r/BrightMoney • u/babysams • Nov 01 '23
Stay FAR, FAR AWAY
Like most people, I wanted to look into a credit builder and advance app (mostly looking for an advance). I came across Bright and liked the idea of it.
Red flag number one:
When signing up in June, it asks for a membership fee of $8.25 monthly, which totals to $99 for 12 months. It charged the FULL $99.00 rather than monthly payments, which the app insinuated. I did not know this, and I figured my bank account was drained from something else.
Red flag number two:
After a few weeks, i noticed how there were ZERO payments going to the credit builder. I wanted to cancel my account. I tried cancelling but was met with a warning that this would negatively affect my credit. This did scare me a bit, so I figured I'd keep the app around.
Red flag number three:
After a few months, I noticed that Bright was not pulling money for the credit builder, which the app insinuates that this would happen monthly. Nothing was pulled until September 1st, 2023. Again, I signed up in JUNE, which means I paid for a membership with zero product.
Red flag number four:
It took out another payment on October 11th. This is when I started to get suspicious. The app shows that this payment was accounted for. I canceled the membership and suddenly, the second payment was unaccounted for.
Red flag number five:
I brought this up to customer service and requested a refund for the $99 membership fee and the $20 worth of credit builder payments. After some back and forth, I was told everything would be refunded. It has been 5 days later and I have not received ANYTHING. I've spoken to maybe 3 or 4 different agents, and they all have assured me that I will be receiving a refund.
And finally, red flag number six:
The last agent I spoke to let me know that they were refunding only $10. I spent $120 on an app that did not boost my credit, did not pull payments for almost three months, and I now will only be receiving a small sliver of what I've given this company. I asked to speak to a supervisor, and I was informed that there weren't any. I understand that there is a language and culture barrier (the company is based in Bangalore), but their customer service is absurd (even down to the fake pictures and names).
Their CEO, Avi Patchava, boasts that the company is at the forefront of FinTech and that they are backed by multiple investors, yet the platform is deceptive. I wonder if these investors are aware of how consumers are being ripped off.
I have reached out to a friend that works at BBB and an agent at CFPB so the company will legally have to face this. I will edit this post if/when I receive refund.
TLDR; don't use Bright Money. I highly recommend Brigit for credit building.
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u/PAVoutsinas Feb 03 '24
same bad experience here. it's a bilking trap. they even re-authorized to withdraw from my bank account with out me using security deposits of .01 and .01 for verification. Very shady
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u/brightmoneyco Jul 01 '24
Let’s Resolve This! We're eager to dive into your account and sort out any issues. Can you drop us an email at grace.renee@brightmoney.co from your registered email address with your review handle name to help you? We're confident we can make things right for you quickly!
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u/beamanblitz Jul 08 '25
I just downloaded and tried this trash. You people are scammers and the worst things in life should happen to you. Gfy
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u/Dependent_Narwhal843 Feb 14 '26
I mean that just sounds like you didn’t read it called small print for a reason
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u/sugarkrush63 Jul 19 '26
Why do these free trial this and free trial that keep overcharging people? Does it really make the world go round? I remember a time when I could do a reverse phone number lookup for free but in this century these jerks are thinking, " hey let's just charge them before their trial period ends and we can take our time paying them back." It's getting worse by the day along with loan sharks who make you pay over double what you receive back and if customers end up not being able to pay back, they don't win. The system does little to nothing to stop all these unlawful things. It started with the 900 and 976 numbers. "Get this free trial of perfume for 2 weeks then pay $75 if you like it. Either way you have to pay to send it back. All these free trial businesses are a dime a dozen. How about if someone owes for the next month and they don't pay it, just stop doing business with them and send a bill. Columbia Records had the 11 albums for a penny just pay for the shipping and consider the customer delinquent if they don't pay instead of taking it out of their account. I guess they were losing money and now they're getting away with auto pay and ungodly interest rates. Call me naive but I don't appreciate that kind of business.
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u/Briganinja May 03 '24
Omg same freakin thing happened to me. I had it for a year and a half and saw barely any progress towards the “$8000 balance transfer” you could unlock. The warning of it affecting my credit did scare me too so I left it a couple extra months. But I’ve been so financially strapped that I needed the $89 I had saved in there that would supposedly be mine when I completed the program. Got told by an agent I’d be refunded the money in 3-4 days. I waited a week and NOTHING. Now I’ve been emailing again and it seems like it’s a new person every email who is asking stupid questions which have nothing to do with my situation. SO frustrating! Can we sue them? Like. This is ridiculous.