Top Class Actions’s website and social media posts use affiliate links. If you make a purchase using such links, we may receive a commission, but it will not result in any additional charges to you. Please review our Affiliate Link Disclosure for more information.
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.
Read About More Class Action Lawsuits & Class Action Settlements:
Honda, Hyundai, Kia, Subaru vehicle data collection class action lawsuit investigation
May 17, 2024 | Legal News
81 thoughts onRosetta Stone Class Action Lawsuit Says ‘Lifetime Software’ Expires
The same thing happened to me as well. I bought all level of the french about 6 years ago and now it no longer works. They are saying that I will have to pay for it again. I am not sure why this is allowed when the program was supposed to work forever.
Purchased Japanese for myself and French for my daughter. Hundreds of dollars later I can’t access any of my “lifetime” learning. Sign me up for the lawsuit
I have all 5 levels of German Rosetta Stone on CD, which was supposed to be lifetime physical software, and I’ve spent hours and hours trying to get it to work again with no success. Rosetta Stone refuses to help me or compensate me for this now useless product. It’s all due to Rosetta Stone’s laziness and blatant disregard for their customers and products. They had more than enough time to adjust their software, so that it works without Adobe Flash Player!
Bought full German and Japanese language programs and neither of them will load up. It says it need to be updated but when you go to the website they just try to sell you the lifetime digital access for the price of the program you already bought. It’s a scam
In the same exact boat as everyone else. $500+ gone all because they don’t want to update graphics?! They offered me a free three month trial. Absolutely insane and not fair how loosely they throw around the word “lifetime” just to screw you over!
Same problem. Purchased “lifetime” access in 2018 and now I cannot use it on my computer. Rosetta Stone says it’s “expired”.
Add me too! I have the box of Spanish (Latin America) 1,2,3,4 &5 CDs and paid in excess of $400. My purchase was based on a lifetime ownership my product.
In 2012 my daughter purchased Rosetta Stone® 1 2 3 4 5 SPANISH HOMESCHOOL+AUDIO CDs! back in December 2012 for Christmas. I used the product but never made it past level 1 because my life got too busy. I recently retired and wanted to continue to use this product but found that it no longer worked. The product was ridiculously expensive at the time but it promised lifetime access. However, despite keying in the Activation ID codes I cannot obtain access. This is unacceptable since the terms at the time of purchase were for lifetime access. And of course I now have a new computer but that should not be an issue. My husband and I emailed RS requesting they issue us with the response code required to use the product but all they have done is refer us to their new On Line courses without addressing our queries at all!! We still have all the CDs, the box, the booklets, the activation codes AND THE INVOICE and my daughter’s emails to prove we purchased this item and we sent all this proof along to them, but they ignore it and just reply with a generic message. Please ad me too to the class action. This company should either refund us the money or issue us with the response code so we can use the product. They need to be held accountable for their unscrupulous and unethical dealings.
My daughter paid US $ 345.95 which included $16.95 for shipping!!
I purchased Russian 1 – 5. Over several years. Now they no longer work. My computer say “Fatal Application Error”. When I contacted customer support, I was told that my versions are no longer supported, but I can purchase their new online subscription versions at a discounted price, since I am an existing customer. Why they just won’t allow me to use the software that is already installed on my computer is a mystery to me.
I purchased lifetime on my tablet and no longer have access. Says Authorization expired. Rosetta Stone said they do not see my account info. I had been using it for couple years. Add me. How do you say scam in 100 different languages?