Urgent Info for Audible Users: The Great Listen Guarantee is Dead

I had an interaction with customer support that I felt was urgent to share with other Audible users particularly now around the New Year and Holidays when people are considering giving audiobooks as gifts or renewing year long memberships. Audible’s Great Listen Guarantee is dead, the new policy is that you receive limited returns at Audible’s discretion. I will post the full transcript of my interactions below for those curious but this is a vital distinction for all Audible subscribers.Audible’s Great Listen Guarantee has been a key component of the service for me allowing me to take a chance on new genres, authors, and books that are short in length or irregular. All the while being sure that I am getting superb value for my money and not going to be stuck with a dud. I have a maximal membership and buy credits regularly (I spent $100 on credits just in December outside my membership) but this may change everything for me and I would imagine many others in this community.I would like to believe this was a simple misstep and that Audible is concerned about those abusing the policy and not the rest of us that rely on it. Unfortunately they refused to provide any information on their policy and appear to have not followed up with their promise to submit a ticket. I have included that email below as well without the promised ticket number.I intend to follow up with support if I hear nothing within the next 24-48 hours and I will post updates for those interested. So far the only thing mentioned has been access to the exchange process which could wreck the future of this multi-year project worth thousands of dollars I have with Audible. It begs the question, if Audible determines you are ‘abusing the spirit of their policy’ what recourse do you have as an honest user? Also what is to stop them from disabling or further limiting your account?Users like me put a lot of faith in Audible despite knowing that we don’t own the digital copies of the audiobooks but have access through Audible memberships. Does this new policy threaten that as well?Until I get answers I will be holding off on spending my credits and purchasing any new ones. If I don’t get a response before my renewal date I will have to cancel my membership as well. I just wanted all of you to be informed so that you can be careful about your own purchases as they may cause you to lose access to returns as a whole. I really hope this is a miscommunication.TLDR Audible has effectively changed its Great Listen return policy to one of limited returns at Audible’s discretion. The could or would not provide any more information but I will post updates as I get them.The Transcript of My Exchange Last NightHere’s a copy of the chat transcript you requested:Initial Question: 1::purchases_returns:::2::exchange_audiobook:::Hello,I would like to return the following books please:On Basilisk Station by David WeberGhosts of Gotham by Craig SchaeferThanks!04:13 PM PST Erwin(Audible): Thank you for contacting Audible. My name is Erwin. I can certainly look into this for you.Sure thing, I will be more than happy to return your books.Let me pull up your account first.04:14 PM PST SlipperySnake: great!04:14 PM PST Erwin: We’ve noticed a significantly high number of title exchanges on your Audible membership that might cause you to lose access to exchanges in the future. Per our policy, Audible reserves the right to limit the number of exchanges and refunds allowed by each member, including, but not limited to, the loss of this benefit where Audible suspects abuse of the spirit of the program.04:15 PM PST Erwin: Let me refund those two titles now.04:15 PM PST SlipperySnake: Hold on, has Audible changed its great listen policy?04:15 PM PST Erwin: Not actually, let me refund those titles now.04:16 PM PST Erwin: There you go, I already refunded those 2 titles and now you have the credit on the account.04:17 PM PST SlipperySnake: Then why are you threatening me with removing my access to returns. I am clearly following the policy, have been a member for years, and not once in that entire time has a single associate mentioned this to me beforeI am talking 50+ contacts. Not once!I consistently purchase extra credits, have the maximum membership, and yet you are bringing this up…..04:18 PM PST Erwin: I am sorry for the confusion, we will notify you once we have an update.04:18 PM PST SlipperySnake: No you will forward me to your manager immediately04:19 PM PST Erwin: I understand that you want to speak to a supervisor, sure one moment please.04:22 PM PST Jenn(Audible): Hi my name is Jenn one of the Supervisor. Let me check the account.04:23 PM PST SlipperySnake: Do I need to forward you our chat log?04:25 PM PST Jenn: No need. Thank you.First, I would like to apologize for the trouble.04:26 PM PST Jenn: Upon reviewing the conversation the last agent already explained the new update that we have about returning books.And also the books were returned.04:27 PM PST SlipperySnake: So this is a blanket statement you are giving out to customers with no regard to their purchasing history?04:28 PM PST Jenn: I