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Patreon Reviews
ConsumerAffairs has collected 47 reviews and 200 ratings.
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Reviewed March 12, 2023
I have been going round and round with this company. I am getting charged and have no membership or subscriptions showing. I have repeatedly asked them to stop charging me. Supposedly they don't know what they are charging me for according to Kev. If they don't know how then why are they charging me. It is **. Hope you do not in any way get mixed up with this company. I have saved my emails from the company. How can they do this? How can they be stopped? I want my money back and never want to hear from them again. I was told in an email that I could change my mode of payment but that would not stop the charges. I would continue to be charged.
Reviewed Jan. 28, 2023
Patreon is charging my credit card through PayPal and I never signed up for their service. I attempted to call the phone number listed on their website (833-972-8766) and it is no longer in service. I sent an e-mail days ago and have not received a response.
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Reviewed Jan. 13, 2023
I would give 0 Stars. In April I discontinued my final supported Content Creator Sponsorship. I also DELETED ALL MY payment methods. Yet they billed my credit card 3 more months. I could find no way to get a response from them. I contacted the Credit Card Issuer, closed the card and was issued a new card. They did an investigation. I even sent them screen shots of my account showing NO SPONSORSHIPS & NO PAYMENT METHODS. The succeeding month, even though there was NO payment method available, PATREON CHARGED MY PAYPAL ACCOUNT, WHICH I HAD NEVER PROVIDED THEM‼️
I contacted PayPal, at least they were proactive. I sent the screen shots with No sponsorships and No payment methods. I also explained I had NEVER PROVIDED PATREON WITH MY PAYPAL ACCOUNT AS A PAYMENT METHOD. At least with PayPal, they refunded my money within hours. My credit card issuer has refunded the charges Four times. EACH TIME, WITH IN SECONDS, Even though Patreon DOES NOT HAVE THE NEW ACCOUNT NUMBER, THEY CHARGE THAT CARD AGAIN.
PATREON IGNORED my Complaint I filled with the Santa Clara County DA, by ignoring the DA’s attempts to contact them. I have letters in writing, from my card issuer, that ruled in my favor and are refunding all 3 $50 charges. Which they have 4 times. Yet every time, with in SECONDS they have ALLOWED PATREON TO RESUBMIT THE CHARGES TO A CARD NUMBER PATREON DOES NOT HAVE. THE LETTER sent to me by my Card Issuers, well multiple letters, constitute BINDING Contracts, since the issuer has allowed nearly instantaneous refilling by Patreon to an Account number they do not posses, the issuer is in BREACH. I am filling charges with the California Attorney General, FTC, Justice Department, the cards Underwriter, FBI, Justice Department. If anyone has had similar experiences, please let me know.
Reviewed Nov. 13, 2022
Patreon claims to collect funding for "starving artists" by having them create a presence and solicit donors, but it is unclear where the money is actually going. Plus it is almost impossible to unsubscribe to their services. They do not have a listed phone number but they will list a fake phone number on their account statements. The current listed number is for a woman in San Francisco who claims to have no association with them. They also do not list an email address so the only way to communicate with them is through a support ticket. If you no longer use the email address that you registered with and do not recall it, you cannot submit a support ticket.
I never signed up for Patreon, but my son did and now we are both charged for his monthly subscription. We are unable to obtain a copy of any agreement with them and they will not stop charging us. If we don't see a change, and right now we call our credit card monthly to reverse their charges, then we will drop the accounts being charged completely and start over. They are not a reputable business in my opinion because no reputable business treats their donees in this poor and disrespectful manner. STAY AWAY! Avoid the headaches they have caused us. I will never support anyone associated with this business.
Reviewed Aug. 10, 2022
After not being able to access my account I sent two Patreon based emails. One month later still no response. I tried calling but you cannot leave a message or get someone to answer the call. I cancelled my payments through PayPal. I am looking into reconnecting with my instructors through their private websites. Worst customer service experience ever!
Reviewed June 24, 2022
I’ve requested a refund 2 months ago and submitted a letter to their office about it including my concerns, but no response. They are very unprofessional and obviously just want your money. I’ve even reached out to the creator and nothing transpired. I will never use them again.
Reviewed June 1, 2022
I never subscribed to this or any creator. My cc got charged $5 which was weird. I disputed this after trying to contact Patreon. I have no other info. They sent a doc. showing the amount and charge but no creator name or my name on it. So someone got a hold of my cc but no way to get any help. They need to do more than just throwing the blame. If I know the name of the one who subscribed or the creator, it would help so much!
Reviewed March 23, 2022
After becoming some tier Patreon you'll be pushed on every page to go to the next tier. After accidently clicking you'll automatically be charge so delete your credit card details immediately after subscribing.
Reviewed March 23, 2022
Patreon can ban you just because they don't like you. They didn't give any proofs for violation their rules. They just said that they will consider to open my account or not in 1 month. I am searching for responsible alternative. Will never return to Patreon.
