Dear [redacted], Thank you for forwarding the complaint submitted by Ms. [redacted]. We at Outskirts Press take pride in our services and find it unfortunate that one of our customers has contacted you. Outskirts Press is happy to provide the following detailed response to Ms. [redacted]’ concerns...
to the Revdex.com. Our excellent standing within the Revdex.com is very important to us. Per Ms. [redacted]'s request we have terminated her title and sent her the print ready files for both her book’s cover and interior at no cost to her. Ms. [redacted] has received all of her royalty payments except $5.00 that was earned in the second half of 2016. Royalty payments are issued when the total of the royalties earned reaches the minimum threshold of $25. Her royalties did not meet this minimum threshold when fourth quarter royalties were processed. Since her title was terminated in the first quarter of 2017, her final royalty payment will be processed with the first quarter of 2017, which is processed within 90 days for the end of the quarter. Royalty processing is explained in Section II, #12 of the publishing agreement that Ms. [redacted] accepted when she purchased her publishing package. II. ROYALTIES & PRICING 12. Royalties are paid to Author within 90 days following the end of the calendar quarter in which Wholesale Book Sales (as defined above) occurred, once the total accrued Royalty meets or exceeds $25 for an author residing in the United States, or $100 for an author residing outside of the United States. Royalties are paid by check mailed to the Author’s address as supplied by the author in the Author’s Center. The address that Ms. [redacted] provided in her correspondence with the Revdex.com is different from the address in her Author's Center. I have updated her address in our system so her final payment of $5 will be sent to the address she provided to the Revdex.com. We have honored all of Ms. [redacted]' desired resolutions. In light of this we request that her complaint be removed from our record at this time. Thank you for your help in this matter. Sincerely, [redacted]
Dear [redacted]
Thank you for forwarding notification of a Revdex.com complaint filed by Richard [redacted]. We at Outskirts Press take pride in our services and find it unfortunate that one of our customers has contacted you. Outskirts Press is happy to provide the following detailed response to Mr....
[redacted]'s concerns to the Revdex.com. Our excellent standing with the Revdex.com is very important to us.
Mr. [redacted] indicates that he paid for his package but did not receive any information and that he had trouble scheduling a phone call with his consultant. We feel that this claim is not entirely accurate--we were in regular contact with Mr. [redacted] and his assigned publishing team was in consistent contact with him. Mr. [redacted] is correct that his consultant was delayed in scheduling a phone call with him; however, the consultant did send multiple emails to Mr. [redacted].
We recently had a new consultant reach out to Mr. [redacted] by phone and she was able to answer his questions and address his concerns over publishing. As of December 22, 2015, Mr. [redacted] indicated that he does now wish to continue working with Outskirts Press, and he indicated that he would withdraw his complaint from the Revdex.com. Below is a portion of his email to us:
"I am once again excited about having the book published.
Yes I will withdraw my complaint. Please do not allow me to deal with [redacted] or [redacted]. I look forward to working with you. A call after the holidays would be great."
We feel that Outskirts Press has performed in accordance with the publishing contract Mr. [redacted] accepted when he purchased his publishing package. In light of the fact that Mr. [redacted]'s now wants to move forward with Outskirts Press again, we request that his complaint be removed from our record at this time.
Thank you for your help in this matter.
Sincerely,
[redacted]
Executive Vice President
Revdex.com:
I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me. The complaint should not be removed, but the response can be included. I never received a phone call from the woman who was assigned to my book production. [redacted] did call and apologized but that doesn't negate the fact that there was a severe lack of communication and lag in production time.
Sincerely,
[redacted]
Dear [redacted], Thank you for forwarding notification of a Revdex.com complaint filed by [redacted]i. We at Outskirts Press take pride in our services and find it unfortunate that one of our customers has contacted you. Outskirts Press is happy to provide the following...
