UPDATE WARNING: My experience with Polish Take Away, Vistula Polish Language School and Hello Polish
This is an update to my previous Reddit post.
The full context is already there, so I will keep this focused on what happened after the post.
After my Reddit post gained visibility, Vistula Polish Language School contacted me about the refund.
According to the email exchange, the refund process became directly linked to removing online mentions.
At first, they said they could process the refund by 30 days, but only if certain school names were removed from my posts.
I refused to remove my posts before receiving the refund.
My position was simple: I paid 4,491 PLN for an in person Polish course that was not delivered, and after months without a proper resolution, I had no guarantee that the refund would actually be processed if I deleted the posts first.
Then the request became more specific. They asked me to remove the mention of Polish Take Away before the refund would be processed within 30 days.
I refused again for the same reason. From my perspective as a consumer, the logic was still the same: remove negative online content first, receive refund later.
I repeatedly offered a fair solution:
The school refunds me the 4,491 PLN.
Once the money is visible in my account, I remove my own posts.
I even offered to remove my own posts on the same day the refund reaches my account.
Later, I also offered to sign a written commitment limited to my own posts on my own Reddit and Trustpilot accounts.
Despite that, they still insisted that I remove the Polish Take Away mention before the refund.
At one point, they also proposed a 5,000 PLN contractual penalty if posts and comments were not removed within 7 days after the payment was credited.
I did not accept that, because I can only control my own posts. I cannot control third party comments, screenshots, reposts, cached pages, search engine results, archived copies or content copied by other people.
Honestly, I do not know how this should be interpreted legally. If any lawyer or consumer rights specialist in Poland is reading this and can give an opinion, especially about linking refund timing to removing online mentions and about the proposed 5,000 PLN penalty, I would really appreciate it.
As a consumer, this felt very wrong to me. I paid for a course. The course was not delivered. I requested a refund. Then the refund discussion became connected to removing online mentions before receiving my money.
This whole email exchange took hours and affected me a lot emotionally. I just wanted my money back so I could move on with my life.
Please also check Trustpilot and search for:
polishlanguage .pl
You can still find comments from other people describing similar experiences.
I want to be clear:
This is my personal experience.
I am not posting this to attack anyone.
I am posting this because I do not want other foreigners to go through the same situation.
Please be very careful with:
- Polish Take Away
( polishtakeaway .pl )
- Vistula Polish Language School
( vistulapolishlanguage .pl )
- Hello Polish
( polishlanguage .pl)
Regarding Polish Take Away, I personally archived screenshots and screen recordings comparing the websites.
From what I documented, Polish Take Away appears connected to the same school structure. I recorded the websites before any possible changes. The layout, regulations, footer and contact details appeared strongly connected to Vistula Polish Language School.
Because of this, from my perspective as a consumer, Polish Take Away does not look unrelated.
I personally do not recommend Polish Take Away or Vistula Polish Language School based on my experience.
I have emails, screenshots, screen recordings, payment proof, the issued school document, the regulations and the full refund correspondence archived.
At this point, since the refund has still not been processed, I will need to continue through consumer and legal channels.
Please research carefully before paying thousands of PLN upfront for language courses in Poland, especially if you are a foreigner