Audiobooks.com Reviews

(based on 14 reviews)

194 of 371 people found this review helpful

I am extremely displeased with this service, and I want to warn others about their disingenuous business practices. I had an unlimited plan for nearly a year and all of a sudden today my book stopped playing and I was advised that my account was closed. When I called to sort this matter out I was informed that iTunes somehow messed up my automatic renewal and because the unlimited plan was being phased out, I could no longer pay for that service. When I called iTunes, however,... I was told that my payment could not be renewed because the subscription for audiobooks was no longer available. It was only then that a customer service representative apologized for closing my account and not notifying me that the unlimited service was no longer available. Therefore, I was lied to, and my account was randomly closed without my knowledge. This type of deceitful business practice is unacceptable. I will be switching over to audible now, and I advise others to do the same. Not just because of their pricing and selections, but because of their better business practices and customer service.

In summary, I would not recommend Audiobooks.com to a friend.

169 of 316 people found this review helpful

I listened to two books in one day, and skipped one after getting an hour into it and they put my account on hold. They basically told me that I shouldn't listen to more than one book in a 24 hour period, and that since my account was already flagged once then the next time it would be cancelled. I cancelled it on the spot. What good is an unlimited service that puts a limit on its service. They didn't have a lot and I do mean A LOT of the current audio books on the market. So yes I will agree with a previous review that said they are the "NETFLIX" of audiobooks because the selection is minimal and not poor.

Don't waste your money if you plan to actually use the service.

Out $25 which could have been used on something much more useful.

In summary, I would not recommend Audiobooks.com to a friend.

208 of 380 people found this review helpful

Audiobooks Terms of Use, to put it bluntly, sucks. You can pay your monthly payment and, as long as you don't use the service, no one cares. But, if you, after not using the service for weeks or months, dare to try more than three books in a day, you are put on "Hold" and not allowed to download any more books until you contact Customer Service, whereupon you will receive a light scolding for violating their Terms of Use. I cancelled my account. The library is not as extensive as I believe it should be to justify the monthly fee (now $29.95, I believe). All in all, just not worth it. Save your money.

In summary, I would not recommend Audiobooks.com to a friend.

177 of 324 people found this review helpful

Audiobooks.com has a decent selection - however, poor reception and hidden
limits make this service less than desirable.

I had difficulty listening to titles on all of my devices, most notably my Dell laptop. Emails to CS were maddening - almost every response asked for info previously given.

Our first account was 'flagged' then closed - we were told we had excessive usage
I was flabbergasted. Even if there limit made sense, we were not streaming constantly. Maybe we played 1.5 hr/ day. Our second account was also 'flagged' and closed - during the first 20 days! Mindful of the bizarrely limited 'unlimited' subscription , we listened even less with the second account. We are really unhappy with their hidden policies and questionable practices. Seems they get our $30 and we get 10 hrs of 'unlimited' streaming. I think this company is deceptive at best. We're not giving them our business again

In summary, I would not recommend Audiobooks.com to a friend.

216 of 399 people found this review helpful

I'm a member at another audiobook site, but decided to browse around, see what other sites were available. I came across audiobooks.com and saw they were offering a week's free trial, and then 'Unlimited Listening' for $29.95 a month. I signed up for the free trial, thinking if I liked the site, I would switch (loved the idea of unliited listening!). Things went along okay for 5 days, even with some glitches--like, occasionally the sound would just disappear even though the book kept playing. Also, the site didn't have any recordings of some of my favorite authors, but... ok. THEN, on day 5 I was listening, the book suddenly stopped and I saw a pop-up box that my account was 'on hold' and I was to call customer service. I called--and the customer service nightmare began. The woman said my account was suspended for 'fraud and abuse.' FRAUD AND ABUSE?? I was outraged, demanded over and over what sort of FRAUD I was being charged with (I am a retired police officer). Over and over, she would just say 'read our terms of service.' Over and over, I said... (Read the full review)

In summary, I would not recommend Audiobooks.com to a friend.

170 of 346 people found this review helpful

If you like to listen to audiobooks - this site may NOT be for you!!

My Story: I was an 'unlimited member' for a year when my account was placed 'on hold', apparently for 'fraudulent purposes'.

