We use cookies to give users the best content and online experience. By clicking “Accept All Cookies”, you agree to allow us to use all cookies. Visit our Privacy Policy to learn more.

Manage Cookies
Resources for Businesses My BBB
Share
Business Profile

School Supplies

Cengage Learning, Inc.

Headquarters

This business is NOT BBB Accredited.

Find BBB Accredited Businesses in School Supplies.

Complaints

This profile includes complaints for Cengage Learning, Inc.'s headquarters and its corporate-owned locations. To view all corporate locations, see

Find a Location

Cengage Learning, Inc. has 15 locations, listed below.

*This company may be headquartered in or have additional locations in another country. Please click on the country abbreviation in the search box below to change to a different country location.

    Please enter a valid location.

    Customer Complaints Summary

    • 23 total complaints in the last 3 years.
    • 11 complaints closed in the last 12 months.

    If you've experienced an issue

    Submit a Complaint

    The complaint text that is displayed might not represent all complaints filed with BBB. Some consumers may elect to not publish the details of their complaints, some complaints may not meet BBB's standards for publication, or BBB may display a portion of complaints when a high volume is received for a particular business.

    Sort by

    Complaint status

    Complaint type

    • Initial Complaint

      Date:04/21/2025

      Type:Product Issues
      Status:
      Resolved
      Resolved:
      The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.
      Unresolved:
      The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.
      Answered:
      The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.
      Unanswered:
      The business failed to respond to the dispute.
      Unpursuable:
      BBB is unable to locate the business.
      I rented a book but ended up not needinging it, I returned it the day I received it. My refund was not given to me, I have spoken with multiple people in cengage within a 4 week period to get my money back and still have not received my money back.

      Business Response

      Date: 04/22/2025

      Jordan,

      We apologize for the inconvenience caused by the delay in receiving funds back for your rental cancellation.  A new refund was issued and pushed through on 4/17/25.  If you haven't already, you should see those funds available soon.

      Please reach out to our support group if you have additional questions or concerns.

      Thank you,

      Cengage Support

      Customer Answer

      Date: 04/22/2025

      [A default letter is provided here which indicates your acceptance of the business's response.  If you wish, you may update it before sending it.]

      Better Business Bureau:

      I have reviewed the response submitted by the business and have determined that the response does satisfy my issues and/or concerns in reference to complaint #********. I understand that by choosing to accept the business response that my complaint will be closed as resolved. 

      Regards,

      ****** ********

    • Initial Complaint

      Date:03/18/2025

      Type:Product Issues
      Status:
      Unresolved
      Resolved:
      The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.
      Unresolved:
      The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.
      Answered:
      The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.
      Unanswered:
      The business failed to respond to the dispute.
      Unpursuable:
      BBB is unable to locate the business.
      I am a student and purchased a Cengage Unlimited subscription from a third-party seller on ******, believing it was a legitimate transaction. Later, Cengage revoked my access, claiming the payment was fraudulent.However, I did not dispute the transaction, nor did I receive a refund from my bank. The seller refunded me after my access was revoked, and I was unaware that the payment was later marked as fraud.I explained my situation to Cengage and offered to repurchase the subscription at full price directly from their website, but they refused. Instead, they demand that I pay for a disputed transaction that was completely beyond my control.Cengage is the only platform authorized by my school, so I have no other alternative to access my coursework. Their refusal to resolve this issue has caused me to lose two weeks of access, affecting my ability to complete assignments.Resolution Requested: I am requesting that Cengage allow me to repurchase my subscription directly from their website, rather than forcing me to pay for a disputed transaction I did not authorize.

      Business Response

      Date: 03/19/2025

      Hi *******,

      We're sorry to hear of issues encountered purchasing from a third-party source.  Someone from support will reach out to you through your case to provide additional details.  

      Thank you,

      Cengage Customer Support

      Customer Answer

      Date: 03/23/2025

      I appreciate Cengages response, but unfortunately, it does not provide any new information or a real resolution.
      Cengage is simply repeating their previous stance without addressing my core issue. Their accounting team has already made it clear that they will not allow me to repurchase my subscription at full price.
      The claim that support will reach out to me is misleading, as they have already refused my request and have not offered any alternative solutions.
      As a direct result of Cengages refusal to provide a fair resolution, I was forced to drop my Computer Science course, since Cengage is the only authorized provider for my school. This has had a serious impact on my academic progress.
      Since Cengage is unwilling to address my concern and is merely delaying the process, I request BBB to escalate this complaint further. I am asking for a fair resolution: the ability to repurchase my subscription at full price, instead of being held responsible for a disputed transaction that was beyond my control.

