Complaints

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

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  Duolingo

  5900 Penn Ave Pittsburgh, PA 15206-3817

• 

  Duolingo

  5545 Walnut Street Pittsburg, PA 15232

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:12/15/2023

  Type:Product Issues
  Status:

  UnansweredMore 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 am writing to you to complain about Duolingo, a company which has its headquarters in **********, ************. Duolingo provides lessons for people who wish to learn foreign languages over the Internet. Both ****** Play Store and Apple provide a Duolingo application. 
  I have been a Duolingo for over seven years. The format of Duolingo has been changed a number of times over the past few years. The most recent format, however, is just plain awful. The format changed on or about November 1, 2022. I do not recall having received any advance notice of the change in format. The format change was basically forced upon Duolingo users. Duolingo users were not given the option to keep the old format or accept the new format. 
  Duolingo claims its courses are designed to entertain and delight. The current format definitely does not entertain and delight. Just check out the comments that have been made about the current format on the Internet. 
  I have written several letters to Duolingo, to which I have received no reply. Until recently, I was able to download the previous Duolingo format on some devices. Now, those devices either will not accept the previous format, or the format now does not connect to Duolingo lessons. 
  Duolingo appears to be determined to keep the current format and appears to be unresponsive to those who use Duolingo. Duolingo should offer users the choice of the current format or the previous format. I think Duolingo will not give users a choice because the "higher **** in Duolingo are afraid the majority of users will opt for the previous format. 
  Thank you for your time and attention to this letter. 
  
  

• Initial Complaint

  Date:12/08/2023

  Type:Service or Repair Issues
  Status:

  UnansweredMore 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 purchased two english tests. Both times, my test results were invalidated, and the company did not provide any proof to how I had violated the rules of the test. They simple accused me of cheating and invalidated my test. Any attempts to appeal were unheard, and my money was taken without any chance to re-take the test.I followed every single tip and instruction they recommended, and yet, still, my test was invalidated.It is my belief that the company is selling these online tests in hopes of getting consumers to have to take the test multiple times before they will approve anything.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:11/15/2023

  Type:Billing 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 two week trial for my daughter. I cancelled prior to the trial ending. Within an hour after cancelling I received an email saying I was charged for an annual membership which costs $83.99. I have tried to contact the company with no reply. I feel like this was a scam.

  Business Response

  Date: 11/27/2023

  Hello,

  Your subscription has already been refunded. We responded to your email on November 16, less than 48 hours after you sent it. Please do not make complaints claiming you have not received a response when you hardly allowed enough time for us to get to your message.

  Customer Answer

  Date: 11/28/2023

  Better Business Bureau:
  
  
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********. I was refunded the following day after making this complain. My issue however is the disrespectful response for the company. I tried many times to contact them and coincidentally the day after I file a complain I receive the refund. 
  
  
  
  Regards,
  
  
  ******** *******

• Initial Complaint

  Date:11/13/2023

  Type:Product 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.

  My Super Duolingo not working from my iphone 10 app since late October, which means by default I have been downgraded to a basic Duopling app version forcing purchase of ongoing Super Duolingo free trial offers and commercial ads/games constantly interrupting my Duolingo languages lessons. I have paid $83.99 for a one-year subscription to Super Duolingo which supposedly stop doing those. Even Duolingo app confirms my Super Duolingo is good through Aug 27, 2024 (screenshot attached).
  
  I have submitted the problem reports since 10/28 through the Duolingo web site. To be precise, File# ******* on 10/28, ******* on 11/2, ******* on 11/3, ******* and ******* on 11/5. Today is 11/13. 8 days have passed. I found a phone # from Google search but the phone doesn't work to speak with any humans. I feel I am cheated. Can you please help?

  Business Response

  Date: 11/27/2023

  Hello ***,

  I see that we've responded to quite a few of your emails asking for your username, but never heard back until after you submitted this complaint. I'm glad Kathleen was able to help you sort this out!

  Customer Answer

  Date: 11/28/2023

  
  
  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.  Super Duolingo contacted me via email.  The problem has been resolved.  Please close this item.
  
  
  
  Regards,
  
  
  *** ***

• Initial Complaint

  Date:11/02/2023

  Type:Billing 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 was charged one day early for a one year subscrition. I was given a notice to be billed nov 2 and was billed nov 1. I had planned to only do a monthly subscription now am stuck with one year. I did not have the money for a one year subscription.
  
  I notified the company within a few hours, well before nov 2. I see from complaints this is a common practice.
  
  I have sent 4 messages and no response to any of them. They do make a remark due to heavy emails that they may not be able to respond. I feel they run a scam in certain ways and one is with support and billing. I asked for my money back well before I could have and should have been charged.
  
  I would have recommended tis company to others before this but will not now and will let everyone know to stay away from them.
  
  Copy of billing and message sent
  
  Your free trial ends on November 2, 2023
  Your free trial for Duolingo Plus 12-Month Plan with Duolingo will end soon. You have an upcoming payment on November 2, 2023.
  
  
  Your card (discover •••• ****) will be charged $89.87 every 12 months, unless you cancel. If you would like to cancel your subscription, please contact us.
  
