I only agreed to a monthly subscription of 2,89€ and then a pop up on the website showed up I should verify myself entering my credit card details, no amount or payment has been mentioned. And then suddenly I received a receipt stating I paid for lifetime Verification. I never agreed to this amount or payment to be made as tried to dispute immediately after few minutes with the support but they declined. This fraud is known from couchsurfing wheas dark pattern and legally it is still gray area.
Just check online:
ongoing-dark-pattern-regulation/
DO
Dogecoiner
Scammed with the paywall, no reimbursement of one-time-payment
Scam - I made a high one time payment to support these leeks. Now I got excluded like anyone else behind the paywall. Ungrateful move and what a unrealistic pricing model. Doomed to go bankrupt. Hope it happens sooner than later so hotshowers and other alternatives get a piece from the pie.
Don’t support them, they don’t deserve nothing, failed to make QA and now milk their last users like cows. Happy capitalism….
To be as transparent as possible, this is how the support answered my complaint:
R*** (Couchsurfing Support)
20.11.2021, 20:28 GMT-8
Hello J***
First of all, let us tell you how grateful we are that you have previously supported us. Couchsurfing wouldn’t exist without you. Thank you!
To show our appreciation for your previous support, we are giving you 12 months before you will be required to make another contribution.
That being said, we do need to explain the difference between the Couchsurfing contribution program and Verification:
The product you purchased when you previously made a payment was Verification. You still have access to this product based on your previous payment. We have not changed the way Verification works.
We are asking everyone who uses Couchsurfing, independent from the Verification status, to make contributions.
This means that if you previously purchased Lifetime verification, you’ll keep your Lifetime Verification and we’ll also give you 12 months before asking to contribute any more to Couchsurfing.
To check on your membership status, please access your account settings and then click on the "Payments and Contribution" section. You can also get straight there with this link:
[link removed due to Trustpilot policy]
Please let us know, if you have any further questions.
Best
DM
Dawn M.
Too Many Inactive Members! Not worth the membership fee
Couchsurfing used to be free. It now costs a yearly membership fee. It appears that they have not archived members that have been around forever and are not active and paying for the membership. Therefore, there are very few active couches available. It’s challenging to find available couches because the majority of those that pop up on a search are not even active.
CV
Chara Vega B.
Une arnaque
Une arnaque / A scam
Je suis tombée dans le piège de 'verification de compte' de 56 euros.
I have been scammed by them, under the pretext of 'bank verification' of 56 euros.
Please if you have been scammed by them, let's act together and file a complaint (Econsumer, signal.conso.gouv.fr). Their business practices are totally illegal and definitely cannot continue to operate within European regulations.
AD
Anthony de F.
Couch listers around the world are…
Couch listers around the world are mostly in it to exploit shoe string /low budget travelers. If listers emphasize their homosexual status on their profile, it means they will require homosexual sex from you. If sex isn't the main motivation, then it will be money. Listers will either come up with a surprise fee for your stay, or will use you as a slave to work for them, cooking, cleaning the home, doing their laundry, or make you do some work in their place of business.
CO
Consumer
They charged my cc while not mentioning…
They charged my cc while not mentioning the costs.... Ridiciulous
No way to get your money back!
Scam!
ML
Maël
arnaque
arnaque
verification du profil payante et non mentionné
TM
Thandi M.
Theft
The "verification" process took money from my bank account without any two-step verification on my part for the payment and without any information given on the fact that money would be taken out. There's no way to contact them aside from the online contact form. I've been reading other people experiences online and many others have had the same thing happen. Fraudulent.