Complaints

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

close

Find a Location

Scribd has 3 locations, listed below.

*This company may be headquartered in or have additional locations in another country. Please click on the country abbreviation in the search box below to change to a different country location.

BBB accredited

Near

Country

USUnited States

Please enter a valid location.

Filter

• 

  Scribd

  460 Bryant Street, #100 San Francisco, CA 94107

• 

  Scribd

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

• 

  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:02/23/2023

  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.

  I received a fraudulent charge from Scribd a couple weeks back. I immediately emailed them to which they were largely unhelpful. I explained over and over that I have never even heard of Scribd, nonetheless have a paying accout with them. This is obviously someone committing fraud on their account with my credit card. Regardless, Scribd simply stopped responding to my emails. Then, today I received another charge on my card and of course emailed them straight away.

  Business Response

  Date: 02/27/2023

  Upon review of the email address provided by a customer, there are no accounts or tickets within our system. However, we were able to locate their recent ticket by searching their first and last name. We can confirm that their support ticket, under the ticket number #*******, has already been responded to by our support team and their issue has been resolved. Please remind the customer to continue corresponding with us via email should they have any other questions or concerns. Thanks! -VG

• Initial Complaint

  Date:02/20/2023

  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.

  Last month I realized I had a charge on my credit card that I didn't recognize. 20 days ago I took the time and looked into this further and realized it was from SCRIBD who has charged my credit card 4 months now. I do not have, and never had an account with them. The ONLY way to contact them is through their website which sends you an email, that is their only support method. 3 responses later they agree to escalate this. It has been over 2 weeks since then. I have emailed them back twice with no response. I'm afraid I will have to cancel my credit card now with no refund. It disgusts me that a company can get away with something like this, so here I am on BBB. Here is our chat... (ME) I need this subscription cancelled otherwise I will have to cancel my credit card. I do not have a Scribd subscription and have been charged $11.99 per month for the months of October, November and December. I want you to stop charging my credit card for this subscription that I do not have. Please contact me immediately. (THEM) I'm afraid I am unable to locate an account associated with this email address. Please reply to this message with your Scribd username, a link to your profile, or the email address that you used to sign up for your Scribd account. If you don't have this information, and have either a current or prior subscription with Scribd, please provide the following: The first 6 and last 4 digits of the card, the type of card ****** Mastercard, etc.), and the date and amount of the last Scribd transaction. Once I have the above, I should be able to find your Scribd account. If you have any other questions, please let me know. (ME) Unfortunately I don't have a username or email address to refer to since I never opened an account. I can give you the card info though. **** ****** - **** December ** for $11.99. (THEM) I was able to locate a charge using your credit card details however the account is registered with the email address komos*****@gmail.com, which I have partially redacted for security reasons. If this email address belongs to you, please reply with the email address typed out in full to complete the verification process. This verification process is necessary because the email address that you are contacting us from is either connected to a free account with no paid subscription or there is no account associated with your email address at all. (ME) That is not any email of mine. Please remove my card from this subscription. I would also like a refund from October, November and December $11.99 charges please. (THEM) Thank you so much for your patience with us as we try to get this resolved for you. I'm sending this to our escalation team for further review. Just to set expectations, they are a small team and are experiencing a high volume of requests at this time, so it may take a few business days for them to get back to you. But rest assured, your issue is important to us and they will reach out to you as soon as they're able to.

