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OurFamilyWizard Reviews Summary
The company faces significant criticism regarding its customer service and the effectiveness of its app. Many users express frustration over ongoing charges for a service they no longer use or were unable to utilize, highlighting a lack of responsiveness from customer support. Additionally, the app is perceived as cumbersome and inadequate for managing high-conflict co-parenting situations, often exacerbating communication issues rather than resolving them. However, some users appreciate the app's organizational features, which help consolidate communication. Overall, the sentiment leans negative, with calls for improved customer care and more user-friendly solutions.
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-CUSTOMER SUPPORT ANSWERS IMMEDIATELY AND IS PATIENT WITH PARENTS LIKE ME WHO ARE COMPUTER/APP/IT DEFICIENT!
-TELLS YOU WHEN YOUR COPARENT READ THE EMAIL
-GROUP TEXT WITH CLINICAL TEAM MEMBERS LIKE CHILD THERAPIST, FAMILY THERAPIST, AND ATTORNEY AT NO ADDITIONAL COST TO YOU THE PARENT OR THE CLINICIAN.
-CHEAPER THAN $450 HOUR LEGAL FEE AND $400 HOUR PARENT COORDINATOR TO COMMUNICATE
-GREAT IN DEMONSTRATING ABUSE SUCH AS THOSE EMAILS AT 2 AM "COMMUNICATING A NO SHOW FOR PARENTING TIME OR SWITCH IN PARENTING SCHEDULE.
-NO ISSUES ATTACHING IMAGES SUCH AS OLD EMAILS FROM OTHER PLATFORMS LIKE YAHOO OR VERIZON TO PROVE CONFLICTING HISTORY OF COMMUNICATION/INFORMATION
-TIME STAMPED AND GPS COORDINATE FEATURE USED FOR ARRIVAL TIME FOR PICK UP AND DROP OFF. THE CONTROLLING PARENT WHO MAKES HIS OR HER OWN HOURS HATES THIS FEATURE.
-NO MORE HAVING EX INTERFERE WITH EMAIL SUCH AS GOING TO JUNK MAIL SUDDENLY, EMAILS BEING TAMPERED WITH, DELETED, MODIFIED.
I CAN NOT HELP BUT THINK THAT ALL POOR REVIEWS ON THESE SITES FOR OUR FAMILY WIZARD ARE FROM THE CONTROLLING PARENT WHO NOW HAS TO BE ACCOUNTABLE DUE TO THE STREAMLINED RECORD KEEPING OF WRITTEN COMMUNICATION. I AM LOVING THIS PLATFORM SO FAR.
Got an email that my annual subscriptioncwas coming up and that I would be charged automatically. I called and had the rep cancel my account and he assured me I wouldn't be charged but was charged anyways. Gonna have my bank reverse the charge.
Hi Steven - If you’d like to request a refund for an account auto-renewal payment that occurred within the last 30 days, our customer support team will be happy to assist you. Please contact our team by email at [email protected] or by phone at (866) 755-9991.
This app is ridiculously over-priced. Steer clear of it if at all possible. I use it for Calendaring and Messages, both of which are unacceptably bad.
The messaging service doesn't support proper message threads. If you need to communicate solely through the tool, it becomes very difficult to manage over time. The "tone meter" is a ridiculously simple gimmick - do not purchase.
The calendaring is similarly crap. There is no integration with iCal/GCal, which is a ridiculous omission for those of us with busy calendars to manage. Their competitor - twohomes - has had it for years. Unfortunately not an option for me to switch, due to court order and uncoorperative ex.
Stability is a problem. There is often unexplained downtime, which is simple unacceptable for a tool like this.
They haven't added any significant features to the app for ages. This is just a cynical exercise in exploiting a captive market via the courts.
Avoid at all costs.
Hello - Thanks for your comments. OFW provides co-parents with a central, secure location for handling the day-to-day responsibilities of shared parenting. Unlike free apps for messaging and calendaring, OFW is built with features for expense and payment tracking, vital family information and file storage, and journaling, including our new GPS-verified Check-ins tool. We do release updates to our application regularly. Most updates do not require any downtime, but I do apologize for any downtime you may have encountered. Our customer support team is available even days a week to offer technical assistance and receive your feedback. They can be reached by email at [email protected] or by phone at (866) 755-9991. Support hours are as follows: Mon - Thurs: 7:00 AM - 10:00 PM CT; Fri: 7:00 AM - 7:00 PM CT; Sat - Sun: 8:00 AM - 8:00 PM CT.
