I signed up for the free Trial in september right before Irma struck my home in florida. I thought it would be good to have some audiobooks to listem to. downloaded several as part of the free trial. Didn't listen to any of them though because power and internet are required to play a title downloaded to your device.
After the storm, and things came back up. I started listening to the books I had downloaded. Listened to all of one, and started on a second before they changed the terms of the trial already in progress.
Rather than "Unlimited" access to their audiobooks during the trial, I made it through two books in two weeks, and was barred from listening to any more titles. Ok, fine. I liked the books, I was annoyed by the app, but the idea was worth investing in. So I log in, and agree to convert my trial to a full version membership.
Two days go by, they neither bill me, nor do they allow me to listen to audiobooks. So I message them asking them to cancel my request to upgrade to a full account, and decide to try to upgrade to a full account through the app, and apple app store.
Its slightly more expensive. But if it works, and I can finish my book then so be it.
I paid the 20$, started the full membership, and went on with my life. LIstened to maybe 3 more audiobooks. Then they bill me 15$.
It over drew my account. I had the cash, and caught the issue before I was charged OD fees. It was inconvenient. I'm trying to recover from a terrible storm. But I rolled with it, and emailed customer service.
They promised to refund the 15$.
Then canceled my account.
Supposedly the 15$ is on its way back into my account.
I'm dubious till it happens.
I waited a couple days, and decided to call customer service.
The woman I spoke to was very rude and condescending. asking questions, and then two words into the answer she would talk over me. This happend maybe five times before I told her that was unacceptable and that I wanted to speak with her manager.
She informed me that there are no managers, and if I want help I have to put up with her treating me basically however she chooses to.
She said that the company had treated the matter appropriately. that my account was canceled as it should ahve been, and if I wanted my 20$ back I should talk to Itunes. She can't control whether I have access to their service or not.
I said I really want to stay, I would rather just have access to your content again than the 20$. Just re-activate my account.
Sure can, but I am going to have to bill you a third time.
I lost it.
I hung up on her amidst promises to tell my story to the world.
DO NOT USE PLAYSTER!
Its not worth the aggravation. I've spent hours between emails, phone calls, and their social media page trying to get help, and I'm met with either stony silence or rude condescension.
I wish I had never heard of this terrible company.
All in all its only 35$. its just the time of it all.
I signed up for Playster because it provided unlimited audiobooks at a decent price. I used it on various electronics, an ipad, a computer and a samsung phone, I used it plenty since I spend a lot of time driving to my various offices and out of state to settle my son in college. I also listen to it on my computer while I do my computer work for my job. Well anyway Playster kicked me out without giving me a specific reason. They sent me a list of possible reasons insinuating that I am doing something illegal. I tried to appeal and they rejected my appeal without giving me a reason. As far as I know I was doing nothing illegal. I also was told by a customer service at Playster that I can use it on as many electronics as I want. I was the sole user on my account at Playster I think the real reason I got kicked out is that I may have been costing them to much money. So really it is not an unlimited program. If you use it a lot you get kicked out. It also irks me that the company did not talk to me before denying my appeal.
Same thing happened to me; they lucky account whil h investigate whether or not I have. Violated their terms of use. No advance Notice was given, just an email with a long list of reason as to why I may have violated their rules. still waiting to hear from them. They claim they have 5 to 10 working days to review my account status no I feeel they are waiting until the last day in retaliation for my daily requests for a status update. It is true also that there probbly 9 or 10 books that I tried to add to my aced list that were advertised as being available were not. I am also a member. Of Audible and for the four week Playster free trial period I compared the newly released books from Audible to what wa available from Playster and at most I found to 2 books that were offered from Audible available from plAyster. Playster is a bit. behind on new books being offered. Still, to Playster credit, there are a great selection of books available and I could listen to. Audible does have. A no questions asked return policy and their customer service is much, uch. better selection and impeccable customer service, plus, with Audible you get to keep the books you purchase. Playster did refund my first months fee, but, Even if they restore my account I oo't know if I will still subscribe. I'm waitiiing to see how they hand this and, depending on outcome and reasons, I may Orr may not seek legal advice. They lie about what is available, they have an unstable app, and for a company being. Accused all over the internet for copywrite infringement I find it ridiculous that they would accuse me of such things haring my log in info, sharing my downloads, and many other reasons.
