ComplaintsforEber & Wein, Inc

• Initial Complaint

  01/06/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Product Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  My transaction was in 2022 for the Whose Who Book in Poetry for the year 2022. I paid these people big money to publish my poem entitled *** ********* ******* and ************ **** *** and they horribly botched the printing of my poem by misspelling an easy three letter word in the title making me feel hurt and humiliated. I want my money back. They also should compensate me for my pain and suffering and the public embarrassment of it all. This company should go out of business in my opinion because their work is shoddy and their customer service I found to be rude in the past when I called in November to enquire when the books would be mailed out. Never again will I send another piece of my work to Eber and Wein because they obviously can’t be trusted with other people’s art. Very careless.

  Business response

  01/06/2023

  Please see attached documents. ************************** was mailed a proof of her poem to read over and make any necessary corrections. She did not make any changes or corrections. She checked the box at the top indicating no changes or corrections were necessary. Our editors do not take the liberty of making changes in the text of a poem, especially when the poet has signed off on it as it stands. Corrections to punctuation, faulty capitalization, etc. are what we look for. We were not able to explain any of this to the complainant as she called three times, berated us, called us a "scam," which we certainly are not, and then hung up before we could respond. This can easily be fixed but she would not give us the chance to speak and explain various options (see attached letter).

• Initial Complaint

  04/30/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Product Issues

  Status:

  Resolved

  More info

  In September of 2021 i submitted a poem to the amateur poets contest in  November of 2021 i sent in 48.95 for a plaque with my poem on it. The plaque was delivered to the wrong address

  Business response

  05/23/2022

  Customer was able to resolve this on their own and indicates Eber & Wein was not at fault. See email below.

  The carrier was able to retrieve my plaque and they will forward it to me 

  On Mon, May 2, 2022, 12:20 PM *********************** <***********************> wrote:

  The address is a former address but the address on the envelope to the order form was the correct address it is my mistake but I reached out to the post office abd they are trying to fix it
  

  On Mon, May 2, 2022, 12:14 PM *********************** <**************@eberandwein.com>wrote:

  Hi ******,
  
  The BBB actually contacted us this morning about this. Typically there has to be a problem for them to get involved, but this appears to be a simple matter of updating your address. The address we have on file for you is *******************Unit **** / Norwalk IA*******. Is this your old address? Unless you contact us to let us know you moved, we send your order to the address we have in our system. If the above address is incorrect please send me your new address so we can send the plaque back out to you.
  
  Kind regards,
  Rachel
  
  Rachel M****
  Eber & Wein Publishing
  Poetry Nation
  P.O. Box ***
  New Freedom, PA 17349
  ************
  
  From: *********************** <***********************>
  Sent: Monday, May 2, 2022 12:13 PM
  To: *********************** <****************@eberandwein.com>
  Subject: Wrong address
  
  Hello 
  
  My name is ****** and i ordered a plaque with my poem sins of the father on it and it got sent to the wrong address(my previous address) and i was just wondering what could be done about it

  Customer response

  05/24/2022

  [A default letter is provided here which indicates your acceptance of the business's response.  If you wish, you may update it before sending it.]
  
  Better Business Bureau:
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me. 
  
  Regards,
  
  ***********************
  

• Initial Complaint

  01/17/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Product Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I entered my poem into a contest with *************. I got a letter from Eber and Wein stating I had made it to the semi-finals. Because of this, I was going to have my poem published in an anthology. They sent a second correspondence letting me know if I purchased a copy of the anthology, I would get it at a discounted rate. Months went by and I heard nothing from the company. I googled the company and found a ton of scam/fraud advisors that stated this company has been doing this for a long time. I went to the Eber and Wein website and sent a message via the contact us option, letting them know that I would like them to either send me my book or refund my money. The "winner" of that contest was chosen 9/1/21. There is a charge on my credit card of $58.95 on 2/15/21. It seems like by now, I should have some resolution for this issue.

  Business response

  01/18/2022

  The complainants poem has been published in the anthology entitled Turning the Corner: Rudiments. This title is currently at the printer and we expect it to be ready to ship within the next two to three weeks. Both our editorial department and the printing company we use have been short-staffed for the past year, and we apologize for the delay of this title. We are happy to oblige the complainant either way she prefers. If she chooses to receive her book, we will keep her order in the system and see to it her book is shipped as soon as possible. If she prefers a refund we will issue this for the full amount of $58.95 in the form of a check. Please have her contact our company as soon as possible to let us know how she wishes to proceed. We can be reached at ************ Monday through Thursday 93 Eastern time.

  In response to the information found online, our company is certainly not a scam. As a publisher, we have thousands of titles on the ****** and ****** & ***** websites. The only thing we have been doing for a long time is satisfying tens of thousands of very happy customers by giving them the rare opportunity to have their work featured in a professionally-bound publication. And we offer this opportunity with no purchase required; many writers—some who simply cannot afford the book—are glad just to know their work is out there before a large audience of fellow writers.

  The family who owns this company has been in the publishing industry for nearly forty years; such longevity would not be possible if they were conducting anything less than a reputable operation. Because the publishing process for a 350-page anthology is quite a lengthy one, we encourage all of our customers to call and check in with us anytime for a status update on their order. We fulfill tens of thousands of orders every year for very satisfied customers. Unfortunately, as a small business there is little we can do to eradicate the few false accusations about our company stated on the Internet, and there is certainly nothing we can do to prevent customers and would-be customers from believing everything they read online. Our staff loves and is proud of the work they do.

