My Preply account was permanently suspended for "promoting" them. Now support is completely ignoring my appeals.
Hey everyone, I'm feeling incredibly frustrated and could really use some advice from anyone who has dealt with Preply's customer support.
The Background I’m a grad student based in Taiwan, and I’ve been using Preply to improve my English. I genuinely loved the platform, built a great relationship with my tutors, and was making solid progress.
What Happened
Because I had such a positive experience, I wrote a detailed, honest review about my learning journey on Dcard (the largest verified university student forum in Taiwan—basically a student-only version of Reddit). My goal was simply to recommend a great educational resource to fellow students, and I included my referral link at the bottom of the post.
Every single person who signed up through my link was a real, independent student who read my review. I didn’t use bots, I didn’t spam, and I didn’t create fake accounts. I legitimately thought I was doing free, authentic marketing for them.
The Ban & The "Ghosting"
Out of nowhere, my account was permanently suspended for violating Section 6 of their referral program.
I reached out to support immediately. I explained the context and sincerely apologized, acknowledging that posting on a large forum might technically fall outside their strict definition of "personal use."
I even offered a very fair compromise: I told them to wipe all my referral credits and permanently ban me from the referral program. I just wanted my basic account access back so I could continue paying out of my own pocket and taking lessons with my tutors.
First, I was stuck in an AI loop. When a human finally replied, they just sent a generic template stating "the decision is final and we won't discuss this further." Since then, they have completely ghosted me. They are actively ignoring my emails.
My Questions for the Community:
- Has anyone successfully appealed a permanent ban like this?
- Is there a different email, a social media channel, or an escalation path to reach a manager who will actually read a human appeal?
- Should I try reaching out to my tutors privately (if I can find them outside Preply) to explain why I disappeared?
I’m devastated to lose my progress and my tutors over a well-intentioned mistake. Any advice would be hugely appreciated!