IngramSpark

Insured by sky protect, my screen cracked on my iPhone X so made a claim. It took over 4 weeks start to finish! Then when it was returned the replacement part was not a like for like replacement! Called the repair centre and my fears where confirmed! They made me call sky to complain and now waiting on a response! I would not even give the service a 1 star but sadly to leave feed back. If you have the insurance with sky protect I would recommend looking else where for phone insurance……. avoid at all costs!

Very pleased with the service I received (handled by Clair in the UK) with publishing problems I was having (first time it has happened). Very kind, helpful and polite, got things sorted for me in very quick time. Never had any problems with IS, neither from support nor the quality of the books. to date.

Customer service is extremely hard to reach, and not very friendly on the occasions that one can reach them. My first copy of my book did not match the e-Proof. It is printed crookedly, and the cover is not centered. Also, the first page was not even attached. It was delivered already fallen out, indicating to me, a cheap binding. I'm very saddened by this.

Never had issues with them until the last few months. Price of books went from USD19/23 to USD75/95 and they don't respond to emails nor phone calls. Cannot even place order right now …..asked for a supervisor….well, it's been 2.5 weeks already….

Nothing but a giant pain to work with Ingram. They are negligent, careless, slow and in short not at all dedicated to the customer. Attempting to get anything done with their customer service is next to impossible. I will never use their service again.

Hello,
I am a chef and author of two cookbooks which have been published through Ingramspark.

I wanted to wait to give this review but since I have been with this company since 2016 I think this is enough time for me to make a fair valid review.

The pro:
Anytime I printed cookbooks in Europe (Ingramspark locations) they immediately shipped within a few days. Very fast delivery.

I like that they distribute to many places globally.

The cons:
Any USA orders are extremely delayed. This has been going on for years now but I noticed it got even worse. I know we are dealing with covid around the world and I would like to give them the benefit of the doubt but no. I placed an order for 1 cookbook at 88 pages which isn't big. The order was placed 6/18/20 and I still haven't received it. Today is 8/3/20 and that is 32 business days and counting. I don't think my customers are happy with the delay and that shows lack of good customer service on my end.

I really wish Ingramspark would listen to their customers and try to fix these shipment delays.

I read all these reviews and I was dreading my new title. A little confusion at first but each problem was solved in a very professional and polite manner by the Milton Keynes staff. Not sure if it was just me but each representative I had was the same- very good.
I had issues (many) and I was always polite with them which I think helped.
I speak as I find and I was pleasantly surprised by their customer service. I would recommend

IngramSpark, am I ever going to get a call back? I鈥檝e been trying to call you or several days because I am trying to submit my book but having difficulty. I did several callbacks which I was supposed to get a callback the same day but never did. Making me regret choosing Ingram for my first book.

Where do I start? The quality of IngramSpark has decreased TENFOLD over the last year. I have never had so much trouble uploading covers as I have now. The upload process was terrible–despite the designer allowing more than enough bleed room on the template, we experienced issues from the production team moving the just jacket cover around so that it was wrong, as well as overlaying the art etc. Multiple errors made from the production team made this process extremely frustrating (not to mention no apologies or compensation made at their end) … Several revisions later, several proofs ordered, and a few hundred dollars down the drain, and I'm now at the printing stage for bulk quantities. Right. After spending around $1500 on an order of hardcover books to be sold via a book subscription box company, the boxes arrived damaged, several of the books were ripped, and a good number of the spines were folded crookedly, making the cover look tacky and cheap. At $18-20 per hardcover to print, this is UNACCEPTABLE.

WHERE is the quality control? WHERE is the consistency? I've never been more upset with the absolute lack of care from this company. What's worse, this is likely to happen every time I order hardcovers in bulk, meaning delays to my customers and more stress.

Disgusted doesn't even cover it… stay away if you can.

