Is coursera.org Legit?

Trying to get in touch with a member of a support team or customer service has been a fail. Just on a loop of FAQ's. The only email they have is over privacy concerns who allow sent me back the FAQ's, I am not saying it is but it does have alot traits of a scam

Their support page does not work and will not allow me to log in, and even their form is highly unreliable and buggy. They chose to issue a Coursera Plus monthly subscription refund "as a one-time exception", despite me contacting them the very same day I was charged (hence, within the 7 days timeframe that Coursera itself states is sufficient for getting a refund). If your website will not allow me to get a refund by myself it is not my fault, but yours.

Coursera offers nothing to its existing customers while offering half of the annual subscription price for potential customers! What a joke and poor customer retention policy. I am cancelling my subscription today after being a loyal customer for more than 2 years. It seems EDX is a better option to go for.

The company is extremely shady:There's a reason they'll give you the "star ratings" for their courses but not actually let you read the reviews. I wouldn't doubt if most of their reviews were fake.They make it difficult to cancel subscriptions and courses. You have to google search and dig to find out how to cancel anything once you've signed up.AVOID COURSES THAT HAVE "Peer Reviewed" GRADING SYSTEMS!!! If you are lucky to actually get reviewed within a year, then you run the risk of being reviewed by a troll who says you failed even when you got it all right, and imagine being graded by people who know just as little OR LESS than you do? You're doomed to fail.Avoid Avoid Avoid!!!You will not gain any employment based on any of the education you get at this site. DO NOT pay for anything they have to offer out of your own pocket - it isn't worth it. If somebody else is paying for you (i.e. your employer) then by all means, go ahead... Highly suggest you use this crap as supplementary only. once again DO NOT pay for anything they offer.It isn't worth it.And this is speaking as somebody who has gone through these courses:Google Data AnalyticsGoogle Project ManagementMedCerts Medical Billing and Coding FundamentalsMedCerts Anatomy & PhysiologyMedCerts Medical TerminologyJohn Hopkins Data AnalyticsIBM Data Analyst

It's a scamI bought a subscription and split the payment in 12 installments. The subscription was renewed without my consent, with full price, charged upfront.Their page will not allow you to request a refund even if you request it on the same day.Imagine being a student having a 350 bill fall on your lap overnight.It's an unscrupulous company and I will write to every education institution in their catalog to avoid being associated with them.

I just hate how after spending $800 on a single course, they have technical issue and because of which I had to pause it and subscription got ended. They promised me 18 days back but after I lost subscription it is like a maze even to find support email and no one gives a damn.I was stuck at last part of last assignment. But no one seems to care.Forget my refund they are not even resolving the issue so that I can finally get a certificate.

I have cancelled my subscription in June. After that I have been offered a 50% discount and have extended my subscription for one further month - July. Still the full amount have been charged. Further, disregardless of the cancellation of the subscription Cousera countinued charging money from account also for August, September and October. I wrote an E-mail to get money back. It is also not clear on the website whom to contact in this regard and there is no telephone hotline.

Halfway through a 6 month course, the link on one of the modules doesn't work. So now 2 weeks later still can't move to the next module.....Company doesn't offer an email. Surprise, companies which offer terrible customer service rarely do. BOT is laughably bad. Contact forms ellicit no response.

I tried a couple of courses, which were OK. However, I'm being spammed despite repeatedly unsubscribing from their emails. I emailed their support address but had an automated response telling me how to unsubscribe. Yep, done that half a dozen times already.

Terrible would be saying something nice. Coursera courses are short, terrible and uncomplete. But the worst offender are their quizzes. WTF?! They got nothing to do with the course content and everything to do with semantic and saying a very specific word that might not even be in the course, since this quizzes are AI generated. Terrible. Coursera has zero support, maintained by a bunch of retarded developers that might have though too good of themselves by adding AI in their quizzes. DONT WASTE YOUR TIME

Coursera’s customer service is the worst I’ve ever dealt with. I put in the time and completed an entire course within my trial period, only to have my account permanently banned over an age restriction. I requested a simple temporary pause until I reach the required age, which is standard with most companies, but they wouldn't consider it. Instead of pausing my account until I’m eligible, as other companies do, they’ve permanently banned me. For a company that claims to support all learners, they have zero flexibility and don’t care about individual situations or young students who are serious about learning. Extremely disappointing experience.

