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Business Profile

Tutoring

Babbel

Headquarters

This business is NOT BBB Accredited.

Find BBB Accredited Businesses in Tutoring.

Complaints

This profile includes complaints for Babbel's headquarters and its corporate-owned locations. To view all corporate locations, see

Find a Location

Babbel has 2 locations, listed below.

*This company may be headquartered in or have additional locations in another country. Please click on the country abbreviation in the search box below to change to a different country location.

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    • Babbel

      475 Park Ave S Fl 2 New York, NY 10016-6952

    • Babbel

      1601 California Ave Palo Alto, CA 94304-1111

    Customer Complaints Summary

    • 77 total complaints in the last 3 years.
    • 37 complaints closed in the last 12 months.

    If you've experienced an issue

    Submit a Complaint

    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.

    Sort by

    Complaint status

    Complaint type

    • Initial Complaint

      Date:02/28/2023

      Type:Service or Repair Issues
      Status:
      Unanswered
      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 Sunday, February 26th, 2023 I went to the Babbel.com sight to purchase a Lifetime Membership. When I selected the Lifetime option the price was listed at $239. I entered my information and processed the transaction. The page timed out and I refreshed the page. When I tried processing the Transaction again the price was now $349!! I tried contacting Babbel Support no response. That is not a good business practice to advertise a price for a product and then increase the price of the product. I will attach screenshots with the date and time located in the upper left. My desired outcome is to pay the price advertised of $239.

    • Initial Complaint

      Date:02/27/2023

      Type:Service or Repair Issues
      Status:
      Resolved
      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.
      Babbel has been charging my credit card every 6 months. They are not able to show proof that I signed up for their service. My bank reimburse me for the latest charge, but not able to reimburse me for expenses 6 months prior. When I asked Babbel to show me confirmation that I signed up for their service, they were unable to. I'm still trying to figure out how they were able to get my bank account information to debit my account every 6 months. Unfortunately, I just caught this right now and am able to see a recurring charge for the last 2 years. My bad for not catching the sooner, but I wish they can show me some sort of proof on the transaction that I signed up for their service. I've never even heard of their company and am 100% sure this was not an erroneous purchase on my part.

      Customer Answer

      Date: 03/24/2023

      At this time, I have been contacted directly by Babbel regarding complaint ID ********, however my complaint has NOT been resolved because:

       I emailed their customer service and let them know I never signed up for this service and believe the recurring charges on my credit card over the years were due to a potential fraud transactions. They reimbursed me for the latest charge only, but not for the prior charges. Here is the response I received -- however, I believe I should be refunded for a service I never signed up for, or have never logged into their site, or used any of their services. I've never even heard of this company before. The reason why I am reporting this is because their argument below is based on Terms and Conditions of a subscription that I never signed up for. 

      "We were able to refund the latest payment as an act of goodwill. All our subscriptions automatically renew unless you choose to cancel beforehand. This is stated in the purchase summary before the purchase, in the Terms and Conditions, in the confirmation email after purchase, in Account Information and also under Payment, Subscriptions & Account in our Help Center. 

      Due to the terms and conditions agreed to at the time of purchase, we're not able to refund more payments.

      No further charges will be made."

      Sincerely,

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

      Customer Answer

      Date: 04/16/2023

      Better Business Bureau:

      At this time, my complaint, ID ******** regarding Babbel has been resolved.

      (By clicking "OK", your complaint will be closed as Resolved.)


      Sincerely,

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

    • Initial Complaint

      Date:02/15/2023

      Type:Service or Repair Issues
      Status:
      Unanswered
      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.
      Babbel is a complete scam and need to be held accountable. I cancelled my subscription right after I signed up for it, because I realized I did not like the program, finally the subscription expired in October 2022, which shouldve been a one time cc charge. Its February 2023, my card is still being charged, random amounts. I have tried over and over to contact Babbel, they do not have any way to reach a person or explain your situation. It is all robots and is impossible to cancel. I have proof of my date of cancelled subscription and bank statements with further charges, theres multiple! This company (Babbel) needs to be held accountable for stealing from people.