detailed response to Ms. [redacted]i’s concerns to the Revdex.com. Our excellent standing within the Revdex.com is very important to us. Ms. [redacted]i indicates in her complaint that she received no real assistance with publishing her book. This claim is not accurate—we were in regular contact with Ms. [redacted]i after she submitted her manuscript. We reviewed her manuscript within days of her purchasing her publishing package. We discussed concerns over the book’s content with Ms. [redacted]i as well. She took several months to save the money she needed for other publication fees and to make a final decision to move forward with her book. Ms. [redacted]i submitted her book’s title and indicated that she was planning on moving forward with her book on November 6, 2014. Her publishing team reached out to her on November 17, 2014 and provided her with forms and a list of things that she needed to complete. We tried reaching her a month later and then again on January 10, 2015. After that last call in January and after having received no response from the author for several months, we put her account on hold so we would not continue to contact her until she indicated to us that she was ready to move forward. ...⇄ Ms. [redacted]i reached out to us on December 7, 2015 with an updated copy of her manuscript and questions regarding her cover. Our customer service team assisted Ms. [redacted]i via email and we then reactivated her account on December 31, 2015. A publishing team was reassigned and was ready to assist Ms. [redacted]i with the publication of her book. We are sorry that Ms. [redacted]i did not feel she was receiving the level of support she needed. One of our representatives spoke with Ms. [redacted]i on March 2, 2016 and apologized to her for this. We processed a full refund for her on March 3rd. We feel that Outskirts Press performed according to the terms of the publishing agreement that Ms. [redacted]i accepted at the time of her purchase. We were simply not a good fit for her publishing needs. In light of our detailed response, we request Ms. [redacted]i’s complaint be removed from our record at this time.Thank you for your help in this matter.Sincerely,[redacted]Executive Vice President
Complaint: [redacted]
I am rejecting this response because:Firstly the business seeks to rely on an illegality in the contract in order to assert that it has witheld the 30% tax when the laws of the USA in relation to its tax treaty expressly states under Article 14 (1) and (2) of the US/TT Income Tax treaty that for the purpose of taxation of copyrights it is the person's country of residence that is responsible for taxing the individual. I am not a resident of the USA but a foreign national of Trinidad and Tobago. Secondly pursuant to this provision, if the US were to be able to tax on such income it could only place a 15% tax on same. Therefore the Company is in breach of the laws of the USA and is seeking to wrongfully extort funds which it is not supposed to under the law. The express wording of the act prevents them from such taxation and it is illegal to seek to charge a client $99 for witholding of a 30% tax on their royalties. It is not only illegal but fraudulent. The terms of the contract or at least this provision within the contract would be void and of no effect on the basis of the illegality involving fraud and the misrepresentation to me as the client. Also because of the illegality of this provision within the contract it would not be enforceable in a court since it involves a clear case of fraud and misleading of a client into contractual terms which are not legal. Kindly note that I was only given the W-8 BEN form in November and it was only when I received this form that I became aware that I could rely on the TT-US Income Tax treaty to claim exemptions under the Treaty. This information was not provided to me upfront and I was not clear about several things with this company as they were always moving very shady and putting on additional fees for everything without notifying me about these fees from upfront. The very letter which the Company has relied on to show that I was aware of the 30% tax demonstrates that I was not aware that such a fee existed prior to them actually sending me a copy of the contract. Please see a copy of the said letter below: Dear Lisa, I am writing to confirm the price. I had discussed the price with the other Lisa. And I indicated that it is a legal text dealing with technical issues involving the Law of the sea. I had also done research on the pricing on an internarional environmental law text from authors in the Caribbean and the price which I had is close to the price range for Caribbean Environental Law texts from authors like Professor Anderson. The price ranged between 150-185 USD.If you have a better idea of a price please let me know especially considering I also have to pay 30% tax on my profit as a non US national which I was not infoemed of upfront. Thank you. [redacted] Sincerely,
