Audible

I paid for the books, accumulated 7 credits, and decided to quit. Now all my credits gone. Eff you, Audible. Never again. Never.

My main complaint about audible is their customer service. They are annoyingly full of empty polite phrases that take up a great deal of the conversation, but they actually are incredibly unhelpful. They are sometimes rude and obnoxious in how they answer your questions about the website, and most annoyingly bluntly unconcerned about their own lack of any sort of helpfulness.
To illustrate, I purchased a book recently and as I listened the author referred me to a questionnaire which is part and parcel of the readers ability to benefit from the book. As I could not find this online I contacted the audible customer service via chat. Not only were they not providing the material intended by the author, there was no apology or intent to correct this problem. Instead the answer was (copied from chat):

"I have done extensive research on the issue, as well consulted my supervisor regarding your inquiry. In fact, has a message attached. The messages states "Please note that this recording may include references to supplemental texts or print references that are not essential to the program and not supplied with your purchase."

So, the author tells me to get this PDF and audible.com has conveniently decided that these are "SUPPLEMENTAL TEXTS... ARE NOT ESSENTIAL TO THE PROGRAM".

And all that was in response to me saying "The author intended to have that available. Could you please look into the situation further and make it part of the download?"

Shortly after this obnoxious declaration, as i was gathering my thoughts she disconnected claiming that the conversation was idle for 5 minutes, which was a complete lie.

On the positive side, Audible has stood by its word that if you don't like the book you buy you can return it and I have done so several times, immediately getting back my credit. Just as long as you don't need PDF materials for your book, they are fine.

I had an issue with a bill so I emailed Audible and they took care of my issue very quickly with professional customer service.

I am sorry I signed up. Huge waste of money. No help just continue charging me. Beware! I am looking for an alternative service.

I got so pissed with the customer service.
A simple question spent me 1 hour to get a NO as the answer i should have got at the first place.

They only allow you a maximum 6 book credits and then they remove ones you have already paid for. Pretty much a scam!

Don't even know how they got my credit card unless they somehow just got it through amazon. Still waiting for my refund btw.

The site is good but there is not a lot references. In general ok but i wish to listen more fro this site

They take your money for the free trial, an absolute waste of money. Half of the voices are so terrible you won't want to listen to the book.

No customer support. No possibility to return a book
Too busy to answer your complaint. Not recommended

Stole 6 credits I paid for because I cancelled my membership. If you cancel the membership they'll take what you've paid for off you. 100% theft

I get audiobooks for free through my local library and Librivox. Not trying to get roped in and jump through hoops just to listen to audiobooks

This site is very good easy working. I'm lucky opportunity working this site. Book reviewing always easy.

Felt misled when I signed up to audible. Very hard to cancel a subscription to this. Don't do it. Don't do it don't do it.

Very limited selection. I have gold account and book prices are usually cheaper than what I'm praying per credit.

There was np cancellations options in the app, on audible.com or amazon.com. I ended up having to call a US number from Norway.

I've been a member for 7 years, own 800 books with them. Now I run into technical difficulties and they refuse to help me.

They steal money, keep away from this app. Make sure to cancel your membership and watch for all emails.

Logging in with my Amazon password was a nightmare. Had to redo password four times to finally get in, despite clearing cache, cookies, restarting browser and screaming at my monitor. Finally able to log in, went to purchase extra credits but the site would not let me. It kept telling me either I had no card on file (although they do not appear to have any difficulty come billing time each month) or that I had to call customer service. Finally all of my cards came up out of nowhere and I proceeded to try to delete all but one, but each time I went to delete one it came back with the "No card on file" issue. After an hour of refreshing, deleting, relogging in and screaming at my monitor and at my office mates I called customer service. Apparently Audible felt that having me speak to a nescient, disingenuously apologetic female for whom English was at best a second, but more likely a fourth language, would add another layer of sweet torture to the sh*t cake I was being served. I was treated to the phrase "Your Account is Populating!" at least nine times in a tone so pregnant with anticipation I could draw no other conclusion than that she had never before ventured past that hallowed achievement. I was right. Instead of fixing the problem she wanted to sell me the extra 3 credits on the phone, rather than telling my why I wasn't able to do it on the website. She said that it might "disappear" as offers such as that one were not always available on the site. When the help desk call devolves in to use of magical, disappearing phrases I'm out o' there. I declined her help and decided to just buy the damned book, which I suspect is an integral part of their business model. Interestingly enough, when I logged back in the phrase "Buy 3 Extra Credits" appeared twice. "Buy 3 Extra Credits""Buy Three Extra Credits". I think they were trying to hypnotize me. Bottom line - I wasted 2 1/2 hours of my life and $4.75 on a roll of Tums. Way to go Audible.

