Audible
Reviews and Complaints

I've been using Audible.com for about a year now and I gotta say, it's been a lifesaver for me. I'm not always in the mood to read a book, but listening to one is a whole different story. It's helped me get through some really long books like The Count of Monte Cristo, Tom Jones: The Story of a Foundling, Roots, and a bunch of others that are over 1,000 pages long. Plus, for some of the "classics," it's way more fun to listen to them being read to you instead of trying to slog through dry sentences and having to look up words that aren't used anymore (although I still do that, but at least I don't have to put down the book and grab a dictionary right then and there).

Now, let's talk about the price. Audio books can be super expensive and it's not like you can just lend them out to your friends unless you're willing to give up your iPod or computer. That's a bummer. But one cool thing is that I can delete them off my hard drive (for space-saving reasons) and if I ever want to download them again for any reason, I own the download and can get it for free. I've done that once already.

But there are a couple of things that bug me about Audible. First, I like to review my books and share my opinion. I like doing it on Audible (which is owned by Amazon) because people can vote if your review was "helpful" without starting an argument or calling you names if they disagree with you. But I don't like that when you listen to a sample, if the book has a forward, you'll get to listen to that instead of part of the first chapter. That's misled me more than once. But to be fair, when I've complained about it, they've cheerfully given me my credit back (you keep a valid credit card with them and they charge you every month... and there's a deep discount for the first 3 months if you've never been a member before). And I've purchased a few novels at deep discounts when they're having a sale.

But the thing that really gets me is the way they handle reviews. When I've put a lot of thought and care into a review, it gets buried on page 4 or 10 because it doesn't have any "helpful" votes yet. How are you supposed to get helpful votes if no one can see your review? I've complained to them about this before. Why can't they just be in chronological order? Or why not set it up so that you have a choice of seeing the reviews with the most "helpful" votes or see them chronologically? I would think their website is sophisticated enough to do that, wouldn't you?

I wrote a really thoughtful review of Roots that's buried on like the 10th page of the reviews... so no one has seen it. It takes time and effort to write reviews and I think I deserve a chance to be read. Am I supposed to ask my friends who have Audible to vote helpful for me so that my review will be on the front couple of pages? Because I don't think most people go beyond the first couple of pages, do you? I know I typically don't.

Anyway, that's my two cents about Audible. I was bummed to find out that they were owned by Amazon, but not surprised. And I've learned that now, if I'm undecided about a book and it has lots of reviews, I really need to spend time reading the reviews. If you're an Audible member, I'd suggest the same thing for you, because lately I've been swayed into buying books that I normally wouldn't buy due to the placement of all the most helpful (meaning "good") reviews being stacked at the top.

Thanks for reading! ~ML

I gotta say, I was a bit hesitant to sign up for Audible at first. I mean, there were so many negative reviews out there calling it a scam and whatnot. But then I started reading some of the positive reviews and noticed a pattern. A lot of the negative reviews were from people who didn't really pay attention to the terms of the free trial and ended up getting charged. And then they got all mad and started calling Audible a scam.

But here's the thing, folks. If you sign up for a free trial, you gotta cancel it before the trial period ends if you don't want to get charged. It's not rocket science. And if you do get charged and you feel like it was unfair, just email Audible's support team. They're actually pretty helpful and will refund you if they messed up.

I mean, sure, there are some people out there who had legitimate issues with Audible and didn't get the help they needed. But from what I've seen, those cases are few and far between. And even then, Audible's support team seems to be pretty responsive and willing to make things right.

So yeah, I'm happy with my Audible subscription. I've been able to listen to some great books while I'm driving or doing chores around the house. And if I ever have any issues, I know I can just shoot an email to their support team and they'll take care of me. So don't believe all the negative reviews out there, folks. Audible is legit.

So, I'm writing this review because I gotta say, Audible is the bomb. I don't get all the fuss about billing problems that some people are complaining about. I've had to cancel my billing twice and never got charged after requesting the hold on my account. I even got suspended for over a year and still had no issues. And every time I've called customer service, they've been super helpful. If I wanted a refund, they were like, "No problem!" If I said I was missing a book, they never once asked me to prove I bought it. They were like, "No problem, let me re-add that title to your library." But last night, I had a problem.

