Ning Interactive Inc. Reviews 40

What a joke. A shocking company and a platform that is dead.
I cancelled my subscription to the ning platform in 2013 when I refused to move to their updated platform.that came with massive updated costs. Unbeknownst to me they kept me account open and each year tried charging my orginal credit card that I had set up against the account via paypal. Fortunately the card was outdated and they couldn't take money. However, this didn't stop them trying to take a full 10 year payment via paypal on.my bank account. 10 years after I left them and cancelled my account. How they managed to do this is beyond comprehension. My bank cancelled the payment. PayPal have been alerted to the unauthorised request that they let happen. I have contacted ning directly and guess what, no response, no admission and radio silence of course. This company is a shameful scam and should be shut down permanently. Stay away from them please!

I started watching a 1-hour and 8-minute YouTube video about Ning after a friend, who used it years ago, recommended it to me. WOW!! What a longwinded video, and it didn’t even work properly— the image stayed the same while the frames at the bottom changed. It’s definitely not a good advertisement for the platform (or maybe it is, considering my later experiences with their customer service).

Surprisingly, when I contacted customer service, a human answered immediately, which is rare these days. However, despite my initial surprise, the agent wasn’t very helpful. They simply pointed me to web links to answer my questions, which might as well have been done by a bot.

I asked if there were any shorter, more engaging explainer videos since the lengthy one wasn’t what I expected from a service promotion. When I suggested the video was too long and not functioning properly, the agent became quite rude and curt. I explained the video issue, even sending screenshots to prove it, but the agent dismissively told me goodbye and closed the chat.

Frustrated, I reopened the chat to ask for my details to be removed as I was unhappy with their service and didn’t want my information being sold. The agent replied that they had already deleted my details.

Given this experience and after reading the numerous very bad reviews on Trustpilot, I’m relieved I didn’t enter my credit card details for the free trial! It’s a pity because I’ve been struggling to build a membership website on WordPress and hoped Ning might be a better option based on my friend’s recommendation. But I’m VERY disappointed.

I regret not taking screenshots of the support conversation, as it appears they often manage to get negative reviews removed. Overall, my experience with the video, the customer service behavior, and the subsequent reviews has been highly disappointing. I am also highly suspicious of their 5 star reviews that all mostly seem to be written by people with only the one or maybe 2 reviews. I have worked for companies that pressure employees to give a good review and its disgusting!

Working with Ning has been an amazing experience. The functionality is perfect for my “micro social network “ project. It is fantastic value and their support team answer questions almost before I have asked them. Absolutely brilliant!!

Too difficult to cancel. Took over a 1/2 hour.

My review is about their policy regarding adult content and their monthly plans I posted their policy at the end of this review at the very bottom.

I was going to use this company to create a custom website but they are breaking the law , by telling individuals that develop a website on their platform what they can and cannot do.

The internet is not regulated so how can you tell someone that they are not allowed to post adult content on their website?

I understand not being allowed to post pornographic content from adult networks but , to tell someone they cannot post nude photos of themselves are content the sexual that was made by them that's going to far.

And the problem with these hosting companies like this one and Weebly they don't understand that just because you are hosting , a website doesn't give you the right to tell someone that is paying you a monthly

subscription what they can and cannot do. Every time I have a conversation with this company they always say we will take this under advisement but I know for a fact it's not going to go anywhere that's why I'm making this review.

They don't even list all of their plans they have another plan that allows you to have 1.5 million users and the plan is about $1,000 a month but they only showing the other plans.

A lot of people think the highest plan they have is only $99 a month however 100 GB of storage space is not enough for what I was trying to do. The individuals that answer the phone some of them are nice and very knowledgeable and some of them are not knowledgeable at all.

None of them are located here in the United States they are offshore probably in the Philippines India or the UK and this is a major issue because the company was founded here in the United States.

The other issue is they expect someone to be able to create the kind of website they want within 2 weeks , it seems like all they care about is getting money why offer a trial if it's not going to be 30 days.

They didn't put a lot of thought into their plans at all because they went from 1,000 members to 10,000 members , and then jump to 100,000 members and afterwards the maximum is 1.5 million members.

They tell you that you can build any kind of website you want to build but they leave out the fact that there are restrictions and it should not be any restrictions.

If I am paying you $99 or more I'm not going to be okay with any restrictions especially since this is a company that allows you to build websites that's it.

I have been trying for so long to actually do business with this company and they constantly , make it harder and harder for me to make a decision to move forward because I keep finding flaws.

I understand that no company is perfect but companies that ignore current members and new members will not go anywhere and they will be left behind.

I only found out about this company because I did some research and they popped up in my search when I was looking for a website builder I will not be restricted.

I am not okay with the way this company is trying to tell individuals that are making websites on the platform what they will allow and what they will not allow that's so weird.