    • Initial Complaint

      Date:12/28/2022

      Type:Service or Repair Issues
      Status:
      Unanswered
      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 tried to unscribe from Babbel. I followed all the appropriate steps on the app. It then directed me to the website where I was unable to unscribe. I have searched and searched where it told me to go in the help section of the page and to no avail.

    • Initial Complaint

      Date:12/13/2022

      Type:Service or Repair Issues
      Status:
      Resolved
      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.
      Babbel is a well known on-line language tutoring program. I canceled my subscription with them last year - after going to extraordinary lengths to contact them, as their customer service office is located in ******* and they initially ignored my messages. Today my credit card got charged again. I am taking steps to decline the charge with my credit card company but Babbel is either negligent or malicious in its business practices. Please make them aware of my complaint.

      Customer Answer

      Date: 01/07/2023

      Better Business Bureau:

      At this time, my complaint, ID ******** regarding Babbel has been resolved.

      (By clicking "OK", your complaint will be closed as Resolved.)


      Sincerely,

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

    • Initial Complaint

      Date:12/02/2022

      Type:Billing Issues
      Status:
      Unanswered
      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 was solicited in an email to obtain a lifetime membership to a language learning platform. I submitted a payment via credit card and when I later checked my account I did not see the 'life membership', when I contacted the company via email they stated that there was no payment showing in my account even though my credit card had been charged. This is a fraudulent business practice, I wish my money refunded and the business put on notice about their fraudulent business practices.

    • Initial Complaint

      Date:11/16/2022

      Type:Sales and Advertising Issues
      Status:
      Resolved
      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 had purchased only a 6 month subscription from Babbel last year. I just received an email that my card was charged for an additional 6 months. I cancelled the subscription and would like to request a refund. I havent been able to get a hold of anyone in customer service per their policy I only have 24 hours to cancel and receive a refund.

      Customer Answer

      Date: 12/10/2022

      Better Business Bureau:

      At this time, my complaint, ID ******** regarding Babbel has been resolved.

      (By clicking "OK", your complaint will be closed as Resolved.)


      Sincerely,

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

    • Initial Complaint

      Date:10/07/2022

      Type:Service or Repair Issues
      Status:
      Unanswered
      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.
      Yesterday October 5th 2022 I purchased a lifetime subscription from Babbel.com for $199! I realized right away I made a mistake! The email babbel sent me stated I have 20 days for a full refund for any reason! But babbel has no 800 customer service ************* will not reply at support.babbel.com! I sent 29 emails over the past 2 days and they will not reply! I've tried everything and I don't know what to do? I have not taken one class or used the product in any way shape or form! I have 20 days for a full refund and this is day two! I want my money back, but I'm afraid now that they have my money they won't give it back!

    • Initial Complaint

      Date:09/08/2022

      Type:Service or Repair Issues
      Status:
      Unanswered
      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 6 months of Italian ($45.91) on August 29th. I logged in for a few days and my Italian ******s populated fine; however, about 5 days in I went to the French language option to see if I wanted to purchase another subscription. I took one practice ****** and then went back to Italian. When I logged back into Italian my subscription had been deleted and it was prompting me to purchase another one. I was very confused. I thought about it for a little and then saw the lifetime subscription option of $199.99. I figured I could get a refund for the Italian 6 month subscription that was no longer working after purchasing the lifetime membership. It has been several days. I have e-mailed. I have called the "help" line which is really just some guy saying there is no one to help. I have tried the "chat" feature which is really just a completely unhelpful robot.

    • Initial Complaint

      Date:07/29/2022

      Type:Product Issues
      Status:
      Unanswered
      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.
      Paid ***** for a 12 month unlimited subscription. As soon as they received my payment I was allowed 2 podcast classes and then they cancelled my subscription directing me to a page to pay more money for additional classes. I have tried to contact Babbel three time with no success. I filed a complaint with PAYPAL to get my refund. Very shoddy company. Takes your money and then cancels the subscription to try to get you to spend more.

      Customer Answer

      Date: 08/23/2022

      Better Business Bureau: but 

      At this time, I have not been contacted by Babbel regarding complaint ID ********.

      It has been resolved through PayPal which didnt hesitate to refund my money.  Which tells me that have done this numerous time for people getting ripped off from Babbel.



    Babbel is NOT a BBB Accredited Business.

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