Playster is a new company formed in 2015 that prides itself on values and working with independent authors.
However, they have a serious problem that they appear not willing to address, namely that a lot of their revenue comes from russian based affiliate marketing agencies that refer people to them to subscribe to a membership where they can supposedly download unlimited e-books in pdf form.
The affiliate agencies engage in false and misleading advertising that involves creating vast numbers of websites, sometimes using hijacked domain-names, or using affiliates that create multiple google blogspot blogs hosting scraped descriptions of authors copyrighted titles. The websites often contain download buttons which then redirect to playster.
The websites rank high in google and proport to offer free downloads via playster. The scam is that usually the book is not available, but one only finds out after signing up for a free trial, which many consumers report difficult to cancel and incur charges on their credit cards
The internet has many complaints of such activities.
The scraped websites are always in violation of dmca regulations and playster get around it by claiming it is their affiliates that are responsible. Many of the websites cannot be delisted with google, as they contain hijacked domain names that imitate real ones and when clicked on lead to playster affiliate banners. Because of this, google often cannot locate the original infringing content and such websites rank highly in google for months, even if the affiliate banner is deactivated.
I personally have filed over 100+ dmca complaints with playster. I have also filed complaints with web hosts, one problem being that the hosts are in russia and there is a lot of red tape to file a dmca takedown, including translating the dmca complaint into russian and having it notarized in russian and english. Given the number of infringements, this is beyond the standard means of many independant authors. Thus it can be said such affiliate marketing agencies are dmca immune and thus removing affiliate links is close to impossible.
In december 2016, playster were sent a cease and desist letter in relation to my book, but did not cease and desist the behaviour. Even if one can clear the web, it is only a matter of days before fresh blogs appear with new affiliate advertising.
This does a great disservice to independant authors and playster clearly profit from the behaviour which is wrong.
Some of the affiliate marketing also utilizes fb 'comment farms' where apparently fake users post comments about how good the book is, or how they read the book, even though the book is not available.
This constitutes false and misleading advertising, using copyrighted images of authors books.
The problem is prolific and as yet playster do not have a handle on it. The problem is admitted on their website, althouh is downplayed in contrast to the reality of the situation:-
We work with a number of performance advertising networks, and are aware that, occasionally, third-party sites we don’t own or control might refer to intellectual property in their advertisements for playster that we do not actually carry in our catalogue. While we do our very best to police this, our advertising network is vast, and sometimes unscrupulous advertisers can go unnoticed.
The publishing manager who is colin strachan who appears to be the one that takes dmca complaints, blocked my email, presumably because of the large number of valid dmca complaints, and because i asked him to expunge infringing links from google, which has not been done.
Since then, fresh links have appeared, necessitating further work.
They also dishonoured a us $10, 000 bill from my company for dmca admin work that necessitated making 180+ dmca complaints to clear up the web and ignored a legal cease and desist letter, and continue the behaviour.
They do it to many authors and there are many complaints online about playsters activities.
Independant authors are advised not to publish their work with playster.
Playster is in violation of copyright law for the book Winnie Ruth Judd The Trunk Murders which I and friend Robert J. Hendricks wrote and was published by Grosset and Dunlap in 1973. My wife received a google alert thru email with a link for the free download of the ebook.
Playster is a new company formed in 2015 that prides itself on values and working with independent authors.
However, they have a serious problem that they appear not willing to address, namely that a lot of their revenue comes from Russian based affiliate marketing agencies that refer people to them to subscribe to a membership where they can supposedly download unlimited E-Books in PDF form.
