Busuu
reviews and complaints

This is an awful company that steals people’s money. I signed up last year and didn’t use the service I tried many times to cancel and it was very confusing to do so. A few days ago an automatic payment came out with money I need on my vacation. Busuu was very inconsiderate and unhelpful when I tried to explain what happened all these reviews are similar and it’s sad they have such shady business practices. This is terrible business and sad. They claim it’s been canceled and I have access but I am not confident in this at all. They also claim they sent me a reminder on 5/5/2023 about renewal and I went through all my emails and I never received one at all. Please don’t use their service it’s so awful.

Abbonamento premium rinnovato automaticamente senza alcun avviso da parte del venditore il giorno 10.11.2022 per un importo di 79.99 euro.

Prima richiesta di supporto inviata tramite il modulo di contatto sul sito.

Nessuna risposta per settimane.

Contattato supporto tramite email, chiedendo il rimborso della cifra prelevata, considerando anche il fatto che, nonostante il pagamento, il mio abbonamento premium era inaccessibile (risultava infatti un piano gratuito effettuando il login).

Mi e' stato risposto che avevano risolto il problema. Come? Abilitando l'abbonamento Premium. E che il rimborso della spesa non era possibile (usando tra l'altro frasi preconfezionate, copiate e incollate, passando da "tu" al "lei" senza rileggere)

Infine, ho chiesto la ricevuta, che, al contrario di tutti I servizi online che ho usato, non e' disponibile sul sito o nella app.

Mi e' stata inviata una conferma di transazione, che non e' una ricevuta e non e' valida a scopi di rimborso a scopo di formazione.

Successive richieste di ricevere normalissime ricevute vengono rimbalzate, anche scortesemente, sempre con la frase "Non includiamo le informazioni sull'IVA nelle ricevute per le persone fisiche."

Grazie per il servizio impeccabile, Busuu

Busuu was a decent app and I was lured in by their "free" claims. I was happy to try their 50% for one year deal. However, I tried to cancel on their app before my second renewal, but you must go through several windows to cancel. Sadly, I didn't know it didn't go through. I was surprised when I got the email saying I was charged. I notified customer service within hours and they refused to issue a refund. I had not used this app in months and times are tough, but customer service was happy to say that this practice of taking my money without my consent is approved by some customer board. Would choose any other language app that actually cares!

We subscribed online for a one month access to Busuu a year ago, but never really used it. It cost us 5$ at the time and we then forgot about the membership. Now, they renewed the membership for a year without our consent, charged 97$ on our credit card without our approval and refuse to reimburse. Their practice is fraudulent and dishonest. I have made a research on the net and it took me less than a minute to realize their are 100 of other users in the same situation. It is very intentional on their part. We will be sending them a legal notice and will also file complaints with the Competition Bureau and L'Office de la protection des consomateurs.

I tried using busuu with a school discount code last year, which was not helpful, so I dropped it after some time. I checked the subscriptions in my apple account -there was nothing and deleted their app. After six months, a surprising 80€ deduction from my account. I tried to contact customer service a couple of times and no reply. Saw many online reviews about how they rip off people by only making their subscription from their website. Do not even try. It will cost you more than special lessons at the end.

Hi!

I have purchased their premium subscription in June, for three months. Out of the blue, yesterday (08.08.2022) the subscription disappeared for no reason and I was unable to complete the lessons, I previously had access to. When I tried to renew it - I received the information that I already have premium (so do I have it or not?). When I tried to contact them for explanations - there was no response. Today (09.08.2022) I have decided to remove the account, as they state on their website, this will cancel the subscription for good. Let's see if it works at all or will they charge my card despite the account being removed. Be careful when trying to interact with them as they seem to have rather unclear approach to their customers.

Like a long list of others, Busuu auto-charged me for a two year subscription for their premium service despite having cancelled prior. I received an email saying Busuu was going to renew on June 21st, 2022 and within 24 hours I cancelled the premium subscription and was reduced to free before moving on with my life. A month later, I get a $137.99 charge on my account for another 2 years of service.

I immediately contacted Busuu’s customer service and was told I never made the cancellation attempt and that I likely forgot. I sent them proof I had logged in as soon as I got that email reminder, and they just continued to send me canned responses instead of addressing my points. If you look, they have a long history of not processing cancellations for their premium service and then telling you “too bad” when they charge you regardless.

Stay away. It isn’t worth the hassle, and there are many language learning apps out there that aren’t nearly as anti-consumer as Busuu has proven to be.

I was not sufficiently informed or reminded that my premium subscription would be automatically renewed and charged. I had no idea until I find I am robbed of £74.49 missing from my bank account.

