Complaint Review: Author House UK Ltd.

I contacted Author House UK Ltd. through the internet on 1st April 2013 and requested the "Writer's Guide to Book Publishing". On 3rd April I received an E-Mail from Jean Swan who announced that she was the "New Publishing Consultant" She advised me to order a package for 450 pounds. An hour later I received an E-Mail from authors@authorhouse.co.uk with an order number and a payment plan for 1399 pounds plus a payment plan fee of 30 pounds - to be paid over 3 months. The first payment of 496.34 pounds was deducted from my bank account immediately. Another hour later I received an E-Mail from Anne Tolentino, Check-In Coordinator at authorhouse.com who sent the online submission pdf. Whilst re-formatting my text, as required by Author House,  I had a computer crash and lost the complete text.

On 8th April I called Jean Swan, told her what had happened and cancelled the order, without submitting any text. there was therefore no final contract with Author House. Jean Swan promised about 5 times that I would get a refund of the money. but on 7th May a second payment of 496.33 was deducted from my bank account. Jean Swan, who I had now established is resident in the Phillipines, also promised that this amount would be refunded. My last call to Miltión Keynes was transferred to Bloomington. The woman in the Financial Dept. there told me she had no record of a cancellation or refund but gave me a refund ID for $1399 which she told me would be on my bank account by 17th June. She also confirmed to me that Jean Swan works on a commision basis and therefore has no interest in a refund. She also agreed that the Milton Keynes address is simply a mailbox and that all calls are transferred to Bloomington. An 0800 telephone number in the UK cannot be called from Germany.

As this was a Distance Sale Order according to EU law I should have received written details of the offer before ordering, an invoice with the correct address of the company and their registered number (in fact I have discovered they are not registered), A VAT number, the terms and conditions and a cancellation form. There is a cooling-off period of 7 working days following the day after the order was placed and the money must be refunded within 30 days of cancellation.   

All this shows that Author House deliberately engages in fraudulent misrepresdentation to extract as much money as possible from authors and has no intention of refunding any money.