Complaints

This profile includes complaints for Scribd's headquarters and its corporate-owned locations. To view all corporate locations, see Find Local Branches.

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  Scribd

  460 Bryant Street, #100 San Francisco, CA 94107

• 

  Scribd

  539 Bryant St Ste 200 San Francisco, CA 94107-1269

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  Scribd

  333 Bush St Ste 2400 San Francisco, CA 94104-2806

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:11/22/2023

  Type:Billing 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 up for a trial membership with Scribd.com and then attempted to cancel. I could never log in to the account, and the only way to cancel, according to their website, is via logging in. I repeatedly attempted to contact them and have emailed them multiple times via their very difficult to access customer service system. I have been charged first $9.99 and now $11.99 for the past 18 months. I can not figure out what I can do. I never used the service after the one time I had to look at some slides. They will never respond. I want to 1) Cancel and 2) be refunded the $209 I have been charged for a service I never used. As the screenshot from my communication with them in July 2023 shows, they themselves said I never activated my account, and yet the other screenshots show they kept charging me, leaving me in a loop where I cannot CANCEL but am still PAYING even though I don't even have an account. It appears from your complaints this is a common problem with them.

  Business Response

  Date: 11/23/2023

  We have located the ticket that the customer filed about this issue, Ticket #*******, and we have escalated it to our billing team for further investigation. After reviewing this ticket in the meantime, we can confirm that while our team was correct in that there is not a subscription connected to the account under the email address they provided, it appears that there was a misunderstanding as this instead indicates that there is another account in our system that is generating these charges. It is important to note that we will need to locate this account before we can proceed with their request. 
  Because we weren't able to locate this account with the information they provided so far, we have reached back out to the customer for further information so that we can locate this account through their ticket. They will need to follow up with us through this ticket for further assistance with their refund and cancellation request.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:11/20/2023

  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.

  Nov 20 $***** Oct 28 $1271 Sept 28 ***** Aug 23 $***** I thought they were more but Im looking over them I subscribed to a free trial to check plagiarism in a document then I canceled the service I just found out Friday they were still billing me I emailed them asking them to cancel my subscription and refund my money I sent the email and they charged me again They bill when they want to ************ is a rip off They don't have a phone number all they have is an automated service that sends u to their email Id say they been scamming alot of people with the free trial and no refunds after 30 days What made me so mad they billed me again after I told them to stop

  Business Response

  Date: 11/21/2023

  Hello ****,

  We apologize for any trouble. Upon review of the email address provided, we show that your recent support ticket, under ticket number #*******, has already been responded to by our support team. Please continue to respond to ticket #*******, and we will continue to assist in any way we can. Thanks and have a great rest of your day! -FC

• Initial Complaint

  Date:11/18/2023

  Type:Billing 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 have had problems in the past with Scribd limiting titles that appear in searches and deleting saved titles from my library, but most recently they have offered me a free trial and then immediately charged me for the free trial. My credit card reimbursed me, but this company is obviously engaged in shady business practices.

  Business Response

  Date: 11/19/2023

  Hello, thank you for your review. I wanted to reach out to see if you an open support ticket or any questions about our subscription or your account. We are happy to help!

  Customer Answer

  Date: 11/21/2023

   
  Complaint: 20889953
  
  I am rejecting this response because:
  
  Sincerely,
  
  *****************************

• Initial Complaint

  Date:11/16/2023

  Type:Billing 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 was updating payment information for my monthly subscription but was billed for the annual subscription instead. I have put in several tickets with the company but have not heard back from them or received a refund.

  Business Response

  Date: 11/16/2023

  Hello ******, 

  Thank you for your message. 

  I can see that this subscription was canceled on November 13, 2023 and a refund was provided on November 17, 2023. Please wait up to 5 business days for the refund to be fully processed. I apologize for the confusion and if you want to subscribe again as a monthly plan, you can do that on your account settings. If you need anything else, please let us know. Thanks!

  Customer Answer

  Date: 11/17/2023

  Better Business Bureau:
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me.
  
