Udemy markets itself as a place to learn anything, but in reality, it's a gamble. There’s no consistent standard for course quality—many are poorly structured, outdated, or outright misleading. And Udemy knows it. That’s why getting a refund is deliberately difficult.
I recently requested a refund for a C# course that was, without exaggeration, the worst I’ve ever seen. My benchmark? YouTube tutorials—which were far superior. The course began with a downloadable starter file that was three years out of date. The first lesson featured a scruffy presenter stumbling through vague explanations, offering nothing of substance unless you’re five years old.
I gave up after that single video. But when I applied for a refund, Udemy denied it, claiming I’d watched “too much” of the course. One video. That’s all it took to disqualify me. Apparently, clicking play once is enough to void your eligibility.
This isn’t just bad policy—it’s deceptive. Udemy’s refund system feels engineered to trap users into paying for subpar content with no recourse. In my experience, that qualifies them for the label: con artists.