Collective Books Co Reviews 553

Beware of extra hidden charges without any agreement. No response to the refund either.

I purchased a product and later discovered I had been enrolled in a paid subscription via fine print. I never used or accessed the subscription, yet was charged $35/month without clear, affirmative consent.

When I contacted customer service immediately, they refused to refund the charge, citing their terms instead of addressing the misleading enrollment.

Buyers should be extremely cautious — this is a negative-option billing practice that’s easy to miss and difficult to reverse.

Scammers! Do not buy from them. The book came in time and all seemed good but one month later I recieved a $50 charge I had never approved on my card. When I emailed the company for help- I could only talk to robots. It took me 15min just to figure out how to cancel the subscription they had signed me up for without my consent!

Find another one of these book manufacturers. There are plenty of better options.

They did the bare minimum that it wasn't outright theft. Delivery was so delayed as to make the gift useless. Also be weary they, sneakily sign you up for some subscription and then make it difficult to cancel and refuse to refund. Shame cause it's a great idea for a product, unfortunately these guys are greedy and execute it so poorly

I had a very bad experience with this website. When I purchased the book, the delivery time was never clearly stated, not even after it was "sent". I paid for expedited shipping, yet the order took more than two weeks to arrive and was delivered after the date I actually needed it.

I requested a refund due to the delay, but I was told that refunds are not available for discounted books — which is misleading, since all of their books are sold as discounted.

If Trustpilot allowed it, I would include a screenshot of the email I received confirming this response. For these reasons, I do not recommend buying from this site.

Scam. Unauthorised charge to my account of $54.99 for a subscription to their 'community' 1 month after initial purchase of book.

Great books as advertised and good quality.

Got caught by the “complimentary” legacy community access for £29.99 recurring monthly. Not cool. When questioned I was basically told by email that it was clearly stated and I should’ve seen it. Great customer service. Most companies would just refund the money. Won’t be using again.

I was charged for a subscription I never consented to and never authorized.
When I contacted customer support, they attempted to justify the charge by referring to their Terms of Service, despite the fact that no valid subscription existed in the first place. Terms of Service are irrelevant when there is no consent and no contract.
Additionally, my American Express card details were retained without my consent, which constitutes unlawful processing of personal data under GDPR. In the absence of consent for the subscription, there is no lawful basis to store or process payment data associated with it.
As a result, I have initiated a formal dispute with American Express.
This is not a matter of dissatisfaction with a service, but of unauthorized billing and improper handling of personal and payment data. I would strongly advise others to be extremely cautious.

They enroll you in a subscription for a “community” and will not offer a refund of that even if contacted within the first 24hrs of the paid period. Their emails look like spam messages too.

The books weren't terrible but they never disclosed a recurring $35 monthly charge for some "online community" that I never wanted or consented to.

I ordered something from this company on December 4th.

Apparently this came with a 30 day free access to their "community".

NOWHERE in any text/purchase email was there mention of a monthly fee. Apparently making any purchase with them entitles them to subscribe you to a monthly subscription of $34.99.

upon recieving notice that a subscription renewal had happened, I logged on and tried to cancel it, but guess what, couldnt cancel it. Tried to get a refund, oh look at that, the refund policy says you cant get refunded for a subscription.

absolute bullshit. Do not give this company a penny, nor a second of your time. I do not believe this is a legitimate company as they do not even have an address, only an email address.

It was a bit long to arrive due to the Xmas period but very happy with the outcome

Books are fine, I'm getting charged for some kind of subscription and I don't know how to cancel it, disgustingly hidden mandatory subscription, be careful.

The books are good, but the main problem with this company, that they add you a paid subscribtion for 30 days free trial as a gift, and with no permission just charge your card in a month. I was surprised this morning for -29,99€ for product that I never ordered and have never gave a permission to charge me. I can’t recommend them just for that.

They charge unauthorized money for subscription. When contact them for refund, they refused.

I previously made a purchase of two books from this company, which I received without any issues. However, I have now been charged for a transaction that I did not authorize and did not make.

The fact that this company has my credit card information and is making unauthorized charges is extremely concerning and makes me feel unsafe as a customer. This situation is unacceptable.

I am requesting an immediate refund for this charge and demand to be contacted by a real person, not an automated response or chatbot. The holiday season is already over, so there is no justification for delays.

I expect prompt resolution and clear communication. If this matter is not addressed immediately, I will take further action.

I also ask for my bank information to be deleted permanently!

All good with the books but they subscribed me to their online Community although i never accepted nor i registered myself in there. After a month they charged me again the subscription (35 EUR!!!!!!!) And as i complained because i never even registered myself (although there is point that said that the subscription was only valid after registration etc etc) they refused to refund me and they didn't even answer my emails anymore. Then as i finally accepted my luck and registered in the website to only be able to unsubscribe, finding the unsubscription button was terribly difficult. Finally after i found it, i went to my account data to still find my card details there, and what did it say underneath? NEXT PAYMENT PLANNED FOR THE NEXT MONTH. Still after unsubscribing!!!!!!! I already sent an email asking for confirmation of my unsubscription and of the erase of my account but they still didn't answer.
So my advice, only buy here if you are then prepared to begin an odyssey of headaches and almost impossible unsubscriptions

I didn't receive any items. Couldn't use the Tracking number, the link expired.

Definitely a SCAM. I ordered, never received the product. I keep sending emails. No REPLY.

DO NOT BUY

Aware of the hidden fee for the Online Community Service, even you don’t required it! The quality of the book itself is good. My only complaint about the product is the poor packaging — it was shipped in a simple bubble wrap envelope, and the hardcover arrived with dents and scratches. For a book this overpriced (which you can easily find on Amazon for half the price with 2–3 day delivery), I expected much better care in packaging.

However, my biggest issue, and the reason for the low rating, is the hidden fees and the extremely poor customer service. I noticed a $44.99 charge on my credit card (the same day I received the book) for something I never authorized. When I contacted CBC, they said it was a monthly fee for their Online Community Service — a service I did not request, do not need, and personally find ridiculous (paying more for the service than for the actual product).

Despite never using the service, I still haven’t received any refund. Their justification is that “A 30-day free access to our community was included with your purchase,” yet they charged me immediately. I’ve sent multiple emails requesting support, but all I get are automated replies, repeating the same scripted message over and over. It’s frustrating and feels like an endless loop with no human support.

This experience has left me very disappointed.