Cancelling Audible
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I've been hearing/reading about others who use Audible as a resource to listen to books when they ordinarily wouldn't be able to such as driving, outside or simply doing some other task. Ahead of my flooring project, I thought I would give it a try and listened to the latest Harrison Scott Key book which I learned about through one of my fellow bloggers.
Signing up was simply clicking a button for a free trial offer for a month and entering a credit card number. I was assured I could cancel at any time. I explored the app for a few minutes and found it fairly easy to use and I was soon listening to my first book.
Overall, I enjoyed listening to the book while working on the floor or working outside, times I normally couldn't be reading. But I found just sitting in a chair at home while listening to be a bit awkward. I mean it was easy to sit and listen but for some reason, my mind would begin to wander, I guess because it felt I should be doing something, like moving a hand to turn a page occasionally or something. Regardless, I enjoyed the app and will probably at some point in the future return to it, especially if we have a long drive ahead.
But right now, I have enough books on hand to keep me busy for a year, or more, and would like to get through some of them before moving more towards the Audible app. So I went to cancel in the days before my free subscription renewed and charged my credit card.
I went to the Audible App but couldn't find a place to cancel.
I went to my Amazon account, owner of Audible, but couldn't find a place to cancel.
I read numerous articles showing me how to cancel my free subscription using the Audible App or Amazon account but in every single one, the directed me to navigate to a certain page where I could click the link "cancel my membership" but I did not have such a link. Some of these articles were as recently written as last month!
So I did another google search along the lines "can't find the link to cancel audible membership". After a few articles, I found one saying that I had to go back to my phone and go through my settings where Apple has a subscription menu and there, I finally found a link to cancel my Audible account. I did and it worked.
At this point, I'm not sure if it is Audible/Amazon just being difficult so that you can't easily cancel or if it has to do with their relationship with Apple. It shouldn't take this much effort to cancel a free trial membership... ever. But it is done and over.
However when, now if I sign up again, I'll have something to consider besides the subscription rate.
We've had it for quite awhile. Sue has called in to put it on hold several times. She had no problem doing it this way. She has also returned books for a refund using this method. I think they can see if you've read or just given up, so it hasn't been a hassle.
ReplyDeleteOnce I work through my backlog of physical books, I'll most likely go back and give Audible another try.
DeleteMy mind would definitely wander; I'm not an auditory person so I don't think audible would work well for me.
ReplyDeleteI think it was because my eyes weren't engaged. I can sit and listen to the television for hours on end without any problems. But just staring at a wall while listening wasn't cutting it.
DeleteI've gotten into audiobooks in recent years for those times I have to drive anywhere out of town alone. I also find they're good for when I'm working jigsaw puzzles. Otherwise, my mind tends to wander too much!
ReplyDeleteI would love to use it on car trips and hope to in the future. We've rented books on CD's before and enjoy them.
DeleteI've never signed up for any paid Amazon services, but it seems puzzling you're having difficulty canceling since they are constantly reassuring "cancel at any time." I've been listening to a lot of audio books since I resumed weaving and like it for activities like that. Just sitting and listening without activity though, isn't appealing. For audiobooks, I've either been checking CDs out from the library (although they have "Libby" which lets you download audio and ebooks to your preferred device). Also, I found Librivox.org which has thousands of free public domain audiobooks to either listen to or download. Since they're public domain, they are all older publications, but there's a huge selection. Many of them are classics or just plain interesting.
ReplyDeleteWe have Libby but I'll have to check out the other one. My only problem with Libby is that there are waiting times for some books and then I have a time constraint to finish. Sometimes, two weeks just isn't enough for some of the books I read.
DeleteAn alternate to Libby is hoopla. Their borrow time is 21 days and there's never any hold time. If they have a title, it's instantaneous. Libby is offered through my county library system and I get hoopla through our community college library. I've learned that both services can vary state to state. My daughter in Louisiana often has better options at hoopla than I do, and I sometimes have more at Libby.
DeleteThanks for that tip. Another site to research.
DeleteI'm an avid reader and love a good book and the feel of the real thing in my hands. My son was just asking me today if reading a book and listening to an audio book were the same. He said he has been hearing people brag about "reading" 65 books last year because they listened to audio books. I told him I didn't consider it a good claim of "reading". It was an interesting question.
ReplyDeleteI too like the feel of books in my hands and being able to easily flip back to see maps or inset pictures, all of which you can't do with audio books. But on occasion, some of the books I read are just to darn big to comfortably hold for hours on end. As of now, 99% of the books I read are actual physical books. But I have on occasion read a book on my Kindle device when waiting in a car at night and then my first book through Audible.
DeleteI listen to books on tape whenever I am doing crafts at home. Our libraries have an app to listen to books that we "borrow" for 3 weeks but whenever I am ready to download the app and get instructions on how to use it, I have a problem so I push it on the side for another day. For now, the old reliable CD player works fine.
ReplyDeleteIt sounds like the majority of the people must be doing something with their eyes and hands when listening to a book so I'm not alone.
DeleteI am trying the free Libby app on my iphone. I borrowed a book from the library and tried listening to it with Libby on my Airpods. It works well, but I can't seem to find a time to just listen to it.
ReplyDeleteDuring these winter months, I have the same problem unless I have a big project like flooring. I would expect during spring when there is lot of yard work to be done, I might have a lot more time to listen.
DeleteI generally listen to a dozen or more audible books a year, mostly when driving or while working at. I would never sit in a chair and listen to a book--would prefer to read. On some occasions, the book was so good and I wanted to make notes, that I end up buying the book. I'm curious, did Harrison Scott Key read his book? There are a few authors like Rick Bragg, that I love listening to him read the book and often also have a hard copy.
ReplyDeleteYes he did, and his wife for her part too. I think that totally made the experience worth while, just like listening to Bragg read.
DeleteMy wife had a similar experience with Audible and canceling. of course they make it difficult! Also, Spotify, the music app, recently added audiobooks.
ReplyDeleteSince we are already plugged into their system, we have Amazon Music, mostly for my daughters as I don't use it much.
DeleteIt does feel like they are going out of their way to make it harder to cancel memberships. Podcasts are entertaining enough for me while I walk and do other projects. But I have started reading before bed so I might need some book suggestions from you and others soon.
ReplyDeleteReading before bed is very calming for me. Although I don't create book lists, I have at least three other bloggers I follow that create annual lists that I can point you towards.
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