An Excellent and Comprehensive Learning PlatformCoursera is simply outstanding! The range of courses available is impressive, covering every imaginable topic—from technology and business to humanities and social sciences. The quality of the content is top-notch, with instructors from the best universities and companies worldwide.Every course I’ve taken on Coursera has been well-structured, clear, and incredibly useful for my professional and personal growth. I especially appreciate the flexibility it offers: I can study at my own pace, anywhere and anytime, which is perfect for someone with a busy schedule like mine.I highly recommend Coursera to anyone looking to deepen their knowledge or acquire new skills in an accessible and professional way. It’s a platform that consistently exceeds my expectations and has opened up so many learning and growth opportunities for me.

I was in the middle of taking a course. It had been a couple weeks. I logged in today and in the middle of me doing the course it reset to showing I hadn't completed anything. I have spent over an hour trying to find a way to contact a live person about it and everything I can find just takes me to their help FAQs page. I did find one spot where you can chat but it says my account does not qualify for chat feature. And I pay for the upgraded professional account. I have very limited time to get these courses done so I cannot waste time having to redo them over and over or waste hours trying to get assistance. If someone knows of a decent company that does bookkeeping, excel and stuff please let me know. I am going to cancel Coursera

Took up an offer on the website for a year subscription of free usage of Coursera Plus. Started several courses and dilligently made progress. After 7 days they cancelled the subscription without explaining why and offered me a discount on a yearly subscription. This seems like they are misleading people to start courses, revoke their acces and then requiring them to pay more than was agreed on to continue. Fraudulent?

I have enquired about a course and now I can’t get rid of their promotional emails even after unsubscribing to all their newsletters, emails, promotions, etc. Not a good sign of a professional business.I had to mark their emails as junk to stop them coming in to my inbox.

I feel scammed. Found a training which said free, so I logged in and suddenly I have to pay $35 per month...

This company is dishonest in a number of ways; my specific complaint is their incompetent labs and tech support. In my case the labs SIMPLY STOPPED WORKING, which Coursera even admitted they were poorly conceived and incompetently administered - you obviously cannot complete the course if the labs simply don't work. But will they give you a refund for admittedly sloppy and incompetent technical issues? NO. I lost $50 to these scumbags on this most basic of issues. Don't waste your money or your time. Go witrh someone legitimate.

Started a course under a free trial, which was okay, unfortunately I missed the date to cancel and auto enrolled to a monthly payment. I cancelled to stop further payment and contacted them to arrange a refund as I didnt access the course under the paid subscription period. No answer, followed up twice and no answer. It seems there is no way to speak to a human and the whole business is set up around automation. Avoid at all costs, plenty of better training providers who have high quality courses as well as giving quality customer support.

The quality of the website UI and the courses is bad. Not just that but I clicked on an advert for a course out of curiosity and then two weeks later they charged me for the subscription, before I could cancel it. 2 weeks is two short, should be a one month cool off period. I also could not find a way to contact support – some other reviews on here have indicated that they managed to get a refund in a similar case to mine but there's no option for contacting support on the site.Update: I managed eventually to find the very well-hidden contact form. And they did give me a refund, although they stated it was a one-time courtesy, not to be repeated. Changing my rating from 1 star to 3 stars; still not wild about them but at least they did the refund.

I signed up for a free Plus promotion, but after a week, they cancelled my account with no notice. When I contacted support, they blamed “technical issues affecting all users” yet still offered me a 50% discount instead. I never experienced any issues on my end, and their response felt dismissive and unhelpful. Losing my progress and being given a vague excuse has left me frustrated and disappointed. Coursera needs to communicate better and honour their promotions. I won’t be using their service again.

“NOT MEANT FOR THE UNEMPLOYED”

You do not have a job, and you think you could try Coursera courses? Quite wrong! Many of their courses will ask for LinkedIn, HubSpot or similar accounts (and if you try opening them, you will be asked for your job description, firm, even website-impossible to open without these data). There are links for newspaper articles you need a subscription to read. I contacted their customer support, but only got a few of "template" answers "valuing my feedback" before "successfully" closing my case. They said their partners choose what is needed for a course, but Coursera chooses its partners, doesn't it? And could surely set some rules.

“SCAM!”

