Audible

You get unlimited books with Audible, but if you return too many within a certain time period, you get that feature taken away for good. You get one credit a month, which us a rip off for people that get through the books really fast and can't afford the $20+ for a book when credits run out. I have called multiple times and they said they can only return three books for me and no more. So I have to call later and ask to retun more. What an effed up policy. They are scamming people left and right and getting away with it.

I began with the Free Trial, same as most. Got me a free Audio Book (I think... my memory is not so good due to head injury from the war) and also did purchase a few here and there. When the Trial Period was up, the one thing that caught my eye and made me feel good about continuing my membership was that they said members get 1 Free Credit per month to use on anything you wanted. After 3 months I had still not received a single Free Credit and said Ill wait one more month. Came and went with no credit. So I discontinued my membership and thank god I was able to keep the books I had purchased. It may be trivial to some, but during a time when COVID has kept people stuck at home, gas is $6 a gallon, etc... a free book is nice to have.

I listened to maybe 4 or 5 books a month so I'm not a heavy user, this complaint is something I just recently noticed, on the phone app as I scroll through audio books as I get to the bottom and swipe up for the next page the previous page that I just looked at disappears replaced with different books, not the ones I just searched so if I see a book that I want to come back to and checkout i can't because that page disappears replaced by new books now if I am mildly interested I have to open the book to check it out, it's super time consuming because a lot of these books I'm not going to want to purchase, other phone apps that are like this I just won't use, but I like audible, just wish they could fix this or let me know what I can do to fix this.

For the past six months I have struggled with Audible over issue that the Audible sync app does not see my MP3 player and so I cannot load books onto the player. This leaves only my phone for playing book and that is just not always convenient and it uses up battery. I have contacted Audible no less than 6 times asking about the resolution and sometimes I get a person who just reads through the screen script about try reloading the app, etc etc. All of which I have done countless times. Once I got a very nice woman who contacted tech department and then said there were lots of customers all having this problem. Assured me the tech department would be focused on fixing this fast. That was three months ago and not fixed yet. The last person suggested I buy a new player which would absolutely work with audible and amazon has them... probably just a coincidence, I am sure. So I like Audible and have hundreds of titles in my library but am I going to keep my account... not sure. WHY can't this be fixed or if it can't then send me a player that works for free.

Audible improves a lot from my previous reviews. I bought myself about 10 books and they put around some promotions as well, the trial give you 2 free books, but still a bit pricey.

My Audible subscription began when they did before Amazon bought them. I have hundreds of books in my library and as long as Amazon is in business I will be able to "keep" those books. I usually have had satisfactory experiences with customer service and billing.

The reason I may give up on Audible is that there are more and more glitches getting the latest books from really top, proven authors. They seem to be moving toward lots of included short / fluff offerings that I am not interested in. These are "included" in your subscription and you do not get to keep them.

If you like constant variety from unproven sources, this could be for you. I want books in my library to be those I love and want to listen to again.

Unless they go back to a more mainstream, litrary approach, I will figure out a way to use my credits (which you do not get to keep but must use before you cancel even though you have paid for them) and not renew when my subscription.

A good service if it fits your taste, but worth understanding the rules before you sign up.

The selection of books is pretty good. It is not an entire library though. It downloads on amazon kindle very fast. On any other device it is more than slow. If you do not own a kindle forget it. Over 3 hours to download a book on all my devices except kindle. They will not answer problems when brought to their attention. I was a customer for over 3 years before laid off and forced to quit subscription.

Same story as some. Found charges I didn't recognize on my bank statement. I use Amazon regularly, Prime, etc - possibly my 6 year old got click happy and signed up. Who knows. Anyway, they were quick to research, cancel, and refund me. Good on that end, at least. Might be nice if I'd received some sort of email requiring a reply confirmation. It is a little bit questionable, and I feel like Amazon should certainly take a hard look at the partnership and practices. It shouldn't be that easy to accidentally sign up for something.

The service itself is decent. I agree with other reviewers that it's quite expensive. Probably even more expensive than borrowing digital books. I was tempted to sign up for the 30 day trial but when I saw I had to input credit card information, I skipped it. Instead, with my Amazon Prime membership, I chose to listening to the free channels that supposedly a $60/year cost.

While the channels are interesting, Audible doesn't make access to listening very easy. First off, you can't listen to Audible on a Mac. They have complicated steps on how to stream your books through iTunes but doesn't seem to be available for channels. Second, the website offers nothing except links to download the app on various devices and platforms. Browsing on the website feels weird and awkward because you can't stream anything from there anyway. Thirdly, there is such thing as web-based streaming; Spotify has it. Amazon Music has it. Audible, for some reason, does not.