[redacted] Kindly note the last sentence in which I was quoted as having said that I also have to pay a 30% tax on my profit as a non US national which I was not informed of upfront. This is because this requirement was only pointed out to me after the Company informed me that I was to pay the said tax later on. It was not indicated to me upfront. Similarly they did not indicate to me that I could have relied on the tax treaty from upfront and they are now telling me that I would have to pay $99 for them to withold the 30% tax which is illegal according to the laws of the United States. This is therefore tantamount to fraud and to a scam and it is not the first time the Company has come up with these so called fees after the fact since they also were seeking to add extra fees for proofs or edits of my work through their customer service representative Ms. Lisa B and then when I raised the issue with them and they said that they would reduce the price of the extra edits which they had not informed me of upfront. Kindly note that the Company has owed me a royalty since May 2017 and it is now February 2018 and I still have not received my royalties as yet. They have claimed that they sent the first check to my mailing address in my home country in November 2017 but my sister who still resides at my residence has indicated that she has never received any mail from the said company. I had indicated to this company that they should not issue the said check since I would not have been in the country during this time and I dispatched the mail on the 24th November 2017. They however indicated that they mailed the check on the 25th November despite my indication that they should not have mailed it to the said address given the fact that I would not have been at home in my country at that time. In my opinion these issues highlight and re-enforce the fact that the company is into shady and fraudulent dealings since they are seeking to illegally and fraudulently deduct taxes on royalties which should not be deducted and they have even created an illegal and unenforceable clause in the contract to falsely and fraudulently induce clients from foreign jurisdictions such as my country to pay taxes which they are not permitted to do by law. They also still haven't paid any royalties although the royalties were available since May 2017. I therefore cannot accept the response of the Company for the aforementioned reasons as they are fraudulent and misleading and until I have gotten my full royalties which I am due I will not be removing the complaint because as a consumer, it is my right to make a complaint where I have been the victim of fraud and deception.Thank you for your understanding in this matter as I look forward to the Revdex.com intervening and putting an end to the fraudulent dealings of this company as I am not the only person who has lodged a complaint against this company, there were several other persons who did so and who also had the same experience like me. Once again I do believe that by putting an end to such scams and companies that illegally and fraudulently seek to steal from their clients that the Revdex.com will be ensuring that no other persons within society become victims of scams like these and they will ensure that such persons are brought to justice. Yours Respectfully, [redacted]
Dear [redacted], Thank you for forwarding the complaint submitted by [redacted]. We at Outskirts Press take pride in our services and find it unfortunate that one of our customers has contacted you. Outskirts Press is happy to provide the following detailed response to [redacted]’s...
concerns to the Revdex.com. Our excellent standing within the Revdex.com is very important to us. [redacted] is correct, it has taken 4 months for her first round of galley proofs to be created for her to review. [redacted] purchased 10 custom illustrations, and typically the illustration process can take 3 – 4 months. While her illustrations were being created, [redacted] was in communication with the Illustration Coordinator. She approved her 10 illustrations on October 29th and they were then handed over to the book designer to be merged with her manuscript so that production could begin. The typical timeline for publication is 10-12 weeks from the date the author approves for production to begin; however, the timeline for illustrations is in addition to the timeline for production since the illustrations need to be finalized before production can begin. During production the author’s interior and cover files are created. Then the author reviews the proofs, submits any changes and approves the final versions before the book is published. Currently [redacted] is reviewing her 1st set of proofs on both her cover and interior files. [redacted] purchased the Pearl Publishing Package, which includes a variety of pre-designed cover templates that she could select for no additional cost. [redacted] was presented with a Custom Cover design which she preferred over the cover template options and she chose to purchase a Custom Cover for an additional $299. This fee is separate from the illustrations [redacted] purchased. Although [redacted] is not eligible for a refund on the Custom Cover or the illustrations she purchased, as a courtesy we have placed a $50 credit into her shopping cart. [redacted], our Director of Operations, has reached out to [redacted] to schedule a call for November 30th so she can apologize to her for the lack of communication she has experienced from her production team and better explain the process and timelines and answer any additional questions [redacted] may have. We are sorry that [redacted] experienced communication issues with her production team and we hope that we are able to adequately address all of her concerns. In light of our detailed response, we request [redacted]’s complaint be removed from our record at this time. Thank you for your help in this matter. Sincerely, [redacted] Executive Vice President
Revdex.com:
I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me.
Sincerely,
[redacted]
I request that all items that I sent to Outskirts via U.S. Postal Service be return to me. This included photographic images, texts and a flash drive containing jpg images of all my photographs. [redacted]
Dear [redacted]: Thank you for forwarding notification of a Revdex.com complaint filed by [redacted]. We at Outskirts Press take pride in our services and find it unfortunate that one of our customers has contacted you. Outskirts Press is happy to provide the following...
