Reading Buddy Software 

In November, I ordered a trial subscription to Reading
Buddy Software for my son. I was sent an email welcoming me and giving me a link to set up an account. I completed the set up, but I was never sent a username and password to log in to the Reading Buddy software for my son to begin to learn to read
better. I sent an email attempting to retrieve the username and password, but I was never responded to. I attempted to call all of the numbers on the website, however, all are disconnected. After several attempts to call, email and then cancel on their website
(which has a cancel screen, however, there is no submit button), I wrote an email ending my subscription. According to the website, there are no refunds, however, you can cancel at any time. I let
them know that I did not authorize any further charges on my credit card. But I was still billed for $79 in the month of December without my permission.
I have disputed this charge with my credit card company and they are investigating this fraud. I believe this company is praying on the parents
of children who really need help to learn to read. I researched this company and the president Ari Fertel is written about in several articles, which made me believe that this company was reputable. This scam is just disgusting especially for kids and parents who want and need help becoming better readers. Shame on you Reading Buddy Software for taking advantage of kids.

Text Speaker is a fantastic replacement for Reading Buddy. It will read aloud text in human sounding voices and highlight the text as it is being read. The best feature is the large selection of voices in many different languages. Also, the MP3 file creation feature is excellent - it sounds awesome and lets you load the audio onto your mobile device for listening on-the-go.

Company not longer exist!!! I wish i could give them zero stars.

I'm so irritated they can still take payment and i'm stuck on a reoccurring payment. I need to cancel my credit card which is very inconvenient. DO NOT USE THIS SOFTWARE

This company no longer exists. Somehow you're still able to sign up and pay the money but it won't run, and there's nobody running it. All their phone numbers are out of order.

Absolute horrible experience. I signed up, it wouldn't let me register a password. I called every number listed, emailed, submitted a contact us request and NOTHING... Submitted a cancellation request and nothing... Had to go through my bank to request a refund. COMPLETE RIP-OFF!

I created an account, but wasn't sent a username. I have called several times, left a message and sent an email......no return from customer service.

I found this program online and did some investigating checking out the reviews to see if it might be helpful for my granddaughter who is dyslexic. She used the program for about a year and went up four grade levels and is now at grade level. We can’t thank you enough for the support your program provided. I highly recommend this to anyone whose child is struggling with reading and comprehension.

Honestly it just fails. you pay so much money for this damn thing even though it barely detects your voice

I think Reading Buddy is a great concept in theory however technically it misses the mark. The software does not go along with your child all the time which can be extremely frustrating for them (and you are primarily dealing with reluctant readers.) I love the idea however the kinks need to be worked out of it.

Do not get this software. When it works it is great however it is completely unreliable. Works with zero issues one day and then 3 days without it working before it suddenly works again. Nothing changes on our end, NOTHING! Requested a refund and it is strictly prohibit in their terms regardless of if their product does not work. We bought the headphones they recommended twice, still same problem. Couldn’t reach their IT department when we were actually available/using the software.L because they were closed. The company is a joke.

Update... The company was extremely helpful in refunding the cost since I only used it twice. They also seemed truly concerned about my issue and followed up to be sure they could correct such errors.

Original...The concept is awesome...when it works. Some words are pronounced incorrectly by the software (i.e. "lives" "1848" and other years. Very frustrating for child. Will not continue.

Prior to trying reading buddy I hired a tutor for my son who was struggling in reading. After a few visits I realized that the tutors tactics weren’t working for him. Then I found reading buddy and within a month I noticed his fluency and pronunciation had increased dramatically. After only a few months of consistently using this software he took his reading inventory at school and went from a 657 lexile score in August to over an 850 in January!

Thank you My Reading Buddy

Ensure your child is set up for success by starting this program when there isn’t too much other school homework. My daughter is significantly dyslexic and we tried this program the summer she was 13. She really liked it. There are many stories to pick from so she never had issues finding something interesting. The program also has very short sections providing enough variety for a child with low attention span. Also the “high tech” computer interaction provides a non-judgmental tone, creating no concern over self esteem as they do it alone. I hope my daughter will do this again one day when school workload enables it. Much better than a classroom learning to read environment for kids with learning challenges.
Thanks Reading Buddy.

excellent product and service, highly recommended

I just wanted to say thank you for helping my son. He’s always struggled with reading and homework time was a fight!! Reading Buddy made reading time easy and lessened the strain between us and him. My son was 7 when we started using Reading Buddy and we continued using it about 18 months before we finally found a book series that caught his attention. We had multiple parent teacher conferences a received a ton of communication from the school letting us know he was at risk for being held back. He made slow and steady improvements throughout using Reading Buddy. We got his FSA test results back yesterday and he achieved a 4/5 and actually surpassed many of his peers!!! We can’t thank you enough for the role Reading Buddy played in helping him!!