  Sincerely,
  
  *******************

• Initial Complaint

  Date:11/15/2023

  Type:Product 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 up for a trial subscription for Scribd in order to download a specific title. While making the purchase, I used Apple's feature of "Hide my Email" for privacy. After signing up, I found the title I was looking for was not available through them. I was unable to cancel using the email since Apple had encrypted the email to something different. I reached out using their chat function. Note - Scribd does not provide a customer service phone number in order to speak with a live person. The chat agent could not find the email address and asked for my name and partial credit card information. She said she had found it and canceled the purchase. I was charged for a full year subscription a month later. I disputed the charge with my bank and it was initially refunded, but then overturned. I called the phone number the bank provided and it routed me to an email address again. I reached out and explained the situation and received a ticket number: *******. I received a response a few days later from a representative named Busisiwe Modisane from Scribd Support who also could not find the email, and requested partial credit card information. I provided this back immediately over a week ago and have not heard back. I have followed up twice.

  Business Response

  Date: 11/15/2023

  While we were not able to locate an account connected to either the email address the customer provided in their complaint or with the email address connected to their ticket, we were able to locate the customer's ticket with us. This ticket has been escalated to our billing team, and a response has been sent to them requesting further information. The customer will need to follow up with us through this ticket so that we can locate the account and assist them further with this issue.

  Customer Answer

  Date: 11/16/2023

  Better Business Bureau:
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me.
  
  Sincerely,
  
  *************************

• Initial Complaint

  Date:11/09/2023

  Type:Service or Repair 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 have submitted three requests to Scribd's customer service team over the past two weeks trying to get charges via Apple Pay to stop. I need their help as the accounts I am aware of on their website don't currently have an active subscription. They have responded to one of my requests stating that my current account is canceled and I won't be charged any longer, but that wasn't my issue. My issue is that I am being charged via Apple Pay and I didn't even realize it until recently and I cannot figure out how to make those charges stop as my account was most recently being charged to my Paypal so I have no idea what account could be incurring the charges to Apple Pay. They have completely ignored my other messages over the past week and they have no phone number to reach them in order to better explain the situation.

  Business Response

  Date: 11/10/2023

  Hello *******, 

  I apologize for the frustration and I guarantee we will do our best to help. 

  I have just replied to our ticket support requesting more information about the charges so we can locate the account charging you. As soon as you have the time, please provide the requested information. 

  We are looking forward to hearing from you. Thanks! -FP

• Initial Complaint

  Date:11/01/2023

  Type:Billing 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 was billed for a service, I didn't use.

  Business Response

  Date: 11/02/2023

  The customer started a subscription with us on September 29, 2023 for the account that is connected to the email address they provided. Since this subscription was not canceled, they were charged for next month's subscription as outlined in our Subscriber Agreement, which can be viewed here: ***********************************
  As we stated in the ticket they filed with us, ticket #*******, we are not able to offer a refund for their charge as they have already filed a chargeback for it through their bank. They will need to follow up with their bank for any further questions or concerns about this refund. However, we have confirmed that this subscription has been canceled, so they should see no further charges from us going forward. -KM

  Customer Answer

  Date: 11/02/2023

   
  Complaint: 20813429
  
  I am rejecting this response because I never signed up for the service.   I don't even know how they recieved my credit card information, except the stole.   I NEVER subscribed to the service.   I ended and cut my card, and then asked my bank to send me a new card.   SCRIB stole my card information and charged their account.
  
  Sincerely,
  
  *****************

  Business Response

  Date: 11/03/2023

  We apologize for any frustration this has caused! Reviewing support ticket #*******, we did confirm that ***** started a free trial on September 29, 2023, at 02:58 UTC with their current email address (jodieli************************) to access a document titled "When a **** Flees ****: Fatima ***** Other Prophecies" on October 24, 2023. As previously stated, since the free trial was not canceled before their renewal date (October 29, 2023), they were charged for the annual subscription.

