GrootMade Themes & Plugins 

Scammed me.

I reported Martin Groot to
1. fiod NL
2. melden.meldmisdaadanoniem NL
3. consument ACM NL
4. Police

I suggest you do the same. If international request they lodge with Dutch Police.

Ensure you report Martin Groot to authorities - it is the only way to stop him scamming people.

Back on 2025, I got a Lifetime license, $250 I paid, just a few after the legal issue Festinger had, later, site went down several times, several issues with license that had to be fixed over and over, there was just a short time of stability, after that, site went down, most users were looking for answers... Some time later, they came out with Grootmade, saying was better, more stable and bla bla bla... At first lifetime licenses were migrated, few after, they decided they will remove it at all and you have to get new licenses, later on, message changed, lifetime will be restored... Once again license was dropped to free user and by the time you asked to fixed it they forced you to leave a positive review with 5 starts on trustpilot to get lifetime license back, I done it actually... License was restored... few days after "Martin" show up, saying another admin messed up everything, and asked users to contact him to restore license once again... it was fixed and in less than week... Grootmade shows 1 community users with legend "all users shares 1 account", and finally... everything disappear, festingervault, festingerworld forum not longer there, grootmade showing DNS errors, trustpilot profiles showed as "profile not longer claimed", now festingervault shows as free github project that I will never install to be honest, even if code is there I would not trust this scam... I got sick of this people, won't get the money back... but 1 thing is sure, keep your eyes open if another project from Rotterdam, Netherlands or under Martin's name (if that is his real name) shows up, STAY AWAY... I would suggest to users that paid by month or so, to contact your banks and request another debit or credit card with another and different numeration to avoid you can get charged from this people if the show up again some how. Stay alert.

It appear that Festingervault has pulled the rug!

There goes an expensive lifetime licence up in smoke!

Ever since the old Festinger was migrated to Grootmade, it’s been nothing but problems. Nothing works, and the servers are constantly down. It's sad because when I first started using Festinger, everything worked great. But after this attempted upgrade, it’s been one issue after another. My websites are plagued with errors because I need to update the plugin, but their page has been offline for over a month now. I don't even know if the company is still in business.

It’s the same scam as FestingerVault changed its name and adopted an aggressive communication strategy. They promised those of us with a lifetime subscription that it would be renewed monthly. Then they said no, that our lifetime subscription was being withdrawn and we’d have to pay. Following complaints, they reactivated it. Then they made it free for everyone, and once again it’s a service that doesn’t exist, that’s down: a scam in which they’ve been collecting money only to disappear.

Be careful!
He is FestingerVault guy. The worst scammer ever I seen before, now renamed his business to scam again. Also buying 5* review in Trustpilot. Come on, stop this scam. Someone must case file against him.

Very dangerous! Scammers! I've been paying this company for YEARS and it's IMPOSSIBLE to cancel my subscription. They used to be called FESTINGER VAULT, and they've changed their name. I've written countless emails requesting a refund and they've never replied. Every month they continue to charge me for a subscription I haven't used in YEARS.

SCAMING PEOPLE, USING OTHERS IDENTITIY, LINKED IN GOT BANNED ALREADY

Looks like scam to me. They charged me 4 times after I made a subscription. They charged me for other plans, and they didn't even give me the plan they charged me for. I wrote to support and emailed them... they replied after a month with "don't worry, we'll fix it". Later tried to log in again and now I cannot even access my GrootMade account, so I can check if my subscription is still active...

I originally purchased the basic Single package before the Automattic lawsuit and expected normal subscription billing. After the platform started having major issues and access problems, I still continued getting charged even though the service was not properly accessible. At one point, I completely lost access and there was no working way to manage or cancel the subscription from the website.

What made the situation worse was being charged twice for a “Lifetime” license that I never knowingly selected or authorized. I contacted support multiple times by email to resolve the issue, request clarification, and stop the billing, but never received a response.

Overall, the experience felt extremely unprofessional and concerning due to the unauthorized charges, lack of communication, and inability to cancel or manage the account properly.

Festinger is not just company it's a Market for themes and plugins and everything.

Excellent Source for WP plugins that are clean and updated.

I have been using their product since 2023 under an old brand. It did the work that I paid for. Recently due to some problems, they went a few steps back but now they seem to be back in the game and I am happy to get their services back in my case.

Great listings as always. I've never seen someone so down to earth in helping other business owners.

I’ve had a great experience using this theme and plugin. Highly recommended for anyone

I’ve been a lifetime subscriber to Grootmade themes and plugins, and my experience has been consistently positive. The products are reliable, well-built, and have remained useful over time, which is important when you are depending on themes and plugins for real websites.

What stands out most is the consistency. The company has continued to maintain its products, provide dependable service, and deliver a good overall experience instead of treating lifetime customers as an afterthought. That kind of long-term reliability matters a lot in the WordPress ecosystem, where many products start strong but fade over time.

Overall, Grootmade has been a solid investment for me. Their website, product quality, and service have all been dependable, and I’d recommend them to anyone looking for themes or plugins they can continue using with confidence.

GootMade has ALL of the gpl resources that I need, in one location.

I am back after a few months only to find they have done some rebranding. Still, it appears they are honoring old lifetime members and transferring them here. Thanks to the amazing devs that keep this site running and saving me a lot of money!

Just take a good read at the negative reviews made on Trust Pilot about GrootMade.com (formerly FestingerVault.com) - they all say the same thing. That should be a stark warning for anyone wishing to part their money with this dishonest business.

Initially, when it was FestingerVault, they had everything right - great products, customer service, and a strong following. Now, as GrootMade, their business is in turmoil. They've revoked peoples Lifetime Plans without any reason whatsoever, and then resorted to bribing customers to make a review here on Trust Pilot in order for the customer to get their Lifetime plan returned to them. This is utterly disgusting and people are being defrauded.

My account was also one of many which had its Lifetime Membership revoked (all without any reasoning) and yet when I disputed the fact that I should not have to be forced to make a review in order to get what I've already paid for, my account was subsequently terminated with an email saying: "You have been silenced from the forum. Reason - No constructive purpose to their actions other than creating dissent within the community."

BE WARNED! Anyone here making 4 to 5 star reviews are only doing so in order to get back what they've already paid for. Anyone else, like myself, prepared to call out GrootMade's dishonesty and fraud is only getting silenced.

I'm also confident they'll reply to this with their staple and dishonest text saying "We strongly dispute the claims made in this review. We have not been able to verify the experience described here against any legitimate customer record..." blah blah. Just a tissue of lies. Avoid! Avoid! Avoid!