Complaints

The complaint text that is displayed might not represent all complaints filed with BBB. Some consumers may elect to not publish the details of their complaints, some complaints may not meet BBB's standards for publication, or BBB may display a portion of complaints when a high volume is received for a particular business.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:10/30/2022

  Type:Product Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  I provided formal notice of termination of an Agreement dated 6/13/22 and Rec**ring Payment Authorization Form dated 10/5/22 to Fulton Books on 10/26/22 and they now refuse to speak with me. Before signing the Agreement, Ms. April M** ass**ed me that since we were supplying a book that had already been fully designed, typeset, formatted, edited and sampled, Fulton would have the capacity to move the *** ******* ** **** **** ******** ******** ********* Program (Option B) at a much faster pace than other Fulton clients who had not provided these elements. Unfortunately, this has not occ**red and the following list of items are still outstanding more than thirty (30) days following the retail launch of the paperback book and e-book: Creation of Author YouTube Channel (not completed) Promotional Video Trailer (not completed) Video Interview via Zoom (not completed) Podcast Interview (not completed) Banner Advertisement on Homepage of Bookstore Website (not completed) Pinterest Business Account (not completed) Facebook Social Media Launch Package – 4 posts (not completed) The items that are outstanding represent elements that differentiate the Print and E-book Editions of the Work (Option A) and Ultimate Marketing Program (Option B). ? The total cost of Option A was Three Thousand Seven Hundred and Thirty Six Dollars ($3,736.00). ? The total cost of Option B was Six Thousand Five Hundred Eighty One Dollars ($6,581.00). To date, I have made the following payments, having only received the items promised in Option A: 6/13/2022 $995 7/15/2022 $399 7/25/2022 $2,394 8/15/2022 $399 9/15/2022 $399 10/15/2022 $399 Total $ 4,985.00 Therefore, I requested to revert to Option A and be refunded the overpayment of $1,249 between the two Options, with nothing but denial of what was promised and induced this Agreement.

  

  Business Response

  Date: 11/11/2022

  Fulton did not refuse to work or speak to **** ******** as she has stated. She has threatened legal action against us to which referred to o** legal team when it came to those conversations. She has not reached out to us since then. Fulton will grant **** ******** with a termination agreement and accept her refund request of $1,249. We will draft one and have one sent to her if she agrees.

  Customer Answer

  Date: 11/14/2022

  [A default letter is provided here which indicates yo** acceptance of the business's response.  If you wish, you may update it before sending it.]
  
  Better Business B**eau:
  
  On Oct 27, 2022, at 4:18 PM, ****** ****** ***********************> wrote:
  
  
  ****** ********
  
  
  I can no longer assist you as all f**ther correspondence will be through o** legal team.
  
  
  Nicole M*****
  
  Financial Assistant 
  
  Fulton Books 
  *** ******** ***  ********** ** ***** ************ *******************

  The above is an email received from my contact at Fulton, and once again, despite being told someone from the legal team would reach out to me, they never did.

  Therefore, I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********* and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me, however, I am not seeking to terminate...just revert to the Package A they have provided thus far and refund the overage paid to date. There have been book sales and Fulton is expected to send quarterly statements for said sales.  
  
  Regards,
  
  ******* ********

   

  Customer Answer

  Date: 11/16/2022

  Better Business Bureau:
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********* and have determined that this does not resolve my complaint.  For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below.
  

   

  After I had initially accepted Fulton’s settlement, I was emailed a Release of Agreement by Nicole M****** as shown below, which added the removal of all distribution channels for my book, which I did NOT agree to. I must therefore now reject this settlement offer.
  
  Additionally, Fulton was notified on October 29, 2022, via certified mail, to stop the recurring monthly charge on my credit card in the amount of $399. Today, November 15, 2022, I was charged again in the amount of $399 and I have disputed this with my credit card company under the Fair Credit Billing Act.
  
  In summary, I have paid a total amount of $5384 (including today’s charge). My proposal was to revert to publishing Option A, at a fee of $3,736, which included eight (8) itemizations: 1) Conversion to Various Digital Formats, 2) Printed Editions of the Work, 3) Author Discount Program, 4) ISBN, 5) Digital Distribution, 6) Print Distribution, 7) Author Web Page, and 8) Publicity and Press Release Distribution. Fulton Books has rejected this proposal and they will now pull my book from all distribution channels and author pages, which I have paid for, leaving only three (3) of the aforementioned items completed. Broken down, each itemization is $467. Fulton will have only supplied three (3) of these items upon termination which totals an earned payment of $1,401.
  