I bought a book on 10/6/2006 and went to listen to it, but the voice sounded wrong. I checked my speakers and audio settings, but they were fine. I looked up the book on their website and saw that the narrator was different than the one I was expecting. I was unhappy because I wouldn't have purchased the book if I knew it was a different narrator. I contacted their support and was told that the title with the original narrator was no longer available, so they couldn't restore it to me. I was offered a credit, but I wanted the book I paid for. I called Audible the next day and explained the situation. I was polite but insistent that what happened wasn't right. I have over 600 titles in my library, and many of them were purchased because I was a fan of the narrator as well as the author. I wanted to know how I could protect my library from having the same problem.

The young lady I spoke with suggested she get a supervisor for me to see how this could be resolved. The supervisor was supposed to call me back, but no call came. I called again on my lunch break and explained my previous contacts as well as my issue. Finally, a supervisor took my call. I explained everything for the fourth time and accepted that I couldn't have back the book I purchased. I asked the supervisor if changing the file name would preserve the integrity of my files, and he confirmed it would. I also wanted this concern to be escalated to their marketing and customer satisfaction teams. A simple email to notify me and give me the option of changing the file name to preserve my copy would have made me happy.

The supervisor promised me he would take the appropriate steps to get this issue escalated so that precautions can be taken to protect customers from this experience. He asked me to check my email when I got home and to please respond to it with an email detailing my experience and everything I had gone through with this issue through the different customer service representatives that tried to help me. When I got home, there were two emails. One was to allow me to detail my problem. The second was a link to my lost file. I tested it and verified that it was in fact my lost book with the right narrator.

When I called in to say thank you, I was routed back to the representative that took my call in the morning. So I could thank her too for caring about my problem and asked that an email be sent to the supervisor or whoever it was that restored my file. This is why I still say they have the absolute best customer service. Maybe for the first time, I didn't get my way in the first five minutes. But the fact that that email showed up two hours after my lunch break proved that they keep working on what bothers you even after you are off their phone. They care, they respond, they resolve.

PS. I don't work for Audible, but I've been a loyal subscriber for 11 years.

On March 16, I ordered a Lotus123 spreadsheet program from an ebay seller on line. The order was confirmed with an expected delivery date of Mar23 to Mar 29. I believe that it was paid for with PayPal. I didn't receive the package during the expected time period. I sent two reply questions from the order acknowledgement and was directed to this sight for help with proof of delivery or method of shipment.

3/4/2023 I ordered two books from Audible I could not download so call for tech support was disconnected so I called on the phone and the next person could not fined my Account. They sure found my Credit Card with no issue Asked to speak with a "Supervisor" a bigger Idiot than the first decided to just cancel the Order and walk away well the "Supervisor" told me I could not cancel because I paid with a Credit Card ! What an Idiot ... I asked to speak to her "Supervisor" only to be told she was as high as I go. What an Idiot... Called my bank to stop any payment was informed had to wait till the charge was completed. No problem I call back Monday but, as of today Audible is DEAD TOO ME ! Contacted Audible information to get Corporate Customer service to file a Complaint Spent 35 Mins and two more Dingle Berries only to say I will find Corporate myself I am Too Old to deal with today's youngsters. GOD HELP US ALL!

Signed up to audible in September 2022 and noticed since then Audible has charged me twice every month, and was about to charge me triple this upcoming month!

Looking through all my payment history on both audible and through amazon, they only show the £7.99 charge that I pay monthly for the subscription and have no record of the other charges that keep varying from £12.25- £13.99, yet they are being taken out of my bank account every month.

They also change the name from Amazon*1knh and other variations of this so it is harder to track what is going out of your account. On the description it says the payments are for Continuity/ subscription merchants Amzn.com/bill.

After speaking to customer service, I found out they "accidentally" signed me up for the american version of audible as well as the UK one and that is where the charges came from. I dont have a US account! I also found out these requests are quite common, so that says a lot...

Shameful.

I've been using Audible since 2018 in the Middle East and I just moved to North America.

I have been trying to update my address and new card details so I can continue using Audible and enjoy the great audio books, however my audible app kept saying that there was a problem with my account, so i spent an hour trying to go over all my details to see if they were correct, yet the red notification persisted.

The Audible website suggested I call customer service so I did.

The person on the other end was so suspicious of me that she thought it would be a good idea to play a game of questions with me and was not convinced that I was who i said i was.

After I logged in to my amazon account and realized that it still showed my old address in the middle east and read it to her line by line she still was rude and suspicious.

Then she played questions again with my billing information and new card. I just said that I was trying to pay Audible so please help and atleast tell me what I should do.

