SelfPublishing .com - Better Business Bureau | BBB Ratings
Selfpublishing .com and selfpublishingschool .com have drawn scrutiny for their fraudulent practices, with dozens of negative reviews surfacing on platforms like the Better Business Bureau (BBB). These negative reviews highlight concerns ranging from unmet expectations to outright deception, painting a troubling picture of Chandler Bolt's self-publishing enterprises.
However, amidst the negative feedback, there's a conspicuous pattern of seemingly fake positive reviews attempting to bury the criticisms. This concerted effort to overshadow genuine customer experiences raises red flags about the integrity and transparency of Chandler Bolt's operations.
In this article, we aim to peel back the layers and unveil the true colors of Chandler Bolt's self-publishing enterprises. By shining a light on authentic customer feedback, we hope to provide insight into the real experiences of those who have interacted with selfpublishing.com and selfpublishingschool.com.
Business Details
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Location of This Business
Austin, TX 78702-3436
BBB File Opened: 7/14/2021
Years in Business: 9
Business Started: 5/30/2014
Business Incorporated: 9/5/2019
Accredited Since: 7/22/2021
Type of Entity: Limited Liability Company (LLC)
Self Publishing .com BBB reviews
09/12/2023
Complaint Type:
Problems with Product/Service
Status:
Answered
More info
I emailed selfpublishing on July 26,2023 that I was not going forward with their marketing program and instructed them to NOT DRAFT against my credit card for any future payments. I was contacted by a person named ***** and told that he needed to speak to me. On July 31st I emailed ***** and informed him that I would not be moving forward with the marketing program and to cancel me out of the program. On August 2 ***** informed me that I was outside the 14 day withdrawal period and I couldn't withdraw. This is the first notification I have received from selfpublishing that there was/is any kind of a withdrawal policy or procedure. In the meantime, they drafted against my credit card on Aug. 29 for *******. I immediately called the credit card company to dispute this charge. I received an email from ***** telling me that I had to schedule a meeting with him to discuss my future steps with selfpublishing. I didn't want a meeting with ***** and informed him that if he gave me his phone number I would call him. He emailed me his number and I tried to call him. Between the dates of August 16 and August 25th, I called him 17 times and never received and answer. I left messages after each call. Again, in September selfpublishing has charged my credit card another *******. I have again disputed this charge and the credit card people are following up. I have never signed any agreement or contract with selfpublishing. I just want selfpublishing to stop the unauthorizes drafts against my credit card and to stop emailing me. I hope you can help me. Thank you for what you do in helping me. Thankfully, **********************************
Self Publishing School BBB Reviews
09/05/2023
Complaint Type:
Problems with Product/Service
More info
I signed up for publishing services and paid $1500 for those services on August 22nd. I reached back out to SPS regarding a refund on August 23rd and I was referred to another person on August 24th. They gave me an option to give them a plan "I could work with" and then scheduled another call on August 29th. After evaluating my financial situation and the occurrence of an unfortunate event, I asked again for a refund on September 1st. I was told they would speak with their supervisor about getting a refund but was refused. They told me they could not offer to me what they could not offer to others. However, they actually have a 14-day refund policy and did not offer that option to me. I think that this is deceptive and unfair. I have not utilized their services and today marks day 14. I reached out to their headquarters, but no one was available today and I had to leave them a message. Additionally, I feel like they dragged out this process so that I would be outside of the refund policy window.
Self Publishing .com Better Business Bureau Review
06/07/2023
Complaint Type:
Problems with Product/Service
Status:
Answered
More info
She came about this from ******** link and she didn't know what she was doing. In the process at some point she signed something and given them the right to withdraw $1700 month from her debit card. She only gets $700 every 2 weeks and cant make $1700 a month payment. They refuse to cancel. Next step is legal action with an attorney. This is a mother talking for her daughter. She did not know what she was doing.
