Nicolas D.
“Deswave Held My Website Hostage—Here’s What Happened”
I’m sharing my personal experience with Deswave so others can avoid the frustration I went through. At first, Deswave drew me in with a very cheap offer to build my website. What I didn’t realize was that the low price was only the hook. After seeing what they delivered, I realized I could create a website in about three hours using AI that looked just as good—if not better. That wasn't the worst of it however. From there, the upselling started. I was pushed into multi-year hosting, SEO, SSL, and “management” agreements, making it seem like I was getting a long-term package that would be set for several years. That turned out not to be the case. My website went down unexpectedly, and when I contacted them, I was told I needed to pay an additional $2,000 for an “HTML upgrade.” Against my better judgment, I went along with it. Not long after that, a huge ADA-compliance warning banner appeared across my website—placed there by them—and I was told it would cost another $2,000 to fix. When I told them to remove it, I felt like I couldn’t trust them anymore. The final straw happened right before Thanksgiving. Right? Happy Thanksgiving. I was told my hosting contract was expiring after one year, even though I had just shown my team a contract that said hosting and SSL were included for five years. When I went back into Teamwork (the communication platform we used), the contract that I had previously seen was gone. Completely deleted. This entire experience has felt like constant upselling, unexpected charges, and shifting terms. I wish I had gone with another company from the start, and I hope sharing this helps others avoid the same situation.
Response from DesWaveJan 14, 2026
Dear Nicolas, Thank you for taking the time to share your feedback. We truly regret that your experience with Deswave did not meet your expectations, and we sincerely apologize for any frustration caused. Please know that we take every review seriously, and we have already been in direct contact with you to address your concerns. In an effort to resolve the situation, we refunded 100% of your payment, even covering the costs for the domain and hosting charges. Our primary goal has always been to ensure that our clients are satisfied, and we made these efforts to demonstrate our commitment to resolving the matter. While we have made every attempt to resolve the situation amicably, we understand that you are still upset, and we regret that the issue remains unresolved for you. As previously discussed, we addressed all of your concerns promptly and worked to fix any issues as quickly as possible, and we remain open to further communication to ensure you feel fully heard. Unfortunately, it seems that Trustpilot’s policies prevent us from removing or altering reviews once they are posted. While we completely understand your frustration, we want to reassure you that we take this matter seriously and always strive to improve our services based on client feedback. We do apologize for the confusion around the hosting and SSL terms, as well as any other miscommunications. Should you wish to further discuss the matter, we would be more than happy to continue the conversation and find any additional resolution that might be appropriate. The Deswave Team