Busuu

A year ago I needed to learn German. I tried several programs including Busuu.
I loved the idea of peer reviewing exercises, so I bought Premium for a year for 50% off.
And now, a year later, without email notification, they renewed Premium subscription for a year at full price!
After contacting the support team, I was told that I had read the Terms and Conditions, in which they are not required to notify before renewing the subscription. Thus, this company behaves like real thieves, "quietly" continuing premium subscription and charging the full cost of it.

So when buying a Premium subscription, be prepared to lose money in the future.

Below are quotes from their support team responses:

"Usually, you would need to cancel your subscription before the automatic renewal if you don't want to have a renewal."

"However, as per our terms, we do not issue refunds over 7 days after the initial purchase, which was in 2019."

I enjoyed using Busuu to help me learn Mandarin. I was happy to sign up to the Premium Service. However, I have now had my subscription renewed with absolutely no warning or reminder.

While I may have decided to renew my subscription anyways, I think it is a very very sneaky way of getting money out of customers. They use the excuse of 'not wanting to interrupt your learning experience'... which is a load of rubbish. It's just a way of taking £70 out of your bank account without any warning, for a service you may no longer be using.

They know that if they send reminder emails, a significant proportion of people may decide not to renew.

To be honest, I enjoy using Busuu... but this approach and their rude customer service has left a bad taste. I will be cancelling my subscription in the future and next year, will be looking for a learning tool with better morals and customer service,

I'm another unhappy customer whose account was auto-renewed without any notice. They charged twice as much as I paid the first time. When I contacted Customer Service, they refused to issue a refund. Horrible business practice!

Busuu has automatic renewal of Busuu Premium. They tell you the day before that it renews, but you are not allowed to cancel at that time. So not impressed with policies listed in the fine print. Product is OK, but probably not worth 80 euros per year.

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.

My subscription has auto renewed without any prior notice given, no email no notification... nothing. After contacting the company and thinking it would be very easy mistake to rectify and get a refund as it was only renewed yesterday (16/07/2020) I've now been told that they will not refund my £70. Very poor from them. An email would have prompted me to cancel on time which I guess is why they didn't...

My experience with Busuu was nothing short of a complete disappointment. My son signed up for their language-learning app one year ago, paying for an entire year in advance. However, the app proved to be ineffective for him, and he only used it for a mere three months.

Despite the lack of use, Busuu yesterday charged us an $69.99 for a one-year renewal without notifying the Paypal account used to pay for the subscription. When I immediately reached out to their customer support team to request a refund, they callously refused to grant one, citing their one-sided terms and conditions.

It's clear that Busuu is a company that cares only about their profits, rather than the satisfaction and loyalty of their users. By resorting to deceitful practices to take money from unsuspecting customers, they have lost any credibility they may have once had. Save yourself the frustration and financial loss by avoiding Busuu at all costs.

They withdrew 80$ from me without any warning or reminder. I contacted them directly when they took 80$ dollars from me and they only refer to their terms & conditions. Their strategy is to buy their offer on Busuu premium for 1 year, then they renew the subscription for another year. Never got any email about it. You can also no longer use the app when you have already done all the courses... which they know and then take the opportunity to renew your subscription if you do not end it. I never knew about this, because it is very unclear. I also do not seem to be alone in this when I read reviews about the company.

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.

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.

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!

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.

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.

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!

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.

Busuu took my money for a premium membership and then locked me out of the system saying they can't find my info. I provided them with my actual proof of purchase from PayPal and Apple and still they refuse to help. I provided them with how I originally logged in and still the same answer. That they can't find my info. This is a real shame that you would be scammed under the guise of education. Please be careful when dealing with them. I would definitely not give them your money or access to your payment methods. Very untrustworthy company

They are lying thieves, as confirmed by several others with similar experiences here. They offer "7 day free of obligation trial" but they have no intention of honouring this claim. I could not cancel even with the first day, They should be shut down for this alone. When you try to cancel, the functionality to do so on their site is missing. Another fraudulent approach to their business style. The site is also riddled with technical bugs and the content is poor - especially what comes with "premium membership". They have no concern for their customers, they are maliciously compliant and once they have your money they refuse to part with it under any circumstances, they have no channel of communication and ignore feedback, they have on-going technical problems that never get fixed, they have poor content containing several errors that never get fixed. Like I said - stay far away.

The customer service is extremely bad and it doesn't seem like they care about a person at all. This kind of a service to clients is unimaginable. All they care about is money.
I had requested to cancel my subscription and refund my payment on the day when the subscription auto-renewed. They flatly refused and in a very rude manner too. They don't seem to offer a personalized service. Avoid at all costs.

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!

I had the same problem than most people here. The cancellation option was not showing up in my settings. I freaked out, and read the review and got mad. However, when I shoot them an email and provided them my account email address, they took care of it the same day and email me back that it was canceled.
I just have to wait a year see if they will charge or not as some people are complaining here. Until that happen, I would say they not as bad as people say they are.

I teach English on BUSUU and I'm very happy with how the platform works. It's easy for me and my students to connect and I can share materials with them during the lesson. This is a fantastic learning platform that brings students and teachers together for a mutually rewarding experience.

Well I have been learning French on busuu for six months as a free member. I am so limited there, because i do not have access to the grammar parts( that I use books for that), and I can not record my voice for my friends to correct my pronunciation. But ever since it has improved my writing and vocabulary a lot. My listening comprehension still is far from perfect. I write alot which are corrected by native frenchs and I talk to them online which is also helpful.
But I wish busuu could block all the guys who seek sex chat there. They drive you maaad!

Upon purchasing Busuu, I was initially pleased. That didn't last long unfortunately, you have to take a introductory test when you sign up, which puts you at a level depending on your correct answers. I was put at intermediate, which I thought was about right. I struggled to understand some of the grammar as the answers and questions aren't always in English. Why? Surely if you're learning a language it's always better to have everything in your own language to understand? As I progressed through the lessons to the next level, it then jumped up to quickly in terms of understanding. It was literally too many words and conversations, of which I didn't understand. And with no English to help, it just didn't make any sense. I also had issues about the speed of the Italian speaker, it's either to fast, which is very difficult to understand, or when you slow it down, it's like a drawl. I've tried many language courses, some good and bad, Busuu, is a let down for me, mainly for the lack of English in the questions and answers, and the big jump, in terms of ability in the lessons.