PodiumReviews of podium.com

We have had podium for a couple of years now and the service has been fine. In the last couple of months it has been absolutely horrendous. We have had so many days where we are not receiving calls, calls are dropping, unable to process payments, etc. They keep rolling out "updates" that have made the user experience worse and the actual system work less and less. Our business relies on the ability to communicate with our customers. Who knows how many thousands of dollars we have lost over the last 3 months. One missed call can cost us $2k and we get 20+ calls a day so do the math if this has been going on for 3 months. We are seriously looking to move to another software because this is not sustainable for us or any business to be paying what we are paying for a system that does not WORK! I do not recommend them at all at this current time. Go elsewhere. They are a trainwreck.

Support is poor, and customer service is extremely frustrating to deal with. I feel completely misled by the sales promises. After spending a significant amount of money, I have seen very little value or return on investment. I would not recommend Podium to any business owner.

I am extremely disappointed with Podium. The software simply does not work as promised, and the support and customer service have been terrible from day one. When I signed up, I was sold on big promises about generating more reviews, improving customer engagement, and growing my business. Unfortunately, the reality has been completely different. The platform has consistently underperformed, and despite paying for the service, I have seen very little return on investment. The biggest issue has been the lack of support. Getting help is incredibly difficult, responses are slow, and when someone finally does respond, the issues rarely get resolved. As a business owner, I expect reliable service and support, especially when paying a premium price. Podium promised the world but seriously underdelivered. The software has been frustrating to use, the customer service has been disappointing, and the overall experience has been far below expectations. I would not recommend Podium to anyone looking for a reliable review or customer communication platform. Save your money and look elsewhere.

The AI language model is subpar. When we request support, they reply with video on how we supposed to fix it. It repeatedly asks the same questions after the customer answers..... So, I asked to cancel and even though they added apart from the renewal, they can't cancel it until the renewal. To bad you have to pay $10,400 for a service you don't use.

No communication, we still have phones that are not working and they will not answer phone calls.

I would strongly caution any small business before signing with Podium. My experience with Podium has been extremely disappointing and financially damaging. I signed up after being approached by a Podium representative at a jewellery trade fair. At the time, I clearly explained that I was travelling overseas and would not be in a position to use the platform or complete training straight away. I was told, as I understood it, that I would not be charged until I had been trained and was ready to use the service. That is not what happened. In my experience, I was charged before the service was properly onboarded, before I had been properly trained, and before I was actually able to use the platform in any meaningful way. The onboarding and training did not happen properly. Podium later acknowledged issues by discussing credits and further training, but the core problem was never properly fixed. The most concerning part was the billing and cancellation experience. Even after I made it clear that I wanted the account cancelled and that no further amounts should be taken, Podium continued to treat me as locked into the contract. I was told the agreement had auto-renewed even added 1 more year of misery and that I remained liable for further charges. From my perspective, this was completely unreasonable because I had not received the proper training or support that was central to why I agreed to the service in the first place. This was not a situation where I used the platform successfully and then simply changed my mind. My issue is that I did not receive the proper onboarding, did not get meaningful use of the platform, repeatedly raised the problem, repeatedly asked for cancellation and refund action, and still faced ongoing charges. When I later spoke with Podium again, I explained the previous experience and was led to believe they would try to resolve the matter, provide proper onboarding, and move forward on a better basis. A new offer was discussed, including onboarding within two business days, a free month, and a lower monthly package. After I agreed, the same type of issue appeared to happen again. I was still asking when training would occur, and instead of the previous dispute being properly resolved, I was faced with further billing issues and references to prior amounts allegedly owing.  IN TOTAL THEY CHARGED ME ON DD AROUND $13,000 FOR ALMOST 2 YEARS AND DID NOT ALLOW ME TO CANCEL THE SERVICE. For a small business, this sort of experience is incredibly stressful. The financial impact was significant, but the bigger issue was the lack of accountability. I felt passed around, given promises of credits or support, and then left dealing with ongoing charges and contract terms instead of a proper resolution. Based on my experience, I would strongly not recommend Podium to even my enemies. In my view, the sales, onboarding, billing and cancellation process was handled very poorly and they only cared that i was stuck in a DD that they took money out every month, and I am now pursuing the matter formally.

Podium is essentially an unreliable platform that is incapable of processing and managing incoming emails. Tech support has been abysmal and follow-up has been non-existent. I'm honestly baffled by how they're still in business.

They have unethical business practices. You are told about an initial 12 month term that you can't out of. Ok, but then they auto renew every year for an entire year. I was promised by the sales person that after I year I could "get out any time, and it was monthly." What they don't share is they bill monthly but they try and fleece your for an entire year. God forbid you don't cancel till January. Oops, sorry we auto renewed you for a year.