BetterHelp
Reviews and Complaints

So I subscribed to better help three days ago and was expecting to be paying 65 bucks a month which to me seemed reasonable for unlimited counselling.

Low and behold I was waiting for replies to messages upwards of 48 hours from my counsellor. Not only that but they neglect to include the US dollar symbol so I was charged $260.00 US dollars which equates to $450.00 AU dollars for three months! Yes, that's right they billed me two months in advance. I have cancelled my subscription and sent an email regarding a refund considering I only used the service for 7 days before I was horrified to see the amount taken from my bank account.

Total rip off they market this service as being so instantaneous, interactive and convenient but the truth is your waiting at least a day for a reply from someone and often have video calls cancelled. It's misleading to not use the US dollar symbol when they are well aware that they provide services all over the world.

If you're seeking a therapist or psychologist in Australia you can find better service for a better price if not free. Don't be sucked in by there marketing they are nothing but money-hungry vultures.

Hi, I went to betterhelp with very high hopes that I could get the help I need due to a relationship that ended 2 years ago. I started talking to lee shadick and let him know that is was the first time that I have really been honest with a counsler. I let him know all about the relationship and let him know how deeply I was hurting about it. I told him that maybe someone should talk to my ex and ask him to try and make things right with me since I have not been able to function properly for two years and was very suicidal in the past. Lee's insensitive response was that if my ex knew how to make things right with me and that he was never going too. He asked me what that said to me. I am furious. Not only am I furious I am hurt and am now feeling very suicidal again. I trusted a counsler and poured out emotions and the hurt I was going through and he made things 10 times worse. I am now very suicidal again. I wrote him and told him how furious I was and dumped him as a counsler. The only problem is that I cannot contact him now. I want and apology from him and I would prefer that he called me to do it. [protected]. I wrote better help about this incident and I have yet to hear back from them and no one has tried to make me feel any better or has apologized for my experience.

I feel foolish for not checking reviews before signing up for this so called service. What a waste of money. The counselor's responses were obviously copy and pasted- so much so that they contained info from the original text. And this was on more than one occasion. When I tried to cancel they charged my card again. The phone number for 'customer service' is an answering service and its been 3 attempts over the past 3 weeks and no one has gotten back to me.

First of all what kind of company doesn't have a customer service line. Second of all the subscriptions listed on their app which is what I signed up for don't have that detailed of a description and so it's really confusing to figure out how much you're actually going to be paying. So after you select my subscription you don't get any type of other confirmation of how much your card will be charged. They just automatically charge you and pull it out of your account within an hour. I immediately cancelled my subscription because they ended up charging me $341 even though I chose the $45 a week charged per month at the 25% financial aid discount which adds up to $135 a month but they charged me the quarterly amount which is ridiculous. I've email customer support and they said they would give me a pro-rated refund I just have to notify them that I cancel my subscription and so I emailed them back within the nine-to-five time period and told him I cancel my subscription but they have an email me back and I have to wait till Monday but my account was overdrawn and it's they're really stupid.

I signed up for this service two weeks ago, and have had two calls with one of their counselors recently. But, this person literally just calls me and makes small talk. I'm not sure what the purpose is? When I reached out to customer service about it I get an automated message stating that if I don't like my counselor I can choose another. Meanwhile they've charged me $182 for what seems like absolutely nothing.

They are a fraudulent company. They turned me away and then stole 260 bucks. I have contacted Google and am in the process of helping remove the app from the market. Help if you can, spread the word, leave a review and get it on every social media platforms that you can. Stop them from stealing anymore money from people who are experiencing mental health issues.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.betterhelp

Hi when I came across your website and I got approved for finances $39 a week I felt I could afford that but when I checked my account I found out they took more than what I anticipated and now I'm left with nothing so pls I'll kindly like my full refund and when I have money I'll renew my subscription but for now pls refund my money as I haven't used any of my sessions. Thank you

The only thing that went smoothly and quicly with Betterhelp was my credit card payment. I was trying to find out if i could pay for counseling sessions for my daughter, there was no way to submit a question without a payment. They immediately charged me for ONE MONTH and i knew after the first ten minutes of frustration this wasnt good for her, and immediately tried to get a refund. There was no way to get through to anyone except by email that they dont answer. They eventually sent me a message that they will reduce my plan to ONE WEEK...and now they dont answer me at all so that tomorrow the week is up...never received any counseling sessions.

Beware ! This is a big money maker for no help

I was given an email about a free 7 days trial. I signed up for the free 7 day trial today and my card was charged for $1.35. I understand it is only a dollar but it is really [censored]ty that you guys would advertise for free but yet still charge. As well I never consented to you guys charging my card. I would like the money reimbursed on my card immediately.

Say can switch counselors though when do because first did not respond for days the system changed. Do you prefer checkboxes list ...do you prefer a Christian counselor right under the understandable male or female choices. No there is no other religious check box but Christian.