Impossible to get anyone on the phone or even the chat option. And if you miss their call back because you are not available, they will not try again. You just have to go through the entire process the next day, and still likely never reach anyone. Several of the books I ordered were printed poorly, either crooked covers or glue on spine and cover.

I have been using Ingram Spark since 2014. I use Kindle Direct Publication (previously Createspace) for individual books sold by Amazon and Spark for printing of my bulk orders and individual copies distributed throughout the book trade for anyone daft enough not to buy their book from Amazon. It ends up about half being printed via Spark and half KDP.
My main book is 180 pages, Crown Quarto size, full colour and costs 拢6.09 for Spark printing and 拢8.77 Amazon. The Spark printing has slightly less colour saturation and therefore not quite as good as Amazon but it has got better over the years and is quite satisfactory.
I always buy my bulk orders with the cheapest printing-in-5-days-service but only once has it taken that long all others have been printed within 2 days of my order.
Only twice has there been a problem.
1. A book arrived with the print on the first few pages too pale to read properly. I emailed customer services and they asked me to send an image of the problem and another of the cover separated from the inside. I did and a new book was sent.
2. A customer who made a large bulk order emailed to say they were a few short of their order. I emailed customer services and they sent more books.
I highly recommend the printing and service I have received form Ingram Spark over the last 6 years.
Andrew Sadler

This business has gone from OK to terrible. WHAT HAS HAPPENED TO YOU???? It is embarrassing that you are even associated with the Ingram name and reputation. Errors from you processing titles to poor customer service. Working on a problem since April 2020 and today is July 14, 2020. And so very rude that your hold on voicemail will eventually force you to either press 2 for a callback or disconnect. Is this customer service?

PLEASSSSSSSEEEE PLEASEEEEE DO NOT PUBLISH WITH INGRAM SPARKS! I rarely leave reviews but this must be said! Everything is unorganized. My book was cut off and it was a complete waste of money…. but reconsider and pay close attention to the other reviews because all of it is true

I have to say that I am remarkably unhappy with IngramSpark at this point. I would disagree with people posting here about quality, as I've ordered a hardcover proof and done a different book in paperback and thus far both have been fine in terms of quality.

But OMG, the moment there's a glitch of any kind it's a disaster. They will say that even the simplest of fixes take 4-6 weeks, then 4-6 weeks later, the issue is still not resolved. They will then say "oh, there's a document you need to sign" that they never mentioned before…and sure enough, you have to wait another 4-6 weeks after that. And guess what? The issue STILL isn't fixed. And you wait for Online support (which if often offline) and they say it's all set, just wait. And wait.

I started publishing a title in MARCH and noticed that the ebook version was not showing up in any online retailers. I brought this to their attention IN MARCH and they assured me it was all set (though I had my doubts) and just needed time to process on online retailers. It's almost JULY now and sure enough, no sign of my ebook — costing me I don't know how many lost sales at the PEAK time when people are most likely to buy. It's infuriating.

They do not reply to emails, so while you'll get a response in your Inbox, if you have a question or anything do not expect any answer back…certainly not before weeks have gone by.

Another issue happened when I noticed that an online retailer wasn't recognizing the imprint I'd chosen and instead was using the Account name I had with them. "Oh, that happens sometime" was their response. Despite the instructions that if you want to NOT publish under, say, Gerbils of the Jungle Press, and instead publish under Academic Laugher LTD, all you do is create an imprint. What good is that if someone doesn't recognize that?? So I made a new account, then asked to transfer the title from one IngramSpark account to another. It should have taken an hour, tops, I don't care how backed up they are. It's literally cut and pasting data from one part of their database and putting it in the other. But no…4-6 weeks go by, and I finally get a note saying they need a transfer notice. Which I returned in less than an hour…and yep, clock resets and now I'm still waiting 4-6 weeks again. Unbelievable. Really, they should be disgusted with the inability to turn things around faster.

