Consider me one of the many victims of those publishing scammers. Always interesting to understand why the press shuts its mouth on their shady practices. They simply are afraid to criticize their partners and clients.
As David Gaughran mentions (7 January 2016):
“When Penguin purchased Author Solutions in 2012 for US$116m, virtually all the press had the same angle: Penguin was making a smart move into the fast-growing world of self-publishing. No mention was made of the controversial business practices of Author Solutions, or that the giant vanity press resembled a viable self-publishing platform much in the way a glass of hydrochloric acid is a recommended way to cleanse after the holidays.”

Read to whole story here: Penguin Random House

One of the many complaints I have is the way they give totally unreliable “reports” about sales, while I am not waiting for big sales. They are refusing to enter the 21st century in banking they do not pay electronically but through stupid checks in BP sent by snail mail from the USA. When I signed the contract they promised electronic payments. Those checks are worthless as the cost of sending those to Belgium (you can’t cash checks in Beijing) plus the Belgian bank charges would produce a negative payment. Why checks? Because they want to save money. Who still uses checks?
In other words, as good as zero income from my book.

Anybody wants the worthless checks? Need to pick them up in Beijing!