  Therefore, I am seeking a total refund in the amount of $3,983 within 14 days of signing the Release Agreement and will move forward with all legal remedies available to me should this not be agreeable.
  Thank you.
  
  Regards,

  
  ******* ********

  

  Business Response

  Date: 11/16/2022

  We do not agree to these terms. We do not provide an option to change the signed agreement to a different package so far into publication. We drafted a release agreement that **** ******** attached. We agreed to her refund amount she proposed in her previous response to us. The work we have completed, Page Design, Cover Design, Production, Comp copies, upload to retailers, eBook production, video trailer, webpage, press release. Even with the files that had been provided to us to help, we still have to work with those. It is not a plug and play file that we can simply send to be printed.  Items not completed are Zoom video interview, podcast, banner ad through Reader House, Pinterest business account, and Facebook social media package. The account has a balance of $1596.00 unpaid, plus the refund of $1249.00 we agreed to in **** ********** previous response.
  

   

  We would love to work through the contract and complete our remaining obligations in our current agreement. If **** ******** doesn't wish to work with us, we can follow through with the release of the current contract and part ways.
  

  Customer Answer

  Date: 11/16/2022

  Better Business Bureau:
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********* and have determined that this does not resolve my complaint.  For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below.
  
  [To assist us in bringing this matter to a close, we would like to know your view on the matter.]

  Full files were provided to Fulton with all printing requirements met. The only “work” Fulton had to complete for the Cover Design was the addition of the ISBN number and publisher logo. There were no Page Design changes ever made by Fulton. At NO TIME was a video trailer ever shared with me or sent to me for approval. Although I approved a Press Release, I was never provided proof that it was actually distributed. 
  
  
  I have no desire to continue working with Fulton Books and wish to terminate this relationship immediately. The refund should be in the amount of $1,648 ($1,249 for difference between Option A and Option B plus $399 for a charge to my credit card on 11/15/22). Refund is expected to my credit card within 14 days from receipt of signed Release and print and digital files are expected to be received within 24 hours of receipt of signed Release.
  
  
  The Release should be re-written to include the following:
  
  
  1) Total refund being issued back to ******* ********** credit card in the amount of $1,648. within fourteen (14) calendar days.
  2) Twenty-four (24) hour timeframe to forward print and digital files to ******* ********** email. 
  3) In the event there are any issues opening or using these files, Fulton will cooperate with ******* ********* ***** **** *** **** ******* to facilitate gaining access.
  4) Should the aforementioned obligations not be met by Fulton, within the specified timeframes, ******* ******** will be entitled to a full refund of $5,384.
  
  Regards,
  
  ******* ********

• Initial Complaint

  Date:10/26/2022

  Type:Sales and Advertising Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  I'm a self-published author, and I published two books with Fulton Books. Ingram Content is the printer/distributor and works in partnership with Fulton Books. All sales, according to Fulton Books, goes through Ingram Content. When someone purchases my book, it registers first with Ingram and then Ingram updates Fulton Books so I can get paid. The problem is that for some reason in 2022, Ingram Content stopped updating their sales report with Fulton Books, which means my books are being sold and I'm not getting paid. I contacted Fulton Books over the summer and explained the issue to them. I asked them to please contact Ingram Content and find out what's going on. I have no idea what Fulton Books is doing to resolve this issue but from what I can see, nothing is being done because we're now almost in the month of November and I'm still begging them to call Ingram Content. If you can help in any way I would appreciate it. Contacting the BBB is the last thing I wanted to do, but at this point I don't know what else to do. I feel like Fulton Books is not taking me seriously.

  

  Business Response

  Date: 10/27/2022

  Fulton Books has always taken *** ********* concerns seriously. We have provided him with the process in which our reporting works through Ingram and provided him with reporting statements from Ingram themselves. We explained how Amazon orders a stock of books and proceeds to sell from this stock until it is gone before they order new copies. Ingram only reports “new” books printed & shipped. Author Central may be reporting sales to customers coming from this stock that Amazon has already purchased.

