January 18th, 2020
Used this app to learn French. After a month, felt discouraged. The conversations are so fast paced (voice sounds weird on slower pace, basically it's useless) and they use so heavy vocab, felt completely lost. The study plan they suggested seems unreasonable unless you're great in memorising stuff, I can't with everyday work. This app is not for beginners and for working professionals. Duolingo is a snail but much better than this. Thinking of giving up my subscription paid to busuu. Looking for some other more encouraging app.
January 23rd, 2020
Signed up for the premium membership last year for a cheaper price but stopped using the app after a few months as I didn't like it. I had forgotten all about ever subscribing until a few days ago when I was horrified to receive an email from PayPal saying I had been charged £69.99 for a subscription renewal I didn't want and can't afford. There was no prior warning email to say my subscription would be renewed soon, they just took the money from my account and when I immediately cancelled and requested a refund I was refused. Avoid this app!
February 6th, 2020
I echo so many people here....I regularly check my app subscriptions on Google and cancel any I no longer require. I've recently been charged £45.99 from Busuu for a 12 month subscription. This is an app I've not used for over 6 months. There was no notice that a payment will be taken, if there was there is no way I'd agree to another 12 months. I believe this behaviour is underhand and sneaky, and judging by a number of other reports online, I'm not the only person to fall foul of this. Stay well clear of this app.
April 2nd, 2020
They lure you with "7-day money back guarantee" and "cancel any time" promises. What they don't you is they will do anything to stop you from getting your refund.
My bank informed me that the card was charged $69.99 for a one-year subscription starting from the same day. I cancelled the subscription right away and received an email confirming the cancellation. I wrote to Busuu asking for refund. The "customer service" rep first said I didn't cancel the subscription. After I showed him the cancellation confirmation, the same rep said no refund anyway. It was clear that they don't put their customers first. I think it's fraudulent.
My bank informed me that the card was charged $69.99 for a one-year subscription starting from the same day. I cancelled the subscription right away and received an email confirming the cancellation. I wrote to Busuu asking for refund. The "customer service" rep first said I didn't cancel the subscription. After I showed him the cancellation confirmation, the same rep said no refund anyway. It was clear that they don't put their customers first. I think it's fraudulent.
February 12th, 2020
DO NOT SIGN UP! I wish I had seen the Busuu comments before I signed up. I have just been charged 69.99 for a subscription I had no idea was going to be taken a year later. No notice about a renewal whatsoever and I cancelled my account on the same day when I was charged and informed them. I received no answer and had to chase them up, only to be told like everyone else that they do not refund!! Did I not read their sneaky T&C's?? I did not set my PayPal account to renew this transaction, so somewhere in their terms they manage to keep the automatic renewal really quiet. Utterly unacceptable and I will find a way to report this and spread the word about their complete lack of professionalism and transparency. What a horrible foundation for a company to be built upon..no integrity, zero customer service and let's watch them fall into the going nowhere but down app.
March 4th, 2020
I can't get my head around that app. Very slow and confusing. I've asked for refund wright next day but no response. Money been taken whole the full year up front.
October 31st, 2019
I wish I could give zero stars. Terrible customer service, and utterly dishonest with their terms and conditions. All of their customer service agents contradict one another and they continue to take hundreds of pounds from you. Despite trying to escalate the initial complaint, they "template respond" and don't actually read the complaint.
Shame as the app could be good, but I suppose bad employees make for a bad company!
Shame as the app could be good, but I suppose bad employees make for a bad company!
July 30th, 2019
Worst language learning online.. They chanted my paypal without authorization.. I just noticed it and emailed.. They are yet to refund my last 2 charges.
Nowhere on their account page do they allow for this setting even though they charged automatically. This should be re-tweeted to social networks. They do not have a phone call center to complain and take their time to answer complaint emails. I will be reporting this to the IRS line.
Nowhere on their account page do they allow for this setting even though they charged automatically. This should be re-tweeted to social networks. They do not have a phone call center to complain and take their time to answer complaint emails. I will be reporting this to the IRS line.
July 18th, 2019
After canceling my subscription, they still charged a renewal fee and with no warning. They don't display a contact number or address, which is a bad sign. No reputable company hides that information. Not only are they shady and dishonest, they are unreasonable once they are confronted.
