Busuu
Reviews and Complaints

I have written twice to Busuu complaining that I was given no notice of a deduction of £79.99 for a subscription that I no longer want. I received an email 6 weeks after the deduction was made advising me in retrospect.

I pointed out that it should be a matter of sound business practice to notify customers before taking payment so that they have the opportunity to review. It is unreasonable to expect customers to always remember in time to cancel automatic renewals. It would also be clear from a cursory look at my account that I had not used the service for over a year prior to the renewal, which would clearly indicate that I would not wish the subscription to continue.

I have received two responses that have essentially refused to take any of this into account. Busuu has, however, cancelled my subscription without offering any refund.

This is really poor business practice and exploits the reality that many people lose track of renewals. To deduct money without authorisation after a year of inaction, and to take such an inflexible attitude when this is pointed out is particularly egregious during a pandemic when many people are suffering a loss of income.

I would like my case looked at again, and an agreement to refund the full amount taken.

Regards

Sandra Herbert

Be careful with their service.

The website/site are not clear on the renewal policy and if you cancel the subscription before the renewal keep a screenshot. As many others reported, I got the service automatically renewed and my cancellation ignored (I did it before the renewal) but I didn't keep a screenshot and I haven't received an email.

They are charging £70 for the renewal where I paid £30 for the first year. I should have blocked PayPal subscription. So be careful and block your card/paypal before the renewal.

They took money for yearly premium subscription even tho I don't have access to my account. I cancelled my subscription because I knew that if I will do it before they take money for next period nothing will happen but they still charged me 70 euros for renewal, 8 days after cancellation. This is a robbery, I know i'm not the first one this happened to. This is ridiculous, I have no access to this account whatsoever, I don't use this app but they still charge me for it? This is british company and they work against a consumer act rights 2015, what they do is called unfair treatment. Stay away from busuu this is not worth it. That's a lot of money for me at the moment and they don't want to refund it even though I asked them. Shame on you busuu

On 15 September 2020 I was charged 69.99 for Busuu subscription on an account that I do not have access to it (never had). I immediately tried to report fraudulent acitvity in Paypal, but the case was closed with a statement it was deemed as not unauthorised. Replied from Paypal is attached. Last year in September I purchased a subscription but never logged in or used it on my phone or website - screenshot from Paypal (2019) is attached. I have reported this matter to Busuu, but I did not get a reply.

I would like to get a full refund for this unauthorised fee and full deletion of whatever account this is connected with.

Invoice No. INV00880783
Date: 10 Sep 2020
Payment method: PayPal

I would like a whole refund for my 69.99€.

The money was deducted from my PayPal account without any early notification, and I didn't want to renew the contract at all.

Plus, in 2019 the yearly fee was 34.909€, and this year is 69.99€?

Also there is no customer line in China, and no response for email. I feel ashamed for such a company doing daytime robbery.

Please, I just

BUSUU's business practice is to automatically charge your for future unwanted and cancelled services.

I signed up my 2 children on BUSUU. After a few weeks we realized the program was not a good fit for them and they simply stopped using it. Fast forward a year (July 2020) and BUSUU charged me $69.99 (2x) for (2) future memberships! NO auto renewal reminder emails were received on either account! They quietly kept my credit card and charged it for future memberships, which have been cancelled, will NOT be used.

I have reached out to their customer service team 3x (7/24, 8/30, 9/4) each time asking for a full refund on both accounts, they have rudely denied my request.

This company's shady business practice is to auto renewal and deny cancellations refunds. I don't understand how this is ethical? If I have cancelled the service why can't I get a refund?

I will advise everyone to never sign up for this service. Every other business with a policy of auto renewal sends a reminder that payment is upcoming. I received a notice after the fact that busuu had auto renewed (and at a higher rate than I initially signed up for). I contacted them immediately and I am so disappointed that this company will not refund my money for a service I do not use and have no intention of ever using again!

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...

Hi,

I am me too victim of Busuu and their method.
I discovered today that 69.99 eur were taken from my bank account.

After contacting busuu service stating that I did not receive any email from their part stating that my subscription was coming to an end, they just said that I should have read the terms and conditions.

They automatically renew your subscription for a period of ONE YEAR with an impressive price for an app of almost 70eur.

They don't send you ANY renewal email saying that you come close to your end period, so you can be sure that no one will remember their end day. This is SUCH a deceptive technique.

I will try my best to fight this company and get back my money as well as warning people to NEVER take a subscription there.

I had purchased a subscription to their service a year ago.

I then stopped using their service and forgot about it. I thought what I had made was a 1-year single purchase. Turns out it was an auto-renewable subscription. I get an email only after the renewal has been made. They didn't even notify me that they were going to charge me. I sent an email asking for a refund and cancellation of the service. They refused. It's incredible they someone can just take your money like that.

I signed up a year ago to try out Bussu app, didn't like it and forgot about it. A year later they charged me a yearly fee (!) of 69 euros without as much as an email notification in advance. When I reached out to customer support I got a standard email response that they are "sorry I didn't realize Bussu subscriptions renew automatically". And when I tried to explain the situation the just kept sending me the same email back. And they refused to refund me even if thought I haven't used the app for almost a year! It's extremely sad, that the way you retain customers is by automatic yearly subscription renewal and not by making your service better.

