Complaints

The complaint text that is displayed might not represent all complaints filed with BBB. 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.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:04/08/2025

  Type:Sales and Advertising Issues
  Status:

  ResolvedMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  In 2024, I invested in a stock offering for ********** through Republic. I invested $1,595. On March *******, I was informed the offering was cancelled. I have not received a refund of my investment and I have contacted Republic numerous times by email.

  Customer Answer

  Date: 04/14/2025

  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

  Date:03/17/2025

  Type:Order Issues
  Status:

  UnresolvedMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  Company is a crowfunding entity that support the connection between small business asking for loans and the general population. Company has been active for many year. Post deal close the company has the responsibility to provide general updates about the small business progress on payments and general health. Company has gone over two years with any sort of updates on companies that are not paying their debt. But they continue to charge a service fee on the payments that do come through. I have requested updates to no avail or response. My ask is to received general updates on the companies on a regular cadence to stay abreast on the small business performances. To be clear this isnt a complaint around the small business inability to make payments as that is an understandable inherent risk. The complaint is around the company's radio silence on any sort of updates (good or bad) and over a month with no response to any messages.

  Customer Answer

  Date: 04/10/2025

  At this time, I have been contacted directly by Republic regarding complaint ID ********, however my complaint has NOT been resolved because:

  Responsibility of company is to obtain information from invested companies. No information has been received.   

   

   

   

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

  Sincerely,

  ****** ******

  Customer Answer

  Date: 06/02/2025

  At this time, I have been contacted directly by Republic regarding complaint ID ********, however my complaint has NOT been resolved because:

  I am still awaiting them to provide the committed updates on the different crowdfunding investments. Part of their service responsibility. They finally posted the tax documents needed to complete my tax package with the IRS.

   Sincerely,

  ****** ******

• Initial Complaint

  Date:08/06/2024

  Type:Product Issues
  Status:

  ResolvedMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  I made a small investment in a startup in 2021. In April of 2024, the startup indicated the original product we initially invested in has fundamentally changed so they were returning all the funds back to investors, and investments would be returned in May of 2024.It is now August 2024 and nothing. There's 3 entities involved - Republic, the publisher of the original investment, and the investment holding company. Both the investment holding company and the publisher indicate Republic is on the hook for releasing the funds, but I can't get Republic to help.Republic only has an email address for support, they take multiple days to respond (and I have to keep nudging them to at least acknowledge that they got my email after waiting for days) and they send canned responses referring me back to the investment holding company.The investment holding company can't release the funds unless they get authorization from Republic, but Republic seems to be clueless or careless. My guess is that they're understaffed, so their support team is carelessly powering through inquiries without actually handling them appropriately. It's frustrating and I anticipate a long, frustrating road to get my money back.I can only imagine how distribution of funds would work with any successful investments, it almost feels fraudulent.

  Customer Answer

  Date: 08/07/2024

  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

  Date:05/23/2024

  Type:Service or Repair Issues
  Status:

  ResolvedMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  I invested in ********************** through Republic. For the Reg C filing, investments opened April 5 with a cancellation deadline of April 28, and a campaign end date of April 30. Investments are not yet finalized. The summery states that the investment amount would go to Skybound and an additional 2.5% fee would be charged and would go to Republic. I signed up for a $5,000 investment on the campaign start, and two days later, changed it to $2,000. The deal page clearly stated that investors had until 4/28 to make changes or cancellations. To my surprise, Republic immediately withdrew the $5,000 plus the 2.5% fee of $125 rather than waiting for closing day. When I changed my investment to $2,000, they did not refund the corresponding portion of the 2.5% fee, equal to $75.I messaged support and was told that the matter was being forwarded to the relevant team. One week passed, no update. I filed a credit card dispute for the $75. Immediately I began getting phone calls and emails from Republic warning me that they couldn't refund the overcharge or complete my investment until I withdrew my credit card dispute. Support said that they have identified and corrected the "technology error" that caused the fee problem and promised the refund would be issued as soon as the dispute was closed. I relented and withdrew my dispute for fear of my investment being canceled completely.Nearly two weeks have passed since then and I haven't received my refund. I messaged support multiple times, they apologized and said they've forwarded my issue to the accounts team for an update on my refund. Then silence.

