Complaints

The complaint text that is displayed might not represent all complaints filed with BBB. Some consumers may elect to not publish the details of their complaints, some complaints may not meet BBB's standards for publication, or BBB may display a portion of complaints when a high volume is received for a particular business.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:09/15/2023

  Type:Product Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  On 9/13/23 I received an email receipt number #********* for a transaction of $39 from Brainly. I emailed Brainly to let them now that my child (who is 16) used my laptop and started a seven day trial. She said she was not aware of this app being able to charge me. I emailed Brainly multiple times. I've had no response. This business is crooked and very unprofessional. I never authorized this transaction and would *** a refund.

  Business Response

  Date: 09/15/2023

  Hello,

  Thank you for contacting Brainly.

  We responded to the user twice, confirming that we canceled the subscription and informing her that we would not be able to provide a refund, as according to our policy, refunds are not available. 

  Wed like to emphasize that clear communication is of utmost importance to us. Therefore, to activate the 7-day trial, a user must confirm they want to start it, understand it will turn into a recurring paid plan until canceled, and be aware that we do not provide refunds. This information was included in the emails sent to the email address that the user contacted us from. 

  Please note that the age on the Brainly account in question is 27.

  If you have any more questions, please do not hesitate to get in touch!

  Best,

  Brainly Team

• Initial Complaint

  Date:09/13/2023

  Type:Service or Repair Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  Today I received an email saying I was charged for an entire year . I assumed I was using a trial , I contacted them today and wanted to cancel as I said I was unaware and they refused . I went into the account and saw the subscription which I cancel however they refused to refund my money even though its the day of charge . I wont use the service and I find it reprehensible to refuse to refund on day that it was charged. It was not clear that I was actually subscribed . Very deceptive business practice .

  Business Response

  Date: 09/14/2023

  Hello,

  Thank you for contacting Brainly.

  To activate the 7-day trial, a user must confirm they want to start it, understand it will turn into a recurring paid plan if not canceled on time, and are aware that we do not provide refunds. 

  It is of utmost importance to us to keep our users updated about every stage of their free trial, therefore, we send communications such as free trial activation notification, free trial expiration reminder, and subscription start confirmation. 
  

  All the communications were sent to the email address associated with users Brainly account. 

  The user activated their trial on 5 Sep, and since it was not canceled, it turned into a paid plan on 12 Sep. The subscription was canceled by the user on 14 Sep.

  In case of any more questions, please always feel free to get in touch!

• Initial Complaint

  Date:08/30/2023

  Type:Product Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  This company has what seems to be a robot named ***** that replies to emails concerning charges to my account. I asked for a refund because I did not intend to purchase the use of a help with a homework answer site for $96. ***** originally asked me for the payment method that I used in order to refund me but then continuously replied to my emails requesting an immediate refund with you purchased the app via Apple so you need to request a refund from Apple. I never purchased, clicked on or downloaded the app and explained that the purchase was made on my debit card from Safari. ***** now replies with our new policy states we do not issue refunds. This is unethical and immoral. I want the $96 refunded because I have never used Brainly and certainly never plan to.

  Business Response

  Date: 08/31/2023

  Hello,

  Thank you for contacting Brainly.

  Were sorry for the initial confusion in our correspondence and directing the user to the App Store. 

  As explained in our latest reply sen to the user, to activate the ***** free trial, we always ask users to confirm they want to start it, they understand it will become a recurring paid plan if the free trial is not canceled within 7 days, and they are aware that we do not provide refunds. 

  However, as a goodwill gesture and due to miscommunication on our part, we confirm the users charge has been refunded.

  In case of any questions, please always feel free to get in touch. 
  

  
  

• Initial Complaint

  Date:08/18/2023

  Type:Product Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  8/5/23: My daugher was billed for a trial 7 day period to use their platform. After becoming aware of their no refund policy, I researched further by reviews of 2 sites which there are several claims on Brainly misusing client information by charging clients without permission. Also, they have a poor customer service which leads me to believe this is a money scam. They target kids under 18 in hopes that they will not cancel in time after the 7 day period. They state that no refunds are available on the site, however, there seems to be a lot of testimony that Brainly is still charging regardless. Please look into this company before they ******* more people.

  Business Response

  Date: 08/21/2023

  Hello,

  Thank you for contacting Brainly.

  Our policies are stated explicitly in our ************ and in the communications that were sent to the email address associated with the users Brainly account with an active subscription.

  The 7-day free trial on the account in question was activated on 29 Jul. Within the free trial period, a user could cancel their subscription free of charge. The trial turned into a paid subscription and was charged precisely after 7 days on 5 Aug. 

  Wed like to reiterate that the user was informed about every stage their free trial was at and was sent messages such as free trial activation notification, free trial expiration reminder, and subscription start confirmation. 

  In case of any more questions, please always feel free to get in touch.