We believe in freedom of expression and NING, as a broad-based service, is designed to respect many different perspectives and enable them to co-exist seamlessly and effortlessly. With that said, we do not permit pornography, adult content or nudity. To clarify what we define as adult content, nudity or pornography, networks that contain the following would clearly NOT be allowed:

Depictions or images of sexual acts or implied sexual activity
Nudity (exposed or see-through coverage of areas typically covered by a bathing suit or underwear)
Graphic photos or videos
Fetishes
Assuming the content mentioned above is not included, the following are examples of topics and content that would NOT be classified as adult content, nudity or pornography:

NING Networks for heterosexual, gay, lesbian or transgender individuals
Breast Feeding networks, provided that there is no visible nipple or areola
Educational networks promoting safe sex
We recognize that the actions of one member do not reflect the intentions of an entire network or the Network Creator, however, we ask that you please take advantage of the many tools built in to your network to ensure that all of the content and members on your network fit within our rules, and yours!

They make you talk to someone to cancel a free trial. The person is obviously trained not to comply until you tell them to cancel it three times. The cust. service rep. had no desire to address my concerns. See below.

Hi there! I'm here to guide you through. Just let me know in case you need my help.
Gary 20:38
I need to cancel my free trial
Anna 20:38
Please specify the reason for this
Your feedback is very important
Gary 20:39
Not what I wanted for my church
Anna 20:39
Thank you
But we can assist you with the site set-up, just specify your needs
Gary 20:39
Cancel my free trial please
Anna 20:40
We do understand your situation ad offer you to test the platform properly. We added 1 free month to your account. There will be no charges till 2021-08-07
You can test all the features we offer and we can help you with all the queries
Gary 20:41
Cancel it now please
Anna 20:41
Ok, the subscription is cancelled and the site is closed
Do you have any other questions at the moment?
Gary 20:42
You guys need cancel when someone asks, it's a free trial. It shouldnt take three requests to get you to comply.
Read
Anna 20:42
Have a nice evening!
Gary 20:43
Terrible service, didnt even address my concern, good evening.
Delivered
Anna has closed the chat.

Absolutely zero customer loyalty, and nothing special for what you're now charged. Avoid like covid19.

We had chosen Ning as a platform for our company. First of all, we were well assisted by the support team in building the website. Since our company is based in Germany and we have stricter data protection regulations here than in the USA, we needed a signed contract from Ning to secure data protection. Without this contract, we were not able to publish the website. Therefore, Ning had offered to pause the user fees until we received this signed contract. After almost 1 1/2 years we still haven't received this contract back, despite countless inquiries. However, the agreed paused payment of the usage fees was debited from our account at the end of last year WITHOUT ANY PRE-NOTICE or any further info. So we could not stop this process. After noticing this immense debit, we immediately contacted Ning and asked for a refund of the fees, as this was against the agreement. We were also able to prove this with clear emails. But Ning has been stalling us for several months now and refuses to pay us back. On the last messages there was not even an answer. We no longer want to work with such an unprofessional company. Nothing but empty promises, we are now looking for a new trustworthy platform. Nothing but empty promises, we are now looking for a new trustworthy platform.

German: Hatten uns für unser Unternehmen Ning als Plattform ausgesucht. Zunächst wurden wir beim Aufbau der Website vom Support gut unterstützt. Da unser Firmensitz in Deutschland ist und wir hier strengere Datenschutzregelungen haben als die USA, benötigten wir von Ning einen unterzeichneten Vertrag zur Absicherung bzgl. des Datenschutzes. Ohne diesen Vertrag war es uns nicht möglich, die Website zu veröffentlichen. Daher hatte Ning uns angeboten, die Nutzungsgebühren solange zu pausieren, bis wir diesen unterzeichneten Vertrag erhalten haben. Nach nun bald 1 1/2 Jahren haben wir diesen Vertrag leider immernoch nicht zurückerhalten, trotz unzähligen Rückfragen. Die vereinbarte gestoppte Zahlung der Nutzungsgebühren wurde jedoch Ende letzten Jahres OHNE VORANKÜNDIGUNG oder jegliche weitere Info von unserem Konto abgebucht. So konnten wir in diesen Vorgang nicht mehr aufhalten. Nach Feststellen dieser immensen Abbuchung kontaktierten wir Ning umgehend und baten um Rückzahlung der Gebühren, da dies gegen die Vereinbarung sprach. Diese konnten wir auch mit eindeutigen Emails belegen. Doch Ning hält uns nun seit mehreren Monaten schon hin und weigert sich somit die Rückzahlung zu leisten. Mit einem solchen Unternehmen sollte man nicht zusammenarbeiten. Nichts als leere Versprechungen, wir suchen uns nun eine neue vertrauenswürdige Plattform.

I signed up for a free trial that said there was a monthly charge and when my free trial was up they hit me with a $300 annual fee. I contacted them immediately because I wouldn’t have signed up for it unless it was monthly and then said they would switch it to a monthly and give me $270 toward my future months which doesn’t make any sense. I finally said I just wanted to cancel so they said they would switch it to a monthly and refund me the $270. I thought about it more and reconnected them and told them I just wanted to cancel the service altogether and to give me a refund. They placed me on hold (in a chat) for more than 20 minutes. I finally said, are you still there? And they said yea, sorry for the wait, okay we will cance it. It took days to get the money back and it overdrafted my account multiple times. They only gave me $270 back and when I went back again to get the other $30 they flat-out refused. This company is obviously sketchy and the other reviews I’ve heard about them suck a well. Don’t waste your time or money.

