One of the most notable features of CengageBrain is their Extra Credit Program. Joining this program entitles you to $6 off your purchase of $60 or more, which is certainly a huge plus as it allows you to rack up on savings the more you spend. Beyond saving more money down the line, the greatest thing about this program is the fact that for each time an Extra Credit coupon is used, the company will donate $1 to one of three charities \u2013 such as Charity: Water, Student Conservation Association, and Pat Tillman Foundation. So you are not just saving $6 every time you hit $60 or more, you are also helping make a change with every purchase at CengageBrain.<\/p>\n
At first glance, CengageBrain looks and feels like most online textbook rental services out there. However, upon closer inspection, you will realize that it is quite the opposite \u2013 which is both good news and bad news.<\/p>\n
On to the bad news first. As previously mentioned elsewhere in this article, CengageBrain’s main search bar found on their website’s front page is quite unresponsive. Typing in categories, titles, and the like, for instance, does absolutely nothing. While the logical solution to this is to use other web browsers, searching using Google Chrome, for instance, produced the same result. Thankfully, you can just find the \u201cBrowse Our Catalog\u201d link at the bottom of their website in order to circumvent their front page search bar and get a list of each and every category available in the process.<\/p>\n
Now, on to the good news. CengageBrain offers an incredible selection of titles \u2013 around 45,819, to be exact \u2013 across a wide range of categories so just about any student taking up any course can easily find a textbook that will suit their particular needs. Categories include Anthropology, Automotive, Audiology, Aviation, Basic Health Sciences, Biology, Business Law, CAD\/ Drafting \/ GIS, Carpentry, Communication, Fiber Optics, Game Development, Health, and a whole lot more.<\/p>\n
Beyond that, CengageBrain also excels at offering more compelling rental options than other services in the industry. They allow you to rent books for 60, 90, 130, 270, and 540 days, and you can even extend your rental for 15, 30, 60, 90, or 130 days. More than that, if you want to keep your book then the company allows you to convert your rental to a purchase after the first 30 days \u2013 but before your rental’s due date. Each rental also entitles you to gain instant access to all free related book study tools, as well as a bevy of companion resources if your textbook supports it.<\/p>\n
Finally, you can also take advantage of free shipping if your orders reach more than $25. Furthermore, if ever you find yourself suddenly in need of your textbook but are not expecting it anytime soon, then you will absolutely love CengageBrain’s free 14-day ebook offer. Just as the name implies, you can get free access to an ebook version of your rented or purchased textbook so you can have something to read while you wait for the physical version to be delivered on your doorstep. How cool is that?<\/p>\n
As far as customer support goes, CengageBrain slightly falters due to how cumbersome and difficult their system is. That said, it is a plus that their support is available 24\/7, so you can easily contact them even during those odd hours \u2013 provided, of course, that you can manage to look past their unresponsive FAQ search bar and unintuitive Help section.<\/p>\n
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