Blurb

If i could give ZERO stars I would. This place is a joke. I ordered 10 magazines for my photography business and it ended up costing me around $130. I received the product... later than anticipated... and it was complete garbage. Some text was missing throughout the magazine, all of my images were completely washed out. I cannot send this to clients. When I submitted a customer service request, it took over a week for them to get back to me. I submitted multiple pictures of the product and why it was defective and was told I should have gotten their more expensive magazine... I asked if I could get credit for the defective magazines and was told NO (even though other photographers I talked to said this happened to them and this was the outcome) The real slap in the face was that Terry the customer service rep told me I could have 25% off my next order. REALLY? Why would I want to waste any more of my money with this awful company.

This company has atrocious customer service as in I would send an email through their system and never get a reply. I asked them to change the shipping address on a very important book while it was still being printed as I was travelling and needed urgently shipped to NYC where i am going to. The customer service never replied while it was still possible and only after it was shipped did she reply. After reading the reviews for quality here on this site I am even more petrified that this will be an awful experience. The book is stuck in customs most likely die to the fact that they dont know how to fill out simple paperwork. The customer service is truly deplorable and I will be asking for a full refund as now it looks like i wont be able to get my book in time.

I've been working with them for over a year now. I've had all sorts of technical issues to solve, and they've always come through for me. (Customer service even seems to be working at night and on weekends.) My project had some unique challenges, so perhaps it wasn't typical. I shouldered all the technical aspects of creating the body copy and cover myself (thousands of lines of server-side code, then lots of Photoshop), so I didn't have to use any of their software. I'm amazed at the sharpness of the body copy from my pdf file. It looks a lot better than anything I can even render out myself from Adobe Acrobat. So if you've had some professional experience with design and typography and don't need a lot of technical hand-holding, I'd stick with Blurb and save a ton of money.

I ordered 3 layflat books because Blurb has been recommended by a friend for the quality of their products. When I received them I had to pay 91€ taxes which I thought was inluded on the price, plus I've never really been aware (at no point they mention it) that it will be shipped from US. I even used their tools for a delivery fees estimation. Taxes are not the only problem, every books I received have some default. I sent pictures to the customers support and still have no response after 2 weeks :(

Recently made a first year photo album for my second son, and was all set to upload when I realized I didn't have something right about the format (wanted a lay flat option). Reached out to Blurb and then sent me prompt, friendly, personal, detailed instructions that answered my question to the letter. Wow! Additionally, after a horrible UPS experience, I expressed I was anxious about the fact they use UPS and was worried I'd be slapped with another hefty fee (which FYI, never pay - learn about "self clear" when it's coming to you internationally!) but no! Not with Blurb, and they assured me of this. YES, they're expensive but WOW when I received my book in the mail it was perfect. Exception quality, so wonderful packaged. You really feel like you've created an heirloom. This is my third album I've done with them - one for my wedding, and both my boys first years. I can't wait for my kids to flip through this newest one. Thank you, Blurb for being ones that still offer real customer service. Nope, totally not paid for this. I was just stunned by the vast difference between UPS and Blurb, and so grateful there are still businesses built on integrity.

I chose an upgrade from the standard book paper for my softcover photo book, and used all the same images I had previously used with a slightly higher priced hardcover book of the same size at a print on demand book site which did NOT have a store option for selling. The book on the other site was easy to design, looked good, with no surprises... BUT the Blurb softcover book looks like a report in a folder, rather cheap and tacky looking! No blank front & back pages, and the paper quality is marginal.
The design software is not as easy to use as vista print, and I struggled with it. I did not find a simple way to standardize all the pages and fit my images consistently. Instead I ended up with different border widths throughout which looks terrible.
I will probably try elsewhere if I can't figure out how to apply a standard template to every page!

This is our third time ordering magazines with this company. The product is fine, and we haven't had any problems with shipping, but not having a phone number to speak to a live human is a ridiculous decision on the part of this company. They say they will email you back, but don't give any indication whatsoever of when that will be! Even the NYC subway system, famous for poor customer service, tells you when the trains will arrive! People on a deadline don't want to sit around waiting for an email to show up in their inbox two days after they sent the message! Can you tell I am furious?

