Farmon Updates: Complaints, Withdrawal, Recovery, and More - BlogPh.net

Top Menu

Farmon Updates: Complaints, Withdrawal, Recovery, and More

This ongoing series aims to provide FarmOn updates to help fellow investors who were left in the dark after the Covid-19 pandemic hit. 


farmon updates

Farmon Philippines

If you're reading this and wondering what this is all about, here's an introductory post with lots of information about FarmOn before and right after the pandemic:

Farmon Philippines Review

Farmon Updates

FarmOn has been sending updates to members through the site dashboard during the height of the pandemic. So at that point, I just waited it out and did nothing. 

Another update included the option to choose a withdrawal option. I chose cash via bank account back in July 2021. Several months after, there was nothing. Some did get paid based on several comments I've seen on Facebook, but I didn't get any. 

farmon withdrawal

So I chose a different route by the end of 2021, hoping it's faster. I thought that since they continue to operate, it will be easier to convert the funds to rice instead. I'm happy seeing other users receive their rice sacks in Metro Manila, but there was still nothing for me. 

I sent a follow-up on the community site in early 2022 and got referred to the Pangasinan. Even if pandemic restrictions have eased up, imagine residing in Metro Manila and being referred to the province about 4 hours away. 

Oh well, my hometown is in the same province anyway so I might as well contact their local office when I visit home, which I did in June 2022. The supposed point of contact referred me to another coordinator. I still didn't receive anything though, not even an assurance that I will be informed once rice become available. I thought of showing up at their office but didn't want to waste gas if there was no guarantee, even the coordinator discouraged me from going. 

From hereon, it seems like a dead-end waiting game. Even the Farmon blog has no updates since October 2020:

Their Facebook page has not been updated since early this year too. Their pinned comment last January 2022 can at least possibly answer some of the common questions investors have at the moment:

Please allow me to answer your top questions:

1. Why are we posting updates on our operations?
To wit: The pandemic has made FarmOn’s operation infinitely more difficult — we face serious disruptions in supply and logistic chains, product distribution and irregular/declines in demand. Like every other businesses, we are also struggling on these times. Our intention is still the same but more sincere — to win the crisis and able to give back everybody's’ investments.

Now: We are slowly recovering and are able to operate -- we wanted to update you, as an investor, on that.

Profits from our operations are sent directly to withdrawal requests.

2. Why are we still operating?
To recover from the crisis and give back everybody's investments.

3. What happened to the profits generated from our operations?
All profits are sent to investors withdrawal requests.

4. How can you help us?
a. You may refer our for sale assets/properties to possible interested buyers
b. You may refer our products and services to possible interested clients

5. How can you reach us personally?
You may visit us po at our office in Brgy. Mauban, Balungao, Pangasinan. I would be more than willing to show you our current operations.

6. What happened to the queue?
We've been processing requests on queue basis since May 2020 (except on the harvest months when we prioritized Rice Conversion requests).

Farmon Complaints

While it seems like a dead-end, you can continue to hope, pray, or find other means to follow up. 

A group of Overseas Filipino Workers filed a complaint against FarmOn at the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI). 

On the Facebook group, FarmOn Complaints, some members have contacted the Securities and Exchange Commission and have sent Farmon a demand letter. The rest are mostly just waiting. But you can at least feel support from fellow investors when you share what you've experienced and tried. 

Apart from FB, you may also consider r/phinvest, a Philippine investment community via Reddit for more support. 

I even stumbled upon a Farmon-related change.org petition you may want to sign and share. 

As for me, I will probably just be waiting like everyone else or will try other venues as suggested by some, including contacting popular media outlets, the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), and more. I'll come back to this post for updates. 

Rice Conversion and Cash Withdrawal

As of July 2022, support retracted the rice conversion option on my account. It's now back to the cash withdrawal method I selected initially.


Farmon Cash Withdrawal Option
 

I asked why there was a need to coordinate with their Pangasinan office for the conversion to rice option when I lived in Metro Manila, and their website says they deliver to the National Capital Region. They are no longer delivering now. Welp. 

My account is not eligible for the third option, which is to convert the investment into the property as it falls below the minimum 50,000 pesos requirement. Under this, investors can exchange 50k for every 150 meters of land. This is most likely from Farmon’s farm lots. 


Farmon Investment Property

I am not expecting anything from the cash basis option because there was no update about it for several months the first time I did it. After starting from scratch, the priority level and batch/queue number for each fund type have been delayed further. I have a queue number that’s almost at the 1000th line. 

Since the bank deposits are categorized by priority batches A to E depending on the fund type, you won't be receiving everything all at once. Priority A is the actual available balance on your account. Priority B is from investments under Farmon 1.0 and 2.0, covering early 2019. 

There are still those who weren't paid for investments earlier than their period (including me), and this bracket is so delayed now. Prio C covers late 2019 to early 2020 and Prio E is for anything else not covered by the above. I assume Prio D (not on my list) covers 2020 and 2021? I wonder if there was anyone who invested during that time. If there were, I commend their faith in Farmon. 

If you do not need the money at the moment or believe that it’s probably gone for good, you may want to pick the last withdrawal method option. You can lock the total funds for a year in exchange for 4% interest. If I chose this option in early 2020, it would have been about two years by now. I have no idea if those who picked this method have already earned from it.