      Regards,

      Cailian

       

       

    • Initial Complaint

      Date:12/01/2024

      Type:Service or Repair Issues
      Status:
      Answered
      Resolved:
      The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.
      Unresolved:
      The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.
      Answered:
      The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.
      Unanswered:
      The business failed to respond to the dispute.
      Unpursuable:
      BBB is unable to locate the business.
      I purchased a product for learning and course content with Cengage. The final exam testing environment for the final allowed a dialogue box to be accessed by the test taker, in order to complete a test taking task, and that dialogue box LOCKED that module for the test - meaning 4 answers had to be permanently skipped in order to submit the test. I contacted the company, with a video of the testing environment locked up due to this particular dialogue box being accessed, and the response was to take it up with the teacher. I purchased a product that claimed to provide a fair testing environment. Cengage's lack of interest to fix the testing environment and disable that particular dialogue box as available for testing answers, shows they do not maintain their testing environments even when they have clear evidence the testing environment needs to be fixed because an error was found. In addition, since the error was in the testing environment, Cengage could have sent a verification to the teacher to let them know the error was verified by Cengage and fixed and would the teacher allow a retake. Instead, Cengage wants me to get my teacher to be a Cengage testing environment programmer and decide if a student gets to retake THE FINAL EXAM. I want Cengage to fix their product, send a verification email to the teacher that the testing environment failed, and I want a refund of this classes key code without effecting my grade. Had Cengage said they would fix it and send the teacher an email and to have me reach out if the teacher doesn't let me take it again - I would have felt there was no false advertising in Cengage products. As it stands now, they do not maintain their testing environments and do not let students know they risk getting lower grades because of it - and that they are on their own concerning defects in Cengage testing environments.

      Business Response

      Date: 12/02/2024

      Hi *****,

      Please accept our sincerest apologies for any unpleasant interaction you had with Cengage Technical Support. Its always our intention to ensure a positive experience regardless of the inquiry. We've reached out to you through your support case to further investigate the issue.

       

      Best,

      Cengage Support

    • Initial Complaint

      Date:11/25/2024

      Type:Product Issues
      Status:
      Answered
      Resolved:
      The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.
      Unresolved:
      The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.
      Answered:
      The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.
      Unanswered:
      The business failed to respond to the dispute.
      Unpursuable:
      BBB is unable to locate the business.
      This course is one of the worst.If its not typing errors where they put and instead of @, or capitalize letters when they shouldnt, or an M when you press Enter, its something worse.When I try to complete the lab, it presents errors that dont allow me to proceedits a headache. Ive worked with Cengage, and Im not the only one who says this. I dont understand how colleges accept such a poor program with so many errors like ************************** I can do my assessments at time with this obsolete thing with so many errors My email *************************

      Business Response

      Date: 12/01/2024

      Hi ****,

      We hate to see that we fell short of your product expectations.  It seems some of the issues encountered were corrected through cases with keyboard setting updates. If you continued to have issues after these updates, please reply to your case or give us a call at ************.  We'd love an opportunity to better understand your issues. 

      Best,

      Cengage Customer Support

    • Initial Complaint

      Date:10/31/2024

      Type:Service or Repair Issues
      Status:
      Resolved
      Resolved:
      The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.
      Unresolved:
      The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.
      Answered:
      The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.
      Unanswered:
      The business failed to respond to the dispute.
      Unpursuable:
      BBB is unable to locate the business.
      Date Transaction : July 3 2024 i have purchased the Medical Billing and Coding course via ed2go to get a hard copy or the *** copy of the book " UNDERSTANDING HEALTH INSURANCE A GUIDE TO BILLING AND REIMBURSEMENT" in order to complete my certification. Since July 3 2024 i didn't received this book neither the hard copy or the *** copy. It's a 617 pages long book with all the codes and assignments that is required in order to complete my certification after months of going back and fro. There support told me that they won't be able to give me neither the *** or the Hard copy of the book and my access is only through ebook until the Dec *******. I didn't invest the money to not receive the book its an requirement for my assignments and i need the *** copy or the Hard copy of the Book as ebook is time limited and doesn't allow me to make notes and save them for later reference. The resolution i'm look as a student is they either send me a hardcopy of the book or email me the *** copy of the book as i need it for my later refrencenes . I even called them and got a Case ID: ******** and spoke to Priyanka who denied my request of providing me the *** copy of the book

      Business Response

      Date: 11/01/2024

      Hi *******,

      I'm sorry to hear you experienced difficulty with your course material.  The course details advise the course includes digital textbooks. The physical text is available within the classroom but not as a hard copy to students. However, we were able to make an exception and ship a hard copy text to you, 10/31/24.  You should receive your text within 7-10 business days to the address on file.

