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:10/18/2024

  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 have a Duolingo subscription. I paid for an entire year up front and still have several months left. My account became compromised as my password was leaked as per their automated email. I then recieved an email that members I did not know were added to my family plan. Followed by emails that my password and email were changed. It took me a while but I got back into the account. My app language was changed making it difficult to navigate but I figured it out. It took me hours to secure my account and get my password updated. In this time the scammers who accessed it completely wiped my ten years of progress in the app and reset the account as if it were new. My premium remained. Now all of this is annoying, especially a decade of work gone with nothing I can do, but it got worse. I kicked the people added to my family plan out but they got re added which made me realize I needed to find the option to log out of other sessions so they no longer had access. After much frustration I discovered that Duolingo does not offer this option. Regardless of how much I secure my account, if they are logged in, they stay logged in until they themselves log out and theres nothing I can do. I cant even start my language learning from scratch if I chose since whoever is in my account can continuously reset it. I dont think I need to explain, but this is a huge lapse in security, especially for a business as large as Duolingo. They have not responded to my support request and when I asked others for advice online I was basically told good luck on getting a response. I cancelled my renewal for the account but that is still several months away. I have an account I cant use because my data will be reset yet I am paying for it and the fact that again, ten years of data is gone, is extremely disheartening. Why would they make the reset of progress and xp as simple as pressing a button?

• Initial Complaint

  Date:10/15/2024

  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.

  Purchased a trial subscription and was charged for a full annual subscription of $104 without notification. Duolingo is unwilling to refund. On investigation this appears to be an ongoing problem with Duolingo But in the **, this is considered a deceptive business business practice. ***** refuses to refund. **** says wait for ***** and Duolingo does not allow a contact.

  Business Response

  Date: 10/25/2024

  Hello,

  We have received all 16 of your emails since we've last spoken to you regarding your subscription. Contrary to your complaint, we do offer support. We do not engage with messages such as "Fuck you, parasites," etc, which is why we've stopped replying to you. Our initial response to you remains accurate. You must request your refund from *****. ***** literally does not allow developers to issue refunds on their behalf. We do not have your payment information, and the transaction was directly between your bank and *****. Please contact ***** Support for further assistance as outlined in the instructions we provided. We can no longer engage with your questions regarding a refund as we have provided the only solution several times. Have a great day!

• Initial Complaint

  Date:10/15/2024

  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 registered for the Duolingo English Test as is it a requirement for my university entrance. I paid nearly $100(CAD) for the test and read through the rules carefully. During my test, my watch, which is neither connected to my phone nor the internet, had a medication alarm go off. I silenced the alarm and continued my test as there was nothing else I could do. I was told that my test could not be evaluated because I interacted with a phone or other mobile device during the test. I filed an appeal clarifying that my watch is used only for time and medication reminders (I take several at varying times throughout the day). I reviewed a video on their rules which clearly states that genuine mistakes can be appealed and offered a re-write at no charge. I asked for a re-write at no charge and was again told (after my explanation) that I interacted with a phone or other mobile device during the test. I feel this whole system is a scam. I did not interact with a phone or mobile device. I turned off a medication alarm which I clearly explained. I said that I would remove my watch if allowed to write again and that it was an honest mistake. I would also schedule it around my medication times to avoid this happening again. Very frustrated, especially since they have a video clearly outlining the opportunity for a no charge re-write on their site, but refuse to honor it. This information is also listed on their site, which will attach to this complaint. I do not have a lot of time before I need to submit my score. If I am forced to purchase another test without being given credit, I would like a refund for one of the two. If they change their decision regarding my second appeal and allow me a credit, I will withdraw my complaint.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:10/09/2024

  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 took Duolingo's English test 4 times. First 3 attempts: falsely accused of looking away. 4th attempt: couldn't verify independent typing. Appeals ignored, no refund or retry. Suspect intentional targeting/bias. I'm pretty sure they are doing this on purpose. In fourth attempt I change the I'd to confirmed and now pretty sure please help me regarding this. First three test, I gave in September they said I looked away from screen so I said okay. I change the I'd and gave the test now they deceived to me with new method, said we couldn't confirm you typed in the writing section independently. I provided all evidence and now they are saying buy again and give the test we are not going to refund or giving you any extra chance. For whole one month I'm mentally disturb and gave on my dream. Actually I don't wanna do anything after that they made fool of me my friends are laughing on me they are saying see your bad luck.-First three test( I'd: **************************************).Date: in September.-Fourth test( I'd: **************************************).Date: October 6, 2024.

  Business Response

  Date: 10/09/2024

  Hello,

  We're sorry your tests could not be certified. Your appeal has not gone ignored, as you've spoken to 4 individual proctors regarding your results through our support channels. Our decision remains final.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:10/08/2024

  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.

