redshelf B.
RedShelf tacks on misleading charges for free books
UPDATE: from 2 to 4 stars, as I got a relatively quick response from RedShelf, and they were able to manually opt me out of paying for these free e-books. Thanks Joe! My institution's bookstore began using RedShelf this semester, tacking on $$$ to my tuition bill for materials that are open access (i.e. legally free to download elsewhere), using scare tactics to ensure I didn't feel comfortable opting out, not informing me which materials I was being subscribed to, and not informing my professor until it was too late to opt out. I won't be using any of their materials, but I'm not eligible for a refund as of 6 hours ago, when my professor was only able to inform us that we were being charged for these (again, open access) books 14 hours ago. A perfect example of using university bureaucracy and bloat to profit off students with the least ability to afford it or defend against it.