Reviewed March 23, 2022
They will simply ban you or someone you support because someone said something they don't agree with. It doesn't have to be on their site, it doesn't have to even go against their community guidelines. They don't like you you're gone.
Patreon author review by Ashley Eneriz
Patreon, headquartered in San Francisco, was launched in 2013 by Jack Conte and Sam Yam after Conte struggled to turn a profit from his musical content. The platform helps artists and content creators of all stripes crowdfund from their audiences. Rather than receiving a one-time contribution, creators obtain funding from their patrons on either a recurring basis or per work of content.
Unique Model: Artists set up a page on the Patreon website. There patrons can pledge to give a certain amount of money to an artist every time they create a piece of art, setting a monthly maximum if desired. A fixed monthly amount can also be pledged. The recurring funding service connects creators and their fans in a modern take on the patronage system while creators benefit from guaranteed payments for each creation.
Easy crowdfunding for creators: Many talented artists remain anonymous because of their lack the business and self-promotional acumen. Even for those skilled in marketing, it’s often a burden to take the time away from their passion to do so. Patreon removes those responsibilities by featuring new and popular creators on their blog, front page and email newsletters, handling payment processing and recurring billing so creators can focus on their creations.
Multiple creator categories: There are a total of 14 artist categories from which to choose, making the likelihood of attracting relevant patrons, and for patrons to discover new creators, much easier.
Have the freedom to create more: With less focus on the dollars, artists are able to spend more time doing what they do best: making art.
Marketing strategy: Patreon allows creators to post private, patron-only content exclusively for the eyes and ears of patrons in order to encourage more monthly pledges. Private content may include early access to new material, behind the scenes information and private chats with the creators. To date Patreon fans have given creators $50 million in support.
Ashley is an expert finance writer who worked for 12 years with top names in the industry, including Discover, The Hartford, ScotiaBank, Chime and Synchrony. She joined ConsumerAffairs in 2022, and specializes in coverage of banking, credit repair and debt management. Her writing has also been featured in Forbes, Time, Yahoo, MSN and Reader’s Digest. In her personal life, she enjoys homeschooling her three daughters and writing children's books.
Patreon questions and answers
- What problem is Patreon trying to solve?
- Certain forms of high-quality art and creations are becoming increasingly difficult to monetize online. Patreon allows fans to directly support their favorite online creators through reoccurring pledges so they can increase production value, make more content, cut out ads and sponsors and most importantly, ensure they can keep producing the art they love.
- What sets Patreon apart from the competition?
- Most crowdfunding is devoted towards funding a single project. So it is more transaction based. Patreon is more about funding the artist, so it is much more relationship based. Patreon is built with this in mind. Rather than serving primarily as a payments provider, it offers a variety of different ways to enhance the relationship with the people supporting you directly and to help maintain and grow your patron base.
- What needs do your products or services fulfill, and how do you fulfill those needs better than your competition?
- We allow creators not only to collect money on an ongoing basis, but also provide the tools to manage that relationship with the fan who is contributing. We handle the associated international tax and accounting. We are continuing to add features that enhance distribution of rewards and features to help artists attract new patrons.
- How does Patreon measure success?
- Patreon was created to support the growing middle class of artists and creators. The more creators we can empower to make a living through their art, the more we consider that a success.
- What’s the most common misconception consumers have about your industry and your company?
- Crowdfunding is a relatively new concept to many people and is often perceived as a method of raising money used by amateurs. But Patreon and crowdfunding in general are increasingly being used by professionals. Many artists prefer to avoid getting bogged down with labels, production companies, managers, agents and can now go directly to their fans and choose how they earn their money.
- How has your industry changed in the last 5 to 10 years?
- Patreon serves a variety of online creators, but one thing is true across all of these industries, the accessibility of professional tools and distribution techniques has dramatically closed the gap between independent artists and professional production companies. You can start a podcast and reach an audience of over a million people for less a couple grand. Someone on an average budget can record a song in a home studio and distribute it to millions of people via social media. High quality art creation is now within reach for more people than any time in history. And quality and accessibility will continue to grow over time.
- What is something you wish every consumer knew about Patreon?
- Not everyone wants to get your art for as cheap as possible! Many of them genuinely care about your well-being as an artist and don’t take you for granted. They go out of their way to support the creators of the things they love and it is so inspiring to see. This is something that is often hard to see (or even believe) before you experience it through something like Patreon.
- Has Patreon received any awards or recognition your customers would like to know about?
- Patreon was listed as “a company to watch” in the Atlantics Silicon Valley Insiders Poll, when top execs were asked about which startups they see as having the potential to change the world. We considered that a great honor and hope to be able to continue to change the lives of artists for the better.
- How has Patreon grown or evolved?
- We have and will continue to strive to serve creators. We will continue to put the creator first and provide tools and resources for them to better serve their fans and empower them to make a living doing what they love.
Patreon Company Information
- Company Name:
- Patreon
- Year Founded:
- 2013
- City:
- San Francisco
- State/Province:
- CA
- Country:
- United States
- Website:
- Patreon.com
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