The affiliate agencies engage in false and misleading advertising that involves creating vast numbers of websites, sometimes using hijacked domain-names, or using affiliates that create multiple Google Blogspot blogs hosting scraped descriptions of authors copyrighted titles. The websites often contain download buttons which then redirect to Playster.
The websites rank high in Google and proport to offer free downloads via Playster. The scam is that usually the book is not available, but one only finds out after signing up for a free trial, which many consumers report difficult to cancel and incur charges on their credit cards.
The internet has many complaints of such activities.
The scraped websites are always in violation of DMCA regulations and Playster get around it by claiming it is their affiliates that are responsible. Many of the websites cannot be delisted with Google, as they contain hijacked domain names that imitate real ones and when clicked on lead to Playster affiliate banners. Because of this, Google often cannot locate the original infringing content and such websites rank highly in Google for months, even if the affiliate banner is deactivated.
I personally have filed over 100+ DMCA complaints with Playster. I have also filed complaints with web hosts, one problem being that the hosts are in Russia and there is a lot of red tape to file a DMCA takedown, including translating the DMCA complaint into Russian and having it notarized in Russian and English. Given the number of infringements, this is beyond the standard means of many independant authors. Thus it can be said such affiliate marketing agencies are DMCA immune and thus removing affiliate links is close to impossible.
In December 2016, Playster were sent a cease and desist letter in relation to my book, but did not cease and desist the behaviour. Even if one can clear the web, it is only a matter of days before fresh blogs appear with new affiliate advertising.
This does a great disservice to independant authors and Playster clearly profit from the behaviour which is wrong.
Some of the affiliate marketing also utilizes FB 'comment farms' where apparently fake users post comments about how good the book is, or how they read the book, even though the book is not available.
This constitutes false and misleading advertising, using copyrighted images of authors books.
The problem is prolific and as yet Playster do not have a handle on it. The problem is admitted on their website, althouh is downplayed in contrast to the reality of the situation:-
We work with a number of performance advertising networks, and are aware that, occasionally, third-party sites we don’t own or control might refer to intellectual property in their advertisements for Playster that we do not actually carry in our catalogue. While we do our very best to police this, our advertising network is vast, and sometimes unscrupulous advertisers can go unnoticed.
Independant authors are advised not to publish their work with Playster.
The publishing manager who is Colin Strachan who appears to be the one that takes DMCA complaints, blocked my email, presumably because of the large number of valid DMCA complaints, and because I asked him to expunge infringing links from Google, which has not been done.
Since then, fresh links have appeared, necessitating further work.
Saw a ad online about playster it sounded good so I ordered it , they said if I wasn't happy with it I could cancel any time so when I received the tablet I started using it but wasn't happy with the results and when I tried to cancel they wouldn't do it then the tablet they sent me froze up on me so now I really can't use it and they are still charging me for service that I can't use and I told them that and they said there was nothing they could do about that!! And I have tried stopping the payments but can't do it , I'm very frustrated and don't know what to do next
I was looking for a Honda 360 Service & this site said they have so had to get a 30 deay Free Trial to get the book. after downloading the Book my computer tells me the file is either corrupted or broken.I cancelled my account about a week before my 30 day FREE TRIAL was over. I got a RF # 54919231 from the Girl at Playster Customer Service. Well i checked my Bank Account Today December 5,2016 & i see a charge from Playster for $24.95. Well i'm thinking oh great another fly by night company trying to commit fraud! I'm Fully Disabled & really feeel liked i'm being Harrassed. I get a RF # some some girl who might be on who knows what ever & certainly can't effectively do her job! So i have to suffer & pay the price by having to wait 5 to 10 days for my money back that shouldn;t have been taken in the first place. Bad Experience all in all. Company'slike this shouldn't be in Business or get real help that knows what there doing! You can't even trust a Rf number today WTH?? I have enough Medical to worry about let alone this crap!
Playster.Com are reported for questionable activities and for promoting a 'bait and switch' scam designed to attract subscribers to sign up for a Playster free trial, with the lure of being able to download a free book in PDF format.
