Hooked on Phonics Reviews 1,212

I reached out to customer service to confirm what all came with my subscription and the representative satisfied our conversation through a text message. I didn't even know that was an option. I appreciate the prompt, excellent expertise!

I reached out through text message because I hadn’t been receiving the practice packets. The customer service representative worked right away to correct the issue and make sure I got all practice packets I was missing free of charge. I appreciate the care and communication during our exchange and will continue to use this program for all of my children. It has helped my 6 year old grasp phonics quickly as we supplement our homeschool curriculum with the practice packets and books. I will be starting my 4 year old on the packets as well. A great program with great customer service!!

Very prompt and concise responses. Very efficient and professional.

Excellent service

I reached out via text to ask for help logging into my Dashboard account. The Customer Care team not only helped me log in, but also answered every question I had about the options available to manage my subscription. Easy, fast and friendly!

I purchased the program for my preschooler. We were never able to access the app. and was still charged 6 months for it. The worksheets that they offer to download aren't good at all - you can find better worksheets for free online. The work books and reader books were ok but nothing my child enjoyed. After being on this for a few months my child hasnt progressed much on this program. I really wanted to love this. I gave it time, it just isnt for us.

The materials were delivered as promised and in a timely manner.
My granddaughter loves the activities and working/playing on the website. She is 4 years old and she is able to stay focused and enjoys learning. Every thing is age appropriate and you can change the learning levels when appropriate for the child/children.
Customer service was top notch when I needed assistance. They responded very quickly and gave clear instructions for what I needed assistance with.

We ordered the complete box of Hooked on phonics up to age 8. We were unable to open & use it right away due to family crisis at that time. Evidently the warranty is only for 30 days. Our pack was missing the lower case flash cards which to me are very important. They refused to replace them. I offered to purchase a replacement, they told me to rebuy the complete package which was over $300. They also do not sell replacement workbooks for younger kids so it is a very expensive investment that is not working for us.

In October 2025, Hooked on Phonics changed the user interface of its app. My son's engagement dropped drastically. I told the company.

And this is what they said: "Learning to read is taught in a linear way. Your learner should not be jumping around in the App, and that’s exactly what this update is designed to fix."

It was so easy to sign up for hooked on phonics. I have been wanting to cancel. I can't get through on the app. I can't get through on the dashboard. I can't get anyone to respond when I press one to cancel on the phone number. I wish I had used American Express so I can just dispute the whole thing. Oh and by the way my child did not learn to read based on hooked on phonics.

My daughter struggled in the beginning and didn’t even want to approach reading despite being read to and encouraged. HOP changed all of that! I saw her progress in real time and actually love it. They make a confident reader out of a young one. With a little guidance from a parent or adult your child will read. The books help build their confidence and the games help reinforce while being entertaining. My daughter began looking forward to her packets and now reads everything all the time everywhere. I highly recommend this for early or struggling readers. Give it time , be encouraging, and make it fun! I am forever grateful for our experience with the program. We’ve been using it for a few years now and I think it’s time to say goodbye and while it’s bittersweet I’m happy she is able to read confidently and independently. Truly amazing!

I purchased the program back in the 90s, PHENOMINAL outcome, and it has always been used in our household with tremendous success, UNTIL NOW! Our cassette player finally died, can't find another one and, while last year someone gave me a link that worked great, the link is now useless and I cannot get ANYONE (including the person that I worked with) to even acknowledge my email :-(

My son started hook on phonics at 4yrs old he is now 5 and has been reading for months now. We absolutely love this program! Customer service has been great! Especially with Heather F. from Senior Customer Care Specialist
Escalations & Training Team! Thank you so much for all your help!

Beware the "Easy Cancellation".
I just received the program this week and discovered I will not be tutoring my nephew after all. I have been completely unable to cancel through the company.

They don't offer cancellation as an option, so you have to go to Customer help. Then you have to deal with the bots where you're offered a menu of articles you can read. When you indicate you want to interact (not "speak") with an agent in online chat they say they will EMAIL me when an agent is available & online. LOLOLOLOL! Thank goodness I signed up through Paypal where I can manage my autopays without Hooked on Phonics' interaction because it is clear they will try to delay or avoid any cancellation.

I love Hooked on Phonics! My 4 year old son was interested in reading when he was 3, so we bought the entire Hooked on Phonics curriculum and he's on level 4 and readings so well! No other 4 year old in his Sunday School or co-op is reading as well as he is and it's incredible! He homeschool for many reasons but one reason was because I was public schooled and learned to read by word memorization not phonics and even today as an adult I fine it hard to pronounce words I haven't seen before. We actually ended up losing our Level 4 box somehow and so I had to reorder it. I accidentally had it sent to a former apartment of ours and when I emailed customer service, Heather F. Told me, "We have gone ahead and reshipped your package to the correct address at no additional cost. You are not required to return the package that was sent incorrectly. This can be disposed of or donated as you please." How wonderful is that! I love this company and am so pleased with how well both of my kids are reading now! Definitely buy it and tell you friends!

My kids are not interested. It’s not very interactive. It keeps repeating the same pattern. I also tried to cancel it, it shows inactive and I was still charged. Anyhow, I went in again and see, it is active in different access and when I try to cancel it, it says you signed up through the app blah blah, which I tried looking in all places there isn’t any subscription. So this isn’t a simple cancel anytime. Just so you know, it’s more of a headache than a help.

I got hooked on phonics for my 6 year old nephew and he didn’t like it, wouldn’t even get into it. It didn’t work out at all. He wanted nothing to do with it.

I just want to say how funny and awesome hooked on phonics commercials are!!! They’re the best!!!

I can’t believe this is actually working. I felt my so was falling behind in 1st grade reading so I tried to find a solution to boost his reading confidence. I hyped this app as a special reading game that only him and mommy would do together. I told him that I want him to be able to read everything in his Roblox game, so it’d be more fun to play, and I told him that mommy was going to help him get there every step of the way. He was super engaged with it and looks forward to our time doing the reading game together. In fact if we miss out on our reading game time, he gets upset. Definitely the way you present this to your child will determine success. I’ve given him similar learning apps in the past with little to no enthusiasm behind it and he quickly became bored with them. He has made exceptional improvements and no longer just shuts down when he encounters a difficult word. We did pre-reader as a review and are now half way through learn to read. We are only using the app. I did not want to make this experience feel like school to him so we only play the games and read the electronic books. We love it.

Tried to purchase hooked on phonics for my 4 year old, and my order was rejected. Apparently, I had signed up with their sister company, early moments, and "contested" their subscription.

After going back through my emails, I found an email from 2019 asking how I can cancel my subscription. I received a response that it was canceled and no concerns or issues were presented in that email. I don't quite understand the issue nor do I understand why I can't purchase hooked on phonics. The person in the email did not mention any issues with me canceling. That was 4 years ago so I don't recall this company at all. I'm assuming I tried a free trial, and it was not the right fit for my then 4 month old.

Either way, I contacted hooked on phonics right away for additional details. Over a month later, still no response.