detailed response to Mr. [redacted]’s concerns to the Revdex.com. Our excellent standing within the Revdex.com is very important to us. Mr. [redacted] indicates in his complaint that he has concerns regarding the reporting of sales for his first book. Since the time of its publication, there have been 71 sales reported in his author's center. He says he purchased a copy of the book on March 7, 2016 and that sale has not been reported yet. There are a couple of things that are helpful for Mr. [redacted] to understand. First, book sales are reported in the author's center within 60 days of the end of the month in which the sale occurred. That means for a sale that occurred in March, it would be reported by the end of May. Second, retailers like [redacted] sometimes purchase extra copies of a book to have in stock based on sales trends. A book sale is reported to an author when the retailer purchases the copy from [redacted] (the distributor), not when a customer purchases a copy from the retailer. Mr. [redacted] also indicates that he did not receive a response from his publishing consultant, [redacted]. Our records show that [redacted] reached out to Mr. [redacted] on March 8, March 16, March 17 and again on March 31, 2016. [redacted] did tell Mr. [redacted] that he needed to submit his manuscript for review, as this was the next step. [redacted] was waiting on the author’s submission. Mr. [redacted] called us on Tuesday, April 12, 2016 and indicated that he filed a Revdex.com complaint and that he wants a refund, which we are happy to accommodate. We have processed a full refund for Mr. [redacted]'s second book. This includes the initial $35 down payment, plus the additional payment of $225 (total of $260.). We feel that Outskirts Press has not performed outside of the requirements of the publishing contract Mr. [redacted] agreed to at the time of his purchase. We are sorry that we were not a good fit for his needs. In light of our detailed response, we request Mr. [redacted]’s complaint be removed from our record at this time. Thank you for your help in this matter. Sincerely, [redacted] Executive Vice President
Initial Business Response /* (1000, 8, 2015/12/02) */
Dear [redacted],
Thank you for forwarding the complaint submitted by Ms. [redacted]. We at Outskirts Press take pride in our services and find it unfortunate that one of our customers has contacted you. Outskirts Press is happy to provide the...
following detailed response to Ms. [redacted] concerns to the Revdex.com. Our excellent standing within the Revdex.com is very important to us.
Ms. [redacted] purchased the Pearl Publishing Package on 8/31/2015. She was officially published on 10/21/2015. The typical timeline for publication is 12 weeks from the date the author approves for production to begin (once they have submitted all of the necessary file and information). Authors who purchase Expedited Service are typically published within 7-10 weeks. Ms. [redacted] approved production on her title on 10/2/15. Her book was published within less than 3 weeks.
The Pearl Package includes a full color interior. Ms. [redacted] book was 182 pages and she selected the 8" x 10" economy color casebound format with a glossy cover. This format comes with 50 lb. interior paper. Most authors with full color books and a page count of more than 50 select "economy " paper rather than "standard" (70 lb.) in order to keep their retail price as low as possible.
Ms. [redacted] did return a copy of her book for review and it did take the full 10 business days for a proof copy to be ordered on the print floor so it could be compared to the book that was returned. It was determined in this review that the quality of the printing was within the specifications for economy paper and her books would not be replaced.
Ms. [redacted] talked with [redacted] our Director of Production, on Thursday 11/19/2015. During this conversation Ms. [redacted] was able to clear up Ms. [redacted] confusion over when she became published, what "Expedited Service" meant for her title, how distribution works in the publishing industry, why she does not own the rights to the assigned ISBN number on her book and, most importantly, why the quality of Print on Demand (POD) technology differs from traditional offset printing.
Ms. [redacted] decided during her conversation with Ms. [redacted] that she simply was not satisfied with POD and she requested that her title be terminated. As a result, we have terminated her title with Ingram (the wholesale distributor). Additionally, Ms. [redacted] agreed to refund Ms. [redacted] her $249 payment for a Personal Marketing Assistant and the $99 Expedited Service fee.
We feel that we have performed in accordance with our Publishing Agreement and we have accomodated Ms. [redacted] requests for resolution. In light of our detailed response, we request Ms. [redacted] complaint be removed from our record at this time.
Thank you for your help in this matter.
Sincerely,
[redacted]
Executive Vice President
Initial Consumer Rebuttal /* (3000, 10, 2015/12/05) */
(The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.)
It is unfortunate that it took a complaint to the Revdex.com to elicit a response from Outskirts Press. This is the first time I have ever had to file a Revdex.com complaint but I was completely without options due to absolutely no response to my calls or emails.
Once I did get to speak with Ms. [redacted] she took the time to clear up speak with me about my concerns and stated she would use my comments for coaching of the staff at Outskirts. She referred to the Revdex.com complaint several times and again I felt it was very unfortunate that I had to go to those lengths to get any response from Outskirts. The number of emails that I have sent are many that go without response. Calling Outskirts to try to speak with someone is absolutely impossible.
I have received the credits mentioned but I am very disappointed that Outskirts feels justified in charging me 1099.00 for a "Pearl Package" of publishing that is absolutely useless to me. I suggest to Ms. [redacted], as EVP of the company that she takes a close look at the lack of response Outskirts press provides to their customers that have paid handsomely for their services. It was not a good experience for me and I'm sure I'm not alone.