       

      Best,

      Ed2Go Support

      Customer Answer

      Date: 11/01/2024

      [A default letter is provided here which indicates your acceptance of the business's response.  If you wish, you may update it before sending it.]

      Better Business Bureau:

      I have reviewed the response submitted by the business and have determined that the response does satisfy my issues and/or concerns in reference to complaint #********. I understand that by choosing to accept the business response that my complaint will be closed as resolved. 

      Regards,

      ******* *******

    • Initial Complaint

      Date:10/02/2024

      Type:Service or Repair Issues
      Status:
      Resolved
      Resolved:
      The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.
      Unresolved:
      The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.
      Answered:
      The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.
      Unanswered:
      The business failed to respond to the dispute.
      Unpursuable:
      BBB is unable to locate the business.
      Infosec a Cengage company did not deliver materials needed for me to meet requirements of the purchase agreement. I did not receive the nessary training materials for the class i took nor have i received the materials for the class that starts the next day. I should have received all materials before the class started. They have made minimum effort to help resolve the issue despite several attempts on my side. Their policy states that I must attend class and score 90% or higher on their test, but I can not meet those requirements if i do not have the materials for the class.

      Business Response

      Date: 10/03/2024

      *****,
      Im sorry to hear you experienced difficulty utilizing your product. *****************, a Cengage Company, is a Training Channel Partner for **** an established ******************** with Certification programs for Privacy professionals.

      As a Training Channel Partner, we deliver **** approved training content to our clients.  The content of the **** program, though,is owned and distributed by *****

      In this instance, you had a second account with **** which caused the conflict, requiring support direct from *****  I see you were able to have your accounts merged through a support ticket with ****. You should now have access to all materials and should not have lost any benefit of the course programs with Infosec.  Please give us a call at ************ if you have additional questions. 


      Best,
      InfoSec Support

      Customer Answer

      Date: 10/03/2024

      [A default letter is provided here which indicates your acceptance of the business's response.  If you wish, you may update it before sending it.]

      Better Business Bureau:

      I have reviewed the response submitted by the business and have determined that the response does satisfy my issues and/or concerns in reference to complaint #********. I understand that by choosing to accept the business response that my complaint will be closed as resolved. 

      Regards,

      ***** *******

    • Initial Complaint

      Date:09/05/2024

      Type:Billing Issues
      Status:
      Answered
      Resolved:
      The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.
      Unresolved:
      The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.
      Answered:
      The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.
      Unanswered:
      The business failed to respond to the dispute.
      Unpursuable:
      BBB is unable to locate the business.
      Made a transaction of $138.24 on august 31 for their learning materials. i was then charged another $138.24 on september 3 for no apparent reason, which is still on hold and put my bank account in the negatives incurring overdraft fees. I made an effort to call them only to be put on hold and never attended. I would like to be refunded for both purchases for my troubles. Thank you.

      Business Response

      Date: 09/09/2024

      Hello,
      I apologize for the inconvenience authorizations can cause.  It appears you used ****** as your form of payment and may have missed the messaging we include at checkout regarding how long ****** authorizations can take.   


      "If you use ******, you will see a charge and a duplicate pending charge, but you will not pay twice. The duplicate pending charge will not leave the pending state but will temporarily affect your available balance. This pending authorization should resolve itself within 30 days".


       Please let us know if there's more we can do to assist.


      Best,
      Cengage Support

    • Initial Complaint

      Date:09/03/2024

      Type:Sales and Advertising Issues
      Status:
      Answered
      Resolved:
      The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.
      Unresolved:
      The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.
      Answered:
      The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.
      Unanswered:
      The business failed to respond to the dispute.
      Unpursuable:
      BBB is unable to locate the business.
      On July 27, 2024, I purchased my e-textbook for my graduate course that was starting one month later. I saw that I had received the confirmation email for my purchase, but I did not open the email to see that the access code for the textbook was only good for 24 hours. I have never heard of an access code for a textbook only being good for 24 hours. A week before class started, I went to access my textbook so that I could get started on my reading assignments coming up and I discovered I could not access the textbook because the code had expired. I contacted Cengage's customer service and their technical support, and they told me that they could not help me. I contacted my school's bookstore, and they could not help me because it was bought from Cengage. I have gotten the run around from Cengage and I finally had to purchase the textbook again because classes have started. I would like a refund for the original book because I should not have had to buy the book a second time. They should have been able to help me resolve the issue but instead they have given me the run around.