I just bought the reading buddy system last week. My daughters 3rd time reading and the software crashed and she lost her points that day. Then the second week I decided to take a look at the other libraries in the system and when I switched libraries to check out other books for my daughter, it wiped all her points and progress like it was her first day all over again. She was so upset. I called to see if there was anything I could do, and all they could say was nope. Sorry. Well, this isn't a cheap program. This is a huge flaw and they knew about it and didn't put the warning on their website so people can be aware. I can see how the software can be awesome. I like the reward system and the way it makes my daughter repeat her reading, but the flaws need to be addressed. A single mom paying $80/month is not easy. So be aware of the flaws

Good program. My sons reading showed marked improvement in just two months

Reading Buddy helped my children’s reading skills greatly. My son has dyslexia and really struggled with words. His pronunciation is so much better now! It was well worth the money spent. There is a specific headset that they recommend; it is sold on Amazon. It worked much better than the one I had already. I highly recommend this program.

I subscribed to the Reading Buddy Software ("RB") service for 12 months to assist my son Joshua, then 9, with his reading fluency and comprehension. Joshua hated to read, viewed it as a chore, would get agitated and irritable when I asked him to read anything, and just generally found reading to be a frustrating experience. When he began the program, he had a decent sight word vocabulary but no real fluency (reading was choppy and robotic). He began RB at Level 3. In fact I would keep subscribing but he "graduated" (finished Level 4!) I could not be more delighted and impressed with the RB software. Since it's the software correcting Joshua, it took me out of the equation. This was terrific because he used to detest when I would correct his pronunciation or or point out words that he skipped. With RB, Joshua had to read each story aloud 3x. The repetition was invaluable in aiding Joshua's retention of new pronunciations, and general fluency. In between his readings, the software would read the story. That too was an excellent design feature of this instructive software. Joshua is now able to read with feeling now! Third, the content of the stories was excellent! There were a variety of topics from fables to history to meteorology and biographies! Truly there is something for everyone and many treasures of wisdom in the stories! Even when my son grumbled about doing his "RB" when the story was a non-preferred topic, he loved seeing his progression through the library, and of course accruing points which he used toward prizes we set up. Words cannot adequately express my gratitude toward Ms. Fertel for devising this very high quality software that works as advertised and at a cost that is significantly less than some other interventions I would have to consider such as hiring a tutor or summer school/reading camp. Many blessings to you and your company, Ms. Fertel.

My daughter has ADHD and struggled with reading. Although she has an IEP in place with her school, I recognized that it was not going to be enough to rely on the educational system alone. I also recognized that whatever solution was decided upon would require interaction with my daughter throughout the process. Allowing my daughter to "read for 20 minutes" every day would not actually help her improve without someone there to monitor and help correct for mistakes. This was the real challenge for me - not just finding the time to sit with her, but being the "bad guy" when it came to correcting her mistakes. There was also the comparison that was being made with her other siblings. "Why don't you have to sit with Cati to read? That's not fair!" So the question became how can I help my daughter improve in a real and meaningful way and one that is affordable and easy to implement? That's when I discovered Reading Buddy. I had already tried other software solutions but this was the first one that actually listened to my daughter as she read and would stop to help correct for mistakes. It was an instant hit. Suddenly all the siblings wanted to do Reading Buddy but we decided this was reserved only for Anya instead.

Reading Buddy impressed me for several reasons. Not only does it listen to my daughter as she reads and corrects for mistakes, but it will also read the story back to her so that she can hear how it sounds when read at a normal pace. This process is repeated a total of 3 times per book. There is a short question and answer section at the end of each story to help with comprehension and a separate word list that is reviewed for words that she struggled with during her reading. It is a comprehensive solution focusing on pronunciation, vocabulary, fluency and comprehension. It also includes a reward system that helps to motivate my daughter each day as she works toward her next prize. I have had to increase the number of points required for her to earn prizes because she was earning them so quickly!

The real testament to the viability of Reading Buddy is the improvement my daughter has experienced since we began. Her confidence and reading skill has increased dramatically. She can now pick up books and read them independently, pronouncing most words correctly (or pausing to ask me for a definition) and no longer feels disconnected from her siblings and classmates as dramatically as before. Her teacher has commented on how much she has improved and I have sent screenshots of her Reading Buddy score sheets to her teacher to supplement her IEP. I recently added a new (higher) reading level to the program for my daughter to use when selecting which book to read. We still have our moments, but no matter what happens when we get home from school, the first thing we do is Reading Buddy. There is still a lot of room for my daughter to grow. This is not an overnight program. The key, from my perspective, is consistency and positive rewards combined with the scientific approach provided by Reading Buddy. I am grateful for Reading Buddy and the team supporting it. I highly recommend Reading Buddy for anyone in a similar situation and wanting to help their child improve in their reading.

Sincerely,

David Gailey