They refused to refund my money even though I don't use their service and didn't authorize continuous payments. So now I am forced to go through a lengthy process with my credit card company to get my money back.
They refused to refund my money even though I don't use their service and didn't authorize continuous payments. So now I am forced to go through a lengthy process with my credit card company to get my money back.
Tip for consumers: Use duolingo, Rosetta Stone, hellotalk or mango. They are far better options than Busuu
July 23rd, 2019
Signed up for a year's subscription. Forgot all about cancelling until I had email saying they had taken £59.99 from my credit card. Contacted Busuu immediately but no refund. So unfair and such appalling practice not to send a simple email reminder. Hopefully, judging by these reviews the bank might help.
September 6th, 2019
As many of the complaints posted on this site and around the web I didn't notice (or I didn't sign for) this clause.
The super annoying fact is that they don't send you any notice/warning about the date your premium subscription is about to expire; they just charge you on your credit card or PayPal account letting you know about it after they've already taken (stolen?) your money.
I opened a dispute on PayPal and after Busuu never provided any evidence on this matter I got my money refunded.
I know about other people who were charged on their credit cards that were able to cancel their transfers through their bank.
I just wanted to warn everybody to cancel your premium subscription as soon as possible in case you're not interested in renewing it, because this company won't!
Update: I am reading about a lot of people who say they had actually cancelled their premium membership but were charged just the same, so just delete your account ASAP!!!
The super annoying fact is that they don't send you any notice/warning about the date your premium subscription is about to expire; they just charge you on your credit card or PayPal account letting you know about it after they've already taken (stolen?) your money.
I opened a dispute on PayPal and after Busuu never provided any evidence on this matter I got my money refunded.
I know about other people who were charged on their credit cards that were able to cancel their transfers through their bank.
I just wanted to warn everybody to cancel your premium subscription as soon as possible in case you're not interested in renewing it, because this company won't!
Update: I am reading about a lot of people who say they had actually cancelled their premium membership but were charged just the same, so just delete your account ASAP!!!
February 11th, 2019
Charged my card without my consent.
Wouldn't refund my autocharge even though I never sign up for those. I tried to get in touch with them via email and their portal, but no response.
Wouldn't refund my autocharge even though I never sign up for those. I tried to get in touch with them via email and their portal, but no response.
December 7th, 2018
After using Busuu for 4 weeks and getting to the more difficult sections I find learning on this site is very difficult. There is not enough reinforcement of previous lessons, no interactive translation and not enough guidance in the lessons. All you get are silly pdf file downloads that do not match the lessons exactly, making you search for answers that don't exist. I got a really big discount on the service for a year, I can see why they are offering discounts, but I will probably quit.
September 30th, 2019
This is not a good way to learn a language as it skips lots of steps and practice required to continue learning. More importantly, when you cancel the membership through the app it doesn't actually cancel it! I cancelled my membership more than 6 months ago but just received an $80 ridiculous fee for renewal for something that I thought was cancelled! But apparently when you cancel through the app it doesn't actually cancel. They refuse to give a refund on the auto renew even though I cancelled my same account twice now, the 2nd time having to go online to confirm that it's really cancelled now. This is a money-making scheme. No customer service or consideration was shown even though I messaged the company MOMENTS after they sent the charge through. This is a terrible company and horrible service!
August 31st, 2019
EU customers are protected by EU regulations and if busuu refuses to reimburse you 100%, do not accept their 50%offer and ask your credit card company or bank for a chargeback. Important do not use busuu during that time.
May 1st, 2018
I joined for a nominal discounted rate (under $15 for a year membership I believe). I was SHOCKED to get an email from them indicated that my membership had been AUTOMATICALLY renewed at a rate of $69.99!!! I immediately contacted their "customer service" via email (no phone number provided on their email to me). They emailed me back with a cold matter of fact response that the automatic renewal is disclosed in their terms and conditions. I don't recall ever authorizing automatic payments. On other sites you typically have to check a box to authorize them and the amount is clearly indicated. That didn't happen in my case. When I requested a refund, they refused. I asked to speak to a manager (via email), and they responded by agreeing to refund 50% of the $69.99 charge. Horrible customer service - shady business practices in my opinion.