      Business Response

      Date: 09/04/2024

      Hi *********,

      Sorry to hear of the issues encountered accessing your account this semester.  You are correct, we do not have eBook's with a 24-hour duration. It seems the email you've attached was in reference to activating your account with an activation code that expired after a day, not the eBook code.  We'd be happy to see how we can further assist, please reach out to our support group at ************.

      Best,

      Cengage Support

      Customer Answer

      Date: 09/04/2024

      Better Business Bureau:I have reviewed the response submitted by the business and have determined that the response does not satisfy or resolve my issues and/or concerns in reference to complaint # ********. Please add your rejection comments below; if you do not provide any details, your complaint will be closed as Answered. 

      [You must provide details of why you are not satisfied with this resolution.  If you do not enter a reason for your rejection, your complaint will be closed as Answered.]

      Businesses and Customers should be civil, courteous and polite in their responses to complaints. It is important to remain professional and productive when participating in the BBB complaint process.

      FAQ

      Regards,

      *********

       

       

    • Initial Complaint

      Date:08/24/2024

      Type:Product Issues
      Status:
      Answered
      Resolved:
      The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.
      Unresolved:
      The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.
      Answered:
      The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.
      Unanswered:
      The business failed to respond to the dispute.
      Unpursuable:
      BBB is unable to locate the business.
      I bought an electronic book for Math151. They gave us a scratch code which did not work. When I called Cengage support, they gave me a run around telling me that I needed to go back to the bookstore for a refund. The bookstore unfortunately will not provide a refund once the code is scratched. This is a deceptive business practice. If there is an issue, they need to resolve it when I call them. Instead, they are giving me a run around even though I provided the unique scratch code to them. This is a unique ID they have for the course and they can tell if this is unique or not based on the scratch. I spent 44 minutes on the call getting nowhere.Cengage case ID: ********

      Business Response

      Date: 08/26/2024

      Hello,

      I apologize for the issue encountered with your access code.  We have reviewed your account and compared the code applied to the courses enrolled in.  It seems it was the incorrect code for the course so we've swapped it for the correct code.  Please give us a call or respond to your case if you need additional assistance.

      We wish you the best this semester!

      Cengage

    • Initial Complaint

      Date:04/29/2024

      Type:Product Issues
      Status:
      Answered
      Resolved:
      The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.
      Unresolved:
      The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.
      Answered:
      The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.
      Unanswered:
      The business failed to respond to the dispute.
      Unpursuable:
      BBB is unable to locate the business.
      I attempted to contact this company (office of the president) but had no luck at all. Cengage support is not helpful. I am using this as an avenue to reach Cengage President ******************************* Cengage has no phone records for my telephone calls @ 13:02 and 15:46 4/26/24; however, there were two calls. I received the following emails from an employee of this company who refused to cooperate and resolve an issue with my access to their books:From: You Know <*********************>Sent: Monday, April 29, 2024 8:36 AM To: ****************** Subject: You Know No body forced you to do anything. Your stupid a** is the one that decided to buy something you dont need twice. Stop blaming everyone else for your f*** up you child From: You Know <*********************>Sent: Monday, April 29, 2024 9:09 AM To: ****************** Subject: You are truly a piece of s*** You are actually out here being this disrespectful to people trying to help fix your stupid mistake? I don't have anything else to say to you expect this. Please kill yourself. You are f****** garbage and the world would be WAY better off without you. You are f****** disgusting

      Business Response

      Date: 04/30/2024

      Hello,
      In follow-up to our call earlier today, you now have my direct contact details for any questions or issues.

      Best, 

      Cengage

    Cengage Learning, Inc. is NOT a BBB Accredited Business.

    To become accredited, a business must agree to BBB Standards for Trust and pass BBB's vetting process.

    Why choose a BBB Accredited Business?

    BBB Business Profiles may not be reproduced for sales or promotional purposes.

    BBB Business Profiles are provided solely to assist you in exercising your own best judgment. BBB asks third parties who publish complaints, reviews and/or responses on this website to affirm that the information provided is accurate. However, BBB does not verify the accuracy of information provided by third parties, and does not guarantee the accuracy of any information in Business Profiles.

    When considering complaint information, please take into account the company's size and volume of transactions, and understand that the nature of complaints and a firm's responses to them are often more important than the number of complaints.

    BBB Business Profiles generally cover a three-year reporting period. BBB Business Profiles are subject to change at any time. If you choose to do business with this business, please let the business know that you contacted BBB for a BBB Business Profile.

    As a matter of policy, BBB does not endorse any product, service or business. Businesses are under no obligation to seek BBB accreditation, and some businesses are not accredited because they have not sought BBB accreditation. BBB charges a fee for BBB Accreditation. This fee supports BBB's efforts to fulfill its mission of advancing marketplace trust.