But most importantly, they just seem genuinely unable to own any issue and see it solved. There seems to be very little enthusiasm from ANYONE in support to say something like, "I'm so sorry you've had to wait that long, let's get this taken care of NOW."

I hate giving bad reviews to anyone and am NOT giving a 1 star mainly because when my hardcover or paperbacks have arrived they've been of decent quality. But it really does sting to think they care so little about their clients. Hope this helps others avoid this place. Unfortunately, and with regrets, I have to suggest Amazon. Lulu if one wants hardcovers.

I used IngramSpark for my first book. So far it is the best experience I had. They offer free title setup and free revisions until June 30, 2020, with Promo code – which is amazing. Their print quilty is really good. They are cheapest so far I found. Their support I got is really helpful. Let me make a list of why they are my favorite.
1. They offered me a free title setup and revision as many times as I needed. ( with Promo Code).
2. They are the cheapest ( 660 pages, Hardcover, 7*10" book cost me 拢14 to print, Handling Fee 拢1.65, Shipping 拢3.48, Total 拢 19.75. ( if you order many books handling cost stay the same 拢1.65 and shipping cost increase just a little. For example, for 10 books printing cost 拢146.20, Handling Fee 拢1.65, Shipping 拢9.78, Total 拢157.63).
3. They deliver worldwide. So, if I want to send a copy of my book to my friend/customer in America it is just made easier and cheaper.
4. Their free marketing is unbeatable. (My book automatically listed on Amazon and other bookselling websites. And has been sold without any hassling of packaging and delivery).
5) They are helpful. I had quite a few problems. They helped me through. My only complaint would be they are slow in processing. I had to upload my cover a quiet few times and every time it took a week to process. Generally, Monday they sent an email to let me know my file is ready. Given they are a huge company and their customers worldwide it is acceptable.

I ordered a proof copy of my new book from IngramSpark over 2 weeks ago. It cost more than 拢8.00 and has not arrived. The online chat representative said there was nothing he could do about it and suggested I order another one. I reminded him that I'd already paid, but his response was arrogant and dismissive. Surely IngramSpark should abide by consumer goods laws? Apparently this appalling company does not. Buyer beware of INGRAMSPARK.

I set up an account with IngramSpark with the intention of producing my hardcover books with them. I made my way step by step through the website, entering personal details and banking information. Before I'd even completed setup, I received a transaction alert from my bank stating IngramSpark had taken a (small) payment. Confused, I spoke to a member of their online chat, who promptly said there was no charge. I said there was, because the transaction alert from my bank is automated. If they couldn't see this, I would speak to my bank. They suggested they'd pass it to finance – no apology, no concern, no, "oh this is a pre-authorisation we take to verify card/account details," just blanket indifference bordering on rudeness. I asked to remove my card details and was told I couldn't, they had to have one on the account, which doesn't sit right with me. Given there was a rogue charge, I'd have expected some empathy, or even, 'don't worry we'll look into this straight away and get this sorted for you." My bank confirmed it was a pre-authorisation and may fall off the account within 48 business hours. A few days later I had an email from Ingram stating their finance team had looked into it and there was no charge. My bank has since provided reference numbers for this authorisation – which was a pre-authorisation, not a charge, so yes, it does exist – and again, there was no mention of this, no reassurance, just a simple – not us, go away. Surely if your system does a pre-authorisation on cards, your teams should be aware of this? I've since asked to close my account and remove my banking details because this if this is the sort of "customer support" you get over a simple finance process, I'm not keen on doing business with them or getting in contact if something goes wrong. Judging from the plethora of 1 and 2 star ratings over the past 2 years, this is a dodged bullet.

Bad customer service, orders that never turn up and they refuse to address the issue or offer a refund, can't get them on their online chat, rarely respond to emails and when they do it's weeks later, phone numbers provided say "we don't have customer service staff available, please call back" and the latest issue – unable to process any orders for 4 days with no indication of when their system will be back up and running again. Oh, and it took 4 days to even get any indication they had registered the issue! If you are a small, independent publisher give them a HUGE miss. It's been a disaster.

