Dinolingo — Local services in New York

We ordered the flashcards and enjoyed them so we signed up for an online subscription. However were disappointed with the low quality and small amount of content accessible with an online subscription. We were also surprised to find that the monthly online subscription is really an installment contract, because you cannot cancel it until you have paid for 12 months. This means over $150 for what I estimate to be $20 worth of content.

We found the content we could access with the online subscription to be poor quality compared to other programs and not enough to teach or interest a child for more than a couple of weeks. Much of the content, like the coloring pages, does not actually incorporate language at all. And much of it (the printable pdfs) only incorporate written language which is not helpful for families who want to learn a language that is new to the family or for children who do not read in the language already.

When I contacted customer service they said I was obligated to pay the remaining 9 months left on the subscription and did not express concern about my complaints. He said they used to allow people to cancel subscriptions at any time however "It was too much of a headache". I imagine I'm not the only one who cancelled.

I was surprised to see all of the positive reviews for the program. Perhaps these customers did not pay for the full online program and just bought the DVDs. The DVDs may entertain a child's eyes and it may be exciting to hear them say "dog" in another language at the park but in terms of paving a road to fluency this is an insignificant stepping stone and certainly...

Honestly so shocked--I thought the kid's version would be great because of how popular Duolingo is. The program is just a mix of highly stimulating colors, really unnatural looking graphics, and don't even get me started on endless matching games and the videos which made even my brain want to short-circuit. The first lessons attempt to teach the names of SO many animals? What about starting with the very basics of Spanish--does my kid need to know the word for panda and rhinoceros before even teaching a simple way of how to say hi or greet someone? There are tons of resources (worksheets, games, etc) but nothing quality that I would even want to use. As an elementary teacher for many years and now homeschool mom, I didn't want my kids anywhere near this.

I cancelled within the trial time, and as someone else mentioned I was still charged without ever even receiving an email (luckily I noticed a $199 charge on my credit card). I was surprised by the NO REFUNDS written all over the customer service page which just looked really tacky for a legit company. The customer service representative did email me back quickly but was very snarky and the email didn't include a name or company signature. All-in-all very unprofessional experience and do not recommend. P.S. I disputed the card with my credit card company and was able to get the money...

The app is good for the content and I'm not here to badmouth that. However, I am disappointed in their customer service.

The app is a bit young for older kids so my kids didn't get the most out of the app. I didn't request for a refund during the yearly subscription I had initially signed up for.

But during the renewal point, (I have learnt the hard way) there is more than one way to cancel/renew iOS subscriptions and I had made an honest mistake to cancel my membership as I'm not super tech savvy. I genuinely thought I had done what was needed to cancel it, but learnt after being charged that I had not done it correctly. In the email exchange with the customer service team there was no appreciation for the confusion and rather kept being sent their "No refund policy". And no proper explanation as to why this had happened.

I only understood what happened when I accidentally made a similar mistake with another app. It was the other app's customer response that help me figure out what had happened with my DinoLingo membership (and helped me to reverse the charges made with the accidental purchase of that app!)

Sharing so that others ensure to check details clearly.

Disappointed...