MasterClass Reviews 1,124

Don't do their 'deal', its not obvious but they will charge you for a whole year up front with no way to cancel.

I subscribed to MasterClass for one year with the intention of evaluating the value of the platform. Over time the content quality and depth were noticeably below the level they advertise, which led to very low usage and no meaningful engagement during the year.

Despite this, I was auto-renewed without any clear or prominent notification, and when I contacted support immediately to request a refund, it was refused. The renewal terms are confusing and designed in a way that makes it very easy to unknowingly autorenew.

I am asking for a full refund for the renewal and closure of the account, given the lack of usage, the misleading renewal experience, and the gap between what the service promises and what is actually delivered. I will update this review if resolved.

As mentioned by several other reviewers, it's basically impossibile to cancel your subscription and get your money back even though they claim there is a 7-day satisfaction guarantee period. You need to send an email asking for it, then an AI reply some generic stuff, ask you to submit an OTP, then after a lot of back and forth (several emails) says it cannot actually proceed with your refund and that's it, no further support. Not worth your money and time, stay away.

Complaint Summary:
I subscribed to MasterClass for a one-year subscription in September 2024. At the time of purchase, I did not select auto-renewal. However, I later discovered that auto-renewal had been enabled without my knowledge or consent. I canceled the auto-renewal prior to my renewal date in September 2025. Initially, I thought this might have been an error on my part, but after discussing with my work team (many of whom subscribed around the same time), we realized that auto-renewal was enabled for all of us without our knowledge. This appears to be a systemic issue.

Desired Resolution:
I request that MasterClass acknowledge this error, provide transparency about their subscription practices, and ensure that auto-renewal is not enabled without explicit consent from customers. Additionally, I request a refund for any customers who were charged due to this practice.

Incredibly difficult to cancel subscription.
Couldn’t refund the $240 subscription even after a few hours of the bill on my ANZ app.
Wouldn’t refund, even though I had tried to cancel.

Impossible to cancel. Tried online didn't work. Tried to call, disconnected. Tried to email and ignored. Charged me anyway. Wouldn't reverse it or cancel my membership. Just kept telling me to do it online which doesn't work. Because a bot responds to you. Unless you want to be a forever member don't sign up. Finally, an actual person responded and a credit was issued. Thanks Trustpilot, I think if it wasn't for this review I never would had a response.

** I’m updating this review to say thank you Masterclass service team for resolving this and fully refunding me.

Cancelling a subscription has been tricky. The ‘cancel subscription’ button on the app repetitively failed, so I emailed customer services in advance of my renewal date, clearly asking to cancel and not to take payment. I never received a reply. Despite this, a full year’s subscription was withdrawn.

Please beware of Masterclass, I was notified of a subscription renewal and I went onto the site to cancel. I could have SWORN I did it correctly, however I was slapped with $180 renewal fee. I wrote to them and a bot said too bad but we will refund 50% - so I was out $90. The NEXT DAY I was informed of a double charge on my credit card for another $180. (Meanwhile I still have not received my $90) I wrote again and included pictures of the double charge on my credit card statement. I was informed this was for a 2025 and 2026 subscription. Which makes no sense at all, I already paid 2025 I am now out almost $400. I have never had anything like this happen. I am devastated and in disbelief. I need this money to pay my bills. Only a bot will respond to me. Please please please do not do this. I feel so dumb for even getting into this situation. This is the first negative review I have ever written in my life, I can’t believe I have to be this person. Hopefully this will save someone else the stress.

I subscribed to a two weeks trial and keep my credit card details. I never received access to the service and I've tried to contact the customer service four times without any insert. There's only one email address no phone number. And I don't want to pay for the whole annual fee. How do we get an answer?

I gave my credit card in order to use the 30 day trial, and in less than one day they charged me for a full year plus an extra $120. In total, I’ve been charged around $350, and I’ve become a victim of this. Because of this site, I’ll have to cancel my credit cards. For the past three days, I’ve sent 5 emails trying to get in touch, but I haven’t received a single reply. On other reviews, they claim they “take care of things,” but that’s clearly not true.

This system is committing a crime. It’s no different from illegal betting sites. Someone needs to step in and stop this fraud. We are talking about a $350 scam, and yet this site is still able to advertise on Instagram and Facebook it’s truly unbelievable. Please do not remain silent about this situation. Even though I don’t live in America, I will give power of attorney to my sister who lives in California. You cannot scam people like this.

I call on everyone to take action against this system. Let’s raise our voices through every possible social media platform.

I didn't explore the content enough to know how useful it is (versus YouTube or other platforms), though my feeling is that the courses were interesting, the instructors expert in their fields, and overall, a good content platform.