I've been a member of Audible.com for close to 11 years now and am a fan. I used to be a big fan, but there have been a couple of changes making it less so. For that reason I'm editing my original review, marked with the word update.

I have a platinum annual plan and it's (still) worth every cent, for the following reasons:
A wide range of books, I never have trouble finding something new and interesting and I regularly discover a new series. Update: I used to follow 2 prolific listeners who regularly write reviews. They most likely still write those reviews, but the follow function is no longer supported. Instead I need to bookmark their listeners page and regularly check these pages myself.
A credit costs less than $10, cutting down on costs per book to less than half the regular price.
Daily deals, with books for under $ 5, sometimes as low as $ 0.99. It makes it worth your while to try something completely different. Update: sadly this feature is no longer available to residents outside of the US (and possibly Canada, I haven't checked)
If you don't like a book, you can return it, no questions asked. I have done this several times and am really happy with this courtesy.
Different sales, like: two for one-sales, use 3 credits and get $10.
'Whispersinc' is fantastic: buy an ebook on Amazon and get the audiobook at a sales price. It's great fun, because you can listen to the book in your car and when you get home continu reading it on your tablet.
Update: I don't know about the share a book-option anymore, so I deleted this part of my earlier review.

I listen to audiobooks every day and am always amazed by the great talent of the narrators. Though of course not all are great, most of them add a big plus to the book. Making listening to books my number one hobby.
Update: though I still enjoy using Audible, on the whole I feel less welcome as a customer due to the changes.

HEY AUDIBLE! It took another bad review from me to get you off the dime and when it did you graciously allowed me to access my library. You know, the library I PAID FOR! There was another library on my account and that's my grandson's. CONNERWEBB is his user name and I can give you his password.
AGAIN... I can't remember our telephone number some TEN YEARS BACK... nor can I remember our email address from that long ago as they've been change several times since then.
My grandson's name is CONNER hence the user name connerwebb. That's CONNERWEBB. I spell phonetically CHARLIE OSCAR NOVEMBER NOVEMBER ECHO ROMEO WHISKEY ECHO BRAVO BRAVO!
I can provide his password as well since I established that for him myself.
GET OFF THE DIME YOU CLOWNS YOU'RE JOB'S ONLY ABOUT HALF DONE.
Judging by the reviews on SiteJabber you're circling the drain while behaving as though security is all you're about.
I repeat. Amazon bought you to eliminate you as a competitor. You're being allowed to die on the vine. Amazon's too cheap to keep your software developed to stay compatible with any OS more recent than XP! What that means for us is a Cold Boot whenever we download any of the content in our library because our computers will be LOCKED UP AND THE CONTENT WILL HAVE TO BE IMPORTED MANUALLY!
AGAIN, THE LIBRARY YOU'RE KEEPING MY GRANDSON OUT OF IS CONNERWEBB AND AGAIN, I CAN PROVIDE HIS PASSWORD.
HOW ABOUT IT? Are you going to pretend to give a rat's $#*! or actually do something to help my grandkid out?

Edgar W. Webb
*******@gmail.com

I was originally part of Audible USA which I joined 15 plus years ago whilst in the UK. It worked well. When I wanted a book I paid for it and got it. There were occasional issues with downloads and I phoned the USA helpline (from UK, New Zealand and Australia), got through to a real person, and was talked through the problem courteously and without dificulty. I recently purchased an audible supplement for a Kindle book and the download simply did not occur. I have done this exercise previously with no problem. I went online to get a phone contact but was repeatedly diverted through to the Australian subscription service and could not find a useable helpline number, the USA number not being available; the "Contact" button just took me through another irritating online circular exercise. I do not want a subscription, I want to buy a book when I feel like it but this is no longer a going option. I cannot get through to the US divison from Australia and am left with loss of money and no redress. I want the book I paid for or my money back; I can achieve neither. If there is a means of redress, I can't figure it out and it should not be that difficult. I did send an email online with no response. I would love to buy more audible books but there is no way now that I will do so (as a matter of principle). Audible should sell the punters what they want, not foist a difficult system on them. At least offer an easy to use helpline rather than this impersonal and irritating subscription website depicting a jolly smiling lady belying the frustration of dealing with the company. Oh, and did I say some of my books have gone missing, well they have. I would normally formally and courteously complain, but there is no easy way through and all is left is to deliver a bad review via Google. It is time that avaricous companies gave up the time consuming and difficult online stuff for the sake of profit and paid a few real people to answer telephones.

I canceled my membership, but the charging kept appearing on my credit card. I eventually had to change my card.