No, nothing, she just said my card is invalid, why? how? nothing.

Audible customer service outside North America is much more professional. Very disappointed. I might need to stop using Audible if this issue isnt resolved.

I have used the same combo of Windows 10, download into iTunes, then upload into my ipod nano. I've done these same actions hundreds of times. This time it simply wouldn't work. Couldn't find the file that said it downloaded. Worked with customer service for several hours on chat and they couldn't do anything and all ended up saying "we don't support that."

I just upgraded my pc to a Windows 11 Pro and loaded the latest version of itunes. I have been an audible customer for years and I followed every Audible site direction to "activate" my computer so I could play my audible purchases. It failed. I tried to reach out via e-mail and chat and kept being told to do the same steps that had not worked. I was finally provided a phone number to call. I was informed that the Audible activate had stopped working months ago and apparently Audible blames Apple for the problem. I have hundreds of audible purchased audiobooks that on my previous activated computer have been easily copied to my original non-touch ipods and my ipad pro. Up to the day I purchased the new upgraded PC this functionality still worked. Audible phone help told me that Apple no longer supports itunes updating of audiobooks to their devices, which I know for a fact is untrue. So I'm essentially SOL when it comes to listening to my audible purchases using itunes and my new windows 11 machine. I absolutely find this unacceptable and though the gentleman tried hard, it was obvious that no one at Audible has any idea about audible and itunes nor updating apple devices from itunes. They sure were happy to blame the lack of activating itunes on Apple, though.

I cannot see any more user reviews. I could yesterday. And why is a 3 credit purchase still 34.99 on the web, and 39.99 on the app. Before I could purchase a book for cheaper than the credit cost, especially if the book was short, now it cost 1 credit for a 1 hour short story. I'm so fed up with this. I had bought 3 books this week, 2 are in limbo, won't download, delete, or even try and buy again. No answer from audible online or Amazon.

There is a reoccurring charge on my account of $14.95. I never even had a membership, and I have had to change my debit card, and once again, my account is overdrawn. I am a poor college student and this keeps my killing my credit.

Name: Timothy J. Benware

Last transaction: October 14th, 2022: POS DEBIT AUDIBLE.COM/BIL NJ -$14.95

Transaction: September 14th, 2022: POS DEBIT AUDIBLE.COM/BIL NJ

-$14.95

Transaction: August 14th, 2022: POS DEBIT AUDIBLE.COM/BIL NJ

-$14.95

Transaction: July 14th, 2022: POS DEBIT AUDIBLE.COM/BIL NJ

-$14.95

Transaction: June 14th, 2022: POS DEBIT AUDIBLE.COM/BIL NJ

-$14.95

I have approx 1100.00 audible books and can only see 154 titles. I can’t see all of the books I have downloaded and have other ongoing issues with the app . I have contacted your Customer Service people and had my case escalated with no resolution. I have spent over 16,000.00 dolllars with Audible and am not happy to be to find I am unable to enjoy my investment

When you buy an audiobook on Audible you should be able to keep it regardless of whether you keep your membership. I paid for an audiobook and decided to cancel my membership. I thought I could join later when finances were better. But now one of my favorite titles is locked! My formerly high esteem of audible has taken a sharp nose dive and instead of coming back I will probably join one of Audible's competitors. When I get titles from them I will probably have them indefinitely whether I have a continued membership or not. Seriously, locking titles is a bad PR idea!

Yesterday (21st Of June) at 9 pm UCT I have been charged $14 from Audible for a membership that I canceled on the 21st Of April. Today is the 22nd of June and I have the proof attached that I have canceled the subscritpiotn at least two months ago.

I don't want this membership as I didn't enjoy the one month trial and it is very inconvenient for the company to steal money from costumers.

My name is Claudia Comandini

There is a may 02, 2022 charge on my credit card for audible amzn.com/bill nj

For $ 161.25!

I'm not even sure what audible is and I certainly did not order anything from it.

Or become a member or whatever.

Just stop it! I will never consider audible and curse the very name!

After everything I read about audible and my credits, I never once understood that my credits would expire. There is no reason whatsoever that my money should disappear from my account. I paid for the credits and I do not want to loose what is mine via your slick method of taking my money. If I can't get my money back, I'm out. I'll never be back. There are plenty of other services with the same books that do not steal my hard earned money.

I trusted audible, and you have made for yourself a clever way to steal from me. No! If this cannot be rectified, I'll make sure everyone I come across in the reading world knows how you rip people off.