   However, after further review of the account, we do see that a refund may be available if **** closes their open PayPal dispute. A member of our account specialist team has responded to ticket #******* with more information, requesting confirmation that the PayPal dispute be closed as well. Once **** responds to that ticket confirming the dispute was closed, we can determine the next step to take to get this resolved as quickly as possible. Thank you again!

• Initial Complaint

  Date:11/01/2023

  Type:Service or Repair 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 have tried multiple times to cancel my subscription to Scribd. The first time I did, it said my cancellation was a success, so I forgot about it. While checking my bank account on September 23rd, I saw that is has still been charging me illegally for the last 7 months. Each month is a $12.65 transaction. -in September, I attempted to log in and cancel my subscription again, despite it already telling me I had successfully cancelled it. Upon doing so, I found out that the website is set up so that is impossible to sign in. This means users do not have access to the materials they subscribed to and they are unable to cancel their accounts as well. -I reached out to their customer support, but I have not received a response. -I also attempted to reset my password and it says an email has been sent to my account each time, but no email ever shows up.

  Business Response

  Date: 11/01/2023

  We are so sorry for any trouble this might have caused, *******! We did locate a previous support ticket where a member of our team requested additional information to locate the charges in our system on September 25, 2023, but we did not receive any follow-up response from ***************

  It is possible that response went to a spam/junk folder, so a member of our team has created a new follow-up ticket (#*******), requesting additional information to help us locate the account that would be responsible for these charges. This new response would go to the email address linz****************. Once ******* responds to ticket #******* with that information, our team of specialists will gladly work to get this resolved and ensure there are no further charges. They can provide any available refunds at that time as well!

  Of course, if ******* has any other questions in the meantime, they can ask in that new ticket and we'll gladly address those as well. Thank you! -MW

• Initial Complaint

  Date:10/31/2023

  Type:Product 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 cant cancel scribd dont want it cancel it i thought i did cant get into website want refund if not no more bills i tried please dont tell me to do it.

  Business Response

  Date: 10/31/2023

  I was able to locate the customer's account under the email address they provided, and I can confirm that they had an active subscription with us connected to this account. As requested, I have canceled this subscription to ensure that they do not receive any further charges from us. I have also refunded their most recent charge, and the funds should return to them within one week.

  Their account will remain active as a free Scribd account, and they'll have access to Scribd's free features. Should they decide to resubscribe with us in the future, they can find instructions on how to cancel their subscription in our help center here: **********************. -KM

  Customer Answer

  Date: 10/31/2023

  Better Business Bureau:
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me. i did not realize due to anxiety covered by *** i had committed thank you for honesty so hard to find i will be back thank you
  
  Sincerely,
  
  *************************

• Initial Complaint

  Date:10/29/2023

  Type:Billing 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 requested the original cancellation in August to be cancelled for September; however, I was still charged for September. I then attempted to cancel again not to be charged for October; however, I noticed today that my account is pending another charge for the subscription. I would like for the subscription to be cancelled, ASAP. Thank you for your assistance.

  Business Response

  Date: 10/30/2023

  Hi *******,
  
  Thank you for your email, and Im sorry for the experience youve had. Our system shows that the account was renewed after the subscription was canceled to read The Courage of Success, which is why you were billed.
  
  Since the premium subscription was not used I've refunded your last payment per our refund policy ***************************; and your September payment and made sure the subscription is canceled. If the purchase was still in a "Pending" state on your card, it will simply disappear; otherwise please allow up to a week for the refund to clear.
  
  Your free Scribd account will remain active, so youll still be able to share documents and use Scribds free features. In some cases, full versions of documents available on Scribd may only be visible to Scribd subscribers.
  
  Should you decide to purchase a subscription in the future, you can cancel it at any time through this link **********************. When you cancel your subscription we'll ensure it remains active until the end of the current time that you've paid for, but will not bill you again. 
  
  We have more detailed instructions in our help topic, **********************. If theres anything else I can help with, please let me know. Thanks again, and enjoy your day! -LC