Coursera subscription lawsuit overview:
- Who: Plaintiffs Karena Feng, Tammy Mo and Candice Henthorn filed a class action lawsuit against Coursera Inc.
- Why: The class action claims Coursera duped customers into signing up for a subscription that automatically renews without full disclosure and withdraws payments without prior consent.
- Where: The Coursera class action was filed in federal court in California.
Educational technology company Coursera faces a class action lawsuit claiming it automatically renewed customer subscriptions and withdrew funds from customer accounts without prior consent.
Coursera’s automatic subscription renewal violates requirements of California’s Automatic Renewal Law and the Electronic Funds Transfer Act, the lawsuit claims.
Coursera allows subscribers access to online courses and degrees from leading universities and companies. Coursera has free access, charges by course or has monthly or annual subscriptions.
“At the check-out screen, plaintiff and customers were misled into believing that they signed up for a free service only to incur a charge,” the Coursera lawsuit says.
Coursera charges hundreds in fees, refuses to refund once charged, lawsuit says
Customers believe they are signing up to pay $49 for a single course or a seven-day trial before the Coursera automatic subscription renewal kicks in, at which time the company charges several hundred dollars in fees, the lawsuit says.
Once it charges the fees, Coursera refuses to refund them, according to the class action.
There are 333 reviews of Coursera on Trustpilot, with many complaining about the same automatic subscription renewal issues. The lawsuit says 68% of the reviews as of Nov. 12, 2022, were 1-star reviews and 9% were 2-star reviews, with Coursera’s average rating at 1.7 stars.
“The checkout page does not state that a subscriber who cancels after the 7-day free trial will not be eligible for a refund after his or her payment method is charged,” the Coursera lawsuit says.
Coursera faces another class action lawsuit claiming it disclosed records of its customers’ video viewing history and personally identifiable information to Facebook owner Meta Platforms without its users knowledge or consent.
Has Coursera automatically renewed your subscription? Let us know in the comments.
The plaintiff is represented by John J. Nelson of Milberg Coleman Bryson Phillips Grossman PLLC.
The Coursera subscription class action lawsuit is Feng, et al. v. Coursera Inc., Case No. 3:23-cv-00449, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.
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22 thoughts onCoursera class action lawsuit alleges company conducts automatic subscription renewal scheme
They never let me finish my class and they kept charging my card and they still send emails till this day
Coursera’s deceptive practices are illegal. The class actions will, hopefully, punish them. My son used my card for a 49$ “course” – 15 months later, no notices of renewal, no account activity, I’m out 1000$ and they won’t respond. Just horrendous business practices.
I put Coursera and it’s CEO on blast on LinkedIn and will continue to do so until someone from the company reaches out to me. They keep charging me monthly when it doesn’t show any purchases or subscriptions in my account. I hope these people go to jail.
I realized the same thing today. They keep charging me each month after I already paid off the total cost of my course! any change to get my money back?
I am unable to cancel a recurring subscription and I am unable to cancel it through their website. There is no way I am able to change my bank information. They keep taking $39.00 and I have been unsuccessful at canceling the subscription.
I saw the recurring pay of $399.00 last August 2023. I was completely unaware of this being a recurring charge. I contacted them and they said I was not eligible for a refund. I told them I wanted to cancel any further subscription charges. They agreed. On July 28, 2024 they charged my credit card $399.00 again. Regarding a refund, they say that if you request a refund within 14 days, they will give you a refund. However, their website gives you the run around and there is no link I can find that actually leads to asking for a refund. Further, I can find no way of contacting them either via email nor phone.
Hello, I’m writing here to share my experience with Coursera. In December, I decided to start a data analytics course recommended by Google for certification. A few weeks later, I decided to cancel it because I couldn’t continue. I canceled the subscription through the website, and in January, I noticed a $49 charge. I found this strange, so I checked my personal account to confirm that the membership was canceled, which it indeed showed as inactive and canceled since December 27.
I filed a complaint via email using the address provided in the app, as it is difficult to find help on their website. I attached a photo of the charges and explained that I wanted to know why they were still charging me and requested a refund, as I had canceled the course following their instructions on the website. Unfortunately, I never received a response, and the next month, they charged me again.
This happened for seven months, totaling $343 since December. Finally, I had to contact my bank to report fraud. They told me there was nothing they could do and advised me to get a new debit card to stop further charges. I had to follow their advice, and now I’m waiting for my new card, hoping that the charges will stop.
If you’re reading this, I warn you not to pay for these courses, because if you don’t regularly check your bank accounts, they can keep charging you indefinitely. I regret not taking action sooner and allowing Coursera to take so much money from me while I waited for a response from them.
In my search for how to file a claim, I found that Coursera has a lawsuit in California for a similar issue. I am trying to contact those people to join the lawsuit and help prevent others from going through the same situation.
Do not subscribe to Coursera; it’s a scam. Google, Forbes, and other sponsors should stop recommending these fraudulent courses. If anyone knows how to file a lawsuit, I am open to contacting. I am in Chicago, IL.
I’m going through the same thing I think I am forced to close my bank account .
Add me please
I’m trying to access any contact information to email them because I signed up for the 7 day trial and I want to cancel but the account isn’t showing up when I try to log in and I don’t want to be charged for an account I don’t have access to.
I Kept getting charged.And it was very difficult to cancel.I had to change my Card number
I just recieved the same alleged recurring charge. When searching for “coursera” in my email to request a refund, I saw your email regarding the case. I’m in CO, and do well in depos.