So I change counselors and what happens. Did not check Christian preference yet 3 of 5 make known they are Bible based counselors.

Contact customer SVC and ask for refund. This is six days after bought two month "deal" from Groupon. Told do not refund Groupon credits. Then emphasized that I could just look for a non religious or search by my preference. How impossible. No search choice when call up their 2000 counselors yet many start with I am a Christian based counselor. Buddhist? Nada.

Again switch from their auto Christian match. Then again say I want refund. No response.

This is supposedly helping people who want help and pay their hefty$65 a week? Discriminates, system freezes, no apologies... Seen counselors before and this is not a caring place for those in need.
Betterhelp uses Groupon as way to make money yet denied responsibility.

Horrible, uncaring unresponsive cust SVC, and counselors? Good luck...if you are not a Christian.

Pass this offering plate of discriminatory bible-thumping.
preferences for your new counselor:

[ ] I prefer a male counselor[ ] I prefer a female counselor[x] I prefer a counselor who provides Christian-based counseling[ ] I prefer a gay counselor[ ] I prefer an older counselor (45+)[ ] I prefer a non-religious counselor[ ] I prefer a counselor who speaks Spanish

Choose wisely.

Still have 7 weeks left of my bargain rate of $130. Next counselor match please.

I canceled my free trial long before the trial ended and I was charged $130.00

I will be disputing this with my bank. I want my full refund and I want all my information deleted.

This is ridiculous. Your so called services is nothing but a joke. Therapists don't even read what you write but only do a copy paste candid answer.

I want my refund. I have bills, I have just moved and am job hunting. That 130.00 was already budgeted for and now after starting my life over your company has already put me in the whole.

Rowan Knight

I would like a refund, I was charged $65 while using a free trail. I have bills to pay. I need a refund immediately. This is an outtraged.! Waking up to see you have been charged. I just deposited money in my bank account yesterday, and now I have $8 dollars in my account. What am I suppose to do? I need my refund back! Is there anyone who can help me get my refund back?

I can't get receipts for two membership payments . A rep told me that they send out receipts periodically as requested. I have sent 5 requests with NO response.

(Note, I need the receipts to request reimbursement from my FSA. There is no question of "eligibility" as referenced below by betterhelp.com: "It sounds like this "benefits card" may be an HSA/FSA card? We have found that some users have been able to use FSA / HSA to cover these services while some have not been successfully able to use the FSA / HSA card. We recommend that you reach out to your employer/benefits person to see if these services would be covered." There IS NO coverage, and I have spoken to the FSA administrator. The charge was rejected by their system because the MERCHANT CODE THAT BETTER HELP IS USING IS NOT SPECIFIC ENOUGH TO BE PAID ELECTRONICALLY. THEREFORE, I NEED TO SUBMIT THE CHARGES VIA RECEIPT.

In addition to emails, on Tuesday, May 8, 2018, I called the only customer service phone # I could find via Google: [protected]. This number is an answering service and conveys messages only. He assured me that he would pass on my message and THAT THIS WOULD GENERATE A RESPONSE.

AS OF TODAY, May 9, 2018 3:40 pm EDST, NO RESPONSE.

Emails from oldest to newest:

Re: I need Support #44cc5b4f87c0c86b42275a40fe60766c
Better Help.com
BetterHelp
Mar 30
to me
Hi Marcene,
We manually make them a few times a week for clients who request them. You basically just need to reach out to us and ask for an itemized invoice after each charge or at least whenever you need to submit a group of payments for reimbursement. It's not an automated system yet unfortunately!
Please don't hesitate to reply to this message if you have further questions.

Warm regards,
Aaron
BetterHelp Team

IMPORTANT: Please remember that online counseling is not appropriate for crisis situations. If you need immediate attention please call now [protected]-TALK (24 hours hotline). If you or anyone else might be in danger please call 911 or go to the nearest emergency room. Also, please note that this email was not written by a counselor and doesn't constitute as counseling.
--
Aaron
[protected]@betterhelp.com

How would you rate my reply?
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{#HS:[protected]-265981#}
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On Fri, Mar 30, 2018 at 6:45 AM PDT, Marcene Tesmer wrote:
Thanks Aaron.
I will need the itemized statements for each month. How do I request those?
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
On Thu, Mar 29, 2018 at 1:44 PM PDT, BetterHelp wrote:
Hi Marcene,

