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Chegg review: False Advertising, Poor Customer Service 24

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11:38 pm EST
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I rented with Chegg for about a year but have recently become EXTREMELY dissatisfied with them. In regards to customer service, it's no wonder they have you jump through hoops just to get their phone number or live chat help. The best thing I can recommend is DO NOT LEAVE YOUR BOOKS IN YOUR CART. I left my books in my cart for a little over a week (I wanted to wait to closer to the term to order since our classes run longer than public schools) and when I went to checkout they raised my prices by more than $50! It read beside the items "this price has been updated". I was furious so I checked the prices for these to buy used and new and one of them was $30 cheaper than the one I was going to rent and it was new! I ended up getting some of my books from textbooksrus and some from half and altogether they only cost me about $30 more than Chegg. I know I can make more than $30 back on the books if I sell them on ebay or something so all I have to say is be careful. If you really think about it, these guys are making a killer profit off of us. Do your homework and look at other alternatives before you rent from them. In regards to false advertising, they say all of their books are like new however the books I received had numerous highlighter and pen marks in them throughout all the chapters. I use to love them but it seems like they are constantly raising their prices and I just don't seem where that is fair, especially when we are RENTING them. You would think they would take that into consideration.

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24 comments
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scramblingstudent
, US
May 18, 2016 8:57 pm EDT

I rented a book (thinking it was actually a textbook, weird- being a textbook rental site and all) and when it arrived it was an 'evaluation/ desk copy' version for teachers to preview and decide if they want to use the curriculum. the problem is that I am a student, my teacher DOES want to use this and in fact I need my book by Monday. This book is the misleading version CHEGG sent me posing as the actual text... I got this crappy abridged teachers preview, NOT AT ALL WHAT I ORDERED- and for a first time customer it will most definitely be the last time I EVER consider your company. Customer service is terrible, TWITTER...REALLY? Now I get to send this crap back without even using it, which costs me shipping and your stupid restocking fee (for YOUR error!) UUUGH! If you expect students to depend on you then you need to be accountable, be precise, and realize there is no margin of error when it comes to student textbooks- did your 'shipping service' REALLY think this was okay? HOW do you expect me to go to class on Monday with this crap you try to pass off as a real textbook? WHERE are you buying this cracker jack garbage from? I am SO unhappy with CHEGG. SO VERY UNHAPPY!

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Nikkiiiiiii
Chattanooga, US
Mar 24, 2015 8:35 pm EDT

Claim to have a "whiteboard" feature, haha thats a joke. Even the tutor commented the site was difficult to use and nearly impossible to type on, freezes every stroke literally. Tried to use iPad like I have on sites like tutor.com, NOPE doesn't work at all. And the apps they get your phone number to text you about are jokes as well, an app to tell me I've registered for a tutoring session? Why not an app so I can use the whiteboard/ other features, this website is comparable to a bank robber. Take a hint from TUTOR.COM and get your crap together Chegg. WORST TUTOR SITE EVER.

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Wanyoung
,
Jan 17, 2013 6:49 am EST
Verified customer This comment was posted by a verified customer. Learn more

I can't close my chegg account. They don't have close account link. The only way is chatting with their representative.
I requested it yesterday. and chegg representative said my account were closed. but it's still alive today. They never intended to close my account. Just pretending. and they are going to have my personal imfomation forever.

