Playster?

[tubemonkey]

Get Unlimited Audiobooks on Playster | The Newest Best Sellers & Books For Every Lifestyle

Listen to over 50,000 audiobooks in every imaginable genre for just $9.95/month. Sign up now and get your first month for free!

Introducing Unlimited Audiobooks

Get access to 100,000+ premium titles for $14.95 per month on any device.

The difference I see is that the $9.95 plan is an older plan with 50,000+ audiobooks and the $14.95 plan is a new plan with 100,000+ audiobooks.

[sun surfer]

Originally Posted by tubemonkey

The difference I see is that the $9.95 plan is an older plan with 50,000+ audiobooks and the $14.95 plan is a new plan with 100,000+ audiobooks.

So you are saying that if you sign up for the $9.95 plan that they will only allow you to listen to part of their audiobook library? That doesn't sound likely to me, and if it were the case then I'd assume that they'd still offer both options at the same time, not one one place and another another. Both say '+' meaning that number and more. I do agree that the 100,000 plus number probably means it was a more recently made advert.

But I would never just sign up for $14.95 over $9.95 just because I think that's what they prefer me sign up for, if they are still openly offering the $9.95 and other people are still signing up for it. Again, the only way to get the $14.95 price currently, as far as I can find, is through clicking on an ad on other sites. If you just go directly to their site (playster.com) anywhere you go you will only find the $9.95 price (again, as far as I've found).

Obviously, the company has probably made a big error somewhere. Either (a) the ad pricing is wrong, (b) except for the ad the entire site's pricing is wrong concerning audiobooks, or else (c) they are purposely testing out the higher price of $14.95 through a specific targeted ad to see how well it sells before deciding whether to change the entire site to that price for audiobooks.

If it is (a) or (b) then it's a huge, glaring mistake that is extraordinary that it happened at all let alone seems to be blithely continuing, which makes me question the ability of this company. If it is (c) then it's an underhanded move by the company to target new members to pay more than they need to and makes me question the integrity of this company.

[tubemonkey]

Originally Posted by sun surfer

So you are saying that if you sign up for the $9.95 plan that they will only allow you to listen to part of their audiobook library? That doesn't sound likely to me, and if it were the case then I'd assume that they'd still offer both options at the same time, not one one place and another another. Both say '+' meaning that number and more. I do agree that the 100,000 plus number probably means it was a more recently made advert.

My belief is that they signed on new publishers, doubled the size of their catalog, raised the price to $14.95, and forgot to make the change on their website.

At this point, I wouldn't trust anything they say about the two prices. They need to get their act together and update their website.

[sun surfer]

It's possible and would be the (b) of the options I gave. If that is the case, then I totally agree, they need to get their act together. How can a company change the price of their audiobook subscription but only list that on an ad and somehow neglect or not bother to change it to that price anywhere on their actual site? It seems ridiculous. However, I'm still reminded of your earlier post:

Originally Posted by tubemonkey

I just finished an online chat with CS and was told that the $9.95 plan and the $14.95 plan contained the same audiobooks. I got the impression that she didn't grasp the absurdity of the pricing:

$9.95 = ebooks + audiobooks

$14.95 = audiobooks only

So according to CS you'll still get the same audiobooks if you sign up for the $9.95 plan, and can still sign up for the $9.95. If someone else wants to sign up for the $14.95 plan while the $9.95 is still available then that's their prerogative but I'd definitely go for the $9.95 as long I could. In fact your chat with CS makes (c) seem a bit more likely, that they're purposely trying out a different higher price through a targeted ad.

[tubemonkey]

Originally Posted by sun surfer

It's possible and would be the (b) of the options I gave. If that is the case, then I totally agree, they need to get their act together. How can a company change the price of their audiobook subscription but only list that on an ad and somehow neglect or not bother to change it to that price anywhere on their actual site? It seems ridiculous. However, I'm still reminded of your earlier post:

So according to CS you'll still get the same audiobooks if you sign up for the $9.95 plan, and can still sign up for the $9.95. If someone else wants to sign up for the $14.95 plan while the $9.95 is still available then that's their prerogative but I'd definitely go for the $9.95 as long I could. In fact your chat with CS makes (c) seem a bit more likely, that they're purposely trying out a different higher price through a targeted ad.

At the end of the chat, I was left with the impression that she really didn't have a clue what was going on. When she said if I felt that the $9.95 plan was a better value for me than the $14.95 plan, then choose it. Wow!

Bottom line: I really don't trust anything she said.

[tubemonkey]

Another problem - they have no listed phone numbers on their website. Contact is by email or web chat. That's always a bad sign.

[AnemicOak]

Phone numbers for Playster. No idea if they're actually good or not...

844 825 6276
917 677 0268
https://www.complaintsboard.com/playster-b124985

[tubemonkey]

Originally Posted by AnemicOak

Phone numbers for Playster. No idea if they're actually good or not...

