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August 27, 2004
Audible.com double booking
I've been a member of audible.com since 2001, when they started. I still have the 32Meg Diamond Rio I bought at the time to listen to books on the move. Wonderful idea, great technology -- I'm still a huge fan of audio books. My relationship with Audible, however, is coming to an end. Here's why.
I'm already well aware that their monthly membership program entitles you to two titles a month, and that you must choose the titles within that month. This is clearly spelled out in the membership application, and I have little sympathy for those who don't realise that the reduced price they pay for books isn't an infinite-expiry coupon. In any case, Audible will credit a previous month onto a subsequent month for any user the first time they forget to use their credits.
What I was not aware of was that audible has a different book catalog for members and non-members of their Listener programs. Their ad copy indicates you can choose any book(s) you like for your monthly credit.
Not true.
If you search for Audible books as a visitor, you'll find a huge number of titles available. As soon as you're a member, however, the number of titles drop dramatically -- and the ones that are missing appear to be the expensive ones.
The specific example I've run into is the series of books by Patrick O'Brien, which have been recorded in unabridged format by Patrick Tull. Search for any of these on audible.com as a visitor and you'll find them. Log in, and suddenly they don't exist.
Foul, Audible, foul.
Posted by Michael at August 27, 2004 09:58 AM
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