• Busuu

Busuu

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Overview

Busuu has a rating of 1.8 stars from 83 reviews, indicating that most customers are generally dissatisfied with their purchases. Reviewers complaining about Busuu most frequently mention customer service, credit card, and automatic renewal problems. Busuu ranks 200th among Language Learning sites.

  • Service
    28
  • Value
    26
  • Shipping
    16
  • Returns
    23
  • Quality
    25
Positive reviews (last 12 months): 0%
Positive
0
Neutral
1
Negative
1
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How would you rate Busuu?
Top Positive Review

“Honest review”

Mike N.
5/15/17

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.

Top Critical Review

“Busuu business model is to steal your money silently continuing Premium subscription.”

SERGEY V.
7/26/20

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."

Reviews (83)

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customer service (20)
Thumbnail of user ogore
District of Columbia
1 review
4 helpful votes
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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

Thumbnail of user juliem510
California
1 review
3 helpful votes
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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.

Thumbnail of user kh304
California
1 review
1 helpful vote
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October 11th, 2020

I signed up, thinking it was 'free.' Free was only for a few days. I cancelled it, but now I get constant promotional emails. The Unsubscribe link on the emails does not work. I wrote to "contact" on their website and asked to unsubscribe. Emails are still coming in. ALL I WANT IS TO UNSUBSCRIBE.

Thumbnail of user ninah209
Spain
1 review
5 helpful votes
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March 4th, 2021

I paid for an initial 12 month subscription a year ago for which I paid around £40. Since then I have completed the Spanish course and I have not used the app for the last 3 or 4 months.

Recently I wanted to check to see if I was going to be charged again so I looked on the app under 'manage my subscription' and there was a blank page with no information. I then checked my iTunes Store and Google Play Store accounts to see if there were any active subscriptions and there were none.

Three days ago Busuu took £80 out of my account with no warning, double the amount that I paid initially. I emailed them with a screenshot of the 'manage my subscription' page on the app which just shows a blank screen. How was I supposed to cancel my subscription?

I explained to them that I have absolutely no use for the app now since I have already completed all of the lessons in the course and that it was their fault that I was unable to cancel my subscription since there was no information on the 'manage my subscription' page.

The customer service team sent the most standard, uncaring response, which basically amounted to "we have your money now, too bad". I have since sent two more emails and I have not received any further response from Busuu.

Tip for consumers:
Do not use.

Products used:
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Thumbnail of user kens898
GB
1 review
1 helpful vote
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August 2nd, 2022

Send my 8 year old kid hundreds of emails but then when the annual notification they send through to spam so he wouldn't have seen it! £80 taken and now they ignoring me!

Tip for consumers:
Don't sign up for premium

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Thumbnail of user kristina.culi
Germany
1 review
1 helpful vote
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July 23rd, 2023

I really liked Busuu, I bought 3 yearly subscriptions, one for myself, one for my partner and one for my mother in law. However, since they offer huge discounts for the first year and charge you full price after that, I made sure I cancel all 3 subscriptions in advance and decide later whether I want to continue or not. I cancelled all 3 subscriptions months prior to the subscription ending and under Settings in my Profile it said the subscription is cancelled. Today was the last day of my subscription, I checked the settings in the morning and the afternoon, it said it will end today. 15 min before midnight I checked if the subscription ended and to my shock the message changed to: "Your subscription will automatically renew on. If you don't want your Premium subscription to renew, please cancel before." Just that, no dates or any other info... Below is the button "Cancel Premium", when I try to do it, asks for a reason and after that nothing happens... this is a total scam. Waiting for the support to react, otherwise, I am going to contact my credit card issuer and try to get a refund.

Thumbnail of user bills91
Minnesota
2 reviews
14 helpful votes
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April 3rd, 2014

I signed up for the free portion to take a look, but the site was garbled with text running over on top of itself, I couldn't get technical support., and the links didn't work.

Thumbnail of user taran83
GB
1 review
2 helpful votes
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May 10th, 2021

I'm not a Busuu subscriber. My partner is and he linked my PayPal account to their app (with my consent) last year for work, when he was able to get a discount. Their subscription is ordinarily unaffordable - we have three children and only one of us is working and that person has been furloughed until recently.

Neither myself or my partner knew about Busuu's automatic renewal as it isn't clear, so neither of us knew to cancel anything - not that I could because I'm not their subscriber. Incidentally, their subscription cancellation instructions do not work in the app or online.

Anyway, because of the automatic renewal I got charged £79.99 yesterday, without my consent - remember, I'm not even their subscriber! When I told Busuu about this they refused to refund me and now I've opened a refund case with PayPal.

Busuu are morally corrupt. I have therefore reviewed them here and on Trust Pilot to warn others. I have since seen that other people have also suffered this automatic renewal problem with Busuu.

