The Pokemon Company Reviews & Complaints

Is The Pokemon Company Legitimate?

Legal name

The Pokémon Company International, Inc.

Founded

2001

Business type

U.S. subsidiary of The Pokémon Company that publishes and runs the Pokémon Center online store, Pokemon.com and related services, headquartered in Bellevue, Washington

Website

pokemoncenter.comSource: Pokémon Center Terms of Use page, checked 2026-10-20

Headquarters

Bellevue, WASource: BBB profile Headquarters: 10400 NE 4th St Ste 2800, Bellevue, WA 98004-5186, checked 2026-10-20

Owned by

The Pokémon CompanySource: Pokémon Center Terms of Use: 'The Pokémon Company International, Inc., checked 2026-10-20

Independent Sources

Shown for context — not merged with USAComplaints' own numbers.

Reviews & Complaints on USAComplaints

USAComplaints currently maintains 1 historical complaint about The Pokemon Company, published in 2009. No approved complaints have been published on this site during the last three years. For a current reputation snapshot, see the independent sources on this page.

• Credit card charged on 12/17/06 order that never shippedPublished Mar 23, 2009 · Historical consumer allegation

Contacts

Customer service & general contact

• VerifiedPokémon Center Support (tickets, chat)support.pokemoncenter.com/hc/en-us ↗

Corporate & press

• Listed by BBBBBB-listed corporate phone (not support)425-229-6000

Other contacts

• VerifiedPokémon Center storepokemoncenter.com ↗
• VerifiedPokemon.compokemon.com ↗

Locations

• Headquarters10400 NE 4th St Ste 2800 Bellevue WA 98004

Pokémon Center complaints: orders, pre-orders, returns and who to contact

Checked on 2026-10-20. Pokémon Center (pokemoncenter.com) is the online store run under The Pokémon Company International, Inc. (Bellevue, Washington). These are the channels and rules the company itself publishes today; keep order numbers, confirmation emails and screenshots.

• Contact. The Pokémon Center Support article "How do I contact Pokémon Center Support?" says: "Agents are available 24/7" by chat, and by email ticket "an agent will typically respond within 24 hours." Tickets are submitted at support.pokemoncenter.com.
• Cancelling or changing an order. The support article "How do I cancel or modify the contents of my order?" (updated August 14, 2026) says: "Once an order has been placed with Pokémon Center, it cannot be canceled. Additionally, the contents of the order cannot be modified." The same article adds that a preorder may be cancelled "only if it has not yet been processed for shipping." Pokémon Center's Terms of Use (last update shown: October 16, 2026) say: "We cannot cancel or make changes to any other orders after they have been placed, which includes making changes to your delivery address."
• Pre-orders and payment. The Terms of Use say: "When you place a pre-order, you are authorizing us to take a future payment using the payment method details you provided during the check-out process. We will let you know before we attempt to take payment for items which have been pre-ordered." The Pokémon Center Preorder FAQ describes the company's own process: "If we are unable to capture funds, you will receive an email with instructions on how to change your payment method." It also says: "If our system is unable to authorize your payment method when preorders are processed for shipping, your order will be canceled and cannot be reinstated." As general advice, keep a record of any reply from Support.
• Preorder rules in the Preorder FAQ. "Gift cards, Apple Pay and PayPal cannot be used for preorders." A reauthorization appears "3-5 business days prior to shipping", and "Once your preorder has been processed and your payment method has been reauthorized, it cannot be canceled." Cancellation is through the "Cancel Preorder" button on the Order Details page (or the Order Status page for guest checkouts), and "Pokémon Center is unable to provide address changes for any preorders."
• Other order terms. The Terms of Use say: "Orders may be cancelled if your payment method is not valid at the time of shipment or if we are otherwise unable to take payment." They also say the company reserves "the right to refuse or cancel any order prior to delivery", may limit quantities "per order, per account, per credit card, per person, or per household", and that products may be purchased "for personal use" only. The Site is intended for the United States and Canada; the contact article says support for Germany, Australia and New Zealand is handled by Global-e.
• Returns. The Return Policy says an eligible item may be returned "within 30 days of the date of delivery for a full refund" if new and in original condition. "Final sale items cannot be returned. Final sale items include, but are not limited to, digital products, Pokémon trading cards and products containing Pokémon trading cards." It also says "Replacement and exchange are not supported" and "Please allow approximately 2 weeks for the refund to be processed once your shipment is returned." The policy adds: "Returns received not in the original packaging may be subject to a restocking fee." A return fee of $8 USD or $8 CAD may apply to returns related to orders that originally contained a TCG Sleeved Booster Pack "if the returns reduce the order value (before taxes) below the free shipping threshold."
• Dispute terms. The Terms of Use contain a mandatory arbitration provision and class action waiver in the section titled "Dispute Resolution", with an opt-out within 30 days of first accepting that section by email to [email protected] including full name and address. The same section requires a written Notice (email to [email protected] or certified mail to the Bellevue address) and a 30-day informal period before arbitration with JAMS, sets a consumer filing fee of "up to a maximum of $250", carves out small claims court, and states: "Any Dispute must be filed within one year after the relevant claim arose." Read the section before relying on it.
• Outside the company. Complaints can also be filed with BBB, the Washington State Attorney General or the attorney general of your state, and the FTC at ReportFraud.ftc.gov; for a charge you did not authorize, your card issuer.

