RedShelf

I have had multiple issues with this company. I have even emailed them several times with no response. Today is the last straw! I have an assignment due and after logging on, the "read book" link keeps going back to the login page. Even the "need help" link, logs me out and says access denied. Please people save your money rent or buy a used book on Amazon. I will NEVER use this service again. And I will warn any fellow students who will listen!

Redshelf is renting a textbook for double the price that Amazon is renting the same book. I asked them if they would be willing to price match or refund me the difference and was denied that courtesy. Despite bad company policy, the customer service was quick to respond and professional.

The site was straightforward and easy to navigate. Slightly heavy on the browser, but should be fine for most users. The support was also very good. I got a swift response at the endo of the day (after most offices are shut). It saved my bacon in terms of the fact I had a course starting just after the weekend).

Unfortunately, the flakey DRM kept corrupting my offline access to the book, so I was unable to load it onto my Kindle over the weekend preceeding my course. Customer Support managed to reset my access once, but it corrupted again soon after, and I was too tight on time to go through recovering it again. I was away at the weekend due to a last minute invitation and so I couldn't spend spare moments checking the book out.

I appreciate that sometimes it's necessary to apply some sort of restriction on books, films etc. But it really shouldn't be at the expense of legitimate paying users' convenience. The solution should be robust.

I will be looking at and recommending alternative websites/solutions in future for these reasons.

Red Shelf itself is a good program, but on important deadline days, the site will go down and won't allow you to access your own textbooks. I find it ridiculous the developers of this site find it impossible to fix their own website for a day on a common due date. Would not recommend it until they fix their website.

I was trying to purchase my ebook with a U. S Credit card but being physically in Canada. Reached out that evening to submit a request. Mentioned it was time sensitive. I got an e-mall back from "Marshall". IMMEDIATELY. He removed the conditions and I purchased my book within minutes. This is hands down quickest and one of the best customer service experience I had. Plus, we joked back n forth and seem like a stand up gentlemen. Give him a RAISE and Promotion STAT.

I reached out about an issue with the app in October 2021. As a student, obviously, a prompt response is needed to address a current problem. I got a response weeks later. The response was defensive and not helpful for the issue that still existed. I am not a fan of ebooks anyway but -for this course. It was the most cost-efficient option. NOTE: The search feature does not highlight each parameter found by page number, so you never know where the search item is without going through the entire list. NOT HELPFUL.

My entire Anatomy textbook was blurry as if they took a screenshot of every page and sent it through so many forms (. Png, pdf, etc.) until it got blurry. I could not read a single word and could not: copy or paste, no highlighting, couldn't download the textbook, you could barely zoom in. I requested a refund, I guess you do get what you pay for. The only reason I made the purchase was because it's the only E-book version of this Textbook that I could find and I didn't want a hardcover. Not worth it, I don't know why they have good reviews, am I the only one this has happened to?

I work for a school that partners with Redshelf, they are absolutely horrible to work with. First of all they hardly ever post charges to our students accounts on the agreed upon dates, to exacerbate this, there is a total lack of communication from them about this. Countless ignored emails while we are left in the lurch not knowing when funds can be stipend out to our students because we don't have all charges on the ledger. Secondly, the consistently charge incorrect amounts (different than the listed amount) for books, when they bring this up once again nothing is done, often for months. If you are a school do anything you can to not partner with this joke of a company and if you are a student just know if your loan stipend money is late getting to you, it probably not the schools fault if they partner with Redshelf.

I purchased a book with "lifetime access". It stopped working after 1 month! I have called 3 times and emailed 2 times over the last couple of days and they have "escalated" the issue each time. Is anyone actually going to call me back for this escalation? I have given up and repurchased the book from Kindle/Amazon because clearly I need it for a class. FLAWLESS experience. I will never comes to a 3rd party service like this one again. Rather pay more for RELIABLE customer service.

I would spend precious time carefully reading and highlighting my material... then all of a sudden, if I accidentally left-click the text somewhere... BAM! Just highlights the whole entire page without warning, and I would have start over CAREFULLY re-highlighting alll of my points, wasting my time over the already tremendous amount of time I spend reading for my densely-loaded class.
Also, the highlight tool sometimes doesn't work correctly, as seen with the attached picture.
Just wanted to take some time and express my utter frustration with how constantly this is happening. Thanks for wasting my valuable time. Can't believe I paid over $100 for this.

They are quick to respond, have excellent customer service, and are so friendly and professional! I really appreciate the help and will definitely be using them again.

We are being charged for books from redshelf that we do not use at an educational institution. Rather than purchasing the book from a bookstore, they placed the book online and students are being charged hundreds of dollars every few months for books unless they opt out. This is a deceptive, false, and money making scam that is stealing money from student accounts. No institution or third party book seller charges for books without first providing consent that they agree to these charges. Scam. Institutional fraud. Ebook seller fraud happening to students. September 2018

As an ebook service focusing on textbooks, redshelf is insufficient. Most of its offerings are very limited use, and the average user will have no idea that they aren't actually purchasing a copy of the book, but the ability to access the book online. This "online only" access is useless in large lecture halls or at peak usage hours, where online connectivity is spotty at best. Moreover, the online reader is horrible to use, with only chapter headings available for navigation, making flipping to a specific page impossible. The entire interface is slow and clunky, especially on mobile devices. Unfortunately, most of these books aren't available via other services, meaning students have no other choice but to buy a physical copy.