Pocket FM
complaints

Okay so the story about the accidental bride was actually pretty interesting, so that’s why I’m giving two stars. However, waiting for a new episode is the problem I’m facing. It says “Free tomorrow, Get Pocket VIP to play Now”. So ofc I waited a whole 24 hours, but still wasn’t able to read. I gave it the benefit of the doubt and waited another day, making it 48 hours. Still not able to unlock. I just want to listen I’m not paying for anything. It’s about to be 72 hours since I’ve listened to the last episode and I’m so close to deleting this app. Update 9/3: Still haven’t been able to read. I read many different stories thinking that Accidental bride was just not working, but I couldn’t unlock any new episodes after weeks. Changing to 1 star.

I love that the novels are read to you but my concern is why after you pay $20 then it doesn’t offer to wait for the next 10 episodes for tomorrow when I use to wait it was like this and I don’t understand if I’m paying shouldn’t it have the same of waiting just a day and 10 more will be available now it’s telling me I have to wait a month for the next episode the a day after for the next episode then it says a month after that that’s going to make me stop because it’s trying to make me pay it’s only $2 for 15 coins each episode costs from 4-6 coins but at the end it’s going to make me keep spending money just because of this I would rather uninstall the app sorry but I’m not going to pay just to read something I can just go on YouTube and keep hearing for free

When I first started using the app I was enjoying, the story I was listening to was a fun listen, but that is kind of where the good ends, the whole coin thing is very inconvenient and astronomicaly expensive, just to get through not even half of a story, I prob spend $20 which is kinda ridiculous just for not even half of a story, the story itself captured my attention but the cost has completely turned me off to the Pocket FM platform, yes you can just wait until it becomes “free” but when there are 80+ episodes I quickly lost interest having to wait, especially since each “chapter” is like 10 mins long, and your “free” trial is completely misrepresented, was really hoping to like the app but it’s something I could never recommend to a family member or friend

Have a great day!

I saw an add for this on YouTube and figured I’d give it a try. I know it’s romance people but is it too much to expect that the situation are somewhat plausible? That the characters behave like real people? This feels like a high school creative writing assignment.
Next, the price. I listened to the free episodes of said ridiculous story then the test was behind a pay wall. How much would it cost to unlock the whole story? I’m glad you asked. 528 coins. To get that many coins you need to buy the $49.99 package. (You would have some left over but not much)
Dude. I buy a lot of books. Audio, E-books and old fashioned “real books” the only time I ever paid that much for a book it was a text book. I wouldn’t pay $5 for the dribble they peddle on this app.
Laughably ridiculous

I’m on my second book and while the story is good enough for me to follow, you’ll come across some annoying mishaps like duplicate episodes or forgetting to upload an episode altogether. You get one episode update per 24hrs and when it turns out the uploaded episode is a duplicate, it’s enough for me to curse! . I bought into subscribing thinking it’ll give me updates much faster OR….be able to listen to the story without pause or waiting for updates. Was I wrong! I get to wait just like the non-paying listeners! So, what’s the incentive behind subscribing for 59.99$? NONE! So, don’t waste your money. They need to complete the story before they upload it in this app. Happy customers multiplies a lot faster which also means good revenue for the creator of this app….just saying.

So, yes, the “app” is free. Believe me, those stories are definitely NOT. I was listening to one. Got the first 10 episodes free, I thought this story is pretty good, I wouldn’t mind paying some to hear the rest. I wish I could send you guys the pictures I took of the prices these people are trying to charge. It’s criminal! Let me spell it out. I need 6,022 coins to finish my book. The coins start at package deals from 200 coins for $1.99 (that’s a special, one time purchase) and go up to 2,400 coins for $99.99. So, let’s do the math here…I would have to buy at LEAST two $100 packs. Then, I could buy the 1,200 coin pack that’s $50. BUT, I STILL need 22 more coins. Good thing I have that $2 pack I can count on! So, it’s only going to cost me $252 to listen to one book! What an awesome bargain!

How am I not able to speak to no one? I reach episode 68 and paid for most of them and now it’s all lock back up—— what happen to all the money I paid? I wish w had read all the reviews before spending my money on this app…. What’s with one or two chapters a day? Even after I spent money to try to get the full story , my money run out before I even get to half the book. Books are not that expensive, a romance novel is maybe about $10 but this app want $100s to listen to one story and you can’t even get to the end of it cause they are not uploading them…. What’s the point of spending all that money and can’t get to the end of the book? I wish there was a way to get my money back, because it’s not fair for you to take all my money and I. Any finish one book . I think Apple should shut this app down

I like the stories. And found one I really so I figure I’ll unlock it with coins to get the hole story instead of waiting everyday for a few parts to be released for free. It’s a good story so it’s worth it to me. So got a bunch of coins. About 15 bucks. Then realized there’s over 1000 parts. I did the math and it would be over 100. About 150$. What? That’s 3 plus times what a book would be. I would love to support the writer but that’s crazy. So I just can’t buy any more coins till it’s more reasonable. A lot more reasonable. Until then I’ll wait every day to listen to the parts released. If things get better i would gladly spend money on story’s I like. But there’s no way I’m spending all that money to finish one book. If I’m gonna spend 100 plus then I’ll just get 3 audio books and still save money.