So disappointed. This is not a time when people can afford £80 on an app. I need that money to feed my children.

Tip for consumers:
Beware of automatic renewal!!!

Service
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Quality
Thumbnail of user acep28
New York
1 review
0 helpful votes
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October 30th, 2021

My friend sent me a referral code to try a month of busuu out free, I was liking the website but I didn't think the course was strong enough to keep the subscription going past the free trial, so I canceled it. End of story, right?

Oh, how wrong I was. Even though I canceled auto renewal on the website, I was met with an $80 charge on my card which I had my bank deny. My bank then proceeded to send me a new debit card with an entirely different number. A month later, I get another message saying my bank denied an 80 dollar charge from busuu. But this is a new debit card number, how could this be? I go and check PayPal auto subscriptions, busuu nowhere to be found. Same for Google play, nothing in subscriptions. I genuinely don't understand how I'm getting charged on a new number. I deleted the busuu account entirely which "says" it'll cancel the subscription but that's what it said the first time I had supposedly canceled it. I have no way to tell if I'll get charged again until next month, and if that's the case I'm going to end up having to talk to my bank and go to busuu's customer support. I'd honestly stay clear, look elsewhere if you're trying to learn a language because the business practice just isn't worth the headache here.

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Thumbnail of user nikost12
Greece
1 review
1 helpful vote
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October 23rd, 2020

THOSE BASTARD SAY THAT YOU PAY AND YOU HAVE 14 DAYS TO CANCEL IT AND TAKE YOUR MONEY BACK.NO ONE IS RESPONDING TO MY MESSAGES AND I WANT BACK MY MONEY. SHOULD I GO TO THE POLICE OR CALL MY CREDIT CARD? THIS JOKE HAS TO STOP I SEE MANY MORE DISSAPOINTED CLIENTS WHAT CAN WE DO? PLEASE HELP

Thumbnail of user ruslang19
RU
1 review
1 helpful vote
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January 31st, 2022
Verified purchase

I have purchased access to a paid subscription for one month. The site secretly subscribed to premium access and debited money for the second month. A typical fraudulent scheme.

Thumbnail of user christinel204
Georgia
1 review
3 helpful votes
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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.

Thumbnail of user samuelg155
GB
1 review
5 helpful votes
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April 21st, 2020

These bastards charged my freind direct visa debit almost 70 pounds, she had never downloaded the app in her entire life and had never ever payed for anything from them, we contacted them and the idiots actually saw that she wasn't ever signed in with or had any details on their database at all, so after a hard look the sneaky $#*!s has hidden the receipt of purchase in her spam folder, not in here main emails, any receipt u get always goes straight into your main email not hidden away in spam please AVOID these bastards or you will loose money to things you haven't ever subscribed to, I had a look online and there are loads more people who have be n sneakily charged as much as 100 pounds, these people are fraudulent money stealing $#*!s

Thumbnail of user janv67
Slovakia
1 review
4 helpful votes
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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.

Thumbnail of user andreab7
GB
1 review
17 helpful votes
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March 6th, 2011

Busuu.com claims to be a free language learning site. However, the free aspects of busuu.com are very limited. In order to get more benefit from this site, users are enticed to pay for a 'gold' membership for one, three or six months. Busuu.com will automatically renew the membership just before it runs out FOR THE SAME LENGTH OF TERM THAT THE MEMBERSHIP WAS INITIALLTY TAKEN OUT FOR, i. E. if you have taken out a 6 month membership, then busuu.com will automatically renew it for another six months if you have not cancelled before the end of the initial membership. Should you decide to cancel your membership, say after one month, you will already have paid for six months and busuu.com will NOT REFUND any money already paid, effectively tying you into a contract. Shame on them for their awful business methods.

Thumbnail of user elizabethanneb
New York
3 reviews
1 helpful vote
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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.

Thumbnail of user ilhanc11
Germany
1 review
0 helpful votes
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April 21st, 2022

I got last year a one year Premium Subscription with a 40€ price.
This month after one year I have tried to calcel automatic renewal.
Their web interface contain multiple stages of cancellation buttons, where last one is hidden in the colors where one could not notice it, and you do not know whether you have to press it on or not. I assumed that my cancellation process is complete. But it is NOT.
Busuu charge me 80€ for another one year Premium Subscription where I do not need it, and I do not want it.
Busuu is just a fraud company which is getting your money by selling services, that you do not need it any more.
I have a fatal recommendation for you, if you accidentally subscribe to it, just cancel your automatic renewal by following all steps. Be careful in the last step. Where there is a hidden last button that you have to press on. And be sure that you get the cancellation confirmation.
And most importatly, cancel your payment medium as well.
My payment was through PayPal and you have to also cancel PayPal automatic renewal order in the PayPal system.
In best case, do not use PayPal, just use secure online Credit Card banking where limits and purchases are 100% in your control.
Otherwise, PayPal will not accept any excuse and be a business partner to Busuu to charge you 80€ like a robbery in the streets.

