Varsity Tutors Reviews

My experience with Varsity Tutors has been nothing short of a fraudulent bait-and-switch operation, and I strongly urge anyone considering them to run the other way. We called them with one clear, non-negotiable requirement: we explicitly and repeatedly asked for an in-home, physical tutor to come directly to our house. The sales representative on the phone looked us right in the eye—figuratively speaking—assured us that they could easily accommodate this, and rushed to take our payment information. They locked in the charge immediately.

I paid Varsity Tutors $698 for two four-hour, one-on-one tutoring packages for an AWS Certification fundamentals course. However, the sales representative enrolled me in a recurring family monthly membership without my knowledge or authorization. Because of technical problems during the tutoring, Varsity Tutors credited me with two additional hours. I attended nine sessions and should have needed only one more hour. Instead, I was charged approximately $400 for an additional four hours that I did not request or authorize.

So my issue is the reoccurring payments because when I signed up I told them, "Hey I don't get paid on this date every month. It's different." I was told, "Oh no issues. Will work with you." So when I called them saying, "Hey my payment is coming up for this date but my payday is this date. Can we go ahead and do it now." They were not able to do that. They told me, "No. Once you set that date it's locked in." So I had to cancel my account and I've asked for a refund of my remaining sessions. I'm waiting to hear back on that. But the tutor was great. She knew her stuff. She actually sent me some handouts. We set up a lesson plan but unfortunately that wasn't able to continue and when I called them today to say, "Hey can we go ahead and do the payment today," they said, "No because you set that up on this date".

We tried Varsity Tutors this summer for math support for our son, who has ADHD. Before signing up, we explained his needs and were assured that their tutors were certified and knew how to work with children like him. We also made clear that we wanted to try the service for one month before deciding whether to continue. Our first tutor came unprepared, struggled to use the website, and did not appear to have a teaching plan for our son. There was no orientation, and we felt the sessions provided very little useful instruction. When we complained, Varsity Tutors offered a replacement and assured us that this would resolve the problems.

I’m sharing this because I wish I had understood Varsity Tutors’ membership practices before signing up. I enrolled over the phone and, based on that sales conversation, was led to believe that unused tutoring credits would accumulate and that I could pause my membership if needed and resume later. Those were important factors in my decision to sign up. When I tried to pause for a few months over the summer, I learned that this was not the case. I had four unused sessions worth $314 that would expire. I was then offered the option of paying an additional $49/month for six months to extend access to credits I had already paid for.

BEWARE. When we signed up we agreed to purchase a block of hours. We were told that the platform was free and comes with that block. I was unexpectedly billed for a $332.30 membership fee the following month. This is a monthly fee just to use the platform. I called to cancel the same day I was charged and was told that they would determine at a later date if they would credit back the fee. From the extensive bad reviews I see here, that may not happen. I'm canceling the credit card, reporting the fraud with Amex and will also report them to the BBB.

The tutor assigned to me was excellent. However, their billing practices are shady to say the least and their website does not make it easy for a customer to get an explanation. I would definitely not use them again.

July 9, 2026. After the first meeting, we realized that we were not motivated by the learning platform. When I called to cancel the rest of the sessions, I was told I did not meet qualifications for a refund and Varsity Tutors refused the refund I requested. Know that if you start and don’t like the platform, they won’t return your money.

The only good thing about Varsity Tutors was the tutor we had. Danny was awesome! Knew his SAT information and really cared about if my kids passed the SAT or not. This was the only good thing about varsity tutors. They're very money-oriented, only caring about the money. No one in the office can speak decent English. You can't understand what they are saying. Trying to have a conversation with them is impossible because they don't understand what you're saying and they keep repeating what you're saying so you can never get them to answer a simple question. Their billing department is very disorganized and inconsistent. They quit billing for my kids for literally 30 sessions and then stop my kids tutoring saying I was behind when the truth was they didn't know how to bill and was charging the wrong scholarship (which was in a totally different state than we are in).

Varsity Tutors got back to me and provided a good resolution. As I listed on my original post, the attention and quality of the tutoring by SAI was top notch and I am happy Varsity Tutors was able to step up. Will definitely recommend.

AJ contacted me and immediately resolved the issue, working with us to get us established back again with the hours owed to us. Thank you for the outreach and resolution.

Ok I have to give AJ a shoutout because I was beyond upset about how things went but AJ reached out to me the same day I had an issue and really dug deep to see what the issue was and helped me resolve this issue. I can’t tell you how happy I am. This has changed my entire perspective on this company just because of working with AJ. I’m very happy with our agreement and will definitely be a returning customer as long as I can work with AJ.