Ning is like a fraud company. It doesn't notify you before charging. They have made a fraudulent billing and refund policy which is very deceptive. Never try out ning.

Just about to cancel my remaining two sites with NING. Ning are now a faint shadow of what they were back in 2011/12 when I joined - a dynamic, cando operation that was totally professional. Today they are a broken, tired operation just limping along on past glories and clients subscriptions who are too lazy to change from them to much better, cheaper alternatives. E.G: Their links on the bottom of their site don't even work now - Resource not found! (??) What sort of operation is this. Sayonara Ning. You were once great - but now - broken and dying.

These are thieves.

After the trial account ended, thirty dollars were withdrawn from me, and then they wanted to withdraw three hundred dollars. And I did not consent to this.

Signed up for Ning 14 day trial. About a week into playing with the script I didnt feel it was the best platform for my domain. I called to cancel and the lady who was assisting me gave me a hassle with the cancellation. She kept telling me that my reason was not good enough. She went on with telling me how she understands I want to cancel but she needed more specifics and my explanation didn't suffice. I felt haggled and should have never been on the phone for 15 minutes begging for my trial to be cancelled. They lost my trust in doing business with them. I understand trying to keep a customer but you should know where to draw the line and say thank you.

Ning was fantastic in 2007. Over the past few years the site support has deteriorated so much. Problems never get fixed and when they do the fix can sometimes make things worse.

It's such a shame to see such a good resource being left to wither on the vine - and meantime we're still expected to keep paying.

This company is stealing money.

I signed up for the free trial 4 years ago. Never used the product or service. Last year I realized they were charging my account, I called and asked them to cancel it. They said they would.

This year I get a charge to my credit card. I called and asked for a refund. They said they can't give me a refund. But they would cancel my account. I check, and my account is still not canceled.

Don't sign up for this service.

We've been using Ning for almost 10 years and its served a useful purpose for our non-profit membership of walkers. Over the last few years we realized that acceptable website design had changed so we looked for alternatives. Up until recently, ning looked stale and thought it might be abandoned.
I'm happy to say that we decided to stay and upgrade with Ning 3.0 as the organization and the product was righted again and is now a first rate solution to developing your own social network. The administration feature is easy to work with and the options for tracking and earning income has been enhanced.
More importantly, for many current Ning users, their support has been superb led by Dimitry Markov. Dimitry has been very responsive to all questions and knows the product and the limits of all features. With conference calls, emails and web conferencing he led us to a successful conversion.
I believe the product has great potential and I'm optimistic that if they can take advantage of integrations with other products we will stay with Ning for a long time and create an even better social network at FreeWalkers.org.
Thanks Dimitry and Ning!

Absolutely the BEST customer service I've experienced. The network is perfect for our needs and was easy to setup and very user-friendly. As we encounter questions or need to make adjustments, our customer care agent, Dmitry is so responsive and helpful. We have tried other platforms and none even come close to the expert functionality, visual appeal and customer care of Ning. Taking into account the diversity of design aspects and functions, I highly recommend Ning for any organization. -Raven Sinclaire, Grand Preceptor, Order of the Temple of Solomon Foundation

Some years ago, I was forced by my workplace who were hastily adopting online education to find an online platform that would facilitate discussion. Ning was recommended to me by a colleague, but because universities are so bureaucratic, I couldn't get my faculty to subscribe in time for me to prepare the course, so I had to put it on my personal credit card. I got reimbursement for that, but of course it was an annual auto-renewing subscription.
The online course didn't work and we reverted to face-to-face and stopped using Ning after a few weeks. The renewal came up in January when my credit card is pretty full and it was four years before I noticed I was still being charged.
OK this was my error, but during that time, not ONCE did I get a reminder from Ning that the renewal was about to be processed.
When I did notice, I wrote to Ning explaining the situation and asking if they would refund me, given that I hadn't used the platform during that time. They refused outright, saying that I had agreed to the terms.
I responded that:
a) it hadn't cost them anything to support my 'membership' because I hadn't used the platform
b) that they had continued to charge me at the rate I signed up at even though their fee for that level of subscription had halved
c) they would be able to verify very easily that I had not used the platform, so they didn't need to take my word for it.
No joy.
Eventually about six months later, I got an automatic email asking if my enquiry had been resolved and if they could close it from their system. I said no, and to be brief, they finally agreed to refund me one year's subscription.
I ended up $750 AUD out of pocket.
I believe this is exploitative behaviour and want to warn people against dealing with this company.

Already getting revenue from the ads on my site i created with Ning. Though the interface seemed a bit tough to grasp at the beginning. Thank you!

Best social network creating platform and helpfully service. Thank you!!!