When I called to find out what the problem was, (because my bank account was debited earlier in the month), I was told that it was NOT a billing issue. I asked the rep if the issue was because the monthly price went up and I was paying a lower price. She assured me 'no'. So, I naively believed that since it wasn't fraud, (the 'supervisor' and I went over the terms and conditions) and it wasn't a billing issue, they should just re-instate the account right?

According to the audiobooks.com "supervisor" (I was irritated by this time), I had to start a new account....wait for it..... at the NEW price! I asked her if all of the old members had fraud on their account also, and she swiftly told me that no, some new members did too. Apparently they have a state-of-the-art computer system that detects fraud.

I personally believe this computer system is their accounts... (Read the full review)

In summary, I would not recommend Audiobooks.com to a friend.

230 of 435 people found this review helpful

Ok.. So I paid for a unlimited subscription... Price was.. Ok. Not as bad as some other websites but the selection was not as big either.
I called the first week to make sure it was ok for my kids to download other stories too, they said that was fine. We were enjoying it, it's very easy to down load to any of my devices, iPad, iPhone. Didn't have any trouble streaming. We liked this. It's easy to use and my kids could down load their books alone.
The next month, I get an email that I'm listening to too many books and my account is suspended. I call them and inquire how I can possibly be listening to too many books when I pay for an UNLIMITED amount... Hello?! ... They say im supposed to know that its unlimited "within reason", I explained that kids books are 15 mins long... of course it looks like a lot!! They say, too bad, my account has actually been cancelled with no prior warning and they won't refund the remained of the month and they won't reactivated it, BUT I'm more than free to start... (Read the full review)

In summary, I would not recommend Audiobooks.com to a friend.

215 of 386 people found this review helpful

I love audio books, so was very happy when I got a coupon to try it out. I registered, made my selections and waited, and waited, and waited ... after 30 minutes of "streaming", I got out of that site and went back to my old one (I really missed it) and listened to my book, with no problems at all. My sister also tried audiobooks.com, with a very similar outcome, she listened to 90 seconds of her book and that was it, it began streaming, and never stopped. I emailed them with what happened and got a response telling me that the problem was my internet and my computer's browser. It's fine with everyone else, but with audiobooks.com it doesn't work, they are a joke. Save yourself money and aggravation, go elsewhere.

In summary, I would not recommend Audiobooks.com to a friend.

144 of 281 people found this review helpful

I don't quite understand why this service gets such good reviews by the reviewers but such marginal to bad reviews by the general public. My experience is that it is not ready for prime time. Motorola Droid x and Sony Tablet S...

Yes, library size is decent but the features that are there aren't particularly reliable and some necessary features are non-existent (bookmarks!). The only reliable device for me is my laptop and who cares about a mobile service that only works on a laptop? There is ONLY streaming, so don't think about long plane ride listening. Cruising the book selection is quite clunky. Customer support is spotty (they replied once and didn't reply to my second query) and I hope to be able to cancel because most other user reviews say this is not easy to accomplish. Overall, I will wait until this service 1) actually works without stopping 2) restarts without major effort 3) restarts in the place where it choked 4) offers better (read basic) book reader functions and 5) is less trouble in general. Overall the experience has been VERY frustrating.

I have been listening to online audiobooks for years and was excited to see this product and... (Read the full review)

In summary, I would not recommend Audiobooks.com to a friend.

137 of 273 people found this review helpful

I have spent a very large dollar amount on audiobooks, and consequently was thrilled to see an unlimited audiobook streaming service. First off the sign up was difficult, and they bill you out of an international company--which made things difficult. The second thing that I noticed was that although it showed compatibility with both apple devices and android devices on the website, it was actually compatible with neither. Next I found out that you would not be able to download the content for offline streaming--not even a 1 at a time DRM-attached audiobook. This severely limits the usefulness of the service. Next, I began to stream an audiobook. Every time, I started an audiobook stream, it stopped after 1 minute. 1 day before my trial was to be up I called and let them know that the streaming was not working. I was on hold for almost 30 minutes, and the lady asked me to please just cancel and not further concern them with my experience. Before I could make a request for technical help, she hung up on me, and I called back. This time I was on the phone for 27 minutes before a different lady answered the... (Read the full review)

In summary, I would not recommend Audiobooks.com to a friend.