I have been an Audible member on and off since 2010 and have purchased approximately 130 titles. In June 2026 I received a promotional email offering membership at 99p per month for three months. I accepted, intending to purchase around 10 additional titles.

The email did not make clear that this was the new Audible Standard plan — a fundamentally different product from the credit-based membership I had used for 16 years which currently costs £8.99 per month. Under the new Standard plan, titles are only accessible while your membership is active. Cancel, and you lose them. Every one of my previous 130 purchases worked the opposite way: buy it, keep it forever. The email described the offer in terms indistinguishable from the old model. It also quoted £8.99 as the ongoing price - which indicates the original plan I have been on previously - yet the fine print said £5.99 — the cost of the quite different Standard plan. There was no explanation of why these two different ongoing cost figures were quoted in the same promotional e-mail.

When I signed up and visited the site, there was nothing to reassure me that my existing 130 titles were safe under the new plan's terms. I contacted chat in genuine alarm that my library was at risk.

The automated chat system then cancelled my membership without any confirmation step when I selected "Cancel Membership" as a topic I wanted to discuss. Before that, it had trapped me in a loop, repeatedly asking "What do you need help with today?" regardless of what I selected.

The agent who I eventually spoke with restored the plan and processed a refund. But when I expressed frustration, the agent told me "complaining is not a solution" and lectured me about it. When I asked to speak to a manager, I was refused. When I asked how to log a formal complaint, I was told no complaints procedure existed.

I then submitted a formal complaint by email to Audible's customer care address. Within one minute I received an automated reply saying the inbox is not monitored. I escalated to two Amazon executive email addresses. No response. I sent a follow-up two weeks later. No response. I sent a formal letter by recorded delivery to Audible's registered office. Confirmed delivered. No response.

Seven weeks. Four channels. Complete silence. I'm voting with my feet.

If you are considering Audible - you may want to consider the alternatives first:

For streaming only (not ownership of titles): Spotify Premium (yes really).

If you want to own the titles forever: Libro.fm (£7.99 per month - and titles not restricted to their app) or Kobo (£6.99 per month).

There are many more - including free eBook readers (such as Libby) from public libraries.