LearnTalk.org – Legit or Scam?

I came across a critical review of LearnTalk.org on a Scam Reporting website – DirtyScam.com, titled ‘LearnTalk's unlimited plans are not real’.

DirtyScam allows anonymous submission of complaints from angry consumers and victims of scams. Since the website is hosted offshore (probably in Russia or India), we take this (negative) review against LearnTalk.org with a pinch of salt.

Here is what the review says –

The following is the solid evidence of LearnTalk’s consumer fraud.Please be aware that the evidence is written in a PDF file (the download link is given at the end)1. Description about scammer LearnTalk and its services– Company: LearnTalk.org (website: LearnTalk.org); CEO: Nicolo Luccini; LearnTalk has 3 branches in Philippines, Vietnam, Hong Kong– Service: learning English online with teachers from Philippines, England, South Africa, and other countries.– Service plan: 1-1 Lesson Unlimited plan (Users can book 1-1 tutoring lessons with teachers as many as they can in a day) from 6 months to 1 year for $500-$1000. LearnTalk has stopped providing this plan since May 10th, 2018. However, there are, in my own estimation, 600 customers using this plan which is due in May 2019.2. LearnTalk’s FRAUD– The Fraud: Usually, an online English lesson on the market is about $10-$30/hour. However, LearnTalk claim about their “unlimited plans” that for only $2-$3 a day (with commitment for a whole year), users can book as many lessons as they can. However, after paying the commitment fee $500-$1000, LearnTalk prevents “unlimited” users from booking after the first week, let alone from booking as much as they can in an entire year.– The scheme: After users subscribe to their “unlimited plans”, LearnTalk let “unlimited” users to book lessons freely (<4 hours), as promised in the first week. From the second week onwards, LearnTalk secretly prevents users from booking lessons with teachers. When users complains about their inability to book, LearnTalk replies that they will fix that technical error soon. But in fact, LearnTalk never fix, and let users to wait endlessly. Sometimes, LearnTalk let users to book one more lesson and then stop users later in order to make users tired. Over time, the experience of booking and waiting for technical issues to be fixed exhausts users, and users leave LearnTalk.– The reason: the business model “unlimited plan” just doesn’t practically work. A user pay up front only a fixed amount of money; so the more the user book lessons, the more LearnTalk loses money. The only way to profit is to prevent users from booking.3. The evidenceI myself bought an “unlimited plan” for a whole year with the price $500, started using since April 18, 2018.– In the first week: I could book freely (though I chose only 2 hours) though there were as many teachers as I saw in the company’s website. So there was some disappointment, but still acceptable.– From the 2nd week to 4th week: LearnTalk hid teachers, so I couldn’t book. I knew this because:+ I created a free trial account (i.e. non-unlimited) to compare. The result was: in the free trial account: teachers are available more than my unlimited account.+ I asked directly the teachers about their schedules. All said they were available at the hours when teachers don’t show up in my account.+ I asked some students and they had the same scenarios.– When I complained about the inability to book, LearnTalk replied that they would fix the system, but nothing changed. And then I realized a loophole of the website allowing me to book anyway; however, LearnTalk fixed the loophole and strictly stopped me from booking. And then I discovered another loophole, and LearnTalk fixed it, prohibiting me from booking. After three times, on May 17, 2018, I can’t book lessons anymore.– On May 17, 2018, I collected evidences for LearnTalk’s secretly preventing “unlimited” users from booking and composed it as an email to 20 teachers of LearnTalk (see the link at the end of this). CEO Nicolo of LearnTalk terminated my account.– Talking to some other “unlimited” users in Vietnam, I know Nicolo still keeps preventing them from booking.The evidence is written as a letter to teachers. Download it at: https://1drv.ms/b/s!AnXzeDgroPGw5VTW_tJYV44ZxJIh4. Response from a Vietnam branch of LearnTalkWhen Nicolo’s scheme was revealed, one of the two Vietnam branch of LearnTalk decided to terminate their contract with Nicolo so that they can get away with the responsibility to their existing “unlimited” users. The other Vietnam branch chose to be silent about this scandal. Until now, most “unlimited” users don’t know about this.The evidence is written as a letter to teachers. Download it at: https://1drv.ms/b/s!AnXzeDgroPGw5VTW_tJYV44ZxJIh

In case you don’t already know (assuming you came to this page by Googling ‘LearnTalk.org scam‘, or ‘LearnTalk.org review‘, LearnTalk.org is listed under the category Product on DirtyScam.com.

Here is the rest of the contact information for the sole purpose of identification –

• Address: Bonham Strand Hong Kong Island
• Phone:
• Website: http://learntalk.org
• Severity of Scam: Medium [not sure what it means]
• Reported Loss: 0 $ [unsubstantiated]
• Reported by: Anonymous [obviously]

The entity LearnTalk.org was awarded 1 / 5 Stars  based on 1 Reviews.

It is difficult to ascertain whether LearnTalk.org is a Scam, or Legit, based on this single review. In the coming weeks/days, I will try to research deeper into LearnTalk.org, analyze and list more critical reviews and identify a pattern (or lack of) to substantiate the claim mentioned above.

Regardless, until then, we give the benefit of doubt to the reviewer and list LearnTalk.org as someone you need to avoid (for now).

If you have any grievances, complaints, or anonymous tips against LearnTalk.org, please contact us immediately. If you have lost money to  LearnTalk.org, together we can work to recover your loss.