OnlineBookClub.orgReviews of onlinebookclub.org

I've been with the OnlineBookClub for over 6 years, and my experiences have been nothing but pleasant. Until recently. I won the giveaway prize, and I have always sent receipts to their specific email address. Apparently, it was being phased out. Okay, not a problem. I sent a message asking if I need to resend it, as the email I received immediately after sending my receipt said it was being phased out. It was marked as resolved, and they said they would reply back to me. It is now June 23rd, and I have received no email back about if my receipt was good, and I haven't been paid out at all. I'm not sure if my account has a problem; I logged in and everything was fine. I have tried to get assistance with no response. Customer service has gone downhill, and I am really disappointed with how this has been handled, or lack thereof. I would have no problem removing or changing this review if or when I get the giveaway prize owed and this becomes full resolved. But I would like this looked into, because I did everything I needed to do.

Unfortunately this is a terrible platform with a bad UI, questionable business ethics, and they pay for Amazon reviews. I joined this platform with high hopes, not just to make some extra cash, but to have the opportunity to review books and chat with others. Let me detail my experience: 1. Was convinced by the platform to buy a $3.00 book with my own money to complete a review. This was a terrible and hard to read book, that was mis-categorized as historical fiction when it was actually erotics. Sex scenes, rapes, and even an illegal abortion. But 7 hours of reading and detailing this smut, I made it through. Then, I had my 500+ word review, I did a grammar and spelling check with AI tools, and answered the multiple questions to submit the review. It was all in all over 8 hours of my time, and was supposed to pay $75 as long as I agree to submit an Amazon review (which is kind of shady as well). They flagged my review as plagiarized (I wrote it 100% myself and didn't copy anything) then accused me of using AI (which I only used for editing, and no where on their site is that prohibited). I never got paid. The book sucked. While I was waiting for the review to go through, I tried to read another book, which also sucked. 2. The User Interface is straight out of 1990. Hard to navigate, text based, and badly laid out. The menus are not intuitive and the site is compartmentalized. 3. My conclusion is that this is a site with very low quality books that authors PAY for reviews, and readers are treated less than garbage and promised payouts that don't happen. Save your time if you value it, and don't bother.

After quickly checking other reviews here, I am now convinced that this site has a much deeper issue. Aside from unqualified wannabe reviewers who doesn't know the difference of a Review to a Critique, the customer service and issue resolution process is heavily problematic. (It sounds much worse than that) Main issues I have faced after purchasing a Premium review: 1. Their turnaround times for a level 1 premium review is 4 months. That already exceeds VISA's chargeback guidelines, so there it is - this site already owns you without any guarantee of a refund. Nice trick! 2. As I said, there are people here who wants a quick buck to bash, crucify, and defame authors, especially new indie writers. They try so hard to find anything they can criticize, and use against the author, even going lengths about falsely accusing writers of using AI and running scams. The audacity! And oh, these are all written in the public-facing reviews that Premium users paid for. Who would pay at least 148 bucks to be insulted? They didn't even read the entire book and likely used AI to write their reviews - even got the title wrong. and... 3. Customer service is an aboslute nightmare. Really. Aside from the inconsistency, long response times, different people responding, the issue is NEVER addressed. They are insistent, and absolutely focused on one thing: RIPPING PEOPLE OFF! That's right. They are so active in sending marketing emails that will take more of your money, but takes a very long time to address an issue. 4. Even if the premium customer did not get what they paid for, this site just won't give your money back. It's like buying a premium product and not getting anything but an empty box. That's what this site does. Conclusion: I agree with the other people's reviews, and this is an honest one: OnlineBookClub.org is an absolute Ripoff. Do not fall for it! Most newly published independent authors trying to enter the business (like me) are one of their primary prey. They know how desperate we are in having a decent, professional review to boost our sales. Heed our warning, everyone. This site is NOT going to help you at all. This site is just aimed to syphon money off authors. Now, let's see how fast you respond to this. It's probably much faster than your response time on the emails, and you probably spent more energy and attention responding to this than addressing customer issues. Am I right? So, how does it feel? This is an honest review, though not as brutal and objectively false as your so-called 'professional reviewers' does, but this is a real, authentic, experience-based, verified review. Come on, try and deny.

I found this service to be excellent, as it provided me with a great insight into the readability of my new novel. The review helped me see what others thought of my writing and indicated how I could make edits. Let's face it, when you have gone over your draft a number of times, you become word blind. This service helped me see exactly where I was floundering.

Scott Hughes has consistently told me that he will go "above and beyond" to make things right, but he has never suggested what that could be. He brags that he has over 5 million members, but what he actually has is a lot of people looking for quick and easy money by reviewing books. These reviewers, many of whom are unqualified to review anything of a technical nature, will not care about an author's deeper insights, and once a book has a review, it is unchangeable. What happened to me can only be described as fraud and a scam.

Have been working with this platform for a while, getting help reviewing my book. I felt confident that they could help.

ONline Book Club is a scam. They asked me to review a book. I sent them the review. They asked for my bank account so that they could pay me. Instead they debited my bank account twice with amounts of £42. They keep asking me where the review is and sending me threatening emails, saying they will block me as a reviewer. They deducted money under the name XR Academy. I would Like to add that the director of XR Academy was BAHRA, Taranjit Singh of 87 Greenridge Road, Birmingham, West Midlands, England, B20 1JN. The company was dissolved on 6 February 2024.

They accused me of using AI, claiming I reviewed the book too quickly—even though I actually listened to the audiobook. The AI detection percentage was extremely low, which should have been enough for them to use common sense and recognize it was my own writing. But instead, they insisted on their decision regardless. I can’t help but think their real issue was my honest review of a book filled with racism. Frankly, content like that—sex, excessive profanity, blatant racism—shouldn't be something unsuspecting readers are subjected to. Apparently, if you want to get paid for a review, you have to sugarcoat it to their liking. That’s not something I’d ever waste my time doing. And to make matters worse, one of them even suggested I might have copied someone else’s review—an insulting, baseless accusation that made the entire experience a complete waste of time.