This app offers little more than email and a shared schedule for a hefty cost. $170/year per person. Yes it provides a log of communication in one location and a journal and calendar can be shared but there's not much else.
My co-parent decided it wasn't worth the month and is no longer using it, because email is basically the same, so I'm out the $. On a very restricted income raising 3 kids and doing my best but there is no recourse. It's mine for the remainder of the year, regardless of it being just over a month of using. Zero flexibility or extenuating circumstances from customer service. Rarely do you encounter that. Most companies are understanding and take into consideration circumstances but it seems like just a money grab for what it is. If you can make it through email save the $400 and do something better with the money.
Hi, Heather - Thanks for reaching out with your comments. Even if your co-parent is not using OFW, there are still ways you can use it for yourself. You can document child-related expenses, track payments and reimbursements, store medical data and other vital information for your children, maintain your parenting schedule, keep a log of check-ins at parenting time exchanges, and much more. You can even create free, limited access accounts for your children and other family members to access the Calendar, create entries in the Journal, and send/receive their own messages. Our support team is available seven days a week to walk you through using any aspect of the app. Please don’t hesitate to reach out if you’d ever like assistance. We can be reached by email at [email protected] or by phone at (866) 755-9991.
This is a garbage app that costs WAY more than it should. Their "full suite of tools" costs more to use than the base $99/year for each participant. So for $200/year you basically get a text app. You can link your lawyer to your account, but they do not actively review your communication.
Customer service is abhorrent. I've had an easier time explaining math to my 1st and 3rd grader.
Courts should not be allowed to force you to use this app.
Don't waste your money every thing about this app and customer service is terrible it's like a circus my personal experience for a year..
Hi, Edward - Thanks for your comments. I’m sorry to hear that your experience using the app and with our support team was like a circus. Our goal is to provide the best tools for managing and documenting co-parenting communication, and we want to know how you think we can improve our services. Please don’t hesitate to contact us with your feedback. We can be reached by email at [email protected] and by phone at (866) 755-9991. Support hours are as follows: Mon - Thurs: 7:00 AM CST - 10:00 PM CST, Fri: 7:00 AM CST - 7:00 PM CST, Sat - Sun: 8:00 AM CST - 8:00 PM CST.
There's a FREE app, AppClose that does the exact same things but does not force parents to pay. Just think that $100 per year for each parent with a 4yr old means they will be spending over $2,800 that could otherwise be spent on their child? I asked our judge to use the free app and they said "Well I'm familiar with OurFamilyWizard" except the judge works for the community. Maybe the judge should get familiar with the free version so the parents can spend that court ordered money on their child's school supplies instead of $200 each year on an app that does nothing more than group texting. Just a thought.
Hello, thanks for your feedback! Unlike free apps and other services, OFW offers a full suite of features for co-parenting communication, including expense registers, GPS-verified check-ins, messaging with documented first-viewed times, and more. Also, unlike other free apps, OFW will maintain a complete record of all your co-parenting communication indefinitely. Our customer support team is available seven days a week to answer your questions and walk you through using any of the tools available in the application. They can be reached by email at [email protected] or by phone at (866) 755-9991. Support hours are as follows: Mon - Thurs: 7:00 AM CST - 10:00 PM CST, Fri: 7:00 AM CST - 7:00 PM CST, Sat - Sun: 8:00 AM CST - 8:00 PM CST.
3rd time I had signed up and paid for My Family Wizard. I was told my Ex was already set up and customer service tells me to sign up/pay and I will connect with my Ex. I signed up, paid to find out my Ex wasn't signed up or even active since 2013! After finding out I reached out to customer service. No response. I reached them on my 2nd attempt now 34 days since I signed up and NO help!
Why couldn't I be told before I pad my Ex wasn't signed up yet?
Hi Ron - Thanks for reaching out. I’m sorry that you’ve had trouble contacting our support team and connecting with your co-parent. We strive to provide the best support possible to help you get the most out of your account. If you still need to connect to your co-parent or have any technical questions, please contact our team by email at [email protected]. Support hours are as follows: Mon - Thurs: 7:00 AM CST - 10:00 PM CST, Fri: 7:00 AM CST - 7:00 PM CST, Sat - Sun: 8:00 AM CST - 8:00 PM CST.