Final Consumer Response /* (2000, 11, 2015/12/07) */
Dear [redacted], Thank you for forwarding the complaint submitted by Ms. [redacted]. We at Outskirts Press take pride in our services and find it unfortunate that one of our customers has contacted you. Outskirts Press is happy to provide the following detailed response to Ms. [redacted]’ concerns...
to the Revdex.com. Our excellent standing within the Revdex.com is very important to us. Per Ms. [redacted]'s request we have terminated her title and sent her the print ready files for both her book’s cover and interior at no cost to her. Ms. [redacted] has received all of her royalty payments except $5.00 that was earned in the second half of 2016. Royalty payments are issued when the total of the royalties earned reaches the minimum threshold of $25. Her royalties did not meet this minimum threshold when fourth quarter royalties were processed. Since her title was terminated in the first quarter of 2017, her final royalty payment will be processed with the first quarter of 2017, which is processed within 90 days for the end of the quarter. Royalty processing is explained in Section II, #12 of the publishing agreement that Ms. [redacted] accepted when she purchased her publishing package. II. ROYALTIES & PRICING 12. Royalties are paid to Author within 90 days following the end of the calendar quarter in which Wholesale Book Sales (as defined above) occurred, once the total accrued Royalty meets or exceeds $25 for an author residing in the United States, or $100 for an author residing outside of the United States. Royalties are paid by check mailed to the Author’s address as supplied by the author in the Author’s Center. The address that Ms. [redacted] provided in her correspondence with the Revdex.com is different from the address in her Author's Center. I have updated her address in our system so her final payment of $5 will be sent to the address she provided to the Revdex.com. We have honored all of Ms. [redacted]' desired resolutions. In light of this we request that her complaint be removed from our record at this time. Thank you for your help in this matter. Sincerely, [redacted]
Dear [redacted]
Thank you for forwarding notification of a Revdex.com complaint filed by Richard [redacted]. We at Outskirts Press take pride in our services and find it unfortunate that one of our customers has contacted you. Outskirts Press is happy to provide the following detailed response to Mr....
[redacted]'s concerns to the Revdex.com. Our excellent standing with the Revdex.com is very important to us.
Mr. [redacted] indicates that he paid for his package but did not receive any information and that he had trouble scheduling a phone call with his consultant. We feel that this claim is not entirely accurate--we were in regular contact with Mr. [redacted] and his assigned publishing team was in consistent contact with him. Mr. [redacted] is correct that his consultant was delayed in scheduling a phone call with him; however, the consultant did send multiple emails to Mr. [redacted].
We recently had a new consultant reach out to Mr. [redacted] by phone and she was able to answer his questions and address his concerns over publishing. As of December 22, 2015, Mr. [redacted] indicated that he does now wish to continue working with Outskirts Press, and he indicated that he would withdraw his complaint from the Revdex.com. Below is a portion of his email to us:
"I am once again excited about having the book published.
Yes I will withdraw my complaint. Please do not allow me to deal with [redacted] or [redacted]. I look forward to working with you. A call after the holidays would be great."
We feel that Outskirts Press has performed in accordance with the publishing contract Mr. [redacted] accepted when he purchased his publishing package. In light of the fact that Mr. [redacted]'s now wants to move forward with Outskirts Press again, we request that his complaint be removed from our record at this time.
Thank you for your help in this matter.
Sincerely,
[redacted]
Executive Vice President
Revdex.com:
I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me. The complaint should not be removed, but the response can be included. I never received a phone call from the woman who was assigned to my book production. [redacted] did call and apologized but that doesn't negate the fact that there was a severe lack of communication and lag in production time.
Sincerely,
[redacted]
Dear [redacted], Thank you for forwarding notification of a Revdex.com complaint filed by [redacted]i. We at Outskirts Press take pride in our services and find it unfortunate that one of our customers has contacted you. Outskirts Press is happy to provide the following...