Thanks for following up, and we're sorry you're having issues. It sounds like this "benefits card" may be an HSA/FSA card? We have found that some users have been able to use FSA / HSA to cover these services while some have not been successfully able to use the FSA / HSA card. We recommend that you reach out to your employer/benefits person to see if these services would be covered.
We unfortunately do not provide support via phone at this time, and consequently, our system is not set up to manually enter in user payment information on our end. It's most likely an issue with your insurance card not being accepted by our system, but we are happy to provide itemized invoices for our charges upon request, which you can submit to your employer or provider for reimbursement if that's something they're willing to do.
Please don't hesitate to reply to this message if you have further questions.
Warm regards,
Aaron
BetterHelp Team
IMPORTANT: Please remember that online counseling is not appropriate for crisis situations. If you need immediate attention please call now [protected]-TALK (24 hours hotline). If you or anyone else might be in danger please call 911 or go to the nearest emergency room. Also, please note that this email was not written by a counselor and doesn't constitute as counseling
Aaron
[protected]@betterhelp.com
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Re: I need Support #44cc5b4f87c0c86b42275a40fe60766c

Marcene Tesmer
Apr 1

to BetterHelp

Thanks Aaron.
I need to request a statement for my recent payment.
Thank you again!
Marcene

On Fri, Mar 30, 2018 at 12:33 PM, BetterHelp wrote:
Hi Marcene,

We manually make them a few times a week for clients who request them. You basically just need to reach out to us and ask for an itemized invoice after each charge or at least whenever you need to submit a group of payments for reimbursement. It's not an automated system yet unfortunately!

Please don't hesitate to reply to this message if you have further questions.

Warm regards,
Aaron
BetterHelp Team

IMPORTANT: Please remember that online counseling is not appropriate for crisis situations. If you need immediate attention please call now [protected]-TALK (24 hours hotline). If you or anyone else might be in danger please call 911 or go to the nearest emergency room. Also, please note that this email was not written by a counselor and doesn't constitute as counseling.

--
Aaron
[protected]@betterhelp.com
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Statements

Marcene Tesmer
May 7 (2 days ago)

to BetterHelp

I need statements for my last two payments. This is my third request.

Help is on the way!

BetterHelp
May 7 (2 days ago)

to me

Hello,

Thank you for contacting BetterHelp! We have received your request, and will get back to you within one business day.

If you contacted us outside of business hours (9am-5pm EST on Monday-Friday), your response may be delayed to the following business day.

We wanted to let you know that our dedicated Development Team will be performing scheduled maintenance on the platform tomorrow, Friday, May 4th for about 4 hours. During this time, you will not have access to the platform, your counselor, or the mobile application.

The expected start times are as follows:
San Francisco: Friday May 4th, 8:00p.m. PDT
New York: Friday May 4th, 11:00p.m. EDT
London: Saturday May 5th, 4:00 a.m. BST
Sydney: Saturday May 5th, 1:00p.m. AEST

If you have a session scheduled during this time, we highly recommend that you reschedule with your counselor at your earliest convenience. Your counselor has also been notified of this schedule maintenance. Thank you for your understanding.

If this is a crisis situation, please refer to the immediate resources that we have provided on our Get Help Now page.

To good health & happiness :)
BetterHelp Team

This is a scam!beware never spoke to anyone..Now charging my card $260 a month..Sent many emails nothing!when you try and reach someone to resolve the issue by phone then there is never anyone available. I have tried to get an answer for the second month and going to the bank for fraud. Do not ever call them ! you will regret the hassle to recoup.

I signed up for this company and I unscribed right away never even spoke to a thearpiest because, he wasn't available right away. They took no time charging my card 139 bucks! I never even spoke to anyone and unscribed right away. So they better refund my money I know that much. How are you going to charge people cards when you did no service for them? Get real!😡

I am very upset that my account was charged 180.00 dollars when I was on the free trial. I feel stolen from, and scammed. This is a horrible service that needs to be shut down. I am infuriated and you can't even call the customer service team for a refund you have to wait for them to email you back. I will probably never see my hard earned money again. That was all the money I had in my account to pay bills as I am a single mom. I am completely disgusted

I enrolled Oct 1st and my credit card was charged 260$. Then after receiving my cancellation link on tbe 23rd from the provider i cancelled. Then after receiving the cancellation email i felt it was confirmed until i saw they chArged me AGAIN on Oct 29th! Now i was charged a total of 520$ in one month! I then saw they fraudulently noted my acct to read that it was cancelled on november 5th! This is Fraud. They are difficult to connect with..only thru email and havent heard from them yet. They have an answering service but they can only take messages!

I saw a Groupon for online counseling and it was on sale so I gave it a try. After paying for the Groupon ($40) I was charged an additional $50 the next day. I emailed them and asked them to reverse the charge and they said they would do it "as a courtesy". Lol, you're going to refund me money that you shouldn't have charged me as a courtesy? I cancelled my membership over a week ago and low and behold I was charged $140 today! I sent several emails and received nothing back. Finally today I reported the charge through PayPal (thank god I used PayPal). Imagine how many people get charged and don't even know until it's too late to report! This company is a scam, I never once spoke to a counselor.

They charged me $180 the very next day I started my 7 day free trial. That was all the money I had! I contacted them via phone number provided and they told me they were a third party service and that they forward my info to them and contact me back via email within one business day. I have to wait one business day for money that you stole? These people are thieves! Never again