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Your professor
Salem, US
Nov 16, 2012 7:17 pm EST
Verified customer This comment was posted by a verified customer. Learn more

Chegg sucks and I wish everyone would read these before they placed an order. Their homework help is non existent, must be a bunch of kindergarteners in there answering questions, if they even answer, and if they do they are wrong. Improve their bank account is what chegg stands for, not at all help. These guys are [censored]s, yeast infected, puss pouring, bacteria infested sheet running down mamas leg. Don't fill the gap in their bank account, or you might just catch something you'll hear about from the Doctor, your professor.

cHEGG Sucks

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jesus.chegg
Santa Clara, US
Nov 07, 2011 9:42 pm EST

@CheggNeverAgain I haven't heard from you but that doesn't mean I'll be giving up. DM me your order info and I'll reach out to you as soon as I'm able to look into your account. I hope you're able to give me a chance to provide you the service you deserve. Bests, Jesus

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jesus.chegg
Santa Clara, US
Oct 03, 2011 7:39 pm EDT

@CheggNeverAgain I would be more than happy to figure this out! Do you have a Chegg order number you can post here or message me?

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CheggNeverAgain
, US
Sep 29, 2011 6:18 pm EDT

I was one day late for returning 3 books and was charged almost $450 right away. I tried for months to call customer service and could not speak with a manager. They force you to get a call back at an unspecified time, so I missed the calls while I was at work and kept going in a circle. I sent the books back a day late and never got ANY money back. I will never use Chegg again, and the FAKE and DISHONEST "Customer Service" for Chegg that is responding so "Warm Hearted" to these posts make me want to barf right in their stupid faces. F you Chegg, F you.

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jesus.chegg
Santa Clara, US
Aug 24, 2011 6:34 pm EDT

@ Owegn, IF you have an order number handy, I can see what I can do for you about removing the awful overdue message.

Chegg is more than happy to help any customer who contacts us. We do everything in our power to do everything we can for our students.

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owegn
, US
Aug 23, 2011 5:40 pm EDT
Verified customer This comment was posted by a verified customer. Learn more

I just waited on the phone for over 10 minutes listening to annoying hold music at [protected]. I finally redialed and waited like 4 minutes then got someone. A book on my account is showed as overdue when I returned it 8 months ago, but they lost it upon being received at their warehouse. I talked to "Robert" on LiveChat then, and he said they would file a claim and it would clear from my account that I had a book still due.

Luckily, I've never been charged for this book, but it still shows as being overdue on my account. The person I just talked to said that they did file a claim back then, and I won't get charged, but the overdue book will never cease to show up on my account. She suggested creating a new account so that I don't have to see the overdue book.

Why can't Chegg just resolve the problem once and for all? Why can't they take the overdue status off of my account? I don't grasp how that would be so difficult. It should be their job. I totally agree with all of you, that they have worse than poor customer service skills.

Having to reach out and talk to Chegg about this multiple times has killed my trust in them. You literally DO have to jump through hoops to talk to someone. It is BS.

ASUFinanceBSSummaCumLaude-
"The only good thing is they save you money and you don't have books piling up around your house." Agreed.

Otherwise? Horrible corporate BS. Already on this board, there is serious, resonating animosity from their customers for their corporate behavior. Sounds a lot like WalMart's problem.

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jesus.chegg
Santa Clara, US
Feb 11, 2011 5:54 pm EST

@exchegcustomer

I'm terribly sorry to hear that! Unfortunately whether in your cart or not, market demand determines weather the price increases or decreases for a particular book. Although we never hear about it when the situation falls in the customers favor, I wanted to reach out to you to thank you for your feedback. It's truly important to me as we are always looking for ways to improve our service.

Renting your books early assures that you get your books on time with great savings. In the future, please contact us if you run into any issues and we would be happy to look into it with you www.chegg.com/contactus

Sincerely,

Jesus

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exchegcustomer
, US
Feb 04, 2011 6:24 am EST

I just initially signed up for Chegg.com late last night and added two books to my cart. Total was $108 with shipping and tax included. I came back today 2/3/2011 in the evening and logged in to make the purchase. The price for one of the books was updated to $142.99 and the other book update to $53.99, totalling $196.98, literally double the previous price quoted and not including shipping and tax which totals more than used books from my college. After reading the reviews I will be contacting chegg to close my account.