detailed response to Ms. [redacted]i’s concerns to the Revdex.com. Our excellent standing within the Revdex.com is very important to us. Ms. [redacted]i indicates in her complaint that she received no real assistance with publishing her book. This claim is not accurate—we were in regular contact with Ms. [redacted]i after she submitted her manuscript. We reviewed her manuscript within days of her purchasing her publishing package. We discussed concerns over the book’s content with Ms. [redacted]i as well. She took several months to save the money she needed for other publication fees and to make a final decision to move forward with her book. Ms. [redacted]i submitted her book’s title and indicated that she was planning on moving forward with her book on November 6, 2014. Her publishing team reached out to her on November 17, 2014 and provided her with forms and a list of things that she needed to complete. We tried reaching her a month later and then again on January 10, 2015. After that last call in January and after having received no response from the author for several months, we put her account on hold so we would not continue to contact her until she indicated to us that she was ready to move forward. ...⇄ Ms. [redacted]i reached out to us on December 7, 2015 with an updated copy of her manuscript and questions regarding her cover. Our customer service team assisted Ms. [redacted]i via email and we then reactivated her account on December 31, 2015. A publishing team was reassigned and was ready to assist Ms. [redacted]i with the publication of her book. We are sorry that Ms. [redacted]i did not feel she was receiving the level of support she needed. One of our representatives spoke with Ms. [redacted]i on March 2, 2016 and apologized to her for this. We processed a full refund for her on March 3rd. We feel that Outskirts Press performed according to the terms of the publishing agreement that Ms. [redacted]i accepted at the time of her purchase. We were simply not a good fit for her publishing needs. In light of our detailed response, we request Ms. [redacted]i’s complaint be removed from our record at this time.Thank you for your help in this matter.Sincerely,[redacted]Executive Vice President
Complaint: [redacted]
I am rejecting this response because:Firstly the business seeks to rely on an illegality in the contract in order to assert that it has witheld the 30% tax when the laws of the USA in relation to its tax treaty expressly states under Article 14 (1) and (2) of the US/TT Income Tax treaty that for the purpose of taxation of copyrights it is the person's country of residence that is responsible for taxing the individual. I am not a resident of the USA but a foreign national of Trinidad and Tobago. Secondly pursuant to this provision, if the US were to be able to tax on such income it could only place a 15% tax on same. Therefore the Company is in breach of the laws of the USA and is seeking to wrongfully extort funds which it is not supposed to under the law. The express wording of the act prevents them from such taxation and it is illegal to seek to charge a client $99 for witholding of a 30% tax on their royalties. It is not only illegal but fraudulent. The terms of the contract or at least this provision within the contract would be void and of no effect on the basis of the illegality involving fraud and the misrepresentation to me as the client. Also because of the illegality of this provision within the contract it would not be enforceable in a court since it involves a clear case of fraud and misleading of a client into contractual terms which are not legal. Kindly note that I was only given the W-8 BEN form in November and it was only when I received this form that I became aware that I could rely on the TT-US Income Tax treaty to claim exemptions under the Treaty. This information was not provided to me upfront and I was not clear about several things with this company as they were always moving very shady and putting on additional fees for everything without notifying me about these fees from upfront. The very letter which the Company has relied on to show that I was aware of the 30% tax demonstrates that I was not aware that such a fee existed prior to them actually sending me a copy of the contract. Please see a copy of the said letter below: Dear Lisa, I am writing to confirm the price. I had discussed the price with the other Lisa. And I indicated that it is a legal text dealing with technical issues involving the Law of the sea. I had also done research on the pricing on an internarional environmental law text from authors in the Caribbean and the price which I had is close to the price range for Caribbean Environental Law texts from authors like Professor Anderson. The price ranged between 150-185 USD.If you have a better idea of a price please let me know especially considering I also have to pay 30% tax on my profit as a non US national which I was not infoemed of upfront. Thank you. [redacted] Sincerely,
