Reply from Read & RateJun 20, 2025
Hi Scott,
Thank you for trying Read & Rate and for taking the time to leave feedback. We decided to remove you from our community, canceled your subscription, and refunded you, as you made it clear you were more focused on finding problems, threatening lawsuits against us and even Amazon, instead of taking responsibility and focusing on your book success. Despite our repeated efforts to help you, guide you, and even offer support on basic features like unsubscribing from helpful emails you labeled as spam, you showed no willingness to be helped or to engage constructively.
However, much of what you've stated is misleading or incorrect, and it's important to clarify for anyone reading this:
1. Your Reviews Were Real: The two reviews you received came from verified, active members. Our system does not generate fake reviews, and we do not allow our staff to review books. Every reviewer is a registered user who chooses what to read and review.
2. You Maxed Out Requests: You state you couldn’t spend your InkDrops, but in fact, you used them all and maxed out both book and copy limits. Your books were already in the library with the maximum copies allowed. As we’ve explained multiple times, the point is not to overload the library, but to allow natural selection from active members.
3. Top Shelf is Not a Gimmick: It gives real visibility by placing your books in a more limited pool. Members using Top Shelf see results when their covers and listings are appealing and competitive. But it’s not magic. If your book is not selected, adding more copies won’t change anything. There is no point flooding the library with copies of books that haven’t been selected.
4. False Claim About Amazon Risk: This is categorically false. Read & Rate is fully Amazon compliant. We do not allow review swapping. All reviews must first be posted on Amazon as regular customer reviews. We manually verify each one. If a review is not tagged “Verified Purchase,” we follow Amazon’s lead and adjust the InkDrops unless the reviewer can provide proof of purchase. That’s standard, fair practice, not “forcing” anyone. We do not encourage or permit authors to contact reviewers, and we don’t provide names.
5. Verified Purchase Tag Is Amazon-Controlled: If Amazon does not apply the Verified tag, it’s due to how the book was acquired or how quickly the review was posted. We explain this thoroughly in our support. Blaming us for Amazon’s internal logic is simply not accurate.
6. You Received Support: You had direct contact with the founder and support team. You were answered respectfully, and your concerns were addressed repeatedly. What you’ve called “lip service” was our real effort to walk you through how things work. Unfortunately, it appears you chose not to listen.
We understand our platform may not be for everyone. But making false claims about dishonesty or risk to other authors is irresponsible. We work hard to protect our members, keep reviews compliant, and offer an honest space for authors and readers.
We wish you the best with your books, and we genuinely thank you for trying the platform.
— Read & Rate Team