The reason for my two-star review is their refund policy. It's not just that they wouldn't refund me for an annual charge I contended just one hour after it was made, but that I received no auto-renew notifications. They contend an email was sent out, but none was received, not to my inbox or my spam. And if it was (but it wasn't), I contacted them within one hour of the charge, which is for a year's worth of future use. It's a company that is willing to compromise its brand reputation by exploiting its auto-renew membership feature. Most companies nowadays provide multiple notifications of a scheduled auto-renew charge—a chance to consider the renewal and disable it if you wish. Not these guys.

So, um, buyer beware.

UPDATE: Following this review, Masterclass issued a refund. They explained that auto-renew is on by default (seems presumptuous to me) and notifications of subscription renewal are sent out 30 days in advance (again, I am certain I did not receive an email and I checked my inbox, spam, and trash folders). In any case, I'm glad they did the right thing by issuing the refund, but it really shouldn't take an online review to do so. You'd think after over a 1000 reviews on this platform, most complaining of the same experience, the company would shift its policies. Who knows, maybe at 2000? Anyway, refund issued.

I used to like masterclass and its content but as an human i forgot to unsubscribed once (haven't see a reminder email) and i have been charge and they are the only one company i know that just say we don't care it's our policy no refund

That is not a company who has good values not a company you should give your money to just run

I want to speak to a human everywhere i go it's only ai you use and it does a terrible job at answering and the chat is even worse makes no sense. I have a full p' convo with your deceiptful ai at the mail support where can i get a human to speak with ??? I have been trying for three days!!!

I would give MasterClass zero stars if I could.

A few weeks ago, I contacted them to close my account because I couldn’t access it and had no interest in continuing. They confirmed this was taken care of. Fast forward to today, and I discover they’ve helped themselves to £168 for a yearly subscription I never authorized.

This is not just sloppy—it’s predatory and dishonest. Charging a customer after they’ve explicitly canceled is nothing short of fraud. And to make matters worse, there’s no straightforward way to resolve it without threatening to go through the bank’s fraud department.

MasterClass markets itself as a premium service, but their practices are shady, unethical, and downright unacceptable. If this is how they treat customers, I’d strongly advise anyone thinking of signing up to think twice.

This company is horrible. I have fallen victim to trying their starter special, realized right away that I didn't want anything to do with it, and cancelled the account immediately. I keep getting emails from them telling me that they are having a hard time changing my card for their insanely high annual fee.

I keep responding to and emailing them to cease and desist in their efforts. It's so bad that I have contacted my bank preemptively to report their illegal attempts to charge my card.

Their response is for me to go to their website and file a claim. Why in the world are they allowed to demand me back to their website in an attempt to solve this. What is trustpilot for? I went to their website just like they asked, and got a worthless AI response. No customer service at all.

Not worth the money. Superficial learning. Impossible to cancel under their 30-day guarantee policy.

If I could give a zero I would! I spent £80 on a year long membership to find absolutely nothing I couldn’t find on YouTube! Then to add insult to injury, like many others, they’ve tied me into an auto-subscription at £120. Do yourself a massive favour; don’t subscribe! What you’re looking for is already on the internet for free!!!

I enjoyed Masterclass when I first signed up and had a need.

I did not like the auto renewal process, however after reading another’s review on how they obtained a full refund by utilising the chatbot -

- I signed into Masterclass
- Went to the ‘help’ page
- Entered into the Refund page
- Waited for the Chatbot to appear
- Requested a full refund
- Refused the offer of a 50% refund with a continued subscription
- Was the provided with a full refund.

Please note: I requested a full refund the same day as the auto renewal hit my account.

Thank you Masterclass. I was in tears because I simply do not have the funds for this right now. The money your company is returning to my account is desperately needed. Because that money is being returned, if I can ever afford it again, I will utilise your services once again - with a mind for the automotive renewal process though.

Surprisingly and contrary to other reviews here after signing up and never using the Service really i was charged 192 € Today and upon talking to the support chatbot within literally 1 minute i had the refund of that Payment in my Paypal so yeah... Great experience with the customer support Bot.

Like everyone else, unable to unsubscribe was auto renewed, was told they can’t refund even though I reported it the exact same day I was charged. This is the worse kind of business to deal with

I signed up for a one-year subscription with Masterclass, expecting meaningful training and mentorship. The reality was disappointing: the content is vague, lightweight, and largely hype. After only a few weeks I realised there was very little of real value—certainly nothing you couldn’t get for free through podcasts like Diary of a CEO, which often feature the same people.

What’s worse is the business model. Without clear warning, you are tied into an auto-renewal at around £120 a year. Cancelling is deliberately difficult and feels parasitic—exactly the kind of “dark pattern” subscription trap regulators are supposed to prevent. I’ve wasted time today just trying to untangle myself from their system.

Buyer beware: unless you are in the UK or EU where refund rights apply, you may find yourself locked into a service that is overpriced, missold, and extremely hard to leave.