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jesus.chegg
Santa Clara, US
Jan 26, 2011 1:59 am EST

@ StudentUH Hi! My name is Jesus and I'm a Student Advocate for Chegg.com I know I can help you with this I just need a little more info so I can pull up your account. Do you have the order key so I can find your info and reach out to you? Thanks!

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StudentUH
, US
Jan 26, 2011 12:17 am EST

I ordered 4 books, assuming that they would arrive on the date both the website advertised, and the date I payed for. Three of the four ordered books arrived. I called customer service to complain and get the books sent out ASAP. Guess what? They could not be sent. I tried to get a refund for the book, so that I could get the payment to buy a book before I failed my class. Whats more annoying than paying for something instantly, but having to wait a week for a refund? Nothing. This company needs to be destroyed for their incompetence. I just filled a complaint with the BBB. I hope that this company learns to handle logistics better.

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Slemon09
, US
Dec 22, 2010 7:10 pm EST

I dropped off my book on time and even have the receipts to show it, but Chegg still says my book was overdue and when i tried to contact them, they gave me 3 different phone numbers, none of which work, and i'm trying a live chat but is having no luck so far, i'm taking my chances with amazon next time, at least they have people who respond to you.
[protected]
[protected]
[protected]
These are the numbers for chegg, they switch the numbers every time i ask a question on the box and none works, if it actually works for anyone, please respond so i'll know if its just me.

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Bumabu
Beach Park, US
Oct 24, 2010 6:42 am EDT

My books are late too, here I sit, watching my GPA plummet to ground zero. Thanks Chegg!

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Chegg.com
Santa Clara, US
Sep 17, 2010 4:46 pm EDT
Verified customer This comment was posted by a verified customer. Learn more

@Janea_S, If your book is late, we'll refund your original shipping costs. Your rental period does begin the day that you order, but our semester guarantee ensures that if your classes last longer than your rental period, we'll add additional days so you can keep your books for your entire academic period.

Please let us know if we can assist you in any way: chegg.com/contactus

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janae_s
atl, US
Sep 17, 2010 3:12 am EDT

CHEGG.com is a joke. The service is horrible, they will lie about the ship date of your book AND they start counting down on your book rental time the DAY you order your book. So even if you get it weeks later.. you've lost rental time. They also charge you $5 for returns AND keep your original shipping fees so you're out at least $10 if you decide to send your book back within 30 days. This company is ridiculous. Use bookrenter.com or another rental site before messing with this company!

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Chegg.com
Santa Clara, US
Sep 01, 2010 4:40 pm EDT
Verified customer This comment was posted by a verified customer. Learn more

Sarah, don't forget that we want you to get your book on time, too! We have a ship date guarantee, and if you don't receive your book by that date, we'll refund your shipping costs. Please let us know if we can help you in any way.

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Chegg.com
Santa Clara, US
Sep 01, 2010 4:21 pm EDT
Verified customer This comment was posted by a verified customer. Learn more

@sarah123456 If it's past your guaranteed delivery date, please don't hesitate to contact us so we can look into this for you! chegg.com/contactus

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sarah123456
New Britain, US
Sep 01, 2010 12:12 pm EDT

I still have not received my book. Customer service has been beyond horrible. Chegg I will never do business with you again.

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reariley18
Errol, US
Feb 01, 2010 7:50 pm EST

Cheggs services SUCKSSS! I order books and here I was waiting 2 weeks for them. I was told I would have them by a a certain date. SO when that date came I called to see where they were and they came up with some ### anwser. So, I asked for a refund. They ended up sending them after the fact? In the meantime I ordered the books from amazon with one day shipping. So now here I am with 2 of the same damn books! Now I am out 20 bucks from the super fast shipping from amazon...very very not professional service..Now I am unhappy cause really there is nothing I can do but spread the word that Chegg sucks.UNREAL. DO NOT ORDER FROM CHEGG THEY ARE BULLS***!