  
  
  This was charged on november 1 before 11 59 pm. WRONG. I will fight this One very unhappy human!!!!!!!! ****** *****

  Business Response

  Date: 11/27/2023

  Hi ******,

  I'm sorry this happened! I see we were able to assist you with a refund on 11/4. Please don't hesitate to contact support with any additional questions!

• Initial Complaint

  Date:11/02/2023

  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 signed up for a 14 day free trial on October 18th, using my credit card directly through the website (no Google Pay or Apple Pay.) I set my subscription to not renew. I received no notification that I would be charged, but on November 1st I was charged $89.62. I have not used the app since. I would like a refund as I am not going to use it and I only signed up for the free trial and set it to not renew. Maybe I will come back for a month or two in the future but I certainly don't want to subscribe for $89.62 for a year.

  Customer Answer

  Date: 11/06/2023

  Hi, please remove my complaint with ID ********. The company contacted me and resolved the issue. Thank you.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:10/29/2023

  Type:Billing 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.

  Duolingo has a much delayed or non-existent support system.
  
  My account was open some time ago and initially I set it up for my young daughter. Her age forced the account to disable certain social features considered dangerous for young children.
  
  She never used the account. Later I began to use the account and after accruing a significant amount of non-transferable experience I discovered the missing features and opened a support case to change the age on the account and re-enable the features.
  
  It’s been over a month and I’ve only received an auto-reply but no other communication.
  
  I do pay for their service and along with that is an implied contract for minimum support which has not been honored.

  Business Response

  Date: 10/30/2023

  Hello,

  We're sorry you haven't heard back from our support team. No account exists using ***********@*****.com. While we typically do not remove age restrictions on accounts by request, I would recommend you create your own account using your email address. Using your new account, you can easily skip ahead to where you currently are on your daughters account by scrolling to that unit and tapping "Jump Here."

• Initial Complaint

  Date:09/14/2023

  Type:Billing 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.

  Duolingo offered a free trial with the explicit statement that they would notify users before they were charged for a full annual subscription. They did not notify me, and I was charged the full price, about $100. There was such a lack of notice or even substance to the offer that I didn’t know I had even been charged or on a premium subscription for several months.
  
  I sought a refund, but Duolingo’s help articles passed the buck to Apple. Apple wouldn’t refund because it had been too long since the transaction. Notably, I was not able to contact a SINGLE person throughout this process. Duolingo has entirely eliminated their customer support, replacing it with useless articles that don’t account for nuanced situations, or even those as straightforward as mine. The most upsetting part was the complete lack of a system to contact them.

  Business Response

  Date: 10/09/2023

  Hello,

  We're sorry you had a difficult time reaching us. A direct email to Duolingo Support is provided in the welcome email upon subscribing. Notifications are sent 2 days prior to the subscription renewing.
  The account using ********@*****.com purchased a subscription in July 2022 that expired in July 2023. If this is the subscription you are referring to, it was used on a daily basis for 5 consecutive months, which is why we cannot honor a refund. If you are referring to a more recent purchase, please let us know!

  Customer Answer

  Date: 10/10/2023

  Better Business Bureau:
  
  
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and have determined that this does not remotely resolve my complaint.  For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below.
  
  Their response indicates a complete lack of interest on their part to understand this situation. They claim that the account was used for 5 months, and are only unable to provide a refund for this reason. As I mentioned in several contact attempts to a variety of channels which they likely no longer monitor (because they completely destroyed their entire customer service department), I trusted the business to notify me of my trial expiration, as they promised. They failed to do this. That is the whole point of my complaint. I used the service (and the value of their premium subscription is so low—of so little substance—that I didn’t even know I was still subscribed, otherwise I obviously would’ve tried to contact them sooner) as usual, having expected them to fulfill their promise. I couldn’t even say what “premium” features I enjoyed. Also, since they’ve confirmed that they can see my usage, they should know that I quit using their service COMPLETELY as soon as I realized they had charged me nearly a HUNDRED dollars for a useless service that they started without my consent. 

  
  
  
  Regards,
  
  
  **** ********

• Initial Complaint

  Date:09/06/2023

  Type:Product Issues
  Status:

  UnansweredMore 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.

  For each past day in the past 2 weeks the on-line French language lessons of Duolingo have constantly crashed. Each time it crashes I have notified the company via their bug reporting page, but the problem continues and I get no response. Each time the lesson crashes, the following comes up: Error code: STATUS_BREAKPOINT I subscribed to this on-line language course to improve my French, but Duolingo took my money and provided me with a product that doesn't work.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:08/28/2023

  Type:Service or Repair Issues
  Status:

  UnansweredMore 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.

  Dear BBB office
  I have purchased 5 tests on the official website of duolingo English test https:/*********************.com since 22 July, spending more than 330 yuan in total, and strictly following their rules, but I can't get any test results, and they can't submit any evidence, and have communicated with duolingo for many times to no avail, and no longer give any room for communication. They kept asking me to pay for the test without getting any result. This caused me a huge mental shock and property loss.