THESE MUTHA$#*!ERS ARE A SCAM! THE 7 DAY TRIAL IS BULL$#*!! YOU WILL NEVER BE ABLE TO CANCEL THE 7 DAY TRIAL! THEY WILL CONTINUE TO CHARGE YOU'RE CARD! YOU WILL NOT BE ABLE TO SPEAK TO ANYONE! HOW THE $#*! ARE THEY ABLE TO STILL OPERATE? WHY HAS THIS COMPANY NOT BEEN SHUT DOWN OR SUED? DO NOT FALL FOR THE BUSLL$#*!! I REAPEAT DO NOT FALL FOR THE BULL$#*!!

“Lifelong Learning Made Easy with Coursera”

Coursera has been my go-to platform for expanding my knowledge and acquiring new skills in a wide range of subjects. The platform's extensive catalog of courses, taught by top instructors from leading universities and institutions, covers everything from business and technology to arts and humanities. I appreciate Coursera's flexible learning options, allowing me to learn at my own pace and on my own schedule. Moreover, the platform's interactive assignments, quizzes, and peer-reviewed assessments provide valuable feedback and reinforcement of key concepts. With Coursera, I can access high-quality education from anywhere in the world, empowering me to pursue my passions and advance my career.

“Accessible Online Learning for All”

Coursera provides accessible online learning for all, offering a diverse selection of courses and specializations taught by top instructors from leading universities and institutions. Whether I'm expanding my skills for career advancement, exploring new interests, or pursuing a degree, Coursera offers flexible learning options and self-paced courses to accommodate my schedule. I appreciate the quality of instruction and the interactive assignments that reinforce learning objectives. Coursera has opened doors to new opportunities and enriched my lifelong learning journey.

“Pretty good.”

I'm a university student so I got my courses for free, I have no complaints. I think the level of knowledge I gain from Udemy and Coursera are pretty much the same if I put some effort into it. So in conclusion, pretty good in general, exactly like I'm attending a class in university, except that I pay attention and doesn't fall asleep. But I doubt that only attending a course or a university will guarantee you anything lol. Products used:Google cybersecurity and Google automation with Python. Service Value Returns Quality

“Pretty Bad”

So I started using Coursera because Microsoft has direct Excel courses there. My first two classes went ok. Unfortunately for my third class the split screen will no longer work and I cannot proceed with any further learning. There are no humans to call or talk to in real time. My time is limited. They blatantly lie and tell you that you can contact support via their site. This is a lie, you just get connected with a boy. The community forums serve no purpose if someone needs help NOW, not a day or weeks from now hoping someone responds. Same with their email. How they stay in business providing such horrible service is a mystery to me. Tip for consumers:GET A WORKING PHONE HELP LINE WITH REAL HUMANS COURSERA!!! Products used:Excel classes Service Value Quality

“Corrupt”

This is a corrupt company that will take your money. It is impossible to cancel a subscription or get any type of customer service. You will never be able to chat with anyone. But they will consistently charge you no matter what. Tip for consumers:Shady company Products used:Cad program Service Value Returns Quality

“Signed up for a free class and started getting monthly charges!”

I had signed up for a free Coursera class and approved a one time $50 charge to get a certificate once the class was completed. 4 months go by and I just noticed I have been charged a monthly fee of $49! I never subscribed for a membership and the class was supposed to be FREE. No clue how or why this recurring charge started. When I tried reaching out to Coursera they said they would look into it. Still waiting to hear back to get my refund. It was like they automatically signed me up for some kind of monthly membership without my permission. Looking online Im seeing a lot of people have had this happen to them! How is this legal?! Im very upset and hoping that I get my full refund for the 4 months of unlawful charges.

“Terrible customer service”

I was really enjoying my class in Prompt Engineering for ChatGPT, but when it came time to submit the first assignment, I couldn't enter it. Just simple text, nothing fancy. I got this error message: "Looks like there's an error. The server encountered an internal error. Try the action again or refresh your page. If you continue to see this error please contact support for help." It's six days since I first emailed customer support. I did everything they suggested, cleared cache and cookies, logged out and back in, sent screenshots, opened the Java console. After doing that, I never heard back. I've requested a refund. I will never recommend Coursera and will share my experience wherever I can. I'm extremely disappointed. I was very interested in the course and would have been glad to take additional courses. They lost a customer forever with their terrible customer service. Tip for consumers:The course content was interesting and well presented. I can't rate value or quality, because I was only able to complete one week. I would have loved to finish this course, but customer service ignored me when I needed help submitting my assignment. Service Returns