The tutoring itself was excellent. Greyson's tutor was patient, encouraging, and helped him make noticeable progress in just a few months. We were genuinely happy with the quality of instruction and appreciated the positive impact she had on his confidence and learning. My issue is with Varsity Tutors' billing policy. The membership was about $250 per month, and I didn't realize that unused tutoring time expires each month. It's a strict "use it or lose it" policy. I believed I had canceled my membership and thought the unused time I had already paid for would still be available when we were ready to return. Instead, I learned that I had lost about $500 worth of tutoring.

After having issues with the site and our experience the manager reached out to me and rectified our issues and helped Allison go on to improve her SAT score.

Spoke to Varsity Tutors. They were able to help me with the issues.

My son signed for varsity tutors last year and took session for 4 months however did not find it useful. He stopped taking any tutoring from January but we have been charged every month.. we did not realize this was a subscription service. Since we did not use services we called to cancel and ask for a refund.. but agent said she cannot process a refund. This should not be acceptable as we find this behavior to be predatory on young college students.

I just had the worst experience with Varsity Tutors... I had a tutoring session with a tutor who kept on rescheduling... They charged me 241 dollars.. I asked for a refund because I still had hours left over from the previous month which I never used.. I received my first refund.. As the month is going on, I'm having the same issues. I am reaching out to customer service in speaking to live agents that are saying they are gonna help me.. But no resolve to this situation.. And refuse me my money back because they said that I had the same issue last month... That is very true. I have the same exact issue of not having a tutor and getting charged money for services that I never received... To Me it seems like a scam. I am a single mother. I cannot be getting charged money for a tutoring session that my son has not been able to receive... I can't believe I got duped by this fake tutoring place.

I was not aware this was a subscription. I was informed it was 300 for 4 hours or 3-4 online classes. I thought sure I'll try it, and if my daughter likes it, we'll pay the next 300 for more classes. I am out 600$ my daughter took 1 class!!!!! I requested a refund since 600$ for 1 class is ridiculous. I haven't heard from them since. Now I am disputing with my card company as fraud and no service rendered.

After we canceled with them they continued to charge us 600 dollars for several months. Do not use them or give them your credit card information!!!!

My son has been with Varsity Tutors for over two years on the 8 sessions per month plan at $499 per month. What started as a small request uncovered something much bigger. Last month I called to pause our membership because April went entirely unused, I was already billed for May, and we were going on a long vacation. The representative said a pause was not possible and suggested I cancel. I did not want to cancel because my son's tutor Morgan ** has been excellent. So I asked for something far smaller - carry over just 6 unused hours from April into May. That one small request was never resolved.

Unbelievable that they allow a 16 year old sign up for a 1 month session for $314.10, but after it ends, they continue to charge the credit card. Nothing in the T&C gives them authority to charge us monthly. You cannot cancel online. When you call to cancel, you get an "advisor" not authorized to refund you for payments you never authorized in the first place. Once we were able to get through to a manager, we were told that he could not process this request for 72 hours. So now what? We sit and wait? After being on the phone for no less than 20 minutes, we have no resolution and the manager asked if we would mind "staying on the line to rate his service". Are you kidding me??

Hi, the customer service reached out to me the same day and we resolved the issue.

I am about to lose my mind with Varsity Tutors and my daughter hasn't even had a tutoring session yet. Tutors not responding, Tutors telling me about how their sad personal lives prevent them from committing to the assigned session, Tutors cancelling at the last minute. What a severe waste of time when I could have been helping my daughter myself instead of communicating with them.

I was a student receiving tutoring services for Advanced Accounting and have completed three sessions to date. After my first session, I requested a different tutor due to limited subject-matter expertise. During my sessions with the second tutor, I experienced ongoing concerns regarding the quality of instruction. When I asked for explanations of the solutions provided, the responses lacked clarity and depth, making it difficult to fully understand the material or apply it in a practical, real-world context.

Extremely deceiving tactic that automatically signs up you up for recurring billing with no way to cancel your membership or even remove your credit card before the next billing cycle hits and then they refuse to refund even 1 day after it renews. They make it fast & easy to sign up, but require to make a PHONE CALL to cancel the membership. No way to cancel in the online portal or even using their chat service. Your credit card can also not be removed to prevent unauthorized charges. Beware!

Unfair business practices! At first, things were going well however, after about a month, our tutor did not show up for 2 sessions in a row. After the second time, I called to ask for a refund for the 2 missed sessions and the remaining 3 left on the monthly plan, which is more than fair. While they did replace the tutor and include the sessions missed, I spent over an hour advising them that I just wanted my money back for not showing up and wished to cancel. It seems odd that you can just not show up for your job and still bill people and not allow them to cancel remaining services for unprofessional behaviour. I spent over an hour on the phone trying to explain this, but got nowhere. I would not recommend this company to anyone.

I had a very frustrating experience with Varsity Tutors and would not recommend their service. I signed up for a $249/month plan that included a fixed number of tutoring hours. However, over multiple months, I was charged inconsistently significantly higher amounts above my plan monthly, resulting in $193.90 in additional, unexplained fees (three months), plus an extra charge after cancellation the following month. They never agreed to refund the extra charge and only gave me extra credit hours. The company claims these are “supplemental tutoring fees” for extra time, but I never requested or approved any additional hours. My child only attended scheduled sessions within the agreed timeframe.