  Best,
  Brainly Team
  

  
  

• Initial Complaint

  Date:08/16/2023

  Type:Product Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  My nephew had gotten into my account and applied for the Brainly Plus trial with my information. I did not authorize this purchase and I also did not receive an email back but I had canceled the subscription and sent an email the same day I got charged $39. According to the terms of service I can get a refund within the 7 days and as well as 72 hours. I have not yet disputed this with my bank as Im giving them time to respond but I also do not want a shady response in return.

  Business Response

  Date: 08/17/2023

  Hello,

  Thank you for contacting Brainly.

  Our regular response time is up to 72h business hours. The user contacted us on Tuesday, 15 Aug, and we have just responded her.

  Unfortunately, we won't be able to process a refund as, according to our updated policy, refunds are not available. This information is available in our T&Cs and *********** and was included in the email communications the user received.

  In case of any more questions, please always feel free to contact us.
  

  Best,
  

  Brainly Team

  
  

  Customer Answer

  Date: 08/19/2023

  Better Business Bureau:
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID# ********, and have determined that my complaint has NOT been resolved because:

   As I have mentioned to ******, the agent who replied to my customer support ticket, I did not authorize any purchases.

  In addition, the terms of use mention that they do not allow children under the age of 13 to register for an account. I had told ********************** that my nephew has registered my account without authorization. It is under their terms of use and they seem to only follow them to their convenience.

   In order for the BBB to appropriately process your response, you MUST answer the question above.

  
  Sincerely,
  
  ***********************************
  
  
  
  
   
  

  Business Response

  Date: 08/23/2023

  Hello,

  Thank you for contacting us.

  We'd like to reiterate were transparent about our policies, and we keep our users updated about every stage their free trial at, sending communications such as free trial activation notification, free trial expiration reminder, and subscription start confirmation. 

  All those communications were sent to the email address associated with the Brainly account with an active subscription. This is also the email address the customer is writing us from.

  Please note the user's age on the account in question was selected as 20 upon registration, and College was selected as the education level.

  In case of any more questions, please do not hesitate to get in touch. 
  

  
  

  Customer Answer

  Date: 08/23/2023

  Better Business Bureau:
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID# ********, and have determined that my complaint has NOT been resolved because:

  [Your Answer Here]

  Again as stated from the start, I did not authorize any purchases. I do not check correspondence from emails that are not used. I am obviously using this email since it was compromised and to verify that it is now secured. I wouldve immediately canceled any trials and purchases had I authorized it, because companies like this do this on purpose. In this case, my nephew had gotten on my device, because he was doing his practice test. He had told me that he was using Brainly to double-check his choices. The questions he had searched were all on Brainly so to his convenience, he used it. He used my age and my education level, because he had used my name and my information. I have not used brainly in 3 years and if I did, I wouldve not made a new account when I already had another one prior to this. I do not need to use Brainly as this is irrelevant to my current education.
  

  Regardless, I previously stated that Brainlys Terms of Use policy mentions that children under the age of 13 are not allowed to use the service. My nephew is under the age of 13. He was not allowed to use my information, subscribe to a trial, purchase any subscriptions, or use the service to begin with.

   

  In order for the BBB to appropriately process your response, you MUST answer the question above.

  
  Sincerely,
  
  ***********************************
  
  
  
  
   
  

• Initial Complaint

  Date:08/03/2023

  Type:Billing Issues
  Status:

  ResolvedMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  On August 2, 2023, I was charged a Brainly Plus monthly subscription for $10.00. I have not even used Brainly for months, let alone purchased a subscription that I do not and never need. They do not accept refunds, but I believe that I was wrongly charged.

  Business Response

  Date: 08/03/2023

  Hello,

  Thank you for contacting Brainly.

  Our system indicates that the subscription on the Brainly account associated with the email address the user contacted us from, was activated and then canceled on the users end. 

  Our payment processor did not highlight the subscription charge as suspicious. However, If the user thinks their card has been used fraudulently, we advise contacting their bank. They will help them get their funds back and will secure their card to avoid any future unauthorized charges.

  In case of any further questions, please always feel free to contact us. 
  

  Best,

  Brainly Team

  Customer Answer

  Date: 08/03/2023

  Better Business Bureau:
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********. I find that this resolution is not satisfactory to me, but am choosing not to pursue this issue any longer. I will no longer use Brainly, as I am dissatisfied with their business. I accept the business's response to this complaint.
  
  Sincerely,
  
  ****************************************
  
  
  
   
  
  

• Initial Complaint

  Date:07/18/2023

  Type:Service or Repair Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  I signed up for a free trial to Brainly Plus on 7/10/23, and was charged $39 for a Brainly Plus Annual subscription on 7/17/23. I do not want or need this annual subscription, but was unable to cancel my free trial due to a family emergency that kept me away from my phone and computer for multiple days. I canceled the annual subscription and requested a refund 30 minutes after being charged for the annual subscription, but Brainly refuses to issue a refund for this annual subscription despite the circumstances, with ****** from support saying we cannot take responsibility for not following the policies on the users end. This is not an issue of me simply not following a policy, its an issue of me being unable to log in and cancel my free trial in the timeframe. Given the circumstances and the fact that I canceled the annual subscription within 30 minutes of being charged without using the service, I would like a refund. I have sent multiple emails and requested this issue be escalated to a manager multiple times to no avail.