The scam is that the PDF of the book is not available on Playster, yet Playster affiliates are busy filling up Google search results with spammy self-hosted wordpress websites.
When clicked on, sometimes one lands on a Playster landing page featuring a banner, offering the book in PDF form, using copyrighted book images without author permission. One must then sign up for a Playster free trial, only to find the PDF does not actually exist.
The extent of the problem is significant in that many independant authors report problems with Playster and filing DMCA's.kboards.com/index.php?topic=219428.0">http://www.kboards.com/index.php?topic=219428.0
They appear not to be hosting PDFs, yet claim to do so in such a misleading and persistent manner, that someone searching for a book title on Google may find many fake websites operated by Playster affiliates.
This is confirmed by another author, where a post on 247news.net explains the scam.
In brief, the scam involves using author names, book titles and copyrighted images scraped from Amazon or Goodreads, having affiliates make websites that then confuse consumers into signing up with Playster, where they find the PDF is not there.
Playster claim to submit DMCA takedown requests on behalf of authors who complain, yet links can persist for some weeks, or fresh websites appear, bearing the same affiliate code. In one instance, an affiliate code was linked to 125+ DMCA infringements.
When Playster were made aware, they did nothing to terminate the affiliate, and Colin, the communications manager, had nothing more to say. Playster clearly pay the affiliates and thus must know who they are, but choose not to act and thus their behaviour is somewhat questionable.
The company Playster appears a fresh start-up (2015), but there is nothing new, fresh or innovative about building a file sharing or media downloading venture based on spamming, upsetting authors or abusing copyright.
There are also complaints in the consumer arena about not being able to cancel a Playster subscription, and seems a close variation on the Usenet.Nl scam (offering free trials and then not allowing cancellations).
Playster are not recommended for ebook downloads, for the content advertised is often not present, and is not recommended for independant authors, for once spammers have access to your book descriptions, one may find one spends months of ones life filing DMCA takedown requests.
The screenshots show the misleading advertising that Playster promote, in violation of authors rights.
Other unhappy authors should contact Colin Strachan the communications manager, as well as to file DMCA complaints with Google, and to contact the Playster site hosts.
One can also send a formal cease and desist letter to Playster, that Playster are legally obliged to honour to avoid legal reprecussions later. Authors are also advised to take screenshots of offending links and to use video capture software to demonstrate the links in action.
I was searching for my book trailer on you tube when I located another youtube video on it. This company called Playster was advertizing my book asying that if you joined their club, they could download my book for free.
I knew nothing of this until now. No one approached me about giving my book away for free. They are breaking copyright laws by doing this.
I tried to go to their other sites (Facebook, LinkedIn and others. These do not exist. They area not only ripping me off but anyone foolish enough to give them their credit card information to sign up for free games, movies, videos, books etc.)
I want them to cease and desist immediately with their illegal activities. Thank you for any help you can give us to close these crooks down.
I first went to www.playster.com because of a banner ad that was advertising a free tablet and headphones with new membership. So I went to the site and there was a button for a 30-day free trial and a picture of a woman using the tablet and headphones I had seen in the ad.
So I clicked on the button for the trial membership, and I was shown different membership options. Only one inluded the "combobox" of tablet and headphones for $24.95/ month. So I clicked on that and went back to the home page.
Further down on the home page was a button that said tablet and headphones, pay only $9.95 S/H.So I entered my credit card information, expecting a free month, after which I would be billed $24.95/month.
Not only was I charged the $9.95 S/H, but also $24.95 for the first month of a one-year contract.
I contacted Playster.com and was told the money is not refundable, we apologize for any misunderstanding. I don't want anything from them anymore, except every cent back in my account.
Playster Corporation Reviews
I signed up for the free Trial in september right before Irma struck my home in florida. I thought it would be good to have some audiobooks to listem to. downloaded several as part of the free trial. Didn't listen to any of them though because power and internet are required to play a title downloaded to your device.