“Subscription”

The website wouldn't allow me to cancel the subscription. The website charged me twice and I had to manually write to customer service to cancel the google data analytics certificate. Additionally, every time I tried to remove my debit card information, the system generated an "error code" and wouldn't let me remove my card. Customer support stated they were not able to help me with this request (debit card removal) and I had to e-mail an entirely different department or keep trying ( even though I stated I've tried over ten times). It seems like this is the accepted business model. Highly disappointed and will never use the website again. Service Value Returns Quality

“Waste of time”

Took two courses with Coursera, then had to take time off--they scam you into going into a "program" of seven courses that take WAY TOO long to complete so that they can continue to charge you $$ each month even though you can't finish all of the courses in the time they say you can. Once done, most employers I talked with thought they were a joke--no credit for any courses taken from them transfers or counts for anything. Very disappointing. Spent several months and hundreds of $$ on waste of time. Save yourself from this scam.

“Impossible to cancel a subscription and no way to escalate”

If I could give 0 stars, I would. Don't be fooled by the free trial like I was. I decided it wasn't for me, and have been trying for nearly 3 months to cancel it. They are billing me $118/mo. There is no way to cancel it. No email address to contact someone. No phone number to call. No way to escalate it. Only a chatbot with instructions that don't work. NO WAY TO DO IT. I have now contacted my bank and have logged a dispute. I now have to cancel my credit card - and that means all my existing direct debits will be dishonoured while I wait for the new card and transfer it all across to a new card number. All because of Coursera. NIGHTMARE. Service Value Returns Quality

“Just another online fake”

I signed up for an ESL certification course with Coursera bec I saw the Arizona State University logo attached and assumed it was a contract with ASU to offer an online course. Paid $45 for the single course, got halfway thru, then was blocked. I was told (via chat) that I had never paid. My bank acct says I paid 1 month ago. Then the rep said I was "upgraded" ON THE SAME DATE and now will be billed monthly. I never chose an upgrade. I just wanted the one course. Coincidentally, I just got my new card from my bank with a different account # -- Good luck collecting, Coursera! I intend to contact ASU to find out if they know their name is being used. The course content was mickey-mouse anyway, and I suspect the "viedos" were staged and not real... Tip for consumers:They said I needed to pay up and then I would be allowed to reinstate the course. This was after I had already paid to take the course. Then I told them to just refund my money or I would make sure they got a bad review from me. The chat then hung up on me. Products used:none... online correspondence course Service Value Returns Quality

“DON'T GET FOOLED! IT IS IMPOSSIBLE TO CANCEL A SUBSCRIPTION”

I realized that Coursera has been charging me for 2 months a subscription I NEVER did. So, I guess it was one of those "free trial"things. The problem is that they do not avail on their website a place to cancel. They forward you to a page that tells you to go to "My Purchases" and "under Subscription tag" ask to cancel subscription. When I hit it, it says "No purchases found in your history". Nevertheless, they've just charged $ 49.00 for the THIRD TIME! And don't try to call. They don't answer.

“Language section only from communist countries”

Learning languages section: Chinese and Russian. Are you serious? Funny thing is learning Russian was requirement when the USSR was trying to take over Poland when my mom was going to school and they just wont let up. Sadly it is very obvious that the only languages they offer are from communist countries... and of course they are located in Mountain View. Just another faulty internat company destroying the area I grew up in. Value Quality

“Future of education!”

I tested Coursera by enrolling in two financial courses. It's including video lectures, discussion forums, machine-graded multiple-choice assessments, rubric-guided peer assessments, which are sufficient for a better understanding of new subject. Additional: you can get verified certificate.

“Coursera - Cheat you by a 7 days trial, then charge you $49 WITHOUT ANY prior notification.”