  Business Response

  Date: 07/19/2023

  Hello, ***************

  Our system indicates that your Brainly Plus subscription on the account ********** was canceled after the subscription started, which means it will remain active until the end of your plan, but it will not auto-renew.

  Unfortunately, we wont be able to process your request as, according to our updated policy, refunds are not available. You can learn more about it in our recent email communications about your account and in our Help Center --> ********************************************************************************************************************

  The subscription activation process to obtain the free trial has various steps. To activate the trial, a user needs to confirm they want to start their free trial, understand it will turn into a paid plan until canceled and are aware that we do not provide refunds. This information was included in the emails sent to ********************.

  As already explained, we are transparent about our policies and must abide by them.

  You can submit a dispute and your funds would be returned to you pending the timeline of the resolution.

  In case of any further questions, please do not hesitate to get in touch.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:07/10/2023

  Type:Product Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  i signed up for a brainly tutor subscription for the annual one but i only wanted to do the trial, and since it was 7 days i forgot about it, i asked one tutor question and i wasn't really happy with the result and so i left the page, only 8 days later did i check my bank account and see 97 dollars were charged to me by brainly, and i tried looking for a way to refund but it doesn't look like you do that on your site, but if you could i would love those 97 dollars back, if possible

  Business Response

  Date: 07/11/2023

  Hello,

  Thank you for contacting Brainly.
  

  Unfortunately, we wont be able to process the refund request as, according to our updated policy, refunds are not available. This information was shared in our recent email communications and can be accessed in our Help Center.

  Our system indicates that the Brainly Tutor subscription on the account associated with the users email address was canceled after the subscription started, which means it will remain active until the end of your plan, but it will not auto-renew.

  Please note that the subscription activation process and obtaining the free trial has various steps. To activate the trial, a user needs to confirm they want to start their free trial, understand it will turn into a paid plan until canceled and are aware that we do not provide refunds. This information was included in the emails sent to the email address provided by the user.

  In case of any further questions, please always feel free to get in touch! 

• Initial Complaint

  Date:07/05/2023

  Type:Product Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  On June 30th I received an email that I was charged $96.00 by Brainly. The previous day I did review the website, but never signed up nor agreed to pay $96.00. I contacted them by email the moment I got an email by them stating that I was charged to let them know that I did not approve the charges.

  Business Response

  Date: 07/06/2023

  Hello,

  Thank you for contacting Brainly.

  The subscription activation process to obtain the free trial has various steps. To activate the trial, a user needs to confirm they want to start their free trial, understand it will turn into a paid plan until canceled, and are aware that, according to our updated policy, we do not provide refunds. This information was included in various communications sent to the email address the user contacted us from.

  We confirm that on 24 Jun, the user activated a ********************** Tutor ***** free trial. Within the 7-day time frame, the user could have canceled their subscription trial free of charge. 

  In case of any further questions, please always feel free to get in touch!

  Best,

  Brainly Team

• Initial Complaint

  Date:07/05/2023

  Type:Billing Issues
  Status:

  ResolvedMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  I keep getting charged a yearly fee and I haven't used the service in two years. When I try to log on to my account to cancel the subscription they have changed the password due to inactivity on my account. The password reset link they provide says oops try later. I have tried several times. I am tired of paying a yearly fee. There is no way to actually contact the company to get the issue resolved. They have you trapped in the yearly fee.

  Business Response

  Date: 07/06/2023

  Hello,

  Thank you for contacting Brainly.

  We confirm there is no Brainly account associated with the email address the user provided. We contacted the user at this email address and requested more details to locate their Brainly account.

  In case of any further questions, please always feel free to get in touch! 
  

  
  

  Customer Answer

  Date: 07/07/2023

  Better Business Bureau:
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID# ********, and have determined that my complaint has NOT been resolved because:

  [Your Answer Here]

   I have three emails   We cant figure out which email since the accounts are all locked.  The charge can still be added to my credit card yearly   Please contact me at ************************

   

   

   

  In order for the BBB to appropriately process your response, you MUST answer the question above.

  
  **********************************************
  
  
  
  
   
  

  Business Response

  Date: 07/11/2023

  Hello,

  Thank you for contacting Brainly.

  We confirm that the updated email address provided by the user allowed locating their ********************** account with an active subscription. The subscription has now been canceled, and the user was informed about it.
  

  In case of any further questions, please always feel free to get in touch! 
  

  Best,

  Brainly Team

  Customer Answer

  Date: 07/12/2023

  Better Business Bureau:
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me and the matter has been resolved.
  
  ***********************************************