Kudobuzz Product Reviews & UGC

I have used Kudobuzz for the past 4 years to collect customer reviews, but since the free plan has been retired a few days ago, I have now completely lost access to ALL of the reviews I have collected over those 4 years unless I pay for a subscription.

Even more concerning, I am also unable to stop Kudobuzz's automated review-request emails being sent to my customers unless I pay for a subscription - essentially, I am being asked to pay for the privilege of STOPPING them from contacting my customers.

When I contacted Kudobuzz, their support team told me:

“There's no way to temporarily access your account or retrieve individual reviews without upgrading. The only way to stop emails or access your reviews is to subscribe to the paid plan.”

I contacted Shopify about this, and they confirmed that an app should not continue emailing customers after uninstall using data obtained through Shopify. Shopify also said that if Kudobuzz isn't compliant with Shopify's mandatory data-erasure request and that if they continue sending emails after this, it's a breach UK GDPR and I will be within my right to report them to the ICO if they do not comply.

I find this extremely concerning and disappointing. After using Kudobuzz for four years, I should not have to pay a subscription simply to access the reviews I have already collected, or to STOP a third-party service from contacting my customers.

If you have used Kudobuzz, I would strongly recommend reviewing what access they have to your customer data and what happens if you stop using the service.