understand how you feel right now. But we cannot provide additional information about this right now.Per our policy, Audible reserves the right to limit the number of exchanges and refunds allowed by each member, including, but not limited to, the loss of this benefit where Audible suspects abuse of the spirit of the program.04:29 PM PST SlipperySnake: I have bought three credits three times this month….Aside from my maximal membership.04:30 PM PST SlipperySnake: I have been constructively following the rules and using this chat function because you have disabled the normal returns on my account for years now.04:31 PM PST SlipperySnake: Despite that you seem not to want to honor your policy which is shocking to me after years of excellent customer service.04:32 PM PST SlipperySnake: I maybe have had one or two bad interactions ever. In 8 years.04:33 PM PST Jenn: I do understand. As much as I loved to reset the option for you to return books on your end, I don’t have the option.We’re just following the new updates the we have.04:34 PM PST Jenn: For now what we can do is to return the books you would like to return, however this might cause you to lose access to exchanges in the future.04:34 PM PST SlipperySnake: Excuse me but I need to know now before I purchase any books if you are reneging on your Great Listen Policy.04:35 PM PST Jenn: We cannot provide additional information about this. I am sorry04:35 PM PST SlipperySnake: I will have to severely limit my purchases otherwise. Like I said I already spent over 100 dolalrs on extra books this month04:36 PM PST SlipperySnake: Are you alright with me alerting the r\audiobooks the audiobook subreddit to this policy change? Because for long term listeners like me this seems like a critical policy change04:37 PM PST SlipperySnake: I have enthusiastically promoted Audible because of the Great Listen Policy but if it has changed that would immediately change both my and other purchasing behavior.04:39 PM PST Jenn: I understand. What I can do you for right now is to provide a compensation. For the trouble I can add 1 free credit on your account. But about the update that we have right now for exchange i can’t do anything about that and cannot provide additional information.i will additional 1 credit on your account now.04:40 PM PST Jenn: You have total of 3 credits now.04:40 PM PST SlipperySnake: I don’t want the additional credit mam, I have thousands of dollars worth of books in my account. I appreciate the consideration but what I want is an answer04:40 PM PST Jenn: Again, I cannot provide additional information. i will escalate this on our Specialist team then.04:41 PM PST SlipperySnake: I love this service and have used it like crazy for years now. This is huge for me.04:41 PM PST Jenn: Wait for my email for your reference for the ticket ID number.Again, I apologize.04:42 PM PST SlipperySnake: So are they going to connect to his chat?04:42 PM PST Jenn: No. We don’t have option to transfer you to them directly. the only way to contact them is by creating ticket.04:43 PM PST SlipperySnake: What should I expect?04:43 PM PST Jenn: they will contact you within 24-48 hours.04:44 PM PST SlipperySnake: I guess I will wait to hear from them before I buy anymore books04:45 PM PST Jenn: Alright. I will send the ticket ID number after this conversation. For the mean time anything else I may assist you/04:45 PM PST SlipperySnake: Do the credits you refunded have a 12 month time limit from when you refunded them?04:46 PM PST SlipperySnake: or when I initially purchased and is there a way to see when my credits will expire?04:47 PM PST Jenn: yes that is right.04:47 PM PST SlipperySnake: Which one?04:48 PM PST Jenn: there’s 12 month time limit from when you purchased them.04:48 PM PST SlipperySnake: Ok so that is not impacted by their refund?04:48 PM PST Jenn: That is correct04:51 PM PST SlipperySnake: Alright well, this was just a huge shock after all these years to be told the rules might be changed on me.04:52 PM PST SlipperySnake: Thanks for your help, have a pleasant night. I will be disappointed either way but Audible has been a pretty big part of my life after 500+ audiobooks and months of time listened. It would be a shame if rent seeking policy wins out over the stated rules.04:53 PM PST Jenn: Sure. You have a great day also. Again we apologize for the trouble.Thank you for contacting Audible. Bye now.04:53 PM PST SlipperySnake: GoodbyeThe Followup Email without TicketHello Andrew,Thanks for contacting Audible!Audible reserves the right to limit the number of exchanges and refunds allowed by each member, including, but not limited to, the loss of this benefit where Audible suspects abuse of the spirit of the program.If you continue to exchange a high rate of titles, you may lose access to this benefit, per the terms of our exchange policy.If you’re having difficulty finding the right title, we encourage you to listen to samples and read customer reviews prior to making your selection. For assistance, contact us, we’re here, 24/7.Thank you for your understanding, and for being an Audible member.The Audible TeamSincerely,Jenn via /r/audiobooks https://ift.tt/3pkHNNy