After the storm, and things came back up. I started listening to the books I had downloaded. Listened to all of one, and started on a second before they changed the terms of the trial already in progress.
Rather than "Unlimited" access to their audiobooks during the trial, I made it through two books in two weeks, and was barred from listening to any more titles. Ok, fine. I liked the books, I was annoyed by the app, but the idea was worth investing in. So I log in, and agree to convert my trial to a full version membership.
Two days go by, they neither bill me, nor do they allow me to listen to audiobooks. So I message them asking them to cancel my request to upgrade to a full account, and decide to try to upgrade to a full account through the app, and apple app store.
Its slightly more expensive. But if it works, and I can finish my book then so be it.
I paid the 20$, started the full membership, and went on with my life. LIstened to maybe 3 more audiobooks. Then they bill me 15$.
It over drew my account. I had the cash, and caught the issue before I was charged OD fees. It was inconvenient. I'm trying to recover from a terrible storm. But I rolled with it, and emailed customer service.
They promised to refund the 15$.
Then canceled my account.
Supposedly the 15$ is on its way back into my account.
I'm dubious till it happens.
I waited a couple days, and decided to call customer service.
The woman I spoke to was very rude and condescending. asking questions, and then two words into the answer she would talk over me. This happend maybe five times before I told her that was unacceptable and that I wanted to speak with her manager.
She informed me that there are no managers, and if I want help I have to put up with her treating me basically however she chooses to.
She said that the company had treated the matter appropriately. that my account was canceled as it should ahve been, and if I wanted my 20$ back I should talk to Itunes. She can't control whether I have access to their service or not.
I said I really want to stay, I would rather just have access to your content again than the 20$. Just re-activate my account.
Sure can, but I am going to have to bill you a third time.
I lost it.
I hung up on her amidst promises to tell my story to the world.
DO NOT USE PLAYSTER!
Its not worth the aggravation. I've spent hours between emails, phone calls, and their social media page trying to get help, and I'm met with either stony silence or rude condescension.
I wish I had never heard of this terrible company.
All in all its only 35$. its just the time of it all.
I signed up for Playster because it provided unlimited audiobooks at a decent price. I used it on various electronics, an ipad, a computer and a samsung phone, I used it plenty since I spend a lot of time driving to my various offices and out of state to settle my son in college. I also listen to it on my computer while I do my computer work for my job. Well anyway Playster kicked me out without giving me a specific reason. They sent me a list of possible reasons insinuating that I am doing something illegal. I tried to appeal and they rejected my appeal without giving me a reason. As far as I know I was doing nothing illegal. I also was told by a customer service at Playster that I can use it on as many electronics as I want. I was the sole user on my account at Playster I think the real reason I got kicked out is that I may have been costing them to much money. So really it is not an unlimited program. If you use it a lot you get kicked out. It also irks me that the company did not talk to me before denying my appeal.
Highly dissatisfied
Same thing happened to me; they lucky account whil h investigate whether or not I have. Violated their terms of use. No advance Notice was given, just an email with a long list of reason as to why I may have violated their rules. still waiting to hear from them. They claim they have 5 to 10 working days to review my account status no I feeel they are waiting until the last day in retaliation for my daily requests for a status update. It is true also that there probbly 9 or 10 books that I tried to add to my aced list that were advertised as being available were not. I am also a member. Of Audible and for the four week Playster free trial period I compared the newly released books from Audible to what wa available from Playster and at most I found to 2 books that were offered from Audible available from plAyster. Playster is a bit. behind on new books being offered. Still, to Playster credit, there are a great selection of books available and I could listen to. Audible does have. A no questions asked return policy and their customer service is much, uch. better selection and impeccable customer service, plus, with Audible you get to keep the books you purchase. Playster did refund my first months fee, but, Even if they restore my account I oo't know if I will still subscribe. I'm waitiiing to see how they hand this and, depending on outcome and reasons, I may Orr may not seek legal advice. They lie about what is available, they have an unstable app, and for a company being. Accused all over the internet for copywrite infringement I find it ridiculous that they would accuse me of such things haring my log in info, sharing my downloads, and many other reasons.