I have an unauthorized charge for $49 from Coursera on my credit card today (Feb-26,2021). I took a free trial of 7 days from Coursera but to my surprise they charged me hefty amount after the trial ended without giving any notification. Problem date: Feb-26,2021 Order Number: #******* They didn't texted, emailed nothing. Each and every individual holds a right to inform before such actions are being taken. This is just not the way of earning money. I spent almost 1 hour to read through its help and would expect to find a way to contact them, but it appears they hide them very well. No hot line, no contact number, no place to submit ticket, no email to submit complaint... Let's speak out this kind of hegemonism and Cheating! Tip for consumers:Coursera cheats you by 7 days trial, and then will charge you $49 after trial without any notification and your agreement!!! Products used:online course Service Value Returns Quality

“Pedagogically inappropriate”

I enrolled in the computer vision course and was very disappointed with Coursera. There were several problems where I mention the 3 main ones: 1) The content of classes very shallow; 2) An almost complete lack of relation between the contents of the classes and the tests; and finally, 3) No pedagogical support, or communication channel, e-mail, chat, absolutely nothing. Summary of my impression: I felt myself studying alone, reading a vague material, and experiencing tests that could not be solved based on class. It is a 5-week course, and I noticed from the drastic drop in participation in the forums that the students, like me, are giving up after the second week.

“Fear of identity Theft by Coursera”

I am surprised no one mentions the fear of identity theft by Coursera. They want my government issued I.D. with photograph (drivers license or passport and date of birth, address). Heck they could possibly apply for credit cards in my name with all that information. How do I know Coursera is safe? Also, I cannot find any courses that are FREE. 7 day trial period is free but all courses last more than 1 month. $79 a month is the rate I have been given.

“Looks like a scam, they mention one price before and another after you enroll”

I enrolled for the Methods and Statistics in Social Sciences Specialization. Right before I enrolled it said that the pricing was 36 euros per month or 144 euros for a 12 month subscription. All these after the first trial week which is free. So I enrolled to the program and 1 week later I try to pay for the 1 year subscription. I see now that the only options I have are either pay 36 euros per month or 176 euros for 6 months! The 12 month option is gone! And there is no way to contact them, they do not give out their email. I see this as a very unethical way to treat potential students and it very much looks like a scam. So I will not continue with the specialization unless the 12 month option is offered to me again with the price I saw right before I enrolled.

“Coursera, the online $#*!”

This is by far the worst online class I have ever taken. My answers were never able to submit, the issues never were resolved, I'm two weeks behind, and now on top of everything they won't refund me. No call center, the chat support bots never got back to me with a human and I am ultimately very frustrated and dissatisfied. If one of coursera's classes is somehow your last class until you graduate like me, I highly recommend not wasting an ounce of your money or time on this poorly ran online pile of rubbish.

“Surprise subscription”

Like many other reviews, I paid for a singular course, then learned that this basically automatically enrolled me in a subscription. There is zero mention of this when purchasing or in the emailed "receipt". Their terms of use state you are entitled to a refund within 14 days of subscription payment if there is no free trial period. I did not have a free trial period since I have been charged from the start of my course - $62 a month. I submitted a complaint that must be escalated with further communication, even thought the terms of use seem pretty clear. Steer clear Tip for consumers:Watch out for the surprise subscription you didn't know you agreed to Products used:Management course Service Value Returns Quality

“Good content, predatory payment problems”

Be very careful if you choose to do the free trial. You can cancel before the end of the seven days, but BE SURE TO DELETE YOUR PAYMENT METHOD TOO. Otherwise they will still charge you. Don't let them do to you what they did to me. They essentially stole $60 from me. You have been warned.

“TRIAL SCAM”

First they told you to enroll for free, then after giving cc information they completly dissappears and after that they charges you ridiculous ammount. I got charged for 107$ right after the subscription ends and then you got 2 days to get refund. First they sends you tons of email everyday but after subscribing they becomes ghost so you completly forgets. Tip for consumers:the course is full of trash Products used:digital marketing Service Value Returns Quality

“Inexpensive Somewhat Quality Education, "Free" trial billed after 7 days”

This a waste of time and money in using this "Trump University" type education site. They offer you a "free" trial, that is billed after 7 days, and is continued to be billed monthly, unless you cancel your subscription. I took a course in "Memoir Writing" that consisted on watching a Wesleyan University visiting professor give somewhat useful advice, along with weekly assignments. The assignments were somewhat useful and supposed to be "peer reviewed." I received zero feedback the entire course on my submitted assignments that I put time and effort into! This site somehow cons Universities into participating. I would only recommend this site if you want to learn some skills for an inexpensive fee, but keep track of your subscription status! You will be automatically be billed unless you cancel! Confirm the cancelation! Good luck. To their credit, they gave me a refund, in spite of the refund deadline being passed! I wasn't expecting one but already got the refund.