  Customer Answer

  Date: 05/31/2024

  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

  Date:02/26/2024

  Type:Service or Repair Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  I invested $2,200 via crowd funding (on republic platform app) back in 2021 with ********************** and we were supposed to get pay outs in 2023 and I have not received anything nor have they (****** ********** responded to any of my emails or voice messages left behind).

  Business Response

  Date: 03/08/2024

  **** *********************** made an investment commitment into a company called ****** ********** This was done on the Republic platform. After making the commitment, **** had the opportunity to cancel and receive a full refund up until 48 hours before the close of the offering (or, if he received notice of an intermediate closing, until 48 hours before that closing). The offering closed on July 16, 2021.

  Republic is the intermediary that provides a technology platform which allows investors like **** to invest in companies like ****** ********* through regulation crowdfunding offerings. As a funding portal, Republic cannot manage, possess, hold or otherwise control investors funds. The investor sent funds to an escrow account and subsequently the funds were sent to the issuer after the offering reached its target amount and the offering was closed.
  
  The Issuer, **********************, provides semi-regular updates to investors and Republic continuously encourages this communication to be as frequent as possible. Republic also encourages Issuers to be as responsive and transparent with investors after the offering closes.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:07/14/2022

  Type:Product Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  I invested in a company ********* via the investment company the Republic. Back in October 2022, I was supposed to be sent a check for about $649.00 but I never received it. ********* claimed to have sent it and the republic has acted as overseer of cash deposits from residuals from company's before, but the Republic has been giving me the run around for months and I still have not received my check. I have corresponded with the Republic for over three months and ********* for even longer, but I still have not received any assistance with this issue. I received a Payment from Season 3 via the Republic via Paypal, so the Republic cannot say the do not have jurisdiction over the matter (See attachment).

  Business Response

  Date: 07/28/2022

  ******************,

  
  We appreciate your concerns and understand the frustration you must be experiencing with your ********* payout. 

  
  While Republic wants to act in the best interest of the investors that use the platform, we are limited in the actions we can take for payouts as we have no continued relationship with the issuer and we are not your fiduciary or agent. If investors earn a return on an investment, Republic does not directly control the payout process. Issuers like ********* may use the Republic platform to communicate with their investors the details of a payout and Republic may help the issuer coordinate with investors, but Republic does not send the funds on behalf of any issuer nor do we have any direct insight into the transfer details of any payout transactions. 

  
  For questions about payouts, we generally recommend that investors reach out to issuers directly. During your communications with us, we recommended the same course of action. After providing you with the issuers contact information, you informed us that you were able to get in touch with their team and that they stated they had already sent your funds via paper check in October of 2021. The Republic team also reached out to the issuer, and received the same response that your payout had been sent.  

  
  We have since contacted the issuer again and found that they are contacting their payment partner to confirm the status of your payout. We hope that you will hear from them soon with more information. 

  
  We recommend that you reach out to the issuer again to best understand what your options are to recover your payout. We have already reached out to this issuer multiple times on your behalf and will follow up with you should we hear any details from them. That said, you should expect to receive future communications regarding your payout to come directly from *********, not Republic. Please don't hesitate to let us know if you have any other questions.

   

  Sincerely,

  Republic Investor Relations

   

  
  

  Customer Answer

  Date: 07/28/2022

  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:

  The Republic has issued out payments before via the Paypal document I have listed and attached to this case. The Republic nor ********* have not said anything new for over four months. The Republic repeatedly says to wait for ********* to respond but ********* has not respond since they stated the claim to have sent the payment on October 2021 via mail. The Republic should have some way in which to ensure that patrons on their site have in fact been sent and received payment. It seems to be me to be irresponsible just to take ********* word on it. ********* nor the Republic have proven that in fact the payment has been mailed or sent in any fashion. Additionally, I have requested the payment via check been cancelled if in fact it was sent to me for over four months now. I request my payment in full to be sent via PNCbank Account ending in **** or via Paypal. ********* nor the Republic has honored my requests. This delay is outrageous and is not in conjunction with acting in good faith in my opinion.

   

   

   

   

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

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