Noting more then a program to profit from. This is just email and a calendar. My ex husband wanted this program and I am forced by the courts. Strange thing is he only uses it for expenses. I have repeatedly had to tell him not to text me or call if not an emergency and he can't follow the calendar nor even show up to appointments he told the court he wants to come to. He put on a great show for the court and is right back to not giving a damn about his kids.
I love how OFW responded telling how this program could help! Ate you kidding with your standard response! He doesn't use the basic tools that he claimed he wanted. How in the world is this program going to fix a parent who doesn't give a damn anoyt his kids and only cares about how much money he has to provide in chomd support and medical bills. Get off your high horse OFW... you are nothing but a money grabbing scam the courts force people to use. He couldn't follow a gmail calendar or email.
Thanks for your comments, Jenny! Apart from a calendar, messaging, and expense tracking tools, OFW offers a variety of other capabilities. These include private and shared journal entries, GPS-verified Check-ins, secure file storage, family vital information storage, free limited access accounts for children and third-parties, free professional access for your family law practitioners, and more. If you have concerns about how your co-parent is using OFW, your attorney will be the best person to assist you with those concerns. If you happen to have technical questions about using OFW, our customer support team is available seven days a week. They can be reached by email at [email protected] or by phone at (866) 755-9991. Support hours are as follows: Mon - Thurs: 7:00 AM CST - 10:00 PM CST, Fri: 7:00 AM CST - 7:00 PM CST, Sat - Sun: 8:00 AM CST - 8:00 PM CST.
Atrocious customer support, as several users have attested.
E-mails are printed in font far too small, and cannot be adjusted in Firefox, only in Chrome, and with custom toying. Threads cannot be printed in chronological order, only in reverse, even if one alters the Date function.
Phone call for help resulted in a peremptory, rude, insulting woman.
Second call was very good, thanks to a fellow named See ("C").
But e-mail to report both calls would not go through: ten times rejected with message: "CAPTCHA validation error: unknown CAPTCHA session ID. Contact the site administrator if this problem persists."
Three hours of my morning wasted, with problems still unresolved, and no way to report.
Here is my message which their site refused to deliver:
"Called this morning for help with printing at 8:03 CST. A woman at Customer "service" was extremely rude, peremptory, interrupted repeatedly, was condescending, and assumed the problem was that I was "unaware" of options. That's right - blame the customer for a very poor site design.
When I asked to speak to a supervisor, or to be connected with another person, she said that wasn't possible. "Just call back, and I won't answer," she said.
I did call back, had to wait several minutes, but then received help from See ("C"). He was very patient, professional and friendly - everything the first person was not. See was exemplary, and should be training other members, while the previous person should be reprimanded for egregious service.
After using your site for over two years now, I have to say it is not "User Friendly". There needs to be an adequate Help section, and more print options - especially printing a thread in order: no matter what I adjust in dates, the messages print in reverse chronological order.
Considering what we pay for this service, your site is woefully inadequate. I don't have any trouble with other services, only yours. I would never recommend the quality of your service to someone, until I see a serious response to these problems."
Hi, John - Thanks for reaching out! Our goal is to provide the best customer support possible to our users. I’m sorry to hear that was not what you experienced. I have passed your comments to our customer support manager so that we may work to improve our support efforts. I have also passed your comments regarding printing messages to our development team as feedback for future improvements to our application. In regards to a Help section on our website, we do offer step-by-step instructions along with images for each tool on the website and mobile apps. They can be found in our Tips & Tricks section on our website via the following link: https://www.ourfamilywizard.com/knowledge-center/tips-tricks
Complete scam. Made by attorneys and enforced by courts to pocket even more money from struggling parents. Nothing on the app that can't be done on a regular phone.
Thanks for your comments! OFW is built to help parents manage the day-to-day decisions and responsibilities of raising children from separate homes. It is a highly secure platform for communication that will thoroughly document and maintain a complete record of activity within the app. Unlike standard email or texting that only allows for free-form messaging, OFW offers a variety of tools each built to help keep co-parenting communication productive and focused on the topic at hand. Also, while we are a subscription-based service for parents, our fee waiver program provides free or discounted subscriptions to parents in financial need. If you ever have any technical questions or would like someone to walk you through any aspect of the app, our customer support representatives are available seven days a week. They can be reached by email at [email protected] or by phone at (866) 755-9991.