Self Publishing School Better Business Bureau Review
06/01/2023
Complaint Type:
Problems with Product/Service
Status:
Answered
More info
I signed up with SPS (paid $6000) and submitted my children's book ******************* on 3/3/23. Agreement was for my book to be done in 6-8 weeks. SPS online submission portal had tech issues that delayed 2 weeks. SPS apologized. 3/17/23 ******************************* and I discussed my timeline, requirements and he asked about my other book I self-published **** Trace and Say) saying SPS would love to put it online as an ebook. I agreed and paid additional $2000 on my credit card for SPS to format for online. Unbeknown to me, they charged an additional $3000 to my card that same day. Thats $11,000 paid to date. I kept in constant contact with ************, my communications were often ignored. I asked for any work product repeatedly and on week 7 ************ said he was behind, and it didn't look like he would make the deadline. I had launch events planned at schools I couldn't change due to school year ending. He said I was his top priority, and he would make it happen but 5 days later he sent me merely a book cover for review but astonishingly the cover was mistakenly a title page, huge mistake. I texted him, emailed him and messaged on ****** docs about error but he did not respond for 4 days. In week 8 I emailed SPS to stop and refund my money due to severe lack of communication, errors, no usable work completed, and missed deadlines. I had no usable work product from SPS. ********************* called 5/1/23, apologized and said this never happened and agreed to a full refund. He said to speak with *********************** as he handles refunds. 5/2/23 ***** called, apologized, asked what can be done to make it right I said my deadlines had been missed and I had lost all faith in SPS. He agreed to a full refund in 6-8 business days to process. 8 days later I emailed and called him because only $2000 of $11000 was refunded to my card. He replied SPS only agreed to refund for *** book - he lied. Emails support my main grievance of no work done on ****** and Whiskers.
Self Publishing .com BBB Testimonial
06/29/2023
Complaint: 20128345
I am rejecting this response because:
I accept only part of the response from the business, SelfPublishing.com, where they assert a refund to me for the full amount is justified,but once again SelfPublishing.com has erroneous accounting. They owe a remaining credit back to my **************** Credit Card for $9,000, not $8,000, and it makes no sense their records do not show the three charges they initiated with ****************.
SelfPublishing.com charged my **************** credit card as follows: $6,000 on 11/10/2022; $2,000 on 3/22/2023; and again on the same day made an unauthorized charge of $3,000,for a total of $11,000. After repeatedly communicating with SelfPublishing.com about their producing zero work product, and apparently fraudulently charging my credit card, they agreed to refund me the full amount, but then proceeded to credit my **************** only for $2,000 on 5/3/2023. $11,000 charged minus a $2,000 credit equals a refund balance owed to me of $9,000.
**************** has already reached out to SelfPublishing.com and SelfPublishing.com can call Amex at ************** to verify all of the charges they initiated. Also, attached are the only two receipts SPS sent to me, both on 3/22/2023 for $3,000 and $2,000, as well as copies of all three Amex statement charges totaling $11,000. In sum, a refund balance of $9,000 is still owed to me (not $8,000).
Regards,
*****************************
Self Publishing .com Better Business Bureau Testimonial
05/25/2023
Complaint Type:
Problems with Product/Service
Status:
Answered
More info
I had signed up for self publishing.com program in April 2022. One week later I experienced a death and became pregnant with health complications, which prevented me from participating in the program. I had written to ask for a refund, and was told that they were unable to issue one but that I could restart the program at any time and they would waive the one year cap. I attempted to contact them to have access to the coaching program beginning in March 2023, but each time I have reached out, I have gotten an automated response that they will put me in touch with the right person and have not heard from anyone.
Customer response
06/01/2023
Complaint: 20103430
I am rejecting this response because:
my mailbox was not fully I had checked it and had someone else leave a message. I have received messages both before and after.
regardless, it has now been a week and I still have not received an email from a customer service representative. This level of support is indicative of my initial complaint. Regards,
Self Publishing School BBB Testimonial
04/18/2023
Complaint Type:
Problems with Product/Service
Status:
Answered
More info
I enrolled in the *** program on 02/26/23. Upon starting the program I realized that a lot of the information they provide can be found online and some of their authors who have published books on Amazon have ebooks flagged for typos. To make things worse, after I enrolled in the program I had a change in circumstance linked to a legal case my family and I are involved in regarding my sister, which led to my inability to write the book I wanted to write. This changed my ability to do the program within 90 days. Once I expressed that I wanted a refund, I felt a switch in how they handled things. I had to meet with someone via phone on 04/04/23 to discuss getting a refund. He told me that I was requesting a refund outside of the usual window (14 days) and would have to consult with his boss about my situation. He admitted on the phone that my situation was unusual given the legal case regarding my sister and the fact that it is preventing me from meeting my initial writing goal of writing a book about her. He said he would get back to me by the end of the week with a decision. That conversation took place two weeks ago and I still do not know if I can at least get a partial refund. Looking back at everything I regret every enrolling in this program as I was told that I would receive something physically in the mail about the program, which never happened. The second coaching call I had was a joke, as once I expressed a problem with being able to write my book the conversation did not flow as well as the first call. It also does not seem like you can easily contact anyone at *** via email. I even had to resort to texting the person I spoke to about a refund for updates about the status. Needless to say, this program is a scam. Once they realize that you are not going to be able to write a book in 90 days there is no support. They need to become more flexible with their refund policy since bad things happen sometimes and only 14 days to request a refund is not enough.