One star is honestly one too many for this company. I signed up for 1 month of tutoring for 4 hours for my son as our local tutor was away with a family emergency. I made it clear when we signed up that we only needed tutoring for one month to fill in while our local tutor was away. They have auto charged my credit card $349 for the last couple months for a service we did not sign up for and have not used. They also do not send invoices so you aren’t even aware of the charges right away. I called and spoke to a representative and put a request in for a refund, but based on other reviews it seems I will have to go through my credit card company to get our money back. This company is predatory, the customer service representatives I spoke with were rude, not helpful and would not transfer me to a supervisor. Stay as far away from Varsity Tutors as possible.

After filling out an online form, was called immediately and explained to the advisor my daughter would be taking the SATs in a few weeks. The advisor said we could sign up for 8 tutoring sessions in that time frame and we were assured they would be able to accommodate our schedule. We signed up and there was no mention of recurring fees.

Unfair billing practices. The hours don't roll over even though you pay for them and there is no guarantee you will get a tutor to help you in the time you need. During the holidays it is impossible to utilize all the hours with school being out of session and not having any curriculum to provide the tutors. If they actually had their own, it wouldn't be an issue but it is all up to the students and parents to provide everything.

This company is very dishonest. They get you in by saying you are paying for a specific number of sessions, then switch it up on you and tell you it is a subscription, and if you don't use the sessions by the end of the month, you lose them and they charge you for another group of sessions. NOTE: A subscription and that the sessions expire at the end of each month was never disclosed when signing up. They will then refuse to refund the money even though we don't need or want the service anymore. Big-time scam company. Don't ever use this service!

BEWARE: When I first considered this program, I was called instantly after putting in a on-line request. I explained my concerns that my daughter was anxious and I was concerned this might be the wrong fit. I was told that I could sign up for one month, give it a try and if it wasn't the correct fit they would refund. Well my daughter tried it and it made her anxiety worse, so we called. (Of course it's all online until you cancel!) Spoke with a man reading a script, who refused to refund, let me speak with a supervisor or adhere to what I had been told.

I am compelled to express my dissatisfaction regarding my experience with this company. After formally requesting the cancellation of my membership, it is troubling that I was not refunded for any of the unused hours. This raises serious concerns about the principles of unjust enrichment and the company's contractual obligations.

Continued To Bill My Credit Card Even After Promising Me In Writing For Cancelation & Refund. Sarah H said I would receive a refund and they continue to charge my card. I'm not sure if this is a large scale fraud scheme or poor billing practices.

Nike says "Just Do It." I say "don't do it" especially when they continue to draft money out of your account. I wish I had read the reviews before hand. I called and called and Called they were not customer friendly. The tutors were good but the business policy and staff are awful.

STAY AWAY FROM THIS PEOPLE. THEY WILL STEAL YOUR MONEY WITH A SMILE ON THEIR FACES. I paid $500 for a tutoring session (8hrs) and nobody told me there was a subscription attached to my service. I just got a $700 charge in my credit card for the before mentioned subscription. When I called they said basically it’s what it is; no refund at all. In other words, they got the money for a service that I wouldn’t be using and there’s nothing you can do. See all the complaints in BBB and hope you make a good decision.

My daughter finished her classes in early 12/25 at FSW. Varsity Tutors charged my credit card $349 on 12/22/25 for a 30-day subscription ending in 1/22/25. When I called for a refund, they said they could not refund the charge. My daughter doesn't start her program until August 2025. Trying to deal with my credit card company to start a dispute. This company is unreal. Stay away!!

These guys are predatory, be careful when you sign up. The tutoring and system were fine, but they will sign you up without telling you for a monthly plan - which in my case meant an additional $500! - and when you call them, they refuse to issue a refund (I'm sure it was buried in the terms of reference, but the person who sold me the plan did not tell me it was recurring....which is incredibly unethical). And then give you no ability to speak to anyone else to contest it. Absolutely criminal.

BEWARE of Varsity Tutors' "no refunds" policy! My son graduated from college in August of this year. Come November, we received a bill from Varsity Tutors. Thinking this was a simple error, I contacted the company. It was not an error, according to the account manager who answered my call, but an automatic renewal. They could cancel my account as of December, but they offer no refunds, so we had 4 hours of tutoring available for use. I pointed out that my son -- and youngest child -- having graduated, we have no need of 4 hours of tutoring. The account manager repeated that they offer no refunds. I asked to speak to a manager, and he said that they don't transfer calls, either.

Varsity is willing to help for my situation. During my son's Varsity experience, he got his favor tutor John ** and a few others that really willing to help my son to improve. My son did made progress.