How would you rate Gaia Online?
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Michigan
8 reviews
108 helpful votes
Follow artemis p.
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Site has gone 'full woke'
May 21, 2020
Updated review

Well. Gaia has hit a new low. I didn't believe was possible... Even for them.

I saw with my own eyes an GaiaOnline Administrator on Site Feedback, of all places. The section of the site where your suppose to be allowed to give criticism of ideas users submit. And they decided to reprimand users for speaking out against wanting proper pronouns to be placed on the forums.

My only advice to anyone that is left who is still using this site and you have conservative views, or you just don't lean left when it comes to things like political correctness? Get out! Just leave now! Because there is nothing left for you here besides head aches, heartbreak, and disappointments.

Date of experience: May 21, 2020

Where do I even begin with this? Moderators and Gaia Online staff have no problem turning a blind eye to those spending money, massively popular, or their using them. (It's been this way for too long.) But for everyone else, they have no issue treating you like garbage the moment you even make one wrong move. Gaiaonline moderators (some of them) are so badly ill informed on what the site's Tos and what Gaia's policies are. That even if you try to explain to them and submit proof, you get talked down to. The current site owner has been known for ignoring criticism and complaints if it doesn't a line with what his goal/beliefs are.

And the user run market place, (for those who don't use the site. It's where you go to buy and sell items from your inventory.) Is littlerly a hell hole right now. No one really logs in anymore which has made most items hard to come by. The inflation is really bad to the point where, unless your willing to spend big money on virtual currency, then your out of luck. All ways of earning in-game gold outside of events have been nerfed heavely to the point where unless you have friends to help you or if you haven't been black listed by certain people. Then your screwed. Flash games for a while now have been broken. It's boring on the site inbetween events. And I guess at this point? I'm just sticking around to the end watching to see their downfall.

Date of experience: March 26, 2020
Canada
4 reviews
15 helpful votes
Follow Jean C.
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Signed up for the trial and once signed up I could not cancel, cancelled twice and they still keep on auto-billing me. I am fed up with companies who offer a free trial in order to get your CC info and then proceed to perpetually bill you even tho you have cancelled and NOT used their services at all, effectively they are stealing. Nothing but thieves.

Date of experience: July 5, 2022
Massachusetts
1 review
2 helpful votes
Follow Sandra L.
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The website itself is sub-par(garbage really) quality and for the amount it costs, the "content" is definitely not worth it! Don't waste your money and end up like me, locked into a second year(so $200 total) with no refund for a site I've used less than 5 times.

Date of experience: May 18, 2021
Louisiana
1 review
9 helpful votes
Follow Shmeebo B.
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This site has devolved into a cesspool of predators, and it needs to be exposed. I have had run-ins with cult-like groups who meet on other sites where they can discreetly post pictures of people they got from GaiaOnline, then hack, blackmail, and harass them. I've had their victims find me and reach out to help them, and they told me things that correlated with my encounter with the group. I have never had a stalker till I joined the site. I must stress, please do NOT give out your real name no matter how friendly you've gotten.
A relationship was destroyed, my safety was threatened, and I felt trapped because I was found offsite, having to threaten to call the police. Everyone I've met on there is horny, aggressive, or looking to stir up trouble with strangers. There is nothing rewarding to the site for me now. Please exercise discernment with everyone you meet and don't give out your personal information.

Date of experience: February 12, 2022
Hawaii
1 review
1 helpful vote
Follow K L.
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I've been a member since 2006 and in the last month I've spent over $300 because I saw that the site was picking itself back up from the crash it had a few years ago and I wanted to support them. And then they suspended my trading pass / marketplace store because of "Suspicious payment activity". Fair, it's to prevent fraudulent payments and a possible hacker. But it's been over three days, the charge on my card has already gone through and I've already paid for it. My pass is still suspended. I've emailed customer support and have not gotten a single reply. That's so rude, especially to a supporter. They try to shove premium items down your throat so that you'll keep shoveling more money, and then they block you and refuse to reply to you. I'm not supporting them anymore.

Date of experience: April 30, 2020
Virginia
1 review
4 helpful votes
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I signed onto Gaia in 2017 for one year and enjoyed the classes. At the end of the year I tried to cancel my subscription and it was very difficult. Three tries and I finally extracted myself. Fast forward to 2021 and I just discovered that Gaia has kept me on auto renewal all this time! I tried to cancel again, and was told that I have to provide a transcript of the 2017 cancellation (it was a phone call), and though a customer support chat assured me that my subscription has been permanently cancelled (once again), the "finance team" will have to contact me by email to discuss returning $. I am appalled. Beware-there is no phone contact available, and one portal actually tried to get me to sign on to customer support with my credit card! Not very zen at all... I will be following through with every kind of complaint, including a legal complaint, as I'm able, if only for the benefit of other scammed customers.

Date of experience: January 13, 2021
Malaysia
1 review
0 helpful votes
Follow Lin K.
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When they caught me repeating the same mistake, which was overdued by 5 months prior to the ban. They gave no warning or whatsoever before giving the ban hammer, resulting in wasting tons of hours wasted grinding the items inside of the site.
Before the ban I was also talking bout my past banned acc, so the only clue I had was this.

Date of experience: December 1, 2022
Illinois
1 review
0 helpful votes
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Feedback
April 21, 2024

If you criticize the admins of the site, they'll publicly humiliate you in front of everybody on the forums. In fact, they will do this on a weekly basis to beat you into submission for ever contemplating on doing such a thing in the first place.

Date of experience: April 21, 2024
New Jersey
1 review
8 helpful votes
Follow Daina D.
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Honestly, if I could, I would give it a negative rating. Everything's gone down the drain since the new CEO took over. There's a great lack of creativity or appreciation of users anymore. I'm pretty sure that it's being used directly as a cash cow with no concern of bettering the site. In fact, most loyal users - who have been on the site for over several years - are leaving because of this horrible way of running things. For the 'free to play' side of it, gold is rapidly inflating, meaning that you need more gold to buy things that had once been very cheap.

Date of experience: December 7, 2013
Canada
1 review
4 helpful votes
Follow Madeline S.
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This site went to $#*! after all the founders left and the executives board was replaced with money greedy corporate $#*!s. Donation items from 10 years ago that were granted to those who donated a mere $2.50 to support the site in their initial days as a "Thank You" are now being re-released and sold for $100 ~ $1000 dollars for anyone who is willing to pay. The Site Feedback section of the site is pretty much yelling at a brick wall. Not a single $#*! is being given about the users. Their main focus is milking all their remaining cash cows -- who are also their most loyal users. Absolutely disgusting.

This company, in its current state, needs to be reported to the Better Business Bureau.

Date of experience: December 8, 2013

Overview

Gaia Online has a rating of 1.5 stars from 114 reviews, indicating that most customers are generally dissatisfied with their purchases. Reviewers dissatisfied with Gaia Online most frequently mention gold generators, real money and cash shop. Gaia Online ranks 486th among Social Network sites.

service
19
value
18
shipping
9
returns
10
quality
19