Other Pokémon products (video games, Pokémon GO, trading card game events run by independent organizers) have separate publishers, retailers and terms; this page covers The Pokémon Company International and Pokémon Center.

Complaint record: BBB, Trustpilot and this site's archive

BBB (profile for The Pokemon Company International, Inc., Bellevue, WA), as displayed on 2026-10-20: not BBB accredited; BBB Rating F, with the stated reasons "Failure to respond to 5 complaint(s) filed against business" and "45 complaint(s) filed against business that were not resolved"; complaints tab: "436 complaints in the last 3 years" and "177 complaints in the last 12 months"; reviews tab: "1.14 /5 stars", "Average of 35 Customer Reviews". The newest complaint text (dated 09/28/2026, status Unanswered) is one consumer's account of a 30th Anniversary pre-order and a replaced credit card.

Trustpilot (profile for pokemoncenter.com), as displayed on 2026-10-20: 1.2 from 133 reviews, 61 reviews in the last 12 months; unclaimed profile; the page says the company has not invited customers, so reviews "may not be representative", and that Trustpilot does not fact-check reviews. Trustpilot's AI-generated summary of recent reviews mentions website crashes, virtual queues and bots during product drops; it is Trustpilot's text, not ours. Trustpilot lists a separate pokemon.com profile in its related-companies section; its figures are not used here.

These platform figures are shown separately and are not added to each other or to this site's count. This site's archive has 1 approved complaint about the company's own store (2009, an order placed in December 2006 and charged but not shipped, with no reply from customer service as the writer states). Other archive posts mentioning Pokémon items concern eBay, GameStop and unrelated sellers and are not counted.

Regulators and recalls: what was checked

On 2026-10-20 a search of the CPSC recall database found one 2005 recall by Pokémon USA, Inc. (an alternate name BBB lists for this business): about 9,200 "Pokédoll" plush toys sold at Nintendo World in New York and on the firm's website from April through June 2005, recalled because the stuffing could contain tips of sewing needles; CPSC listed "None reported." for injuries (CPSC recall 05222, July 8, 2005). The two 1999-2000 Pokémon ball recalls in the database were Burger King's, and a 2004 plush recall was TOMY's; neither is a Pokémon Center product.

Check CourtListener and your state attorney general for current matters.

Who operates Pokémon Center and the Pokémon brand in the U.S.

Pokémon Center's Terms of Use say the site and related services are "provided by The Pokémon Company International, Inc. (together with its parent company, The Pokémon Company, and their respective subsidiaries, “Pokémon”)". Pokemon.com's Terms of Use (last update June 15, 2023) are headed "THIS IS AN AGREEMENT BETWEEN YOU AND THE POKÉMON COMPANY INTERNATIONAL, INC." and are governed by Washington law; the Washington state and federal courts have exclusive jurisdiction "in respect of any claim brought against us by you".

The Pokémon Center Gift Card Terms (same page) say gift cards "are issued by The Pokémon Company International, Inc., a Delaware corporation" and that "Gift Cards do not expire"; purchases are final "Except to the extent required by law".

BBB lists The Pokemon Company International, Inc., a corporation, at 10400 NE 4th St Ste 2800, Bellevue, WA 98004-5186, phone (425) 229-6000, with alternate names "Pokemon USA" and "Pokemon Center" and a business start of 2001-02-01 in BBB's page data (BBB file opened 2010-06-10).

Our archive complaint from 2009 refers to the store as "Pokemon USA website"; BBB lists Pokemon USA as an alternate name of the same business (BBB does not say when or whether it was a former name).

Company Relationships

• Owned byThe Pokémon Company

Frequently Asked Questions