Farmon's Most Recent Response 

Here's Farmon's most recent response (October 2023) about the pending withdrawal request. 


A recent comment below mentioned how Farmon is replying to follow-ups using the same copy-and-paste responses. True enough, the replies I received (images above and below) are indeed similar.

 



With that, it appears that the same commenter's suggestion seems ideal—to be a "pain in the b*tt for Farmon," including filing lawsuits. This will force them to take action and process your request.

Despite all these setbacks, I am confident that the farming industry will soon recover, hopefully including Farmon. If not, I will consider this as another tuition fee paid for learning.

31 comments :

  1. Thank you. I will wait for your update. Farmon investor here

    ReplyDelete
  2. Same here.. Thank you for the update, hope all goes well and receive back our investments.

    ReplyDelete
  3. thank you for this. I have also recently asked if I can visit their pangasinan office and schedule an appointment with their ceo but the earliest date they provided is Nov 2023...im currently looking for ways to report them to NBI or file a case

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. This merits a class action lawsuit, if you can rally more people to join the cause.

      Delete
    2. Keep us updated on this

      Delete
  4. Hi po, have you asked them how’s Option 4 works? Need to queue pa din ba or you can request an encashment after a year?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hello! I have no idea. I will ask Farmon support and let you know what they say.

      Delete
  5. Hi all, I choose option 4, but still didn't get my investment back. I was about to visit Pangasinan but I changed my mind. There is no point of wasting time money and effort but wait. What a lesson learnt from unscrupulous capitalists.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes, don't go to Pangasinan. None of them there can help.

      Delete
  6. Hi all same here, I choose option 4 but didn't get my investment back.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Thank you for the update. Ako din, waiting lang. Was actually planning to visit their office, but ayoko mag aksaya ng gas at madidismaya lang.

    ReplyDelete
  8. I choose option 1 but till now no withdrawal of investment. I am really waiting patiently but sometimes it makes you angry when you realize that they are only using your money and not giving you any profit at all.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Woah i never thought that there's a fuss already. I am an investor since 2016 and forgot about my investment when pandemic started until I remember it today. I just want to withdraw everything I have from them. - Marco

    ReplyDelete
  10. They have no risk management for these kinds of scenarios. I am only a small investor last 2019 and I can only imagine how burden it would feel for those big investors that didn’t get any portion of their money back.

    ReplyDelete
  11. I am follwing up and told there's a queue on which no one knows which investor was paid and which is not. I invested so much as it's supposed to hekp the farmers but i think this is almost like a SCAM. Any update? Anyone knows the latest? Or has anyone been really paid?

    ReplyDelete
  12. Nareceive nyo na po ung rice? Nabawas na kasi sa account ko pero wala pang dumadating. Thank you.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hala, you should follow up. I cancelled the rice request and changed the option na eh.

      Delete
  13. I am supposed to be asking follow up my withdrawal request from a 2018 investment today but I saw this blog. I am not expecting that it will be released anytime soon but I do hope.

    ReplyDelete
  14. Any updates will be appreciated

    ReplyDelete
  15. Any updates po? Mahaba pa rin ang queue parang d nababawasan

    ReplyDelete
  16. any update @farmOn???

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Because of your comment, I checked my Farmon account. I switched to Option 4 on July 2022. Wala pa ring movement since then. 😅 I'll come back July to see if it earned for the annual interest.

      Delete
  17. I knew there was a problem, but thought it was just a hiccup and things will be normal again. it's sad to see these comments and as an investor trying to help out these farmers, it's frustrating that we don't have any updates from their office!

    ReplyDelete
  18. Anyone here who actually received their money from farmon? Every month ako nagi-email and prio A pa din until now

    ReplyDelete
  19. July 18, 2023. Still no update. I am following up since Dec 2021. I have a Priority A, B, C and E for withdrawal. Still haven't received anything even from the Priority A which is money in my vault before the lockdown.

    ReplyDelete
  20. Any latest update na po kaya? Been waiting for years na din.

    ReplyDelete
  21. I have been asking them thru their main website and they always reply that the only way they can return the investments is thru liquidation of Farmon's assets which includes some of their farmland. I'm sure this will take a long time.

    ReplyDelete
  22. Any update po about the investment? thanks po.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hello! Thank you for the comment. This prompted me to check my account. I've switched to different options for withdrawal since the pandemic. I switched to option 4 last year. It's over 1 year now so I'll send a message to check on the status. I'll update this when I receive a response.

      Delete
  23. There is no movement. FarmOn prioritized the ones that are actual "thorn in their butts", meaning those who are persistently pestering them, those who personally go to their office, those who have legal cases against them etc. Even if there is a queue, it is not followed because some who are queued farther are able to get post-dated checks and already able to withdraw them than those who are queued first. Those who are waiting and only contact them online are not entertained and they just give out automated "ready-made" responses: "On going po ang queue, we are processing withdrawal request based on the profit generated from our operations. Fastest possible way ay ma process liquidation ng assets ni Farmon, pero wala pa pong buyer ng mga assets na binebenta up until now. What we can assure is continuous ang operation ni Farmon to recuperate from our past 2 years losses, this will take sometime because farmon severely affected by the pandemic. Thank you po."

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Woah, that is indeed copy pasted. That was the same reply I received recently.

      Delete

Copyright © BlogPh.net