Don't use - unprofessional - does not stand by their word. CHECK REVIEWS - not BBB accredited. Will not refund after purchase. Proof was sent of request to cancel and i was told their staff is perfect and doesn't make mistakes. Wish i would have checked reviews first.
**Response to Sara K. - I did call. I was asked to send proof that i called and i did. Then was told that your employees don't make mistakes, i couldn't remember the exact dates and stated them wrong (correcting myself later after i researched thru my call log) - so therefore i am inconsistent and even though i sent proof of the call like i was asked to do (which i assume he wasn't expecting actual proof) he came up with the excuse of his employees being perfect. Totally unacceptable. Don't ask for proof if you won't follow thru.
Hi Ronald - We offer refunds only within 30 days after purchase. Requests for refunds must be documented within the timeframe, and we do not offer pro-rated refunds after those first 30 days have passed. Even if you may not be using OFW for co-parenting communication, you can still maintain a parenting time calendar, log shared parenting expenses, and upload documents to a secure space.
This application was useless to me and the other party never signed up so I wasted $120 so I figured let me try and reach out to customer support, if that's what you want to call them. They were so rude and short with me. Never asked who I even was when I called them. I will not be using this application in the future nor recommending them to anyone. I will also tell the court this application is terrible and to not recommend it to other parties. USE A DIFFERENT APP!
Hi, Nicole - Thanks for your comments. We strive to provide the best customer support, so I’m sorry to hear that you did not have a positive experience. We only offer refunds on parent subscriptions within 30 days of purchase. Our policy on user fees and refunds can be found in our Terms and Conditions, which are agreed to upon registration. Even if your co-parent has not signed up, you can use OFW to record parenting schedules, maintain an expense register, document important family information, and more. You can also invite other family members as child or third-party users so that they can view your calendar and message with you on OFW. If you have any questions about using OFW without your co-parent, please don’t hesitate to reach out to us at [email protected] or by phone at (866) 755-9991.
I am in a child custody battle, due to my ex-wife having turned to prostitution and endangering our children by taking them to her places of prostitution. In Family Court her divorce attorney pushed for Family Wizard to record messages. However, her attorney's real reason was for her to log onto FW pretending to be my ex-wife writing messages baiting me to react, that they would use against me in Family Court. Family Wizard does not verify the identify of whoever logs in and has refused to share log in IP addresses without a Court ordered subpoena! Family Wizard is complicate with this abuse and does not use verification processes such as is used by gmail and other web platforms.
Family Wizard is a con job set up for abuse by dirty trick lawyers. Do not be fooled or forced by Family Court judges into being set up by dirty tricks attorneys.
Hi, Edward - Thanks for your comments. If you have concerns about your co-parent’s activity on OFW, you may want to bring those to the attention of your attorney. OFW does thoroughly document user activity within the app, and we have an official policy on how to obtain certain information about your co-parent’s activity. If you’d like to learn more about this policy or have any technical questions, our support team is available seven days a week by email at [email protected] or by phone at (866) 755-9991. Support hours are as follows: Mon - Thurs: 7:00 AM - 10:00 PM CST, Fri: 7:00 AM - 7:00 PM CST, Sat - Sun: 10:00 AM - 6:00 PM CST.
This does not give you the option to report verbally abusive messages to the court. I think this app is probably great for parents on speaking terms, but when one is cruel, it's basically useless. It's been a few years now, and I'm still being harassed and treated like garbage, and this site is helping him do it. This is supposed to be for correspondence about the children only, and OurFamilyWizard needs to take steps to ensure it's being used properly and responsibly.
Hi, Missy - Thanks for your comments. We allow parents to add their legal and mental health professionals to oversee their communications directly through OFW. It’s free to grant your professionals access to view your account, and you can do so from the website in the My Account section under User Management. Also, you can always download and print your messages and other entries from your account to share with your professionals as needed. Both of these options provide a way for you to share any communications you’re receiving with your professionals so that they may help you to address your concerns. If you ever have any technical questions about OFW, our customer support team is available seven days a week by email at [email protected] or by phone at (866) 755-9991.
If you're actually a good parent who pays their support and keeps the parenting times but you're ex is a narcissist who still thinks she's married to you... then you'll love this app. This app gives them the feeling like they can still contact you daily all day!