Playster is a new company formed in 2015 that prides itself on values and working with independent authors.
However, they have a serious problem that they appear not willing to address, namely that a lot of their revenue comes from russian based affiliate marketing agencies that refer people to them to subscribe to a membership where they can supposedly download unlimited e-books in pdf form.
The affiliate agencies engage in false and misleading advertising that involves creating vast numbers of websites, sometimes using hijacked domain-names, or using affiliates that create multiple google blogspot blogs hosting scraped descriptions of authors copyrighted titles. The websites often contain download buttons which then redirect to playster.
The websites rank high in google and proport to offer free downloads via playster. The scam is that usually the book is not available, but one only finds out after signing up for a free trial, which many consumers report difficult to cancel and incur charges on their credit cards
The internet has many complaints of such activities.
The scraped websites are always in violation of dmca regulations and playster get around it by claiming it is their affiliates that are responsible. Many of the websites cannot be delisted with google, as they contain hijacked domain names that imitate real ones and when clicked on lead to playster affiliate banners. Because of this, google often cannot locate the original infringing content and such websites rank highly in google for months, even if the affiliate banner is deactivated.
I personally have filed over 100+ dmca complaints with playster. I have also filed complaints with web hosts, one problem being that the hosts are in russia and there is a lot of red tape to file a dmca takedown, including translating the dmca complaint into russian and having it notarized in russian and english. Given the number of infringements, this is beyond the standard means of many independant authors. Thus it can be said such affiliate marketing agencies are dmca immune and thus removing affiliate links is close to impossible.
In december 2016, playster were sent a cease and desist letter in relation to my book, but did not cease and desist the behaviour. Even if one can clear the web, it is only a matter of days before fresh blogs appear with new affiliate advertising.
This does a great disservice to independant authors and playster clearly profit from the behaviour which is wrong.
Some of the affiliate marketing also utilizes fb 'comment farms' where apparently fake users post comments about how good the book is, or how they read the book, even though the book is not available.
This constitutes false and misleading advertising, using copyrighted images of authors books.
The problem is prolific and as yet playster do not have a handle on it. The problem is admitted on their website, althouh is downplayed in contrast to the reality of the situation:-
We work with a number of performance advertising networks, and are aware that, occasionally, third-party sites we don’t own or control might refer to intellectual property in their advertisements for playster that we do not actually carry in our catalogue. While we do our very best to police this, our advertising network is vast, and sometimes unscrupulous advertisers can go unnoticed.
The publishing manager who is colin strachan who appears to be the one that takes dmca complaints, blocked my email, presumably because of the large number of valid dmca complaints, and because i asked him to expunge infringing links from google, which has not been done.
Since then, fresh links have appeared, necessitating further work.
They also dishonoured a us $10, 000 bill from my company for dmca admin work that necessitated making 180+ dmca complaints to clear up the web and ignored a legal cease and desist letter, and continue the behaviour.
They do it to many authors and there are many complaints online about playsters activities.
Independant authors are advised not to publish their work with playster.
Signed
One unhappy independant author
Playster is in violation of copyright law for the book Winnie Ruth Judd The Trunk Murders which I and friend Robert J. Hendricks wrote and was published by Grosset and Dunlap in 1973. My wife received a google alert thru email with a link for the free download of the ebook.
Playster is a new company formed in 2015 that prides itself on values and working with independent authors.
However, they have a serious problem that they appear not willing to address, namely that a lot of their revenue comes from Russian based affiliate marketing agencies that refer people to them to subscribe to a membership where they can supposedly download unlimited E-Books in PDF form.
The affiliate agencies engage in false and misleading advertising that involves creating vast numbers of websites, sometimes using hijacked domain-names, or using affiliates that create multiple Google Blogspot blogs hosting scraped descriptions of authors copyrighted titles. The websites often contain download buttons which then redirect to Playster.