Please cancel these fraudulent charges. If this is a subscription somehow your customer service has no record of it. Your own customer service was not able to resolve this matter. I never ordered a subscription from you. Please cancel these reoccurring charges. You should not be charging me without authorization!

Alice Darling

Hello, I am writing to you today after becoming aware of unauthorized bank charges in my bank statement by Audible CA*FO8990C93. I have been charged a monthly service fee of $16.74 for next to a year now, for an unauthorized fraudulent account when I am Canadian and don't use Amazon.com or Audible CA. Tangerine Bank will not stop the charges on their end, they advised me to get a hold of the service provider to have the charges stopped and hopefully refunded asap.

Thank you kindly,

Larissa MacDonald,

Probeauty.[protected]@gmail.com

I called a service rep months ago about my card being used randomly for a payment. I was told my matter was resolved, and that was it. Today, I received a charge for Audible. I don't have an Audible account, and I haven't used my Amazon account for over a year, but I still got charged for Audible. I've gone to my old Amazon account and removed the card, so hopefully, that fixes it.

I have purchased many Audible titles. My Fire tablets kept going bad, so I bought a PC instead. I tried to download and play the Audible titles I bought, but they wouldn't work. I called Audible for help. The only way I could listen to my purchased titles was to use the Audible app with an internet connection. Recently, I received an email informing me that Audible will not be maintaining their app after July 2022. Unless I transfer my titles to a Kindle Fire tablet or Itunes MP3 player, my purchased titles will be inaccessible to me. I felt forced into buying another Fire tablet. I should be able to download the titles I have bought, store them on any device I have, and listen to them without your app, an internet connection, or your chosen devices.

Hello. I have been an Audible member since 2011. I am a Premium Plus Member and pay $22.95 monthly. I am VERY UPSET that I spent 40 minutes trying to resolve this issue and all three associates were uncaring. The strange thing is they all parroted the very same thing, which tells me I am not alone on this problem THIS company has.

If this isn't resolved, I will be leaving Audible and finding satisfaction elsewhere.

On Monday, Jan 24th (just yesterday), my daughter purchased an electronic gift card for me. I IMMEDIATELY CALLED AUDIBLE because I already had a membership. THW ASSOCIATE walked me through what I needed to do. I asked him how much the gift certificate was and he told me he didn't know, but if I accept the gift it will go into my account as credits. I was shocked to see 3 credits, as she usually gives me a $50 gift card. I CALLED MY DAUGHTER THIS AM and found out she paid $45.

My daughter paid $45 for me to buy books through Audible and THEY GAVE ME about $34 cost of usual credits. I often buy 3 credits, so I get what is happening here. I get the benefit of $34 from them for MY GIFT AND THEY GET THE ADDITIONAL $10+. Again, I purchase credits all the time as a long time customer. I am surprised that this is my reward for having a PREMIUM PLUS Membership. IF ONLY MY DAUGHTER UNDERSTOOD THAT I ALREADY HAD AN ACCOUNT, SHE WOULD HAVE GIVEN ME AN AMAZON GIFT CARD. (NOTE: I've noticed how they don't allow gift cards to be loaded on your website, but do everything through Amazon.)

This really amounts to some sort of trickery in gift card purchases, as the purchaser isn't understanding Audible's process.

I am Doretta Lambert, 1405 Avenue F, Billings MT 59102
[protected]@gmail.com
[protected]

I was not monitoring my credit card statements thoroughly. I am being billed monthly for a service that I never signed up for. Since June 2021, I was billed through Amazon amount 6.95. In October statement I discovered a $14.95 charge, called Amazon immediately in November to cancel as I never signed up. Got the usual Sorry and assumed was taken care of. Then November bill again $14.95. Called Amazon 12/6/21 and complained and demanded cancel a service never signed up for or used. Frankly I have no idea of what Audible is. Since Googled and found would never sign up even for introductory rate. Now I found that instead of Amazon Card billing My bank Visa card was billed day after my call. this is outright fraud.

I started getting charges on my credit card last year. I filed issues with CC company to no avail. I went to the audible website and canceled the membership that I did not start. The charges kept coming. I canceled that card and someway they started charging another card. every time I go back to the website is says active even though I went through the cancel page. I finally went on chat and was informed they in another country Phillipines. The rep kept saying she could not give me a refund without providing my address. I gave her every address I have had for 10 years but she said it was not the one in there system.