Thumbnail of user revenb
India
1 review
7 helpful votes
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April 18th, 2020

They are a huge scam.

I subscribed for a trial and they charged ~$80 without mu consent. 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! I emailed to get a refund and they refused. Stay away from this company - they will steal your money!

I have contacted their support through helpdesk, social channels and emailed them at team AT busuu.com, but they refused a refund.

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, but they are also unreasonable once they are confronted.

Please help me get my refund. My support ticket They are a huge scam.

I subscribed for a trial and they charged ~$80 without mu consent. 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! I emailed to get a refund and they refused. Stay away from this company - they will steal your money!

I have contacted their support through helpdesk, social channels and emailed them at team AT busuu.com, but they refused a refund.

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, but they are also unreasonable once they are confronted.

Please help me get my refund. My support ticket is #*******.

Tip for consumers:
Use Duolingo instead.

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Thumbnail of user robertg1363
GB
1 review
3 helpful votes
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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.

Thumbnail of user valeriav2
Australia
1 review
4 helpful votes
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March 31st, 2017

I suscribed 2 years ago to the Busuu premium suscription. I gave them my credit card number and I didn't know that the premium account has an annual renovation. For my susprise last year they charged me usd 99 without telling me anything, and I even didn't use the web page, I had many troubles with them and they sent me many emails, in the last one they said that I didn't have anything to worry because they weren't going to charge me anything else, and I cancelled the Premium Suscription. Today, one year later, they charged me again the same amount and I had to cancel my Credit Card, with many problems because I'm living in Australia and my Credit Card is from Colombia. Now I don't have any credit card, thank you bussu for everything

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Thumbnail of user jiny3
Ohio
1 review
6 helpful votes
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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

Thumbnail of user keythr
GB
225 reviews
1,017 helpful votes
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February 3rd, 2011

Are you or your kids studying languages? This is a free-of-charge major language learning site supported by Collins (the dictionary company) and POM, a large academic text book publisher. The Busuu website (http://www.busuu.com) is well organised and you can sign up to study English, French, German, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese and Russian. From the drop down list it appears that they will soon offer other languages as well. At the free site you can sign up for one or more languages and get access to free online lessons at a selection of levels from beginners to advanced with audio and video support.

Different free areas offer vocabulary, general learning, meet people, join discussion groups, carry out writing exercises, test your pronunciation and test your skills.
The site also offers a contact / friends facility where native speakers can mark and comment on your exercises you can do the same in return for your native language. Being internet cautious I would advise against (especially kids) giving out any personal details (full name, location, address, email, phone, school, etc) but it does genuinely seem to be able to match up language students with each other as mutual support.

They also offer a premium package (Euro 65 / US$ 90 for 12 months) which gives you more audio, more video, preferential marking on writing exercises, access to grammar support etc. Compared to the cost of personal tutoring this seems like a bargain, as long as you use the facilities it offers.

Meanwhile the free site by itself is a great facility, especially for students who like to work alone and go at their own pace. Two thumbs up!

Thumbnail of user stellas85
New York
1 review
4 helpful votes
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August 17th, 2020

Cancelled the subscription, but was still charged. The reply that they are not refunding per agreements - be aware. Don't use.

Thumbnail of user ilariat
Italy
1 review
2 helpful votes
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March 9th, 2021

They apply automatic renewal without advice and one day before the deadline of the invoice.
Suggested not to subscribe.

Thumbnail of user karalinal
Germany
1 review
20 helpful votes
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August 21st, 2014

Please never use the busuu.com! They are just kidding you all the time. If you use this, use only the the free version! Never buy the premium membership! If you want to contact the customer support, this will bring nothin and they will not solve your problem because they are just kidding you all the time!

AUFPASSEN! Nutzen Sie NIE Premium Mitgliedschaft bei busuu.com! Es lohnt sich gar nicht und außerdem wenn Sie sich rechtzeitig nicht abmelden werden die automatisch ohne was Bescheid zu sagen Geld von Ihrem Konto per Lastschrift abbuchen! Ich hatte 1 Jahr Mitgliedschaft seit August 2013 und heute haben Sie automatisch ohne was zu sagen Geld von dem Konto meiner Tochter abgebucht! Frech!

Tip for consumers:
Use only free membership!!!!

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Thumbnail of user amys82
Amy S. – Busuu Rep

Hello Karalina,

I'm the Customer Service manager at busuu and we have recently joined Sitejabber - I wanted to find out more about your issue so we can investigate and resolve your concerns... Could you send a private message here with the email address you had registered on busuu so I can look into your account?

Thanks and kind regards,

Amy

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Thumbnail of user amys82
Amy S.
Customer Service Manager

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