The websites rank high in Google and proport to offer free downloads via Playster. The scam is that usually the book is not available, but one only finds out after signing up for a free trial, which many consumers report difficult to cancel and incur charges on their credit cards.
The internet has many complaints of such activities.
The scraped websites are always in violation of DMCA regulations and Playster get around it by claiming it is their affiliates that are responsible. Many of the websites cannot be delisted with Google, as they contain hijacked domain names that imitate real ones and when clicked on lead to Playster affiliate banners. Because of this, Google often cannot locate the original infringing content and such websites rank highly in Google for months, even if the affiliate banner is deactivated.
I personally have filed over 100+ DMCA complaints with Playster. I have also filed complaints with web hosts, one problem being that the hosts are in Russia and there is a lot of red tape to file a DMCA takedown, including translating the DMCA complaint into Russian and having it notarized in Russian and English. Given the number of infringements, this is beyond the standard means of many independant authors. Thus it can be said such affiliate marketing agencies are DMCA immune and thus removing affiliate links is close to impossible.
In December 2016, Playster were sent a cease and desist letter in relation to my book, but did not cease and desist the behaviour. Even if one can clear the web, it is only a matter of days before fresh blogs appear with new affiliate advertising.
This does a great disservice to independant authors and Playster clearly profit from the behaviour which is wrong.
Some of the affiliate marketing also utilizes FB 'comment farms' where apparently fake users post comments about how good the book is, or how they read the book, even though the book is not available.
This constitutes false and misleading advertising, using copyrighted images of authors books.
The problem is prolific and as yet Playster do not have a handle on it. The problem is admitted on their website, althouh is downplayed in contrast to the reality of the situation:-
We work with a number of performance advertising networks, and are aware that, occasionally, third-party sites we don’t own or control might refer to intellectual property in their advertisements for Playster that we do not actually carry in our catalogue. While we do our very best to police this, our advertising network is vast, and sometimes unscrupulous advertisers can go unnoticed.
https://blog.playster.com/authors-publishers-what-playster-can-do-for-you/
Independant authors are advised not to publish their work with Playster.
The publishing manager who is Colin Strachan who appears to be the one that takes DMCA complaints, blocked my email, presumably because of the large number of valid DMCA complaints, and because I asked him to expunge infringing links from Google, which has not been done.
Since then, fresh links have appeared, necessitating further work.
Signed
One Unhappy Independant Author
Saw a ad online about playster it sounded good so I ordered it , they said if I wasn't happy with it I could cancel any time so when I received the tablet I started using it but wasn't happy with the results and when I tried to cancel they wouldn't do it then the tablet they sent me froze up on me so now I really can't use it and they are still charging me for service that I can't use and I told them that and they said there was nothing they could do about that!! And I have tried stopping the payments but can't do it , I'm very frustrated and don't know what to do next
I was looking for a Honda 360 Service & this site said they have so had to get a 30 deay Free Trial to get the book. after downloading the Book my computer tells me the file is either corrupted or broken.I cancelled my account about a week before my 30 day FREE TRIAL was over. I got a RF # 54919231 from the Girl at Playster Customer Service. Well i checked my Bank Account Today December 5,2016 & i see a charge from Playster for $24.95. Well i'm thinking oh great another fly by night company trying to commit fraud! I'm Fully Disabled & really feeel liked i'm being Harrassed. I get a RF # some some girl who might be on who knows what ever & certainly can't effectively do her job! So i have to suffer & pay the price by having to wait 5 to 10 days for my money back that shouldn;t have been taken in the first place. Bad Experience all in all. Company'slike this shouldn't be in Business or get real help that knows what there doing! You can't even trust a Rf number today WTH?? I have enough Medical to worry about let alone this crap!
Playster.Com are reported for questionable activities and for promoting a 'bait and switch' scam designed to attract subscribers to sign up for a Playster free trial, with the lure of being able to download a free book in PDF format.