  
  Please find the sales documents for both *** ********* books (*********** * * *) that Ingram has provided us with for sales up to the last sales quarter. We have supplied similar documents from Ingram in our last discussion with *** ******* about the concern. These documents show each new book printed and sold out of Ingram's print facility as well as any eBook sold in that period. Fulton Books sales report that *** ******* can review in his author account, update after the sales quarter ends. His account will show sales up to date with Ingram's with the next quarterly sales reports.

  Customer Answer

  Date: 10/28/2022

  Better Business Bureau:
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********* and have determined that this does not resolve my complaint.  For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below.
  
  [To assist us in bringing this matter to a close, we would like to know your view on the matter.]

  
  

  The documentation Fulton Books provided is information I'm aware of, familiar with, and most of it I've seen already.  Their sales reports show 1 sale for *********** * (paperback) between 2/2/2022 and 9/30/2022, and 1 sale for *********** * (paperback) between 3/24/2022 and 9/30/2022.  Both are accurate, however, my concerns have been about the four additional copies of *********** * that sold in 2022.  According to my author Amazon account, *********** * was purchased in paperback between 3/5/2022 and 3/11/2022, once again between 4/16/2022 and 4/22/2022, once again between 5/28/2022 and 6/3/2022, and twice between 8/20/2022 and 8/26/2022.  Out of those 5 sales of *********** *, Ingram Content has only reported one sale to Fulton Books.  I would like to know why?  Ingram Content reported 1 sale for *********** * and 1 sale for *********** * in 2022, but my author account shows 5 sales of *********** * and 1 sale of *********** *.  

  
  

  I sent Fulton Books a snapshot of author account with amazon during the summer of 2022 to prove to them what I was saying, but honestly, I can't even believe they asked to see that.  Here I am asking them to investigate something on my behalf and they acted like I was lying to them or something.  Fulton Books is under no financial risk in this situation and never has been.  I'm the self-published author who spent thousands to have my books published and I continue to pay to have my contracts renewed so my books can stay available for purchase.

  
  

  In Fulton Book's last response they mentioned "new sales."  They said Ingram Content only reports "new sales" to them.  That means, according to Fulton Books, 4 of those sales that took place in 2022 are "old."  They told me Amazon purchased a bulk order of paperbacks in 2021 for redistribution.  Okay, if that's the case then I would like to see some proof of that sale, Fulton Books has still not provided that information.  They keep sending sales reports I've seen already.  I want to see some type of sales report or proof of sales that Amazon purchased a bulk order of paperbacks from Ingram Content in 2021 because then that would at least validate what Fulton Books is telling me about "old" sales.    
  
  Regards,
  
  ******* *******

  

  Business Response

  Date: 10/31/2022

  Fulton Books has provided all the proof of sales for *** ******** book. Any book that can be purchased, can only be printed and shipped from Ingram. This ensures that they have record of each sale. We have contacted Ingram, and the reports they supplied to us are the same ones we attached in the previous reply. 

  Customer Answer

  Date: 10/31/2022

  Better Business Bureau:
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********* and have determined that this does not resolve my complaint.  For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below.
  
  I just attached a screen shot of my author amazon account showing paperbacks purchased from Amazon between March 5th 2022 and August 26, 2022.  It shows 5 sales of *********** * and 1 sale of *********** *, even though Ingram Content is only reporting 1 sale of *********** * and 1 sale of *********** * between those dates.  That means there's at least 4 sales that I'm not going to get paid for.  I don't understand how Fulton Books can expect me to believe what they're telling me if they can't provide proof.  If Amazon purchased a bulk order of *********** * paperbacks in 2021 for redistribution, then Ingram Content should have a record of that sale.  I don't understand how Amazon can purchase a bulk order and there be no record of it.]
  
