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Audible class action overview:
- Who: Plaintiffs Renee Viveros and Christine Bias filed a class action lawsuit against Audible, Inc.
- Why: Plaintiffs claim that Audible automatically charges monthly or yearly subscription charges without properly disclosing the auto-renewal.
- Where: The Audible class action was filed in Superior Court in King County, Washington.
Plaintiffs Renee Viveros and Christine Bias filed a class action lawsuit regarding Audible’s auto-renewal subscriptions claiming that the scheme violates California’s Automatic Renewal Law, which requires clear and conspicuous disclosure of terms before the subscription begins and the requirement of affirmative consent.
The Audible class action applies to all consumers who enrolled in Audible while in California.
Businesses must also provide easy subscription cancellations through a “prominently located” cancellation feature or “immediately accessible” pre-written cancellation email. Audible does not clearly make the Audible subscriptions terms available and then automatically charges consumers anywhere from $7.95 to $229.50 for monthly or yearly charges on their credit or debit cards, according to the Audible class action.
“When it automatically enrolls customers in the Audible Subscriptions, Defendant fails to make required disclosures or obtain these authorizations,” the Audible class action claims. “And Defendant’s uniform cancellation process utilizes a complex, multi-step cancellation procedure that incorporates a survey before consumers can effectuate their cancellation.”
Audible uses what are called “dark patterns” to deceive consumers with the Audible subscriptions renewal scheme and has profited from that scheme, the Audible class action claims.
Audible now has 63.4% of the U.S. audiobook market, Audible class action says
Audible’s foothold on the audiobook industry has grown from $385 million in audiobook sales in the U.S. in 2018, 41% of the market, but grew to 63.4% of the market by 2022.
The plaintiffs are asking for damages, restitution, declaratory relief, private and public injunctive relief and reasonable attorneys’ fees in the Audible class action.
Audible faced a 2020 lawsuit from a blind customer claiming the company was misleading California customers with its free trials and did not state in clear and concise terms the Audible subscriptions terms.
Have you signed up for Audible and received unexpected subscription charges? Let us know in the comments.
The plaintiff is represented by Kim D. Stephens and Rebecca L. Solomon of Tousley Brain Stephens LLC along with Hart L. Robinovitch and Zachary J. Freese of Zimmerman Reed LLP.
The Audible subscriptions class action lawsuit is Viveros, et al. v. Audible Inc., Case No. 23-2-09699-1 SEA, in the Superior Court for Kings County, Washington.
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89 thoughts onAudible class action alleges company ‘tricks’ consumers into automatically renewing subscriptions
Please add me
I have multiple charges to my account for an audible subscription I never had. I’ve only noticed it now but it looks like it’s been costing me a lot each month. This is quite ridiculous given I never subscribed and only have ever had a prime subscription. I want my money back
Normally, I only have positive things to say about audible, but recently I purchased a three month subscription as a gift for someone for Christmas (hoping to share the joy of audiobooks) only to have them contact me, saying that audible converted my gift into three credits, because they had already had an audible account. At first I didn’t see the problem, but then I realized that audible was still going to collect their membership charge that month. They affectively nullified half of my gift, because the three month subscription comes with three credits at a rate of one per month, but because she already had a subscription, they just gave her the credits upfront, so they could still collect the 30 bucks over three months. To me, that kind of business practice is so egregious that I came looking for a class action lawsuit against audible. And here I am. I don’t understand how we can be legal to sell a product under the pretense that the person you’re getting it for won’t have to pay, unless if we’re already expecting money from that person. I mean imagine paying a family member’s phone bill only to realize that they still had to make their payment that month. I really cannot understand why it would be legal to do that. That’s one of the shittiest things I’ve ever even heard of and, like I said, I really do love audible. This has completely shattered my idea of this company.
I have had audible trick me into being resubscribed multiple times by “reading” a free copy of a book in my kindle unlimited subscription. My husband was recently subscribed to audible even though he doesn’t use audiobooks at wll… They had been changing him for months with no knowledge of the charges until I questioned why he had an audible account…he had no clue. I’ve gone so far as to have audible put in my account information that if I ever sign up again it is fraudulent because I will never use their service ever ever again… Seriously I made them and it to my profile.
Amazon audible continues to rob me and tell me I don’t have a subscription
Audible REMOVED all of my downloaded books when my wife cancelled our Prime account. It then removed the files from one if my old computers the next time I powered it up. 20 hours of customer service calls with multiple managers has only resulted in Audible telling me I don’t have av account.
Audible did me dirty auto renewing not using the service since 2019. Much more detail available.
Audible told me if I canceled I would lose all my books I bought. I couldn’t figure out how to cancel.
I canceled my audible subscription. I disputed my bank charges. Amazon Audible has been charging & attempting to charge other credit cards I have used previously to make prime or audible purchases. In reviewing several different cards I am outraged I have to look tgru mass paperwork for notes when I cancelled and gather all the facts. I’m going to start by disputing remaining charges by Amazon.
Add me in please
This is practically criminal. They won’t let you save credits to buy books after you cancel. They let you pause but only for a couple months and auto-kick on the membership again. I can’t even cancel now from the app or online. They say to call them with no phone number listed. I can’t even believe after the 2022 lawsuit they are doing the same exact thing with a different flavor. I’m stuck with an auto-renewal warning date on 10/7/23 with no clear instructions on how to cancel and if I do, I have to download all my credits and use them up before I cancel. Never have I ever worked with any company with such poor policies before. To think it’s in the realm of education is just even more insulting. A book company? Crazy. I don’t comment or even get riled up that easily but this has been going on for years.
I’ve had same issue with audible and peacock
I have cancelled audible twice!
And I still continue to get billed!
I have have never viewed their selection, nor have I ever downloaded anything from them. So tired of these greedy companies robbing us all!