Duolingo
Reviews and Complaints

I have contacted the company about this issue over a period of 2 months. When I first reached out, I didn't get a response. I had to reach out twice more just to get them to acknowledge my email. When they finally did, their response was that I need to wait and these things take time. A good company will at least acknowledge a customer's email within 24-48 business hours. Taking 2 months without providing a solution is bad business practice. Here is the issue: I had a primary account that I've used for years and paid for a full subscription this year. I accidentally created a secondary account, not tied to the primary one, with different email addresses and usernames. After confirming this, I requested the deletion of the secondary account through their website. The next day, both accounts were deleted, which doesn't make sense since I was logged in only under the secondary account, with a different username and email. I haven't had access to my primary account since, losing 2 months of the service I paid for, with no proper acknowledgement or attempts to re-establish access. If the company cannot immediately reactivate my primary account and communicate with me, I expect a full refund for the year's subscription. They've wasted my time during a critical moment when I need to practice my language for an upcoming trip. I cannot just start over at this point; I had years' worth of completed lessons in my account. The issue needs fixing, or I expect a full refund.

I paid in full for a Plus subscription with Duolingo January this year. I was learning spanish, and enjoying some of the features the app provided for approximately 8 weeks, before a moderator restricted my account with no forewarning. This meant that I could no longer view the leaderboard, my points or status for the week. This was a draw for me. I also could no longer compete for higher levels, leagues or lightning rounds. This restriction took most of the fun out of the app, and left me with a dull, stripped down version. I was dismayed by this. I reached out by email immediately, but got no response. I searched online trying to find the best way to contact them. I reached out on twitter. All of my attempts received zero response. Months went by, and I paid for a subscription with another language learning app. A week ago, while having some free time, I decided to look for another way to contact them. Through google play services I found that the "contact moderator" option provided an email. In my experience, Duolingo doesn't do enough to provide this email. It's not on their twitter page or FAQ. After sending an email, I did receive a response, but unfortunately the employee's feedback to my concerns were vague. First, I was told that my account was fine, and she could find nothing wrong with it. Then, after many painstaking emails, she said that it seemed I was operating an "age restricted" account. She sent me a link to age restricted accounts. I'm a middle-aged man, and my paid in full plus subscription clearly shows this. The disingenuous of duolingo employees only left me more frustrated. My intention in the beginning, after my account was restricted, was to get an explanation, and have it restored. After two months attempting to contact, I gave up and went elsewhere. Recently, after getting a response from the newly used email address, I've repeatedly asked for a refund, so that we can both move on. They have refused to say yes or no.