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A woman says she was misled by Rosetta Stone when she purchased a foreign language learning course advertised as being “yours to keep forever” and then found out it would actually expire in two years.
Nadia Lotun of California claims Rosetta Stone is intentionally deceiving consumers like her in order to sell more language courses and she is suing because over it. Lotun filed a proposed class action lawsuit against Rosetta Stone and its parent companies, Cambian Learning Group Inc. and Veritas Capital Fund Management, asking the court to put a stop to the company’s allegedly unfair practices.
She is seeking a jury trial and financial compensation for her and other potential Class Members who also purchased Rosetta Stone language software that did not come with lifetime ownership.
“Defendants actively promoted, advertised, and represented to consumers a ‘lifetime software download’ of foreign language course(s) … that they never intended to honor,” the class action lawsuit says. Rosetta Stone “concealed, suppressed, and omitted material facts about its foreign language online software package from consumers to entice consumers … [and] to maximize income and sales.”
Lotun says she purchased a Learn Spanish: Rosetta Stone Bonus Pack, which was said to offer a 24-month subscription and lifetime download of the software for about $145 in November 2018 through Amazon.
According to her class action lawsuit, she chose the Rosetta Stone course over other Spanish language learning courses with the “reasonable expectation that she could download the software to any PC and/or Mac at any time for at least a lifetime, and that the Rosetta Stone software was hers to keep forever.”
In fact, the software was only hers to keep for 24 months, the class action lawsuit says. As a result, she felt tricked, cheated and ripped off, her lawyers wrote in the class action complaint.
Lotun claims she not only suffered financial harm due to Rosetta Stone’s practices, but also emotional distress, frustration, anxiety and wasted time.
She claims Rosetta Stone’s actions violate California’s False Advertising, Consumer Legal Remedies, and Unfair Business Practices acts. The company had a “duty to disclose” that the purchase of the software did not include the lifetime access its advertising led Lotun to believe it did, she says.
The court must act and issue an injunction preventing Rosetta Stone from “tricking customers into purchasing [its] products through [its] fraudulent advertisements and packaging,” the class action says.
Lotun originally filed the class action Sept. 24 in California state court. Lawyers for Rosetta Stone moved to have the case transferred to U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, Southern Division on Dec. 29.
Have you ever purchased a downloadable Rosetta Stone foreign language course? Were you led to believe the software would be yours to keep, only to find out later that it expired? Tell us about it in the comment section below.
Lead plaintiff Lotun and the proposed Class Members are represented by James H. Bartolomei III of Duncan Firm, P.A.
The Rosetta Stone Class Action Lawsuit is Nadia Lotun, et al. v. Rosetta Stone Inc., et al., Case No. 8:20-cv-02430, in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, Southern Division.
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81 thoughts onRosetta Stone Class Action Lawsuit Says ‘Lifetime Software’ Expires
Yes, we bought two levels of German CDs for our children to use, intending to continue using them for years. But we moved and bought a new computer and now cannot get the language cd to load. Completely useless! I’m glad our lifetime is longer than Rosetta Stone’s!
I purchased a “lifetime” for around $500 and now I have to purchase more time? I opted for the online only, no cd’s, because they stated it was a lifetime of support, service, and usable from multiple devices, wherever and whenever I choose. Now they won’t even honor finishing the course.
My husband purchased a complete set of Rosetta Stone Spanish CDs for $600. They no longer work because as I understand it, Adobe is no longer supported. I have exchanged numerous phone calls with Rosetta Stone Customer Service asking for the lifetime access online – since the CDs we bought indicate that we have lifetime access to the Spanish program. Rosetta Stone will only offer one year access, no matter how much I reason with them. This is NOT what we paid for when we purchased this set. Please add me to the lawsuit! I have all of the original information, boxes, CD sleeves, etc.
Please please help me – and all of these other people who have been wronged.
I purchased CD or downloadable sets of French Levels 1-3 ($399), Irish Levels 1-3 ($399), and Spanish Levels 1-5 ($499). They no longer work and Rosetta Stone only offered a 12-month subscription as “compensation.” I asked for a Unlimited Lifetime (not Plus) subscription as fair compensation, but they refused. $1,300 down the drain, so yes, add me to this class action lawsuit.
Add me too. In November 2020 My husband and I each bought Rosetta Stone’s Spanish course on Amazon, which was advertised as “Rosetta Stone Learn Spanish Bonus Pack Bundle/ Lifetime Online Access” with a description reading: “Everything you need to learn Spanish in one box plus with Rosetta Stone: Unlimited languages, you’ll receive access to all 24+ of our languages for life, that means you can switch between languages without any additional subscription fees”. When we called Rosetta Stone today (2/20/2021) to find out how to access the other languages, we were told that this was an “old product” (they said they stopped selling it in 2014, but we bought it 3 months ago!) and that it wouldn’t work on a newer computer. However, I pointed out that MY computer dates from 2013, and they then changed their story: they now said they are no longer supporting this (**supposedly LIFETIME**) product!! I requested that since we had paid for LIFETIME access to 24+ languages, they replace it with a current **equivalent** (i.e. lifetime) product. They refused, saying that all they could offer was a 12-month subscription. Since that is NOT what we paid for, please sign us up!
Same here. Found out that software program app and downloads don’t work or open because they depend on Acrobat Reader which ended at end of 2020. They need to come up with some other app and transition to it so my CDs work. I have had this problem since 2012 when I bought the supposedly lifetime box at their stand in the airport. Now I’ve lost the little piece of paper with the access code from all the times I’ve taken it out and discussed with poor customer service people.
Customer service failed to be helpful in the least and I got two languages bought under them. You’d think they’d give us the new lifetime all-languages new access worth $300 when we paid for so much more! Sign me up!
Same happened to me! Add me
Count me in… I purchased Mandarin Levels 1-5 for $500 dollars and tried to access them recently only to find out they were no longer valid. I submitted a ticket only to get a 1-year subscription for free… When I called in to ask why it was only for 1 year and not a lifetime, I got an extremely rude customer service person who was very forceful and then hung up on me
I bought 4 language CD’s for over $1000, and am now being told they’re useless.
Count me in.