[redacted] Kindly note the last sentence in which I was quoted as having said that I also have to pay a 30% tax on my profit as a non US national which I was not informed of upfront. This is because this requirement was only pointed out to me after the Company informed me that I was to pay the said tax later on. It was not indicated to me upfront. Similarly they did not indicate to me that I could have relied on the tax treaty from upfront and they are now telling me that I would have to pay $99 for them to withold the 30% tax which is illegal according to the laws of the United States. This is therefore tantamount to fraud and to a scam and it is not the first time the Company has come up with these so called fees after the fact since they also were seeking to add extra fees for proofs or edits of my work through their customer service representative Ms. Lisa B and then when I raised the issue with them and they said that they would reduce the price of the extra edits which they had not informed me of upfront. Kindly note that the Company has owed me a royalty since May 2017 and it is now February 2018 and I still have not received my royalties as yet. They have claimed that they sent the first check to my mailing address in my home country in November 2017 but my sister who still resides at my residence has indicated that she has never received any mail from the said company. I had indicated to this company that they should not issue the said check since I would not have been in the country during this time and I dispatched the mail on the 24th November 2017. They however indicated that they mailed the check on the 25th November despite my indication that they should not have mailed it to the said address given the fact that I would not have been at home in my country at that time. In my opinion these issues highlight and re-enforce the fact that the company is into shady and fraudulent dealings since they are seeking to illegally and fraudulently deduct taxes on royalties which should not be deducted and they have even created an illegal and unenforceable clause in the contract to falsely and fraudulently induce clients from foreign jurisdictions such as my country to pay taxes which they are not permitted to do by law. They also still haven't paid any royalties although the royalties were available since May 2017. I therefore cannot accept the response of the Company for the aforementioned reasons as they are fraudulent and misleading and until I have gotten my full royalties which I am due I will not be removing the complaint because as a consumer, it is my right to make a complaint where I have been the victim of fraud and deception.Thank you for your understanding in this matter as I look forward to the Revdex.com intervening and putting an end to the fraudulent dealings of this company as I am not the only person who has lodged a complaint against this company, there were several other persons who did so and who also had the same experience like me. Once again I do believe that by putting an end to such scams and companies that illegally and fraudulently seek to steal from their clients that the Revdex.com will be ensuring that no other persons within society become victims of scams like these and they will ensure that such persons are brought to justice. Yours Respectfully, [redacted]
Dear [redacted], Thank you for forwarding the complaint submitted by [redacted]. We at Outskirts Press take pride in our services and find it unfortunate that one of our customers has contacted you. Outskirts Press is happy to provide the following detailed response to [redacted]’s...
concerns to the Revdex.com. Our excellent standing within the Revdex.com is very important to us. [redacted] is correct, it has taken 4 months for her first round of galley proofs to be created for her to review. [redacted] purchased 10 custom illustrations, and typically the illustration process can take 3 – 4 months. While her illustrations were being created, [redacted] was in communication with the Illustration Coordinator. She approved her 10 illustrations on October 29th and they were then handed over to the book designer to be merged with her manuscript so that production could begin. The typical timeline for publication is 10-12 weeks from the date the author approves for production to begin; however, the timeline for illustrations is in addition to the timeline for production since the illustrations need to be finalized before production can begin. During production the author’s interior and cover files are created. Then the author reviews the proofs, submits any changes and approves the final versions before the book is published. Currently [redacted] is reviewing her 1st set of proofs on both her cover and interior files. [redacted] purchased the Pearl Publishing Package, which includes a variety of pre-designed cover templates that she could select for no additional cost. [redacted] was presented with a Custom Cover design which she preferred over the cover template options and she chose to purchase a Custom Cover for an additional $299. This fee is separate from the illustrations [redacted] purchased. Although [redacted] is not eligible for a refund on the Custom Cover or the illustrations she purchased, as a courtesy we have placed a $50 credit into her shopping cart. [redacted], our Director of Operations, has reached out to [redacted] to schedule a call for November 30th so she can apologize to her for the lack of communication she has experienced from her production team and better explain the process and timelines and answer any additional questions [redacted] may have. We are sorry that [redacted] experienced communication issues with her production team and we hope that we are able to adequately address all of her concerns. In light of our detailed response, we request [redacted]’s complaint be removed from our record at this time. Thank you for your help in this matter. Sincerely, [redacted] Executive Vice President
Revdex.com:
I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me.
Sincerely,
[redacted]
I request that all items that I sent to Outskirts via U.S. Postal Service be return to me. This included photographic images, texts and a flash drive containing jpg images of all my photographs. [redacted]
Dear [redacted]: Thank you for forwarding notification of a Revdex.com complaint filed by [redacted]. We at Outskirts Press take pride in our services and find it unfortunate that one of our customers has contacted you. Outskirts Press is happy to provide the following...