June 30th, 2017
I subscribed for one month because of a discounted offer. I made sure to read carefully as I was taken through the online portals. Not once did Busuu mention that the monthly payment would renew (and cost more) each month and they never once asked for permission to take that money.
I tried Busuu for two weeks, got bored of the site and am now in a legal battle to get back the money they took without permission (stole).
I tried Busuu for two weeks, got bored of the site and am now in a legal battle to get back the money they took without permission (stole).
July 18th, 2019
They charge you 69,99 even if you cancel your subscription with them. Busuu is a complete SCAM and they don't give your money back.
April 21st, 2018
They make it nearly impossible to cancel and even when you think you are canceled, you are not. I found out the hard way that I was not canceled when I noticed I was charged another membership fee! I emailed to get a refund and they refused. Stay away from this company - they will steal your money!
September 19th, 2018
They offer the service quite all right but they'll charge you unnecessarily. In my case, I signed up AGAIN for premium, the first time I didn't have the problem others complained about probably because I'd closed that account and the card won't have worked. Well, this month I faced the issue that seem common with them, I got charged $109.99 for 2 years subscription that I'd already paid for in March at $99. I got in touch with the Customer service and she couldn't find why they'd charge me for another subscription.
The worse part was, my subscription expiry date didn't change from the earlier payment I made.
I had to call my bank to report unauthorised payment and dispute the payment. My bank canceled my debit card and I canceled my subscription. These guys are terrible scammers or they've got some fraudulent worker somewhere working with them that they are unaware of.
STAY AWAY FROM THEM
The worse part was, my subscription expiry date didn't change from the earlier payment I made.
I had to call my bank to report unauthorised payment and dispute the payment. My bank canceled my debit card and I canceled my subscription. These guys are terrible scammers or they've got some fraudulent worker somewhere working with them that they are unaware of.
STAY AWAY FROM THEM
March 12th, 2017
I cancelled my subscription - at least I thought I had. Apparently you have to confirm 5 or 6 times that you really want to cancel. I had surgery on Tuesday and therefore have to take strong medication. I thought I was trough with the cancellation process. Then a few days later I saw that the money had been taken from my account. I contacted them immediately but busuu doesnt care bad luck for the customer.
September 3rd, 2018
I created an account a year ago at a 30% discount so it was $45 USD I went to go buy something today and I had no money in my account. This company let me know they were going to charge $69 USD me again but I never saw the email (fault on my part). I went to go login to cancel my membership and they said something that made me think maybe I had the wrong username or password (tried my phone number and email as a username) so I thought maybe I created the account and used a different password I didn't remember. So I went to request a new password and they said an account associated with my email didn't work so I went into my emails to see what email address they were sending me emails from (it was the one I originally tried) so I sent them a strongly worded email and I got an automated message back and so I sent another strongly worded email about the horrible login process. So now I've lodged a complaint with my bank and let's hope they refund me. If you would like evidence of this you can comment and I will send you evidence
November 26th, 2018
Not happy with the fact that they charged my credit card without notification. After reading all the reviews, I will cancel my credit card to make sure they don't charge me next year again.
May 23rd, 2018
I was a foreign language major myself in the early 80s and have studied 5 languages since that time. Spanish and Italian were my forte, Egyptian Arabic is a struggle but I moving forward with it, and French and German slightly nightmarish. I decided now that I am older and have time that I would knock off the last 25% of my Spanish to be fully fluent and mastering Italian at long last verbally. I got nowhere with this site. I had a 98% average in Italian in high school but on this site, probably a 70% at best. The site itself is very hard to negociate as there are tons of circles, in blue and orange and it is hard to figure out what to press, as opposed to DuoLingo, which I love and is free, and I will be sticking with from now on, advances you automatically to the next level. This was a total waste of my $ 35 especially as I only used it for 4 days. I wrote them about not renewing me at year's end as that seems to be a very popular complaint with many people. They seem to auto renew you even if you have left the site and are not using it. I won't allow that to happen to me. I will advise my credit card company about it now in case they try to charge me again.
December 8th, 2018
Wouldn't refund my autocharge even though I never sign up for those. I tried the very day I saw the payment come out and had to report the fraud to my credit card company and cancel the card and they still charged me again.
i do love Babbel, though, and it's a much better program.
i do love Babbel, though, and it's a much better program.
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