  Hello,I paid $79.99 for the Super Duolingo and supposed to receive unlimited usage/mistakes. The app locks me out after 5 mistakes in a 24hr period. I have contacted the business by email, on ******************** (private message and written on their wall), and have not received a reply. I tried looking for a phone number online and cant find one.I would appreciate if someone can call me to fix this issue or please refund me for the extra that I paid.Thank you for your help ******

  Business Response

  Date: 10/09/2024

  Hello,

  You have two accounts with two different email addresses ([email protected] and [email protected]). Your super subscription was recently transferred to the account using [email protected]. Please sign into that account to access your subscription features.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:10/08/2024

  Type:Customer Service 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 September 15th I subscribed to Super Duolingo for a year which cost me $167.99. On September 30 I was unable to ********** appears my account was hacked and taken over. I have emailed Duolingo twice and just get a response that they are looking at it. It is now October 8th and I still cant use my year subscription that I paid for! Also I did not cancel my account! It appears someone has taken over my account and I am unable to use this service I paid for.

  Business Response

  Date: 10/08/2024

  Hello,

  You requested your account and personal information to be deleted on August 31. The request was completed, which is why your email address is no longer linked to that account. We've reattached your email to that account and sent a password reset email your way. Once you reset the password, you should be able to access your account again.

  In the future, please do not submit an account erasure request if you are still using your account. Have a great day!

• Initial Complaint

  Date:10/07/2024

  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 trial on Duolingo and was told I would get notification 2 days before the trial was up. I also put the date of October 7th in my phone so I could remind myself to cancel. I never received notification and on the 7th when I went to cancel I found out I had already been billed on the 7th. I'm trying to cancel on the day they said I had until and yet they have charged me through ******. When I canceled the subscription it said it wasn't canceled until October 7th of 2025 and I would still have to pay for this whole next year I don't want to pay for this whole next year. I don't want it. I'm trying to cancel it on the day they said I had until to cancel. My Duolingo account is under ******************** please help

  Business Response

  Date: 10/08/2024

  Hello,

  We're sorry for any confusion regarding the billing timeline. Some payment processors like Apple require you to cancel subscriptions 24 hours in advance to prevent renewal. We're happy to help though! No account was found using [email protected]. Are you able to provide the email address or username associated with the account?

• Initial Complaint

  Date:10/05/2024

  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.

  Cancel already and they reactived my account with me know. Then they want to change a annual renwel. Already cancel but they kept my credit info and did this

  Business Response

  Date: 10/07/2024

  Hello,

  You were billed because you did not cancel your subscription before its renewal date. Subscriptions renew automatically as you've agreed to upon subscribing. I have canceled your subscription and have issued a refund for your most recent payment. It should be with you in 5-10 business days.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:09/30/2024

  Type:Customer Service Issues
  Status:

  UnresolvedMore 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.

  Communication and support is non existent with this company. Through many attempts at opening tickets, to trying desperately to get basic questions answered by contacting their social social media, every attempt went unanswered and ignored, which is incredibly frustrating as a user that is actively on a paid subscription. An important accessibility feature (dark mode toggle) has been removed and I've been trying to contact the company for weeks to see if this is a bug that will be repaired, or if this is a feature that is now removed permanently. This on top of other changes like the lack of the community feedback section, the focus on more "pay to win" features like making games harder so that purchasing boosts is required, AI is being integrated which is never ideal for the nuance of language, and the neglect of all the rampant highscore hacking in the app. All of these things make it feel like I'm not getting the app that I originally purchased when I locked in my payment for the whole year, only for things to get removed after my money was taken.

  Business Response

  Date: 10/10/2024

  Hello,

  While we do not personally respond to all messages as stated in the automated reply to your message, we do have teams that review feedback.

  Dark mode can be enabled in your device settings. The android version of Duolingo should mirror your device settings.

  Customer Answer

  Date: 10/10/2024

  Better Business Bureau:
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and have determined that this does not resolve my complaint.  For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below.
  
  Most of my concerns remained unanswered. Even the direct ask if a toggle able dark feature was permanently removed did not get a straight answer (which even that workaround is not a viable option as this option would require me to convert my entire device and make it harder for me to read my system notifications, all for the sake of one app)

  Regardless, the team has confirmed that they don't offer support in respond to user questions. Hopefully the billing team is more clear and responsive as I will be looking to cancel this family plan

  
  Regards,
  

• Initial Complaint

  Date:09/22/2024

  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.