I have recommended and worked with IngramSpark for the 7-8 self-published authors I've worked with, and we haven't had many problems. However, recently, we've experienced several shipments where the cover of the book was printed off-center. IS tried to claim that our designer didn't allow enough of a margin for "shifting" during production, but our designer was able to show that he allowed even MORE than their recommended "shifting" allowance, so they did replace the books. However, it concerns me quite a bit that some of my authors' books are now being sold on Amazon by various wholesalers, and I no longer have confidence in their quality control.

I am so disappointed in them. I ordered my first book with them, and it never arrived. They claim no responsibility as I didn't pay for trackable postage.
The second book I ordered was with rush service for both printing and postage. Something happened to the order and its processing, they took the money, and the it says the order is "yet to be submitted." Now their team is going to take a look at this in 2-5 business days, making the expensive rush service totally useless. I would never recommend this company.

Very unfriendly user experience!!!!! website is hard no navigate and even title set up is a painful experience! the system wasn't allowing me to set up the title, the person who responded the call was rude and didn't want to troubleshoot, he said, the he'll pass it on to their IT specialist Monday/Tuesday, still waiting…

I placed an order for books and the box was shipped to another person in another state. The box was empty and damaged inside in another box and there were no books in it. They refuse to replace orders that you never receive. They are in violation of contract law, and take money without providing product. Customer service is insensitive and careless.

I uploaded my cover and interior files. They sent back a proof PDF. It looked fine, so I approved it. When I received the paperback, though, the cover wasn't quite centered. It was slid a fraction of an inch to one direction, horizontally.

It was the same cover image I'd sent to KDP, and KDP had printed it perfectly centered, no problem. "Oh, well–maybe IngramSpark needs a slightly different image size," I thought? Of course, their instructions don't tell me how to calculate the exact number of pixels including front, back, spine, and bleed, nor is their proof PDF any help (evidently) in predicting what will actually print. I made my best guess, adjusted my cover design's alignment by a few pixels, and paid another $25 to resubmit it.

When I received a new copy of the paperback, not only didn't it appear any more centered, but furthermore the entire book had been fed into the printer slightly *crooked*! The cover was printed at a slight *diagonal*! It so happens that my cover design had a perfectly horizontal stripe at the bottom, and, with this printing error, the stripe ran off the edge, making the crookedness very obvious.

I published a book with IngramSpark almost a year ago. Everything went quite smoothly then.

However, last month I tried to revise the book because of a small number of typos etc. I was unable to upload a revised file. No error message, nothing. I tried several times without any success. Previously this had been a trivial聽process. I contacted IngramSpark for help. There was a lot of going backwards and forwards, they said their聽IT department was working on the problem. But nothing seemed to happen. I asked some obvious questions, such as "Was my file the problem?", "Was it my browser?", "Was it a problem at their end?" They never answered any of my questions. They only ever replied half the time, and it was never a productive response. I ASKED FOR THE CONTACT DETAILS OF SOMEONE TO COMPLAIN TO. AGAIN THIS REQUEST WAS IGNORED. They tried uploading files at their end. This process took weeks to arrange. I should have been able to see new content within minutes, not weeks. A month has gone by. I have now had a large order for books. And I have just found out that I cannot even get copies of the original book (with the small number of typos). IN FACT, MY BOOK HAS NOT BEEN AVAILABLE TO ANYONE FOR SEVERAL WEEKS. AND THEY DID NOT TELL ME.聽

I have noticed that complaints to IngramSpark seem to have increased recently. I don't know what is going on.

WORST, Frustrating experience imaginable.
Have printed more than one book on Ingram Spark. But this last attempt beyond horrendous. Followed all the guidelines and were bounced around from one person to the next. And no solution though promises and more promises.