  Business Response

  Date: 02/26/2023

  Upon review of the email address provided, we have located a recent ticket from this user under the ticket number #*******. We can confirm that they are currently working with our support team and their case has been escalated to our Payments and Billing team due to the nature of the concern. Please bear in mind that they are small team and are experiencing a high volume of requests at this time, but are working through each of these as quickly as possible in the order that they've been received. We have alerted this specialized team of the extended delay and the user should be receiving a response within the next 1-2 business days. We sincerely apologize for any delay in resolving their concern and are working to improve response time for our customers in the future. Please have the user continue to correspond with us via email in the meantime should they have any other questions or concerns. Thanks! -VG

• Initial Complaint

  Date:02/19/2023

  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 had a subscription to Scribd that I canceled in December 2022 yet they continue to charge my account each month, albeit an unauthorized charge. Ive called the numbers as listed on their site, but I can NEVER get anyone on the phone regarding my dispute. *** also attempted to chat with the virtual assistant, but again, the system isnt helpful as it continues to redirect you to the FAQs (I believe they have it intentionally setup this way). Ive disputed each transaction with Navy Federal, but I shouldnt have to do this each month with a subscription that was canceled. In addition, when I initially started the subscription I entered my Navy Federal card (ending in ****) but the funds werent there. At that point, I decided to use my *********** credit card (ending in ****) and that card went through. However, I have since closed my *********** card and Im assuming that their system captured the initial card entered (i.e. Navy Federal) and just continue to charge that card even though they were NEVER authorized to do so. I have screenshots of everything on my phone including the confirmation that my subscription was canceled, and proof of the last 4 digits of my *********** card that was authorized and NOT Navy Federal! Lastly, their systems are clearly not in sync as I continue to get emails asking me to rejoin the Scribd network so its clear that I no longer have a subscription!

  Business Response

  Date: 02/23/2023

  Upon review of our system, we were able to locate an account under the email address provided by the customer of ********************* However, the account does not have a current subscription with us or any current charges.
  
  We can confirm that the customer canceled their previous subscription with us on this account on December 3rd, 2022. To confirm, they were not charged again as we cannot bill canceled accounts that are no longer rendering services with us. Since it's absolutely impossible for us to bill a canceled account, or without there even being an active account or subscription in the first place, any charges would be stemming from a separate account of theirs under a different email address.
  
  We will need to connect them directly with our support team for further assistance. Please have them use the link provided here to create their ticket and a specialist will follow up to help right away: bit.ly/social-support-help
  Thanks! -VG

  Customer Answer

  Date: 02/24/2023

   
  Complaint: 19431371
  
  I am rejecting this response because: As you can see, your company charged my account in December after the subscription had already been canceled. You all charged me again in January and my bank refunded me for both December and January, and then you all charged me yet again in February! I attached the documents from my Navy ******************** account as proof. Lastly, this is the only account that I have with your company and you know it! Now I have to be inconvenienced by changing my account info just to prevent having to do this every month seeing as how Ive had to dispute transactions from your company since December.

  At this point, theres really nothing else for you all to say. I just wanted to negate your statement that you all absolutely could not charge a closed account because as you can seeyou absolutely did! Point proven; case closed.

  
  Sincerely,
  
  Quanta *******

  Business Response

  Date: 03/02/2023

  As mentioned previously, there are no recent charges on the account under the email address provided by the customer. To confirm, we cannot charge a canceled account as it is no longer rendering services with us. This means that any charges the customer is seeing are associated with a separate account of theirs under a different email address.
  
  It appears that the customer has still not created a ticket with us. As a reminder, we will need them to reach out to us via email for any further assistance. In order to locate the charges and put a stop to them, we will need to launch an investigation within our payment processor. This is a necessary step and if not completed we cannot further assist.

  Please remind the customer to follow the link provided to create their ticket so we can help them get this resolved as quickly as possible: *********************************
  Once this is done, a specialist will follow up with them ASAP to help. Thanks! -VG

• Initial Complaint

  Date:02/17/2023

  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.

  I subscribed to Scribd for 1 month only back in Sept/Oct 2022. I cancelled in Oct.I was refunded for the charge in Nov. but since have been charged for *********, Jan,2023, Feb. 2023 Their website for a refund is a joke keeps referring me to customer support which does nothing,1/4/************ (Monthly)Valid: 11/4/22 - 12/4/22 $12.71 (REFUNDED)$0.72 (tax)Credit Card 10/4/22Membership (Monthly)Valid: 10/4/22 - 11/4/22 $12.71 $0.72 (tax)Credit Card 9/4/22Free Trial (30 days)Valid: 9/4/22 - 10/4/22 $0.00

  Business Response

  Date: 02/23/2023

  Upon review of our system, we were able to locate an account under the email address provided by the customer of **********************************. However, the account does not have a current subscription with us or any current charges.
  