844 825 6276
917 677 0268
https://www.complaintsboard.com/playster-b124985

After reading the complaints from your link, I'm very concerned about this company. They don't look to be trustworthy. Therefore, I won't take them up on a trial offer nor give them my credit card info.

[booklover6]

Disappointing...they have an audio book I really want to hear. Eventually it should show up in Overdrive.....

[sun surfer]

Looking around I also see this: https://www.trustpilot.com/review/playster.com

You can compare that to Audible on the same site: https://www.trustpilot.com/review/www.audible.com

On first glance, both have similar ranking at 20-something percent 1-star reviews. But then I see that Playster has over 250 reviews while Audible has only 23 total, which strikes me as suspicious because Audible is by far the more well-known site. My first thought, egged on by my ever-growing opinion that Playster seems shady, is that perhaps Playster has 'stuffed the ballot box' so to speak to try to make up for the bad reviews.

Anyway, the 1-star reviews of them (close to 60 I think it would be compared to around 6 for Audible) mention things like sleazy advertising, bait and switch, misleading, false advertising, etc. In particular I notice many reviews say they advertise having certain books/audiobooks but once you sign up they don't.

[Playster]

Hey all, we appreciate that you're interested in giving Playster a try – we're really excited about our offer and the initial feedback has been great!

First off, please accept our apologies for the confusion over the pricing. We launched a new membership option for unlimited audiobooks at 14.95/month, and this change has not yet been reflected on our homepage. This should be resolved by the end of the week, but in the meantime the price you see is the price you'll pay.

You're right to be vigilant about what you read online. We did have some issues last year with external sites misusing our ads, but we've since stopped working with the networks responsible. The reason we have more Trustpilot reviews than Audible is that we have an account with Trustpilot, and we proactively invite members to leave reviews.

I hope this helps to clear up any concerns, but we'd be more than happy to address any other questions you might have at this point!

[Catlady]

Originally Posted by Playster

Hey all, we appreciate that you're interested in giving Playster a try – we're really excited about our offer and the initial feedback has been great!

First off, please accept our apologies for the confusion over the pricing. We launched a new membership option for unlimited audiobooks at 14.95/month, and this change has not yet been reflected on our homepage. This should be resolved by the end of the week, but in the meantime the price you see is the price you'll pay.

You're right to be vigilant about what you read online. We did have some issues last year with external sites misusing our ads, but we've since stopped working with the networks responsible. The reason we have more Trustpilot reviews than Audible is that we have an account with Trustpilot, and we proactively invite members to leave reviews.

I hope this helps to clear up any concerns, but we'd be more than happy to address any other questions you might have at this point!

Some of the complaints had to do with credit card charges, though, after people canceled. That's really concerning.

[Playster]

Originally Posted by Catlady

Some of the complaints had to do with credit card charges, though, after people canceled. That's really concerning.

There have been claims to this effect, and we take billing issues very seriously. I can assure you that in each and every case we've either resolved it with the customer or at least attempted to contact them so that we can investigate it.

Playster uses a $1 card authorization, and although this is common practice with subscription services, the vast majority of billing complaints involve customers misinterpreting it as a charge.

When it's found not to be the auth, we always take the customer's word that they followed the cancellation procedure and refund the charges – even if we're unable to locate a fault at our end. We've never actually encountered a case where a cancelled membership continued to accrue charges. We have, however, consistently reviewed our cancellation procedure as a result of these claims and now find that they are very rare.

[sun surfer]

I like some of what you say and the service seems interesting, but two things still stick out.

Originally Posted by Playster

We launched a new membership option for unlimited audiobooks at 14.95/month, and this change has not yet been reflected on our homepage. This should be resolved by the end of the week, but in the meantime the price you see is the price you'll pay.

Why would you launch a new (higher) price point through an ad only and not bother to simultaneously update everything on your actual website at the same time? It comes off as very strange.

The reason we have more Trustpilot reviews than Audible is that we have an account with Trustpilot, and we proactively invite members to leave reviews.

That could help explain all the positive reviews perhaps, but you also have ten times more very negative reviews than Audible too. Why is that?

[Playster]

Originally Posted by sun surfer

Why would you launch a new (higher) price point through an ad only and not bother to simultaneously update everything on your actual website at the same time? It comes off as very strange.

We regret the confusion that this caused and we're working quickly to resolve it.

That could help explain all the positive reviews perhaps, but you also have ten times more very negative reviews than Audible too. Why is that?

Our review score online is actually relatively strong. If you were to base your opinion of Audible on its Sitejabber profile you probably wouldn't go anywhere near it. Online reviewers tend to be unforgiving, and it's a challenge most brands have to face. We feel we've resolved these issues now, and we're firmly on the path to creating an amazing product. We love what we're doing and we know it's creating value for people.

Like I said earlier, you're absolutely right to be vigilant when dealing with a new company. But we believe our offer speaks for itself, and with your feedback it's only going to get better and better!