Hi, Tim - Thanks for your comment. OFW provides a way for your co-parenting communication to remain separate from other forms of communication you use every day, like texting or email. Keeping your co-parenting communication organized and secured within its own unique space allows you to decide when you wish to address these communications. Notifications on OFW are available but are entirely optional to use, and you can customize how and when you receive them. They can be sent to you right as new entries are created for you to view, or you can choose to receive a “Daily Digest” alert that will compile a list of all of the new activity for you to view on OFW from that day into a single notification. This provides another way for you to decide when you address the communications you’re receiving on OFW. If you have any technical questions or would like a walkthrough of any particular feature on OFW, please reach out to our customer support team. Representatives are available seven days a week by email at [email protected] or by phone at (866) 755-9991. Support hours are as follows: Mon - Thurs: 7:00 AM - 10:00 PM CST, Fri: 7:00 AM - 7:00 PM CST, Sat - Sun: 10:00 AM - 6:00 PM CST.
GMail or any other email client would be a far superior solution. Using any other email client I can forward my emails to the same recipient thus keep continuity. This apps makes every email message unique if you want to follow up on your own email... such as a reminder. This simple issue causes more confusion than anything and we want clarity.
The fact that the app doesn't sort based on chronology is equally mind blowing.
OFW likes to decide not to print... often resulting in delays to creating motions, affidavits and evidence.
Not a single judge knows anything about this app other than to suggest it.
Hi, Stephen - Thanks for your feedback. I understand how the ability to forward a message you sent to the same recipient would provide a way of sending a reminder about that message within the same chain. I will bring your comments to our development team as we continue to update our technology. By default, many entries on OFW will be viewable in chronological order automatically. For instance, messages in your Inbox are sorted in chronological order with the newest messages at the top of the list. On the website, you can reverse the order to view the oldest messages at the top of the list by clicking the ‘Date’ header at the top of the page. Reports on OFW can also be generated so that entries are viewable in chronological order in the report. If you’re having any trouble generating a report to download and print, please reach out to our support team so that they may provide assistance. Our team is available seven days a week by email at [email protected] or by phone at (866) 755-9991.
I have had no issues with the app or the updated version and it is easy to use and hassle free. I have an abusive ex and this way things are recorded and knowing they have read the messages making them accountable if they chose to ignore. I agree with a previous post that all the negative reviews are from disgruntled ex's that don't like the idea of this system being so imperative that they can't lie or say they never got the message simply a lie
Thanks for your comment! We’re glad to hear that you find the tools on the app beneficial for co-parenting! If you ever have any questions, please don’t hesitate to reach out to our support team by email at [email protected] or by phone at (866) 755-9991.
I think it is actually unsafe that this program allows OC to read a message before your Spouse reads this message, the message will still show as "Unread" until spouse reads the message. This is put my children and I actually in harms way (physically). This feature RUINS this product.
Thanks for your feedback. The website and mobile app will timestamp when the other parent has first viewed a message. If you are concerned that the OC is acting unethically, I’d recommend bringing this up with your counsel to determine what your best course of action is. If you have any technical questions about your account, our customer support team is available seven days a week by phone at (866) 755-9991 or by email at [email protected].
It makes all the basics much for difficult.
No calendar integration (you can't overlay your work calendar for example with the children's calendar).
No method of performing bulk updates from existing calendars (such as kids sports team calendars).
No method of forwarding emails into the message board (for things like kids camp emails).
The app isnt even half baked.
Thanks for your comments! I understand how being able to overlay your work calendar on your OFW calendar and adding items via bulk updates would help you to more quickly update the calendar and stay on top of your schedule. You do have the ability to export events from your OFW calendar and import those into any outside calendar you use like on Outlook or iCal. Messaging on OFW is a closed system, so while you cannot forward emails into your OFW Message Board, you can upload emails as files into the MyFiles section of your Info Bank. You can also attach files to messages you send in the OFW Message Board if you wish to include a copy of an email from an outside source. If you have additional feedback or any technical questions, please don’t hesitate to reach out to our customer support team. They can be reached seven days a week by email at [email protected] or by phone at toll-free (866) 755-9991.
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The leading app for more peaceful co-parenting
Streamline your parenting schedule, shared expenses, and communication with the #1 court-recommended co-parenting app.
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Hi Lori - Thanks for your review! We're so glad to hear that our platform has been working well for you!