketchy to me on many levels.

  Business response

  11/15/2023

  We can confirm that the complainant fully authorized and subscribed to a paid membership tier since our system matches IP address information to prevent fraud and that each of the aforementioned charges was for the exact same amount based on the rate of their chosen membership tier.
  

  Since the complainant already filed complaints through PayPal prior to filing this complaint through the BBB, we are currently resolving this through their resolution process and are unable to offer any further resolution outside of that process.

• Initial Complaint

  10/25/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Billing Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I signed up to be a writer for the International Association of Professional Writers and Editors, and in order to do so, I had to subscribe to the free trial of the professional account. When signing up, they gave the impression that there was a free account that could be used when the paid account was canceled. I attempted to cancel my trial using their online cancellation form, but the confirmation email I received implied that I could only cancel if I had used PayPal to sign up. However, I had used a personal card. I would like to have my subscription terminated and any future charges canceled. They will charge the card on 11/26/23.

  Business response

  11/02/2023

  It appears that the complainant followed our cancelation instructions and canceled their own subscription on the same day that they filed this complaint. The account is now canceled and we consider this matter resolved.

• Initial Complaint

  10/23/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Billing Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I have been trying to cancel my subscription with the business but they never respond to my emails and my debit card has been automatically debited with the money every month for the past two months.

  Business response

  11/02/2023

  We are showing that the complainant's account has been canceled on the same day that this complaint was filed. There is no further resolution we are able to offer on this matter.

*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. ↩