Pimsleur Language Programs is an online company. Based on 60 reviews on TrustPlane, it has an average rating of 1.8 out of 5 stars. Last reviewed February 16, 2026.
I tried the free trial and the main thing should be the speaking coach, it gave me a 3 Star excellent rating every time even when I said it completely wrong on purpose. If you wanna study a language seriously this is definitely not it.
I like that the program asks you to speak, so you have to remember the phrases. While the Spanish program worked on things a traveler or visitor would find useful, the German program seemed to concentrate on more intimate conversations, not what a new learner of the language would need to know, traveling to Germany. It also emphasized the familiar rather than the formal versions, again not what a visitor would use.
I also very found it very difficult to cancel and they would only refund one month
Money grabbing company. Will take your cash every month and make it EXTREMELY DIFFICULT TO CANCEL whilst content can only be described as basic poor, and unhelpful.I DEFINITELY DO NOT RECOMMEND THIS PRODUCT.
I did not want to write this review but after using ther link on the their module to ask for tech help...it bounced back not working. After making 3 phone calls the agent sounded like he was talking from under the bed or in a closet could barely understand a word... so I gave up. While they might have merit in their course their tech support Rivals windows 98 from Lahore. One would have to use superlatives to describe the experience. Wont be coming back.
Don't risk it!! I accidentally took out two subscription IDs on the same date apparently (through the same email address), emailed to cancel and they only cancelled one of them. I provided email confirmation as proof I cancelled in March and they're refusing to refund me for the other one, it's been going out since then. It's the same service, same language. I haven't benefited from it because I had cancelled it.
Business is very strategic and is built on deceptive auto renewal revenue. Buyer beware of annual promotions. If you miss one day you will won a whole year of a marginal language service
I was really enjoying the programme and was completing a lesson a day (as recommended). However after several lessons, and 3 months after starting, I discovered that Greek (which I was learning) had only 30 lessons, opposed to the usual 60. Meaning that I would have completed the course which I had paid for for a year, in a further 3 weeks. I was extremely disappointed. I was even more disappointed when I cancelled the subscription at the end of the year to find that the whole programme, which I thought I had paid for, disappeared so I was not even able to maintain my practice, revise vocabulary etc. further, I thought I had subscribed to pay monthly but discovered too late that I had paid for a whole year up front. Very disappointing.
The first Thai lesson was following an everyday conversation, something I would expect at Lesson 20 perhaps. I want to know how to say yes and no, and 1, 2, 3 in Thai. And after a couple of hours with this course I still had no idea.
I'd give it 0 stars if I could. The customer service is TERRIBLE. They say you can share your premium account with 3 other household members, but the only way you can do this is by sharing usernames and passwords... not very secure in 2025, especially considering they advertise Single Sign On. The customer service didn't care and/or didn't respond. I wouldn't waste your time, their offering is not that great and the app functions like it was made 10 years ago. Way overpriced for what it is.
I had the free trial and had entered to pay for a year membership which was charged to my account. When I canceled, the membership was also canceled. I was then "assisted" to reactivate which incurred another charge. Communication was via the application. CC company dispute unsuccessful. Reached out to customer service and after I answered 2 questions via chat was sent to a "assistant site" what wanted to charge me again. I am happy with the program but have paid double for 1 year-not happy with responsiveness or lack of verifiable communication.
I took the Swahili (beginner) course. I've reached lesson 13 and there was no mention of how to say basic phrases like "what's your name?" and "where are you from?". Very absurd.
I signed up for a week’s free trial. I cancelled before the week was up but received no confirmation. I then noticed a fee had been taken from my account. I sent 2 emails to the company explaining I had cancelled in time and requesting a refund but received no reply.Finally I went on the online chat and was told I wasn’t due a refund as I couldn’t send proof I had cancelled in time.I asked for their formal complaint’s procedure and was told I couldn’t have that information via the online chat I would have to email. I told them they didn’t reply to their emails at which point the customer service person became bordering on hostile and very rude.At this point I requested a DSAR so I could prove I had cancelled in time and asked that it include the current chat. I was cut off and now can’t access the chat!Awful company! DO NOT USE THEM!!
I signed up for a year on a discount. Used it for 3 months then stopped but had paid for the year so no problem. But when I checked my credit card, they renewed it for another year. I checked the terms of the agreement and they have to give you a reminder email that it renews. I checked and did NOT receive one. Now they will not refund me even though they violated the agreement. Scam company. Do not use them.
Pimsleur’s selling practices are manipulative and deceptive. I received multiple promotional offers that I was genuinely interested in, only to be told they didn’t apply to me because I was a former subscriber. When I asked why I was receiving these misleading emails, I got no response. Later, I signed up for what I believed was a $10 first-month offer, but I was charged for an entire year upfront. I take responsibility for not double-checking the final payment, but I also expected a reputable company like Pimsleur to be transparent. I trusted their process and assumed they wouldn't resort to misleading tactics. It’s disappointing, especially because their product is excellent. It’s unfortunate that such a high-quality service is undermined by shady business practices aimed at confusing customers.
Refused to transfer credit of unused gift card that I purchased to my account. Gift recipient did not want. I have been a long time user. Boils down to theft - took money and zero service/product.
This is an amazing tool assisting learning languages. Aquision of a new language is a very hard journey. I have been a faithful subscriber of Pimsleur for several years now. I nitially purchased CD sets. Now I study two languages in a Roman group. I love driving and talking to my app, listening to conversations and responding to questions. They literally force you to speak from the beginning. It is fascinating! FBI, MArine Corp and other government agencies are using it for a reason. I am now a Lifetime Subscriber.
I bought the audio CD version of the Italian course second hand (used) from eBay, and I'm really glad I never paid the full price for it new. At approximately (on average) 30 minutes each, the lessons become long and tedious. I cut them roughly in half on audio-editing software and had far better results at memorizing in the car and bed. However, the worst thing about Pimsleur's Italian course is the many instances of terrible pronunciation and diction. It's not bad for the first four lessons, but after that many of the phrases are spoken far too quickly by the voice actors, with appalling slurring that makes much of it completely unintelligible. Many a time, while using the product in the car, I have ended up shouting and cursing Pimsleur for their disgracefully low standards. They clearly don't care about making a good product as long as the money rolls in. On top of that, the audio quality is not good. As someone else stated on another comment, it's like listening to speech through a thick blanket or two. I have also had to load the files into an audio editor to improve the quality and replace unintelligible spoken phrases with supplanted new ones created using the MSN Bing translator and the naturalreaaders text-to-speech website, all of which takes plenty of hours of wasted life, because I shouldn't have to be doing it!I emailed Pimsleur about my observations but they didn't even have the courtesy of responding.
Tricked into monthly subscription - I was under the impression the free trial was cancelled as it was not showing on my apple subscription only to find out they had been taking payments for 6 months! Over £100 taken without consent. Their excuse was it was not paid through the App Store - robbed and no chance of refund - avoid at all costs
Customer service ignoring me after stealing money without permission even after a cancellation. Avoid.
According to TrustPlane, Pimsleur Language Programs has a 1.8/5 rating based on 60 verified reviews as of February 2026. Source: trustplane.app/company/www-pimsleur-com