Therefore, you are forced to download an app onto your mobile device just to listen to stuff. So if you're on your desktop or laptop most of the times, and don't have your eyes glued to your phone all day, it's impossible to streamline your workflow because you have to use two devices. On top of that, apps nowadays are so untrustworthy; ready to spy on you, asking for access to everything, and probably even secretly phishing your information.

Again, the service itself is a fantastic idea. The user interface on the app is alright. However, you are so limited in terms of functionality and simple desktop availability. Without Amazon Prime for the free channels, the cost for simply listening to books is quite high and frankly, not worth my time or money. If you don't mind the price, or using only an app on your phone or tablet, Audible is for you. Also, watch out for the automated charge after 30 days. Although I'm aware of it, many people aren't.

I love audiobooks and after hearing that ITunes is closing down I figured I needed a different audiobook supplier. I thought it would be easy to join Audible.com... considering ITunes used Audible but it isn't. Perhaps because I tried to join via my mobile whilst I was on holidays complicated things.? I tried to download the free book but gave up and ended up buying it. But Audible took the free credit away from me anyways! Humph!
Why does joining have to be so complicated?
I have cancelled my membership for the time being but may well try to sign up again when I am less annoyed about it all. I will delete my bank account detail for fear funds will be taken out of my account when not suppose to as per the reviews I am reading.

I have been an Audible member for about 3 years. I drive for a living, so I listen to audiobooks constantly. Over the last 3 years, amazingly, Audibles web site and downloading ease have gotten WORSE not better. They seem to be terrified of pirating, and make regular customers jump through about fifteen hoops before you can download a book. The Audible Download helper, which is where you are supposed to download a book, and it puts it into either Itunes or on an Android device, is hopeless. Instead of just picking a format, and downloading it straight onto your device or computer, Audible tries to download it straight onto Itunes or their own app on your phone. All so you dont share with anyone else. Its ridiculous and feels like something from 20 years ago. Audible isnt going to change anytime soon, so if you have any other sources for getting the books you want at a good price, I would take it. Unfortunately the Itune store is way too expensive in comparison, so I am stuck with this clunky crap for the foreseeable future.

Have been a customer for years. My biggest complaint! They offer books, in a series and either don`t label it in a series or don`t label the number it is, in the series. Makes me mad when I buy an audio, only to discover, the one before it hasn`t been released to audio yet! Do I really have to google or go to goodreads, before I buy!

Got offer for free trial download of 1 book which I accepted. I DID NOT give my credit card number. Registered through my amazon.in account. No where did they say that I would automatically get ' Gold Card' membership for which they would charge $14.95 every month. Suddenly they charged ~1000 INR to my credit card. No email, nothing. I trusted the company because it is an Amazon affiliate. Have cancelled membership and blocked my credit card. What a scam!
JR
In all fairness to Audible I must report that cancelling my membership was very easy and when I contacted them at *******@audible.com with my complaint they replied very promptly and addressed the issue in the most satisfactory manner
JR

Since my recent review posted on here regarding audible, and how I believed they were a scam, the issue has been resolved. My account can now be cancelled. Meanwhile I received a reply to my review, from audible. They were very polite and professional in reaction to being called 'scammers' and wanted to resolve the matter for me. I would like to give back some of the credit I have taken away from audible, I no longer believe they are a scam, just not the right company for me on my smartphone. Although I found using them stressful, I think many people will probably enjoy their service. I would not have retracted my opinion, had audible not been polite and helpful in response to my complaint.

I've been an Audible.com customer for just under two years and, on the whole, have found it okay.

But the place is a mess! There are fewer and fewer "devices" available for using the system and yet they're still listed as viable. True, android has been added.

The website needs an overhaul. With some misgivings, I started out to see whether a gift subscription would be appropriate for an elderly family member's Christmas this year. As I waded through the process she would have to follow for the first time, I decided against it.

It seems quite a few customers have offered their advice to Audible about making things easier and smoother. The marriage of Audible and Amazon suggested Audible would improve. But even Amazon now behaves like a company that may be overreaching and is, itself, looking a little frayed and disorganized.

Would I join Audible if I knew what I know now? Possibly. There are some treasures there. But I wouldn't hang out there forever: Just load up on the favorites and get out unless they improve every aspect of customer service!

I signed up for audible to get their free audiobook around march 2014 I believe. I remember downloading their app on my phone and getting my one free audiobook. Then when my free trial was over, they decided to charge me for something (I guess membership). To cancel my membership and get a refund, I contacted customer service through their chat online option. The person refunded me the amount and cancelled my account, or so they said. I got charged again 2 months later. So I went through the entire process a second time to get the refund and actually cancel my account for real this time. They dumb~