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Preply has a horrid, predatory billing scheme
Preply wants it both ways. They claim to be a subscription service, but really you are just buying a set number of lesson credits to use each month. For example, if my teacher charged $20/lesson, and I want to take 15 lessons per month, I will choose a 15 credit plan and be billed $300.
This system is absolutely fine until you roll up to the end of your first billing cycle and they casually inform you that 75% of your unused credits will be forfeited. There is absolutely no technical reason to do this - it's pure predatory behaviour.
This created huge amounts of anxiety for me. Every month I would worry that I used or had at least scheduled all my credits each month. Further their UI is so unintuitive it's really hard to tell if you did. It's ultimately why I've left the service, which sucks because I loved my instructor.
You know what is even more offensive though? The teacher doesn't even get paid out for your unused credits - it's just all unearned profit for Preply.
Let's not forget that they also force teachers to give the first lesson for free...and charge the student. They keep that money too.
Complete garbage company.
Edit: Here's a bullet list of why they're horrid:
They force instructors to teach the first lesson for free, but they bill the student for this lesson and keep the money for themselves.
They keep up to 33% of the money that you think you're paying the instructor. That's right, the measly $10/lesson you're paying them ends up being $6.70/lesson.
New students can only sign up for their subscription model, where you buy a set number of lesson credits per month (like a gift card). But they EXPIRE 75% of your credits each month if you don't use them! They don't roll over to the next month. They don't even give this money to your tutor! Just keep your money for providing absolutely nothing of value.
They will not offer any sort of pro-rated refund if you don't like it.
If you try to leave Preply and take lessons directly with your tutor, they will ban the tutor from Preply.
I'm sharing this here in the hopes that someone searching Reddit before joining Preply sees this and isn't mislead about their service, and doesn't end up getting invested in a teacher without understanding this.
Use italki if you can, Preply’s subscription based model is terrible. I have a tutor I use on Preply and I buy the minimum amount of hours (4 hrs a month) and then buy extra hours if I see I can schedule more lessons. I mostly use italki though.
Also Preply’s commission rates do no favors to the tutors…it’s robbery in my opinion compared to italki’s 15% flat rate.
Another inconvenience with Preply is the fact that a tutor can reschedule your lesson at any time. I have had tutors cancel on me 15 - 30 min before the lesson was supposed to start, absolutely ridiculous
P.S Sometimes I have no option but to reschedule lessons, but I have always tried to keep this to the absolute minimum possible and forward shift lessons to give the student time to check the new time. Given that I value my students and that I like long term working relationships with long standing students I have built a rapport with, and that it's MUCH easier to keep existing students than to get new ones (see trial lessons!), I only do reschedule in emergency or to take other work which pays! It would be less necessary if only Preply did not link profile position to hourly rate - thus limiting a teacher's income!!! I await the day I leave the UK for a cheaper destination!!!!
How does italki compare? Do their lesson credits expire?
italki Credit Expiration Policy
italki Credits in a italki Account will be valid for so long as the Member remains active on italki. If any Member’s italki Account has been inactive for more than twelve (12) months, the italki Credits will expire. Credits can be reactivated by contacting italki customer support with a reactivation request, with the condition that the credits have been expired for less than 12 months. Credits can be reactivated only one time, and will be valid for 12 months after the reactivation. Any activity in the credits will extend the expiration date of the credits an additional 12 months.
P.S. I tried to get onto iTalki but was rejected. Like so many attempts I have made down the years to get better prospects, I find I get no further than the brick wall of rejected applications which I smash into each and every single solitary time I try to move onward and upward. 30 years, no solution found.
UPDATE: I have since managed to registor on a new platform called LiveXP and my profile can be found here....