I ordered a photo album on January 27,2021
I received an album February 2,2021... in less than a week.

The album is incorrect. The front and back covers are correct but the content is someone else's photo album.

Blurb was able to produce and ship the incorrect album in less than a week. But, since contacting their customer support via email on February 3,2021 to try to correct things, as of February 18,2021, I have not heard anything back re correcting the problem!
And there is no other way to contact their customer support. No phone number. What kind of business has no listed phone number?
Blurb's customer support is currently non-existent.
They have my payment for the photo book, USD $341.65, and I have someone else's photo book.
Blurb used to be good. Not any more. That is sad.

I ordered a book a month ago and blurb support says I need to be patient. They provided a tracking number from USPS. When I go to check it, it doesn't show anything. It seems like that tracking number was never created. This company doesn't have a phone number to call in? I am tired of dealing with emails that they don't response my questions... the only thing they say is just be "patient". I have no patient anymore I asked for a full refund with no answer from them. What kind of company is this?

I was very unhappy with the quality of my blurb photo book. Many of the photos had a yellow cast over them, and the focus was not sharp. A couple of photos were cropped more than indicated on the initial preview.
The photos were of my daughters wedding, and were provided by a professional photographer. I am confident the photo quality is not at fault as I have had the same photos printed at another cheaper provider and the outcome was excellent.
Blurb were fast at replying to my concerns. They asked me to send the photos in different formats several times (highly time consuming!), but always found excuses for printing a poor quality book.

I ordered 100 books on their mohawk Pro photo paper at $138NZ each incl duty/gst of my photographic portraits. All the books I have opened so far have begun to get warped pages which has increased over time. They refuse to take any responsibility, claiming its 'normal', for this only offering a mere 10% refund on the book itself, also refusing to reprint on another paper. I cannot sell these, so am now in major $12,000 in debt. Absolutely gutted! They also printed lighter than my proof which was a nightmare in itself, and on the few I've opened a number of covers are scratched, probably by the machine that puts the cling flim on

If you design a book with Blurb, expect to be reeled in with offers of 50% discounts for expensive reproduction of YOUR copyrighted books, then to be charged upper of $100.00 or more to ship your books via cheap methods like the sucko UPS Sure Post. I am livid. These are my only option for a book that is mine. No more design or book making using this scam. When I asked why the only explanation was that shipping charges include handling costs with third party. Not very efficient. Go to a competitor. Blurb sucks!

I created a picture book of my new granddaughter using Blurb. I ordered two copies. When I received the order one of the books was assembled incorrectly, and the other was someone else's book. (If you are out there MS 150 2015 Austin, I have your book). The real problem, however, was the support I was given when I tried to let them know about their mistake. It was nearly impossible to get someone on the phone, and when I did finally talk to someone I was told to take pictures of the problem, email them, print out a return slip and then return the books. It seems like a lot of work on my part for their mistakes. Never again will I use this company.

I just had blurb print a 96 page photo book for me and although I am happy with the quality of the book their customer service is terrible. You can not get an actual person on the phone. You can only email them your question and eventually (days or a week later) you will receive an email back directing you to a 'link' where you can either find the answer to your question or you can send them another email. Too frustrating and time consuming. I will not use them again or recommend them. They have obviously gotten too big to care about the individual customer anymore.

I published my books through them a couple years ago. Some things are not clear such as if the "global distribution" includes ibooks, google books and other big places besides Amazon. I have emailed constantly over the years asking the same questions and getting the most disrespectful people. When I asked "where else in addition to Amazon do you send them?" She replied "Amazon and so forth" no kidding! I asked other questions and never was able to get my books published. They do not answer questions and treat you like you are stupid. You would think since I asked where in addition to Amazon I obviously know Amazon!? I can list a lot of other questions that were not answered over 3 years and only got replies repeating what I said I know. They even price books over $60 dollars that are not text books. The same thing on Amazon is less than $10! No wonder you do not make money! This is just to have $1 a book in royalty. RIP OFF EVEN TO BUYERS!