detailed response to Mr. [redacted]’s concerns to the Revdex.com. Our excellent standing within the Revdex.com is very important to us. Mr. [redacted] indicates in his complaint that he has concerns regarding the reporting of sales for his first book. Since the time of its publication, there have been 71 sales reported in his author's center. He says he purchased a copy of the book on March 7, 2016 and that sale has not been reported yet. There are a couple of things that are helpful for Mr. [redacted] to understand. First, book sales are reported in the author's center within 60 days of the end of the month in which the sale occurred. That means for a sale that occurred in March, it would be reported by the end of May. Second, retailers like [redacted] sometimes purchase extra copies of a book to have in stock based on sales trends. A book sale is reported to an author when the retailer purchases the copy from [redacted] (the distributor), not when a customer purchases a copy from the retailer. Mr. [redacted] also indicates that he did not receive a response from his publishing consultant, [redacted]. Our records show that [redacted] reached out to Mr. [redacted] on March 8, March 16, March 17 and again on March 31, 2016. [redacted] did tell Mr. [redacted] that he needed to submit his manuscript for review, as this was the next step. [redacted] was waiting on the author’s submission. Mr. [redacted] called us on Tuesday, April 12, 2016 and indicated that he filed a Revdex.com complaint and that he wants a refund, which we are happy to accommodate. We have processed a full refund for Mr. [redacted]'s second book. This includes the initial $35 down payment, plus the additional payment of $225 (total of $260.). We feel that Outskirts Press has not performed outside of the requirements of the publishing contract Mr. [redacted] agreed to at the time of his purchase. We are sorry that we were not a good fit for his needs. In light of our detailed response, we request Mr. [redacted]’s complaint be removed from our record at this time. Thank you for your help in this matter. Sincerely, [redacted] Executive Vice President
Initial Business Response /* (1000, 8, 2015/12/02) */
Dear [redacted],
Thank you for forwarding the complaint submitted by Ms. [redacted]. We at Outskirts Press take pride in our services and find it unfortunate that one of our customers has contacted you. Outskirts Press is happy to provide the...
following detailed response to Ms. [redacted] concerns to the Revdex.com. Our excellent standing within the Revdex.com is very important to us.
Ms. [redacted] purchased the Pearl Publishing Package on 8/31/2015. She was officially published on 10/21/2015. The typical timeline for publication is 12 weeks from the date the author approves for production to begin (once they have submitted all of the necessary file and information). Authors who purchase Expedited Service are typically published within 7-10 weeks. Ms. [redacted] approved production on her title on 10/2/15. Her book was published within less than 3 weeks.
The Pearl Package includes a full color interior. Ms. [redacted] book was 182 pages and she selected the 8" x 10" economy color casebound format with a glossy cover. This format comes with 50 lb. interior paper. Most authors with full color books and a page count of more than 50 select "economy " paper rather than "standard" (70 lb.) in order to keep their retail price as low as possible.
Ms. [redacted] did return a copy of her book for review and it did take the full 10 business days for a proof copy to be ordered on the print floor so it could be compared to the book that was returned. It was determined in this review that the quality of the printing was within the specifications for economy paper and her books would not be replaced.
Ms. [redacted] talked with [redacted] our Director of Production, on Thursday 11/19/2015. During this conversation Ms. [redacted] was able to clear up Ms. [redacted] confusion over when she became published, what "Expedited Service" meant for her title, how distribution works in the publishing industry, why she does not own the rights to the assigned ISBN number on her book and, most importantly, why the quality of Print on Demand (POD) technology differs from traditional offset printing.
Ms. [redacted] decided during her conversation with Ms. [redacted] that she simply was not satisfied with POD and she requested that her title be terminated. As a result, we have terminated her title with Ingram (the wholesale distributor). Additionally, Ms. [redacted] agreed to refund Ms. [redacted] her $249 payment for a Personal Marketing Assistant and the $99 Expedited Service fee.
We feel that we have performed in accordance with our Publishing Agreement and we have accomodated Ms. [redacted] requests for resolution. In light of our detailed response, we request Ms. [redacted] complaint be removed from our record at this time.
Thank you for your help in this matter.
Sincerely,
[redacted]
Executive Vice President
Initial Consumer Rebuttal /* (3000, 10, 2015/12/05) */
(The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.)
It is unfortunate that it took a complaint to the Revdex.com to elicit a response from Outskirts Press. This is the first time I have ever had to file a Revdex.com complaint but I was completely without options due to absolutely no response to my calls or emails.
Once I did get to speak with Ms. [redacted] she took the time to clear up speak with me about my concerns and stated she would use my comments for coaching of the staff at Outskirts. She referred to the Revdex.com complaint several times and again I felt it was very unfortunate that I had to go to those lengths to get any response from Outskirts. The number of emails that I have sent are many that go without response. Calling Outskirts to try to speak with someone is absolutely impossible.
I have received the credits mentioned but I am very disappointed that Outskirts feels justified in charging me 1099.00 for a "Pearl Package" of publishing that is absolutely useless to me. I suggest to Ms. [redacted], as EVP of the company that she takes a close look at the lack of response Outskirts press provides to their customers that have paid handsomely for their services. It was not a good experience for me and I'm sure I'm not alone.
Final Consumer Response /* (2000, 11, 2015/12/07) */