  We can confirm that the customer canceled their previous subscription with us on this account on November 19th, 2022 and also received a refund on that same day. To confirm, they were not charged again as we cannot bill canceled accounts that are no longer rendering services with us. Since it's absolutely impossible for us to bill a canceled account, or without there even being an active account or subscription in the first place, any charges would be stemming from a separate account of theirs under a different email address.
  

  We will need to connect them directly with our support team for further assistance. Please have them use the link provided here to create their ticket and a specialist will follow up to help right away: bit.ly/social-support-help
  Thanks! -VG

  
  

• Initial Complaint

  Date:02/11/2023

  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 don't know when I signed up for Scribd; I truly don't remember. I don't even remember hearing about them. But when I recently started being better about my finances and checking my subscriptions, I saw that I had been billed by Scribd for $11.99 for the entirety of 2022 without having received so much as an email. Not that their emails went to my junk folder or I wouldn't check them periodically - they charged me with absolutely zero contact. The only email I have from them in my record is from early January, when I logged in to cancel my account. I never received invoices, payment confirmations, newsletters, ***** They didn't even email me when the subscription price changed from $9.99 to $11.99 in September 2022. And after I canceled my account, they had the gall to charge me for another month!These are the worst shady and scummy practices to get someone on a recurring billing subscription and have them forget. I have paid a total of $155.87 to them since January last year, and it is disgusting that they can get away with this. There are likely terms that have been updated that I have not opted into and I want them to know they cannot get away with this.

  Business Response

  Date: 02/13/2023

  Upon review of our system, we show that ******* purchased a subscription with us on December 10th, 2021, using the email address he provided of ******************** According to our system, his account was not canceled by him until January 13th, 2023, which is why these monthly recurring charges came through as normal.
  
  To confirm, when he purchased the trial, he agreed to the terms and conditions under the Subscriber Agreement (**********************************************************) that explicitly stated this was not a one-time purchase, but instead a recurring month-to-month subscription. Scribd does not offer a standalone free trial.
   
  Additionally, when canceling your subscription with us, a user will immediately receive a confirmation email of the cancellation to their primary email address on file. If they did not receive this confirmation email from us -- then the subscription cancellation was not completed successfully. We go over this in detail in our cancellation guide, found here: ************************************************************************************************
  
  In accordance with our Refund Policy (**********************************************************), we've refunded his most recent charge. ******* will not be charged again and his payment method will be credited within 3-5 business days. His free Scribd account will remain active, so h*** 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 he decide to purchase a subscription in the future, he can cancel it at any time through his account settings page (*********************************************).
  
  Additionally, we have located *******'s recent support ticket, under ticket number #*******, and a specialist replied confirming the cancelation and refund. Please remind ******* to continue corresponding with us via email should he have any other questions or concerns moving forward. -VG
  

  Customer Answer

  Date: 02/14/2023

   
  Complaint: 19387471
  
  I am rejecting this response because upon reviewing my charges, I noticed that the price for the subscription went up and I was never notified. These charges are reflected as of August 2022. I am requesting a refund for all charges of ***** since August 2022. 
  
  Sincerely,
  
  *****************************

  Business Response

  Date: 02/23/2023

  We can confirm that there was a price increase for existing Scribd customers that occurred in August 2022 and all customers were notified via email 30-days prior to this change. We've also checked our email system and can confirm the customer received this email notification to the email address he has on file and that the message was opened/read. We apologize for any lingering confusion.
  