One year from signing up is obviously too long to remember, not that I even remember mention of an automatic renewal. Trading standards states "the contract requires that they [the customer] are sent a reminder a reasonable time before it [the subscription] is due to be renewed." I was sent an email by google play (not Busuu) less than 12 hours before the automatic renewal. Busuu therefore uses unfair terms.

Furthermore, I have not used the app in months and don't intend to use it since the renewal. After contacting Busuu they politely told me they were keeping my money and there was nothing I could do.

This has ruined my day, robbed hard earned money from me and leaves me feeling sick. That money is worth way more to me than it is to them, and I have no intention of using the service.

Disgusting.

Shame on Busuu for their unscrupulous business practices. I joined their premium service. However, after a few months, I stopped using it. I cancelled my auto renewal. However, a year later, in disregard of my cancellation, and without any prior notice, they charged me in full for a new one year subscription. In addition to ignoring my cancellation, they also obviously new the account was completely inactive but charged it any way. I gave them the benefit of the doubt initially, and sent them an email asking for a refund, but they stiff-armed me.

What a scummy business practice.

I never signed up for a premium subscription. I was charged for a premium subscription. I e-mailed their service to request a refund. I received a response saying my request was closed and they couldn't refund me because they claimed I had signed up and been notified about the fee. I did not sign up and I did not receive any e-mails from them until the notice that I had already been charged.

Busuu is a total disaster.

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.

I got a charge On march 25, 2022 for $79.99 for a service I don’t even have an account for. I would like something done about this as it has put my bank account negative. Please contact me at

[protected]@gmail.com

There is zero way to unsubscribe from premium services. They do not tell you about your automatic renewal except through your promotions folder and when you click the link to unsubscribe it tells you the feature isn't yet available. This is a complete scam.

Hello, I am writing because I have not been able to access my account for 4 days, both the website and the app tell me that my user is not registered, which makes no sense because my account is associated with a 12-month Premium Plus membership. I have tried to request the reset of my password but I never receive the email or the sms. Practically the days of my subscription go by and there are no responses from technical support.

Estoy aprendiendo negocios en frances y esta es la 5a. Vez que me bloquea mi aprendisaje voy en la leccion 5 pues tuve que volver a empezar agnes es la persona que me esta ayudando mi correo es [protected]@hotmail.Com ayudenme pues estoy perdiendo mis clases.Yo espero que esto no vuelva a suceder pues me ha retrasado ya de la 1a. Vez que llevaba en la pagina 27 del bussines in french .Please help me

I signed up for a yearly subscription with Busuu two years ago. I was using the service for a few months, but then I forgot that I had it. A few days ago, my subscription auto renewed for another year. I emailed Busuu immediately telling them the situation saying that I would like to both cancel and receive a refund for the unused year that I had just, that day, paid for. A rep from Busuu messaged me back saying that I could cancel my subscription but that I would be unable to receive a refund for it. I find this really unreasonable since I emailed them the same day that my subscription was auto renewed and therefore had 365 days left on it. Why should I pay for something that I am not going to use? Since this is a digital product, Busuu doesn't occur any kind of loss besides issuing me a refund for this unused product.

I signed up for a free trial for 7 days. I received not notification of any charges or sign up to Busuu. Since then i have seen i have been charged £79.99.

Its impossible to work out how to obtain a refund from the website. It offers no guidance. Very poor customer service on their part and very immoral!

I have been through all my emails from Busuu (i have been spammed by many) and see no notification of a subscription sign up.

Neither did i receive notification via the app or phone.

This money was automatically taken from my account on the 1st October and is referenced as APPLE.COM/BILL. No reference to Busuu was made.

Had a 1 year 'Premium Plus' subscription with Busuu which was auto renewed on 28th November 2021. I had planned to cancel the subscription as I wasn't using it for a few months prior to the renewal. However, I was still charged £80 for an extra year, without being notified about the renewal. I appreciate that within Busuu's T&Cs that it is mentioned that no refunds are given after a renewal or a 'cooling off' period, but I feel it is an unfair and immoral practice to not notify a subscriber that their subscription is renewing after 1 whole year. I have emailed the company but I am just referred back to the Terms & Conditions. If there were a clause that stated the company didn't have to notify of a renewal, I would have accepted that, however I do not accept that I was not notified about the charge and given opportunity to cancel.

I had a premium trial for this site during a holiday promotion. Because it's Spain-Spanish focused I opted not to continue, but I had no "cancel subscription" button on my end of the account services as they describe in their FAQ. All it said was "premium subscription" without ANY link or information. I contacted 4 separate times by email to cancel and they claimed they could not find my account. I then ultimately DELETED my whole account. The account then magically was recreated after two months and started charging again. This company makes it impossible to cancel services without cancelling your credit card.

This company charged me for a yearly subscription without my knowledge. When told that I was unaware of this charge, they told me that they will not refund my money. This is an extremely shady company that you should be careful to not entrust your money to!