This app states that they would unlock 2-3 chapters for free everyday for a story that you are following. I started the substitute bride audio book but it didn’t unlock any chapters for me so far. Their customer service is also terrible. I left them an email months ago and still haven’t heard back from them. In addition, they have a new feature where they say that you can earn coins by watching ads. However, when you try to click on the link, you receive a message that no ads are available to watch. Plus, you can’t unlock any chps randomly at your will. All chapters need to be unlocked consecutively which is another ploy to scam users in spending money to unlock more chapters. And everything is way too expensive. You might spend $100+ and still need to spend more to complete a story that you like. Wanted to give 0 stars if I could

I have had my account since September 2nd 2022. I spend over 3 thousand dollars on episodes. Two days ago I logg on and all my episodes are deleted. All my purchases on gone. I brought two full books two days ago I sent this company my screenshots of my apple purchases it clearly shows $100 purchase $49 purchases etc. so they know it’s their mistake. I submit a ticket and they keep closing the case. FRAUD! Beware even if you purchase a whole book you might not get to finish it since your book will disappear out of nowhere. These people refuse to help I will now have to get visa involoved and apple to deal with these fraud people since they don’t communicate! Rose

02/27/23

I have still now recieved any help on the matter. They tell you to contact them but once I do they close the case without resolving it. This company is horrible!

I been using the free version of this app to listen to the billionaire accidental bride. I was on episode 65 when I decided to make payment to get full access to the story. I tried several times but payment failed. So I decided to download the app on a new device and made payment which went through. I bought 150 coins, in my mind I would chose which episode to use my coins on but no my thought wasn’t so. The system applied my coins from 1st episodes down.
Oh goodness what is this? I can’t believe this how the app is and theirs no way for me to chose what episode to use my coins on. Now what do I do? Because I’ve listen from episode 1 to 65 using the free version. I put in a lot of work to get to episode 65 as I have to wait for it everyday. I think this is not fair and I need a refund of my coins to enable me to use it on episodes I chose to use it on.

Thank you.

This “coin system” model is like the old “bait & switch” system. You start listening to a story that is very interesting, and then you have to buy coins to listen to the rest of the story. No problem! I’m willing to pay for good stories. But NO! I pay $20 only to find out that my $20 barely pays for ONE-TENTH of the story. Instead of the book being broken up into chapters, it’s broken up into “episodes.” However, each episode is only about 10 minutes. So, what does $20 get you? A total of about 40 to 50 episodes of a 950+ episode book. RIDICULOUS! Of course, you do have the option to buy enough coins to unlock the entire book… for ONLY NINETY-NINE DOLLARS! For that amount, I might as well go see a movie in 3D at the IMAX theater, but popcorn, hot wings, beer, candy, soda, pretzels, and an ice cream bar… and still not spend a total of $100. What a freaking scam!

I WILL CONTACT MY BANK.
I AM GOING TO PROVIDE SCREENSHOTS.
Last night at EPISODE 680 I HAD 5 UNLOCKED EPISODES & 9 REMAINING COINS. EVERY morning at 3am est some episodes unlock ranging from 3-6 episodes. I screenshot to make sure because for some reason I keep either losing coins or episodes but I’m not sure. This time I’m definitely sure. You ppl are a complete RIP OFF. AS YOU CAN SEE I had unlocked episodes already. Then from 685-689 were supposed to be unlocked tomorrow as in 3am today. But you scam artists didn’t unlock them. You unlocked one episode and changed thronged the price. I’ve wasted so much money on this app because I really thought that I was bugging out but in reality you people rob people that support you which is craziness and I’m going to call my bank first thing in the morning to get my money and I’m canceling my subscription, you can see my screenshots clear as day. SCAMMERS

Well it’s an awesome app. You can listen to stories on end. I have been listening to quite a few. I paid for some episodes with coins and when I went back after listening to one series the episodes I paid for were locked. On the other 2 stories I was listening to. I know I paid for them as I shared what was left one time between the other 2 stories from what was left over of coins I bought. Now I trying to get to talk to someone and there is no contact info for the developer or so on. That’s kinda crazy. I mean having an issue and there is no contact info to reach so as to sort out problems. Not nice. I mean it’s awesome to can listen the stories. But until I get some good understanding talk with someone who develops and manages this app then I won’t recommend it.
You will pay for things in advance then find the app is requiring you to pay for it again when you go back to listen. Not nice. Not nice at all. I’m quite upset right now about it.