HoneyBook
Reviews and Complaints

HoneyBook stole my money and I'm tryin' to get it back.

A client messed up and said they didn't pay for the video I made and paid through HoneyBook. HoneyBook then took the money from my bank account and never gave it back. I couldn't talk to the bank or HoneyBook even though the client sent lots of emails saying it was a mistake. It really hurt my small business. Don't use their services. They don't protect small businesses. I lost $500 and now I have to sort it out with my client myself.

This company is super misleading. It ain't really for small businesses. They hardly give any live support, and they sneak in extra fees that ain't easy to find on their website. The website says "Low 1% transfer free and instant deposits" - but they don't mention that you gotta wait for those instant deposits, and they also charge an extra 3% for credit card payments, or 1.5% for ACH payments. And on top of that, they slap on a 1% instant deposit fee for either of those payment methods you choose. I've been waiting for a live rep for 3 whole days, but there ain't one. That's it.

I been tryin' to cancel HoneyBook for like three months now. It's expensive and don't bring me many leads. The charge to book through their service is more expensive than any other way to pay, and my clients ain't got no other option to make a payment. Feels like I'm just throwin' money away. I been callin' and leavin' messages but ain't gettin' no help, 'cause there's basically no customer support. I sent messages through the app to cancel and get my money back, but ain't nobody callin' me back. I'm a reasonable person, but this is messin' up my business and my bank account and I can't wait 'round for someone to get back to me no more.

Honeybook *** is like a middleman for payments. They're keeping my money and not telling me why or answering my messages.

I tried HoneyBook to book my photographer. She took the full payment and then canceled our shoot. She broke the contract and won't respond to my calls or emails. HoneyBook won't give me a refund (which is stealing).

HoneyBook put my money in the bank, but it went missing. They're now saying my account info is wrong, but it's not. When I try to fix it, they say I can't use that account anymore. All the good reviews I saw were fake.

I pay for HoneyBook services every month so my clients can pay for my services through them, but for the past month, they haven't sent any of the payments my clients sent to me to my bank account. My HoneyBook account keeps receiving payments, but the money hasn't reached my bank. It's frustrating because they just decide to keep my money. I've already sent all the documentation they asked for, but there's been no solution. I'm paying for a service I'm not receiving, and they're keeping money they shouldn't.

When I signed up for HoneyBook, I didn't have the option to get the $1 a month for 6 months membership like the people who referred me did. Instead, I had to pay $39, which didn't seem fair to me. So, I decided to cancel my membership. Later on, I saw ads about the $1 membership and thought of signing up again. However, it said it was only for first-time members, even though I was a first-time member before and the code "only1" didn't work for me back then. It made me pay $39 again!

When I reached out to *** on chat support to explain this, he was really rude. I tried to tell him that the code didn't work for me when I was a first-time member, but he kept insisting that I wasn't a first-time member anymore. It was frustrating because I was trying to explain that the code didn't work for me back then either, and I had to pay $39 again!

My complain is same as the one filed here on 9/27/2022. Quoting from that complain: "Honeybook deposited my funds and it was pending in my bank account. Then it disappeared. They are suddenly now saying my account information is incorrect but it is not. When I try to update my account they tell me i can no longer use that account for failed attempts." In my case, I copied and pasted my credit union account number, all 10 digits, and the institution's routing number. It hasn't registered with HoneyBook's system, and I've tried more than once. Earlier today, I got the same failed attempts message that is referenced above. I'm uploading a screenshot, with the accounting and routing numbers blurred out. Right now, I am awaiting a deposit of $2,500, and it's been almost two weeks. HoneyBook claims that such deposits are made in 2-3 business days.

I hired a Media company for photography/videography/DJ services in August '21. They used HoneyBook to process half of the total payment. But in February '23, the company emailed me, declaring bankruptcy and closure, leaving me without services for my September '23 wedding. I can't reach the company, and the vendors they recommended aren't honoring the agreed price as they haven't been paid. I disputed the charge with my credit card company, but HoneyBook deemed it valid, so my dispute was denied. My credit card company requested a document from HoneyBook confirming I'm owed a refund from the Media company, but contacting HoneyBook has been futile. I left many voicemails without a callback. I chatted with their live agents, receiving only automated responses. Eventually, one agent advised me to deal directly with the vendors because the Media company won't issue refunds. Clearly, a bankrupt company won't refund! I believe the Media company took $1450 from me, with HoneyBook complicit.

I signed up for Honeybook in December. I got one new client who pays $5775 per month. When I set up the platform, it said payments would clear in 5-8 days. So, I scheduled the client's payments to be due mid-month, hoping they would clear before the month ends. The client made their first payment on January 11, and the platform said it would reach my account on January 20. But it's still not in my account, and my bank doesn't even show it as pending. Now, the client has made the second payment, and the Honeybook platform just says it's pending with no indication of when it will reach my account. They don't let customers integrate the platform with their own payment tools like QB, even though they're integrated with QB. So, customers have no choice but to use their payment portal, which takes a long time to get access to the money. I have to wait until Monday, which is frustrating. My concern is that Honeybook targets female entrepreneurs, but not having a payment portal that allows them to actually get the money they earned from clients could lead to business failures. They haven't resolved my issue, and they haven't even responded to my emails. I'm stuck in a chat bot loop, where it takes two hours for a human to respond, and when they do, it's just a canned statement, not someone actively trying to solve the problem. I'm going to switch back to QB for my invoicing and cancel Honeybook, but I have over $10K that I don't know where it is. It's not even pending at my bank, even though it's been more than 5-8 business days. It's not normal for a Saas business to hold customers' money like this.

I use HoneyBook project management software to manage the freelance design projects I do for web design. On 12/14/2022, one of my clients made a payment in the HoneyBook portal for $1,000 for her *** Services. HoneyBook charged the customers card, took out their processing fees, and were supposed to have issued me a net amount instantly to my debit card for $960.75. Instantly, meaning the payment should have showed up to my account within 30 minutes. The payment did not show up within 30 minutes. I reached out to HoneyBook Concierge via chat and they provided a payout trace ID and informed me I needed to contact my bank to track down the payment. I contacted my bank and gave them the trace ID. My bank is saying they have no record of that ID number nor do they see any type of pending transaction sent by HoneyBook into my account. I have used my bank and HoneyBook to process transactions in the past with no issues, but this time, no one seems to know where my funds are. After my bank informed me they have no record of the transaction ID number, *** then told me I should check my transaction history for the estimated deposit date, I informed them the date shows the same day as 12/14/2022. HoneyBook then advised me that the transaction must have been sent as an ACH transfer which can take 7-8 business days to process, even though the system shows that it was processed as a credit/debit card. The trace ID number I was given only has 12 digits, not 15 digits which is typical for any type of ACH payment so the money was not sent to me as an ACH payment. HoneyBook live chat agents have not responded to me with any type of resolution, only providing a 12 digit tracking number for the payment and telling me to contact my bank. *** contacted my bank several times and they have no record of the payment.