The scam is that the PDF of the book is not available on Playster, yet Playster affiliates are busy filling up Google search results with spammy self-hosted wordpress websites.
When clicked on, sometimes one lands on a Playster landing page featuring a banner, offering the book in PDF form, using copyrighted book images without author permission. One must then sign up for a Playster free trial, only to find the PDF does not actually exist.
The extent of the problem is significant in that many independant authors report problems with Playster and filing DMCA's.kboards.com/index.php?topic=219428.0">http://www.kboards.com/index.php?topic=219428.0
http://the-digital-reader.com/2015/08/13/psa-playster-isnt-illegally-hosting-your-pdfs/
They appear not to be hosting PDFs, yet claim to do so in such a misleading and persistent manner, that someone searching for a book title on Google may find many fake websites operated by Playster affiliates.
This is confirmed by another author, where a post on 247news.net explains the scam.
http://247news.net/news/amazon-playster-jeffbezos-accused-fraud-author-lawyer/
In brief, the scam involves using author names, book titles and copyrighted images scraped from Amazon or Goodreads, having affiliates make websites that then confuse consumers into signing up with Playster, where they find the PDF is not there.
Playster claim to submit DMCA takedown requests on behalf of authors who complain, yet links can persist for some weeks, or fresh websites appear, bearing the same affiliate code. In one instance, an affiliate code was linked to 125+ DMCA infringements.
When Playster were made aware, they did nothing to terminate the affiliate, and Colin, the communications manager, had nothing more to say. Playster clearly pay the affiliates and thus must know who they are, but choose not to act and thus their behaviour is somewhat questionable.
The company Playster appears a fresh start-up (2015), but there is nothing new, fresh or innovative about building a file sharing or media downloading venture based on spamming, upsetting authors or abusing copyright.
There are also complaints in the consumer arena about not being able to cancel a Playster subscription, and seems a close variation on the Usenet.Nl scam (offering free trials and then not allowing cancellations).
Playster are not recommended for ebook downloads, for the content advertised is often not present, and is not recommended for independant authors, for once spammers have access to your book descriptions, one may find one spends months of ones life filing DMCA takedown requests.
The screenshots show the misleading advertising that Playster promote, in violation of authors rights.
Other unhappy authors should contact Colin Strachan the communications manager, as well as to file DMCA complaints with Google, and to contact the Playster site hosts.
One can also send a formal cease and desist letter to Playster, that Playster are legally obliged to honour to avoid legal reprecussions later. Authors are also advised to take screenshots of offending links and to use video capture software to demonstrate the links in action.
I was searching for my book trailer on you tube when I located another youtube video on it. This company called Playster was advertizing my book asying that if you joined their club, they could download my book for free.
I knew nothing of this until now. No one approached me about giving my book away for free. They are breaking copyright laws by doing this.
I tried to go to their other sites (Facebook, LinkedIn and others. These do not exist. They area not only ripping me off but anyone foolish enough to give them their credit card information to sign up for free games, movies, videos, books etc.)
I want them to cease and desist immediately with their illegal activities. Thank you for any help you can give us to close these crooks down.
I first went to www.playster.com because of a banner ad that was advertising a free tablet and headphones with new membership. So I went to the site and there was a button for a 30-day free trial and a picture of a woman using the tablet and headphones I had seen in the ad.
So I clicked on the button for the trial membership, and I was shown different membership options. Only one inluded the "combobox" of tablet and headphones for $24.95/ month. So I clicked on that and went back to the home page.
Further down on the home page was a button that said tablet and headphones, pay only $9.95 S/H.So I entered my credit card information, expecting a free month, after which I would be billed $24.95/month.
Not only was I charged the $9.95 S/H, but also $24.95 for the first month of a one-year contract.
I contacted Playster.com and was told the money is not refundable, we apologize for any misunderstanding. I don't want anything from them anymore, except every cent back in my account.