  Regards,
  
  ******* *******

  

  Business Response

  Date: 11/11/2022

  Fulton has responded with sales proof within our last response and have nothing more to add.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:10/07/2022

  Type:Service or Repair Issues
  Status:

  ResolvedMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  Fulton Books had given me a PA who was wonderful- Scott P*****. He helped me tremendously through the process. I brought my own cover- no discount which was alright. I’m about to Go online today possibly on Amazon with my books and my PA was switched to Matthew Q******* who does not communicate- has wrong or very little knowledge of publishing. I call and call Fulton Books many days to reach him and he’s had to call Scott P***** for information. Matthew was incoherent yesterday and my book is my life- I cannot let it go by the wayside now that I’m going to be in online stores. It’s a nightmare and Fulton books will not change the new PA to someone with publishing knowledge who communicates and is coherent! I am beside myself. We spent thousands of dollars and I have a second book to publish and would never go with Fulton again unless I am given a PA of Scott P*****’s caliber. The people manning the phones were rude to me and my husband and yesterday the PA was NOT COHERENT! This is not how to run a business. I’m not asking for monies back- I must have a knowledgeable communicative PA - I saw comments on BBB where they say send an email which is a joke. The head of Fulton has to reach out to us quickly as my book is going online probably today and I must have a knowledgeable PA with excellent communication skills or my book will be for naught! I’m besides myself! ****** ***** Dream Lover

  Customer Answer

  Date: 10/12/2022

  To ********,
  
  It was a pleasure speaking with you. I would like to have posted that VP Heather Pelc at Fulton Books has helped fix the problems I have had.
  My paperback with Amazon is now at the right price $19.95
  My biography and synopsis are now on Amazon.
  Barnes&Noble now has the photo of my book with the correct price and a synopsis. 
  Heather informed me my E-Book and Video trailer would be ready for publication in 3-4 week and told me the price.
  For now Heather is acting as my Publication Assistant.
  I am happy with these changes that Heather made at Fulton Books and high marks to her for doing it in a timely manner.
  I am closing my case with Fulton Books and hopefully everything will stay in good stead. Regards, ****** *****

• Initial Complaint

  Date:09/08/2022

  Type:Order Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  During covid, Fulton Books was unable to perform marketing obligations under the contract due to impossibility of performance. I sought a reduction of the contract price but the company has withheld royalties and refused to provide an accounting of royalties.

  

  Business Response

  Date: 09/12/2022

  ********* account is currently on a temporary hold with Fulton Books. Her last payment made to us was in February of 2020 and has since stopped. Once she has made 1 monthly payment we will happily remove the hold and continue production and finish with our marketing items.

  Attached is a copy of ********* royalty statement. Here it shows a report of her sales and how much has been paid to her. We sent the last royalty check to her on 8/19/2020, six months after she had stopped making her agreed monthly payments to us. Record of this is also attached.
  

• Initial Complaint

  Date:07/08/2022

  Type:Order Issues
  Status:

  ResolvedMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  I signed a contract with Fulton Book around the end of June 2021. Fulton Books was supposed to publish my book. Our contract was $4000 and $695 for a social media launch package. I paid them the money. Megan was my book assistant and she was awesome. She was friendly and her response was on time. I have been told that Fulton has good editors. The editors were so good that I had been editing my book on my own for the following nine months. Many words were left misspelled and many sentences need to be clarified. We moved to the stage about the page layout. I had to work extra months because Fulton's editors were not doing their job. Fulton Book's editors missed a lot of mistakes. The page layout became another editing stage. When we went to the cover stage I' have been told that I have to wait 5-6 weeks to get the first copy delivered to my address to check for mistakes and then I could request an official book release from Ingram. I asked if we could skip that step and straight to the point of releasing this book. Fulton said that this is a policy of Ingram. That's a BS. I know it because at the time they were explaining their policy I sent files of my second book to Ingram and they simply asked me when it would be the release date, without sending me a copy to my address to check for mistakes. Also for the paperback royalties, Fulton gave less than Ingram. In our contract, it says that Fulton can take up to 20 cents per copy and the difference between Fulton prices and Ingram prices was around a dollar. Where is that money going? I want to terminate my contract with Fulton as soon as possible. They will not be my publisher. And I won't $2,500 reimbursement. Thank you! I would love to hear back from Fulton's management.

  Customer Answer

  Date: 07/12/2022

  As I spoke with the Business Fulton Book, we came to an agreement and they promised to do what I requested. I would like to close this complaint.

  Warm regards,
  

  ******* *******  

• Initial Complaint

  Date:06/27/2022

  Type:Order Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  I signed publishing contract with Fulton books, of which they would they would reimburse me my $3,500.00. This has not happened. The number book sale was last recorded in march of 2021, This can not correct, because I have personally witnessed people buying my book two days ago, and this is June of 2022. I have also learned that he public libraries in Fisher and Noblesville Indians have my book listed to be borrowed