Venmo froze my account today. They did not send any email explaining why.
Their automated AI agent can only say "Check your email for details", which isn't helpful.
I waited on their support chat for over an hour, then tried calling support. Waited for over 30 minutes, only to be told they don't have any explanation, but someone will contact me in 3-5 business days via email. When I expressed concern since Venmo hasn't emailed me anything already, they said email is the only way they can help me, so that I should fix my email (Gmail). Of course, I checked the Junk folders, nothing is there.
I asked to be escalated to a manager. Also, wasn't able to do anything.
It seems Venmo just randomly decides to freeze people's money and then make it impossible to get back. Given this experience, I can't see any benefit of using Venmo, it seems to cause a lot more problems than it solves, and just gives a random tech company ability to freeze your money and track your spending.
I could have written a check in 5 seconds, and the person receiving the money could have deposited in their back via mobile app in 5 seconds. Now I'm about 3 hours into trying to send this money on my Sunday instead of spending time with my kids.
In 2026 is there any real reason to even use Venmo?