  Duolingo pushed out an update that has the software unusable. The update appears to deliberately induce errors so yay non-paying customers make mistakes and lose their hearts. Dir paying customers? - ********************** makes us use colloquialisms and then penalizes us for using colloquialisms. - hints than are wrong, and when relied upon, count as errors. These are becoming more frequent. - word placement that doesnt matter, ie please clean the car, clean the car please. - requiring full complex sentences to be typed out on a tiny screen while having no method to bypass when fat finger misses one letter - whole sentence gets redone and goes into a mistake queue that makes you retype the same sentence fifteen times. - losing track of progress requiring complete ****** redos. - introducing we vocab by requiring you to spell out a word you havent seen yet. In one ******, five minutes, there were eight separate errors. These were screen captured and sent in and Duolingo refused to respond in any way to whatsoever. No one is fixing the problem because no one is acknowledging there is problem. In the meantime, the software I paid for is essentially unusable.

  Business Response

  Date: 10/04/2024

  Hello,

  We have not updated the app to deliberately mark your answers as incorrect. Like all software, the app can experience bugs. We update the app with bug fixes on a weekly basis. It's important to note, this is a language learning app. If you enter an incorrect response, it will be marked as incorrect. If your device keyboard is not large enough for you, we can only suggest using a physical keyboard (we have a website that you can use with your computer keyboard) or a device with a larger screen.

  I took a look in our system and I see that you're subscribed through *****. ***** handles the payment directly on their end, so we're not able to cancel or refund through our system. I'm so sorry about that! Not to worry, though, I have the exact links you need to contact ***** and get this taken care of.
  
  Here's more detailed information (with screenshots) on how to cancel your subscription from Apple: ****************************************. You can also cancel your subscription in the Duolingo app.
  Click the Profile tab > Settings (top-right) > 'Manage Subscription' > 'Change Plan' > 'Cancel Subscription' >  confirm cancellation through Apple dashboard (tap on Duolingo subscription and tap 'Cancel').
  
  Once you've canceled, you can go to this link: ********************************* and follow the instructions here to be refunded: ************************************************. If you experience any issues with these steps, please reach out to AppleCare directly. 
  
  Again, I apologize that I can't do this for you, but ***** should be able to handle things!

   

   

  Customer Answer

  Date: 10/04/2024

  Better Business Bureau:
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and have determined that this does not resolve my complaint.  For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below.
  
  [To assist us in bringing this matter to a close, we would like to know your view on the matter.]

  I literally handed you screen shots of your system telling me that THE ANSWER YOU WERE TELLING ME WAS CORRECT was being marked incorrect. 
  

  I am telling you that correct answers are being systemically marked incorrect, even when they are not. 
  

  I am telling you that single digit errors from clear fat finger issues are being markers I correct when they previous were not (you appear to be telling me that you updated the system to make this worse?) 

  I am telling you that you have no method IN YOUR SYSTEM that allows US to skip over the mistakes in our system to actually practice language. 
  

  I told you, indeed documented, that this happened eight times in just one ****** and its become so entrenched that its basically unusabke as software to TEACH LANGUAGE. 
  

  These minor errors appear to be deliberate, so non-paying customers will pay to use the app.  As a paying customer? They are pointlessly infuriating AND PREVENT LANGUAGE LEARNING.  

  Do you have any plans to fix these issues? 
  

  if you dont have any such plans? Then please agree in writing to a refund and I will forward it to ***** for resolution. 

  Regards,
  
  **** Greek

  Business Response

  Date: 10/08/2024

  Thank you for the feedback. Again, these are not deliberately marked incorrect, and action is taken when reported. There is a flag icon when a response is graded. You may tap on that to report an exercise with any issues. We have several teams reviewing these and making improvements.

  Customer Answer

  Date: 10/09/2024

  Better Business Bureau:
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and have determined that this does not resolve my complaint.  For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below.
  
  [To assist us in bringing this matter to a close, we would like to know your view on the matter.]

  You began this by saying it will mark incorrect answers correct. When presented with evidence that it was marking its own answers incorrect you are only now telling me that these mistakes arent deliberate while making zero steps to actually fix them. 
  

  No apology. 
  

  No acknowledgement that this disrupts language instruction. 
  

  No acknowledgement that the problem happened eight times in one lesson. 
  

  No acknowledgement that the system wont let us bypass these errors and is forcing us to repeatedly type out incorrect answers. 
  

  No acknowledgement that you have dozens of emails on this and have ignored them all while the problem has grown worses 

  No acknowledgement that these problems are so systemic and annoying that they have rendered the software unusable. 
  

  Most importantly, no commitment to actually fix any of these issues - telling me its not deliberate after months of ignoring a steadily worsening problem is the problem. 
  

  I am not paying for software that has been broken and whose faults are utterly ignored. 
  

  Your software is littered with mistakes, mistakes customers cant bypass, and that you havent committed to fixing. 

  Regards,
  
  **** Greek