I contact busuu 22/06/2019 stating not happy and want full refund. Still waiting for respond despite resending emails. Then the 17/05/2020 £69.99 taken from my bank account without my permission. Have again sent emails but not reply. I did manage to live chat with someone who stated customer service would deal with this - still waiting. I want a full refund of both payments and confirmation that my account is closed and no more payments taken as the service I have received is disappointing

I had a premium membership last year from busuu. After one year, I realized that premium membership amount has been withdrawn by busuu (turkey) without any notification or approval which is called as 'stealing'
When I contact customer service I have been told that it has been stated in the membership agreement that I read or accept one year ago.in one year I moved abroad, lost my phone etc. So me/or anybody have any right to forget your tricky agreement statements in one year. So did i. That does not give busuu any right to reach my account and steal money without any notification.

Additionally, I checked my membership - renewal - date and noticed that the money has been drawn after one year renewal period. So that does not make any sense if it is a statement based membership renewal.

When I write to customer service (turkey) instead of a case specific reply, I have got a standard copy paste text.

As a conclusion, I do not want to extend my busuu membership and do not accept to pay for a service that I don not use anymore. Kindly ask refund of the amount withdrawn from my account without notification or approval.

Thanks
Regards
Selime demirci

E: [protected]@gmail.com

M:[protected]

A: 79 manor court
Knocknacarra
Galway city
Co. Galway
Ireland

I am regularly bombarded with emails from Busuu but they have no interest in reminders about the subscription renewing and I am now trapped into a subscription for a further two years. What's worse is that I don't have time to pursue the course. I wrote as soon as I received an email from PayPal to notify me that the money had been deducted but it was according to Busuu too late as the seven days had expired- the money was deducted so as to make it impossible to react to the PayPal mail. This is a scam pure and simple and I will be doing my utmost to redress this wrong.

Hello,

I just had an unfortunate discussion with Busuu customer support regarding cancellation of my premium subscription. The main subject was their "Pause Subscription" button which I pressed to pause my subscription for a few months. The result was that, after my current year of subscription ended up, my Busuu subscription went back to the Free Trial mode then, after just one month, I was silently billed for another year.

I complained to their customer service regarding the issue, asking them to expain what exactly had happened, and what they had done was changing my account password (!), I don't know why, then cancelling my subscription without even asking my permission. So now, since my subscription is already closed, I can't even play with the "Pause Subscription" button to see if it gives you a fair warning about what exactly it is doing. I think the button is quite confusing, and what it says is it should be pressed to suspend my subscription for up to 6 months or so. Unfortunately, I can't give you all the info since they have already closed my subscription without my permission. So, if I want to look into it any deeper, I will need to pay another $64.25

Ideally I want my $64.25 back. My email is [protected]@hotmail.com, the phone # is +[protected]. The incident happened just yesterday, 10/29/2019

Thanks,
Alexander

Busuu incident is #9388122. This is the last response from their team:

Hi Alex,

Thank you for your email.

With regard to your password, I changed it myself in case you had forgotten it. You can log in with these credentials and check yourself:

[protected]@hotmail.com
busuu2019 (to change your password: How do I reset my password?)

As for the date, you mentioned having canceled the subscription. What must have happened instead is that you paused it, which turns your account free for one month and adds an extra month to your subscription period (ie: for users who may not have the time to use Busuu for a bit but would like to study with it a bit later on. That way, they don't wast a month).

I have now canceled your subscription so that you will not be charged again. However, I'm afraid auto-renewal cases are not eligible for a refund: What is Busuu's refund policy? Our apologies for any inconvenience.

Kind Regards,

Celia

Date: September 22, 2019
Desire solution: Refund
Description:
I was required by my university teacher to purchase busuu premium for its exercises two years ago for $85 per year. Like other complaints on this site, I was not informed before, during, and after my purchase that the subscription would automatically renew the next year. The only way you may know about it would be under the "Subscription" under "My Account" on the website.

Last year I was charged $85 again, and I emailed them for a refund. After 5 days of email communication, they offered me a 50% refund. And I was told that they have helped me cancel the subscription permanently, so there won't be further purchases. I was like"Alright, at least I got 50% back, and it is true that I did not cancel it before the renewal." So I agreed with the 50% refund.

However, on September 22 this year, I was charged again for the subscription. I have been contacting them for 5 days, and they only reply by copying and pasting answers that won't answer my questions. The refund can only happen within 7 days, so I do not know what to do next.

Last year I bought a year of premium at 50% off. Nowhere did it tell me this was a subscription which would be renewed at full price a year later. There were no warnings prior to purchase, or after purchase, or before they took money again when they auto-renewed. I have contacted them about a refund, and they said refunds can only be done with 7 days of purchase.
Definitely avoid buying premium for busuu, as it is a rip off. I am very angry as I finished the language course within 4 months and haven't used the service since. Now I have a whole year more at full price that I don't need.

I wanted to talk about my experience with Busuu.com automatic renewal:

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.
It was not possible to contact them on a telephone number, as they don't provide any.
After several e-mails of complaint by mi side they offered me a 50% refund - to notice that they had charged me the double fee of the first time I voluntarily subscribed.
As I had already opened a dispute on PayPal on this matter I preferred to wait until it was closed and so I did.
Well, after Busuu never provided any evidence on this matter to PayPal I got my money refunded.
I had the chance to talk with other people victim of this not transparent practice who used credit cards and they were also able to cancel their unwanted charges through their banks.

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!

I saw that busuu.com took money from my credit card without my info today 20:10 GMT +7 01/08/2019.
my card is VIB bank (Vietnam international bank): ****7475
receipt no. : 142713735
payment: shopping from busuu ltd london
I never share my card info to anyone.
I never heard about busuu and did not buy anything from busuu.
I need an answer and my money back.
Thanks for help.

Contact me via: [protected]@gmail.com