Customer response
05/23/2023
Complaint: 19951249
I am rejecting this response because: they did not address my request for a full or partial refund. I am no longer interested in the resources this program offers. I was not present for my last coaching call because I was waiting for the status of my refund request and I emailed my coach about canceling that call beforehand and she never emailed me back.
Regards,
Self Publishing .com Better Business Bureau Testimonial
12/12/2022
Complaint Type:
Problems with Product/Service
Status:
Answered
More info
I worked in State govt. in ******* (1991-2007) in *********************** Counseling. I became legally blind & have epilepsy because of complications from congenital hydrocephalus. Because of poor accommodations, both ******* forced me out of State jobs. It's been a lifelong goal to write/publish a book. Considering the cost of working w/ a publisher, I explored self publishing & registered for a program with the Self Publishing School. Since a Welcome Call on June 28, 2021, a phone conversation on 10.4.21, e-mails and text messages, I have received no feedback on any materials I have sent to SPS for review. After exchanging e-************ messages with various people, I was referred to their website to scheduled an appt. I had a 30 min. call scheduled for today (12.9.22, 3-3:30). I received an e-mail 30 min prior to the appt confirming the call/phone number. Yet, I did not receive a call from SPS. A career in *********************************** a book has been a lifelong goal. After my vision loss at age eleven, my parents insisted I couldn't work in journalism without driving. Instead, I was forced into State employment for the sake of job security & benefits. Now, my personal/professional experience & work as a *********************** Type Indicator (MBTI) Master Practitioner have inspired a book I want to publish. Unfortunately, I made a bad investment registering with the Self Publishing School. Any assistance you can provide to have my money refunded will be frestly appreicated. Thank You. Sincerely, *************************** ************
Initial Complaint
09/30/2022
Complaint Type:
Problems with Product/Service
Status:
Answered
More info
Date of transaction was 9/27/22. I was contacted by the self publishing school by phone under the guise of getting the opportunity to speak with a publishing professional and get tips on finishing my book. In reality it was a pushy and manipulative sales person. The company promised to provide services and publish my book for a fee. Less then 2 hours later I contacted them for a refund due to a new financial hardship. I had been previously told a refund would not be a problem. Instead of just refunding my money, however, I have received several emails from various sales associates that do not address the current issue but are manipulative in nature stating I just need to be more committed. Since the last communication of repeating the same issue with a third person I have had no response back. I want nothing further to do with a company that values bullying and predatory business practices. Why hasnt a refund been issued since no services have been rendered/ no product purchased, no finished book published? They have fulfilled none of the promises given.
Initial Complaint
11/24/2021
Complaint Type:
Problems with Product/Service
Status:
Resolved
More info
Self Publishing School promised me a full refund for their services after I cancelled their program less than 24 hours after I had paid. That was October 24, 2021 My investigation had subsequently proved their services were not useful to me, hence why I asked for a refund. Repeated emails said the refund was coming, but I have received nothing.I have tried to call ************ but no one ever answers the phone. My emails also ****** no useful response and no REFUND.
Initial Complaint
10/11/2021
Complaint Type:
Problems with Product/Service
Status:
Answered
More info
Registration for this business's event "Author Advantage Live" was completed July 15, 2021 ($197). On August 17, 2021 - two days before the virtual event began - I received an email from them requiring "check-in" which could not be accomplished without me signing a waiver that included among other demands the School's right to uncompensated commercial usage of photographs, video, likeness, class-related work, and/or audio impressions of me. Back and forth with *****************, "Student Success Representative," did not result in bypass of the waiver, modification of written terms, or refund. ***** wrote on August 19, 2021 - the day the event began - "We have the waiver in place, just to say we would love to be able to use photos and testimonials of you to highlight your experience at the event." After I quoted the waiver's language back to him on August 20, 2021, I did not hear again from ***** or from anyone at the School about resolution. The event has now passed, so refund is required."
Customer reviews serve as a window into the reliability and credibility of businesses, offering valuable insights into their practices and customer satisfaction levels. The presence of negative reviews, especially when accompanied by suspicions of fake positive ones, underscores the importance of discernment and critical evaluation in the digital age.
As consumers, it's crucial to look beyond the surface and explore the experiences of others before engaging with any service or product. By examining firsthand accounts and scrutinizing patterns of behavior, we can make informed decisions and hold businesses accountable for their actions.
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