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ASUFinanceBSSummaCumLaude
Tempe, US
Jan 26, 2010 1:29 am EST

As an "80-20" customer of Cheggs, for over 2 years now, I saved hundreds of dollars over the years and not to mention to heavy load from my bookshelves (or lack thereof). Yes, they have their strong points, but their customer service problem is solely derived from their lack of an effective, reliable, and trustworthy supply chain management system! If some one from their company, maybe the marketing department, is doing their job, then they should be reading this websites and those like it, because we, the people, and their loyal customers, ARE THEIR CUSTOMERS, and in order for a business to succeed past it's "peak" and not fail during it's "maturity, " it needs to make the improvements their CUSTOMERS NEED! Now while this person above was charged $100, I have a friend that made money off of their poor supply chain since they were late sending him the first text after charging him TWICE, while the second refund processed, another book came! This book then made it's way back to another local bookstore where my buddy made some cash off of their mistake. If this case really does go into litigation, the customer will win, and will always win, because customers are what keep businesses liquid and solvent (unless another better competitor comes along... ...watch your back Chegg). Moreover, while partnering with other e-businesses to provide textbooks, ONE mode of transportation should be used (ie. UPS) so the customer can always receive a tracking number. This will help not only provide a consistent relationship between UPS and Chegg, but also provides Chegg and it's customer with a neutral third party that keeps hard copies (documents of proof) of packages coming in or out (aka to/from the customer/Chegg). Lastly, but not least, is an effective customer service system. Manage the wait times with your representatives. Have e-mail communication be a method of communication beyond chat and phone calls. If you staff anyone to do online chat or phone calls, use people from the LOCAL country (THE USA), the country with the customers, so your customers can understand what the ### the other line is saying, or so the "chat" doesn't take 20-30 mins while "Tim" aka "Muhammed Patel" goes through their script.

The only good thing is they save you money and you don't have books piling up around your house. I have never personally had any issues beyond them charging me for late fees but it was an issue that my drop-off receipt from UPS couldn't take care of, but this is also because I always order a week before school starts and their servers and business gets too busy.

Fair warning: ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS keep any kind of physical record of documentation when dealing with Chegg. Any thing from e-mails to "chats" to your receipts from UPS (ASK FOR THESE RECEIPTS!) to your bank statements and credit card statements. HECK, take SCREEN SHOTS and save these images on your computer. Worst comes to worst, in case of pending litigation, or a small dispute, you have the physical record of proof for your own ###.

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complchegg
Colorado Springs, US
Jan 21, 2010 2:22 pm EST

I have a question, what if you are unhappy with the service before you can actually place the order? Oh, wait. . . Chegg say's that I haven't ordered anything therefore $100+ hasn't been taken away from my bank account. I tried to place the order but the website said I my order information was invalid so it didn't place the order and it didn't take money away from my bank account. But my bank statement has a charge of $100+ from chegg. How can this be?

Oh, what was that customer service agent? You didn't take the money away from my bank? Even though it was taken away? Okay, I believe you. You said so, so it must be true! I am so naive, sorry about that chegg. You know what? ### you! How stupid do you think we are?! I am tired of your service. So I am gathering my attorney and the police so they can come after you. All because you didn't want to return $100 measly dollars.

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Chegg Customer Service
Santa Clara, US
Jan 09, 2010 10:25 pm EST
Verified customer This comment was posted by a verified customer. Learn more

I am a customer service team member at Chegg.com and I am unhappy to hear of the negative experience you have had. The prices of some of our rentals may change due to changes in the textbook market. If the price does change while it is left in your shopping cart we will definitely message you with the updated price. Also, Chegg offers a guarantee on the quality of our textbooks; if you are ever unhappy with the condition your textbook is received in you can contact us and we will ship a replacement copy out to you right away. If you would like to contact a team member please go to http://www.chegg.com/contactus/. Or, if you would like to provide your email address, I would be happy to contact you directly.

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