Freestart Plc - www.freestart.plc.uk

I joined in May'21 after had a phone call from the person I dealt with and WISH NEVER HAD THAT PHONE CALL. Especially, after I disclosed that I have no knowledge of technology.. I trusted him instead of an Indian company who was a lot cheaper..I even wrote a 5-star review on TRUSTPILOT..which was my second mistake..

PLEASE DO NOT SIGN WITH THE COMPANY..I have had a phone call from another man and he told me that they are a PLC and I do not have the money to fight with them... I WANT TO SEE FREESTART PLC IN 2 YEARS TIME IF THEY LAST?

I started as a new member of a company using these guys and reviewing their work was troubling to me, especially as they couldn't seem to explain their methods when questioned about them.

WOW where to begin with Freestart!

I have had to award 1 star as it will not allow me to award no stars.

I received a call from this company to purchase a website and domain, then get roped into buying SEO etc. on top.

Had to pay £50 plus VAT for a footer to the website- well now that I know that the footer is a part of the website itself, not happy is an understatement.

then being charged £499 plus VAT for SEO,- somewhat expensive.

I then ask about the cookie policy and the privacy policy (these are legal requirements to all websites)- funnily enough the girl on the end of the phone couldn't answer and advised that we would receive an email with all of the answers to questions that we asked, unsurprisingly I am still waiting.

I asked for the control panel log in details and again still waiting.

wanted to know that the site will use IMAP & not POP- still waiting.

We are chasing a refund of our money and would not recommend this company under any circumstances. They say that they are government funded this is utter rubbish as I have been researching and cannot find any government recommendation/endorsements.

Sales guy was very good at convincing me to go with Freestart. I agreed they could look after 2 of my websites. I paid for a year upfront.

The first draft of the website was a total MESS! The brief was simple. Copy everything from my existing website including colours. My website is pink they gave me a rubbish blue website which looked nothing like mine.

I was within the legal time to cancel the agreement (2 weeks) and from Oct 1st 2015 there is a new law protecting customers from digital rogues.

They emailed me refusing to refund!

The designer phoned me and basically argued with me stating my site was acceptable and any more changes I could go into the dashboard and do them myself.

Awful company - awful service.

I set up a website with Freestart in 2006, when I knew very little about computers. I think my site was quite good back then. BUT - where other providers constantly improve their product and you can update your site to the latest option for free, Freestart charge for every change. They frequently ring to try to sell you features you either don't need, or which should be free. It's annoying to be told by your website provider that your site is outdated, and for 'only' an extra £150 you can have the new version.

I knew I had to change. My site did not work on smartphones. The final straw came when, without telling me first, Freestart took payment from my credit card for the next year four and a half months before the due date. I gave notice (which has to be ten weeks, so I was well within time limits). Did I get a refund? Eventually, after ten days' prevarication, suggestions I might get 'part' of it back, and being told the director would have to be consulted.

I'm now building a new website with Wix. It's cheaper and WAY better.

We signed up to Freestart a number of years ago after a cold call. This is where it all went wrong.

The site provided is claimed to be 'bespoke' but it is just a template with a few changes made here and there, really not worth the money we paid. It is from this point that you start to realise your site is missing vital features, upon calling to discuss this you are asked for more money. £200 for this, £150 for that, it is ridiculous. You end up spending far more than you would with another provider and receiving far less functionality.

But that's not the worst of it, Freestart then offered an SEO option to us, and this is what nearly crippled us.After paying them hundreds of pounds Freestart started use VERY dodgy methods to improve on your google listing position. (Search: blackhat SEO).

We found our site listed on hundreds of websites with no relevance to our business and many on adult themed and pornographic sites.

We weren't the only ones who noticed either, Google did too and placed a penalty on our site. At this point our website visitor numbers fell to nearly zero and our trade dropped by over 80%!

AVOID FREESTART AT ALL COSTS! Not only will you pay over the odds for a terrible website but you could stand to lose a lot more!

Bought phone application for my web. They give me phone icon which you need download to your phone and install it(not the same way you do it in app store and customers were not sure if this is safe or no so no one actualy instaled it only me).Look cheap plus you get 3 sites in this app and when you want product you transferred to your web and not using app anymore. Overpriced product for £90. I was told by sale if you dont make money from this we will refund you "hahaha". After 10 months another shock they charge me for another year. 3 months before actual renewal. I never sign for any renewal(you was sign automaticly) Lol why no one ever told me or informed me. I was told by sale its for one year and if I am happy I can buy it for another year. Ok I call the cmpany second day i found money gone. That was in november. Called 7 times I was told that accounts will contact me in 2 days after 3 months and 7 calls and milions lies as they try to call but no one was available(working from, home 7 days a week) i was connected to account directly(miracle) And they told me I should send them written cancelation 8 weeks before renewal(which i never sign for) and now I dont have time because on 26th it will be 1 year when I sign for. So I dont have other option then call my bank and ask for my money. Sorry me English is bad I know that.

Bad company, over priced and rude selling to people with no IT skills and basic over priced web starter kits that you could get for cheaper if you shop around.

Been with them for some time but since they got larger their service has declined except for regular calls to add another service or a charge for adding something. Have fell off the chart and they are now asking for fees for optimisation, Facebook entry, mobile phone apps etc ..As well as a charge for upgrading to a template used by newer customers

Have advised I want to go to another smaller supplier where I can get a contact to speak to and am now informed that they want £25.00 per domain to transfer , which was not the case when I left the last company to go to them.

Will have to contact nominet to get advice as I am led to understand that they are permitted to make a nominal charge but not multiply it for every domain.

Never had to review a company before but so annoyed with this company.

Paid for website in April this year and still nothing. They have put wrong name wrong info and even put a letter I wrote to them as website info.

They have now told me the website is live but I cant get into to it and neither can my customers. I have now been told by them there is not enough content on the website to go on google. So have paid for nothing. Also spent so much time on phone and although I am 1st in queue after 8 minutes put phone down. Sent letter to manager but not had a response from him.