• Initial Complaint

  01/10/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Product Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I have two issues to address.. first of all I never received vol 4 that was what I paid for.Today I received another invitation to partake in a new book with another poem and this has finally brought me to reach out today. My issue that has been bothering me with this company for awhile is that we are providing our poetry and then they want to charge us to get a copy. This new cost of almost 60 dollars to purchase a book that we're providing them with the material to be able to publish is why I can't continue allowing this company to take advantage of my talent and many others. This company is using poet's like me to make money and then have us pay for a book that should be free to the authors or at least be able to purchase at a lower cost then they would charge the public.. I understand publishing is expensive but what is the incentive to send them poetry when we're not making any profit for the sale of these books. I hope you can understand my issues and I'll wait for your response.Thank you

  Business response

  01/11/2022

  Issue #1
  The complainants book was shipped directly from the printer on June 18, 2021. Please see the attached screenshot. We have contacted the USPS to inquire about this package; however, it appears the package was not scanned by USPS when it reached its first destination and, therefore, tracking information is not available. We will contact the printer to have another copy sent out as soon as possible.
  
  Issue #2
  Book sales offset the cost of running the contest and creating/printing the books. Poets who submit their poetry and take advantage of having it published at no cost do so voluntarily. Every bit of our correspondence explains the necessity of book sales. Our contest is free, and we give qualified poets the opportunity to have their poem published with no purchase required. Because of this there simply is not enough revenue to distribute free copies; if we did this, our business would cease to exist. As our letters state, we must charge for the books, as they are quite labor-intensive and a lot of time and effort goes into producing them. Most people cannot afford to work for free, and we are no different. The purpose of the anthologies is to recognize the work of amateur poets and help them get their work "out there" in front of a larger audience. The contest and anthologies are something we do on the side for fun. Our poets enjoy participating in the contest and having their work printed in a professionally-bound publication, and our editorial staff has fun judging the contests and compiling the anthologies. At the end of the day, however, the anthology is a break-even product. Each volume consists of 300-350 poems and requires a tremendous amount of work. While our editors enjoy creating them, they are not volunteers and they do not work for free. They are full-time salaried employees. We are a business like any other and cannot afford to offer free products.

  Yes, after fifteen years, we have finally had no choice but to raise the cost of our products. As our letter states:

              Unfortunately, we, like many other businesses right now, have experienced dramatic increases in the cost for materials as well as for labor and printing. For this reason, we have increased the price to $59.95/single copy and $249.95/6-book bundle. To help offset the new prices, however, we have lowered shipping & handling for single copies and eliminated it for the 6-book bundle. We appreciate your understanding.

  Here is how we benefit from the anthologies: While they make very little money, they do benefit us greatly, as they generate a tremendous amount of work for our everyday operation as an independent publisher. The majority of the publishing projects we take on come from the poets who have entered the contest and have had their poem published in an anthology. The quality of our publications is what gives many of these lifelong writers the confidence to enlist Eber & Wein Publishing as their publisher and is the reason they trust us with their treasured projects. We publish hundreds of titles a year for people who want to put together a book of just their own work. We also publish books for college professors who publish personal work for educational purposes. These titles and authors do, in fact, receive royalties on book sales generated from online distribution.
  
  The family who owns and operates this publishing house has been in the publishing industry for almost forty years. Such longevity exists because of their reputable business practices and the way they care about their customers. As a longtime member of the editorial staff, I can say we love and are proud of what we do, having served thousands of happy, satisfied clients over the years.

• Initial Complaint

  05/24/2021

  Complaint Type:

  Delivery Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  Paid 44.95 for a book, they never sent it. Waited several months, had contact with one person, they said they sent it, it never arrived. Asked for a refund, they refused.

  Business response

  05/27/2021

  According to tracking provided by USPS, the complainant's book was, in fact, delivered on March 24th. Please see shipping/delivery details below. Even though the book was shipped and delivered, we will grant a refund.

  Delivered
  Tuesday, March 24, 2020 11:53 AM
  17349
  ETA:
  
  Tracking:
  **********************
  
  Addresses
  
  Personal data removed
  Shipped To:
  ******** ********
  **** ***** **
  Mount Airy, NC **********
  United States
  **************@*****.***
  
  Shipped From:
  *****
  Return To:
  Eber & Wein Publishing
  50 E High St
  New Freedom, PA 17349

  Customer response

  05/27/2021

  I am rejecting this response because in fact, the book was never delivered. The address they said they sent it to isn't even my address. The correct address is on the screenshots I sent in. Thanks, ******** ********  [To assist us in bringing this matter to a close, you must give us a reason why you are rejecting the response. If no reason is received your complaint will be closed as Answered]
  
   Complaint: ********
  
  I am rejecting this response because:
  
  Regards,
  
  ******** ******** 
  

  Business response

  06/02/2021

  A refund has been processed for $44.95. The complainant will receive a check in the mail.

*Some consumers may elect to not publish the details of their complaints, some complaints may not meet BBB's standards for publication, or BBB may display a portion of complaints when a high volume is received for a particular business. ↩