  Per our Refund Policy (**********************************************************), we are not authorized to ***** refunds for charges that are more than 30 days old. However, as a one-time courtesy for any frustration and confusion that this process may have caused, we have refunded the customer's recent subscription charges from September 2022 - December 2022.
  
  Moving forward, we are unable to authorize any further refunds due to the age of the transactions. Our payment processor will only allow us to access and edit transactions up to a certain timeframe, and the customer's bank may also have transaction limitations as well. Additionally, the customer had an ample amount of time to contact us to rectify any incorrect charges made on the account.
  
  The funds from these additional refunds will be credited back to them within 3-5 business days, though this can occasionally take longer depending on their bank's policies. As a reminder, their free Scribd account will remain active, and they'll still be able to read and share documents on our website and use Scribd's many other free features. Please remind the customer to continue corresponding with us via email in their existing support ticket should they have any other questions or concerns. -VG
  

  Customer Answer

  Date: 02/27/2023

   
  Complaint: 19387471
  
  I am rejecting this response because Scribd is alleging that they notified "all customers" including myself about the price increase, but that is certainly not the case. I only received my first email from Scribd when I began to complain to them. In fact, they asked me to verify my email on February 11, at which point I began receiving notifications. 

  Furthermore, as someone that is intimately familiar with payment processors and refund times, I know there are workarounds, both formal and informal, to compromise with what I'm looking for, which is a refund for all charges since August 2022. Put simply, I will not accept any response unless it's a refund of my charges since the price increase.
  
  Sincerely,
  
  *****************************

• Initial Complaint

  Date:02/09/2023

  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.

  02/08/2023 *********** scribd took out a subscription of ***** which I have not subscribed to! This account was not subscribed and actually deleted when I saw there was a subscription fee. Yet somehow was able to take out funds from my account. This website has multiple cases with the same thing going on.

  Business Response

  Date: 02/10/2023

  Upon review of our system, the account under the email address provided does not have an active subscription or any subscription history with us. This account has also been deleted by the user previously. Since it's absolutely impossible for us to bill a canceled account, or without there even being an active account or subscription in the first place, any charges would be stemming from a separate account under a different email address.
  
  With that being said, we've located a recent ticket submitted by the user in regards to this issue. A specialist has already responded requesting additional information. Please have ************** continue to correspond with us via email so we can make sure this issue gets resolved for her in a timely manner. Thanks!
  
  

• Initial Complaint

  Date:02/05/2023

  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.

  My credit card was used to incur monthly charges and a $91.15 charge in January. I reached out to the merchant and got a response letting me know that none of my accounts have active subscriptions. They then requested more numbers from my credit card and found that an account was opened with an email that I am not familiar with. I have requested that the account be closed and that I be refunded and the company stopped replying to my requests. The customer service number only redirects people to their email system to get a response. Any help to get my request fulfilled would be greatly appreciated. support ticket #*******.

  Business Response

  Date: 02/05/2023

  Thank you for informing us 

  We located the ticket the user sent us in our queue and can confirm their case was escalated on Friday February 3rd, 2023. We apologize for the delay over the weekend and have further escalated their case. 

  One of our payment specialists just replied to them via email, so please inform them to check their inbox (and spam) for our reply and we'll wait for their response so we can continue to assist them. Thanks! -EC 

• Initial Complaint

  Date:02/02/2023

  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.

  SCRIBD has my credit card on file and keeps charging.No matter how many times I call, they keep charging again I want this to STOP and be refunded the amount of $12.71.

  Business Response

  Date: 02/03/2023

  Thank you for bringing this to our attention. 

  After further review we have not been able to locate an account with the information provided thus far. 

  Please have Jothsna submit a ticket directly to our support team here: *********************. We are happy to look into this further. Thanks again! - MR

• Initial Complaint

  Date:02/01/2023

  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.

  Since June of 2022 we have been charged for this service, however we cannot find an account anywhere or find any way to cancel it. It just keeps charging to our Apple Card every month. No way to cancel. Have never used it? No way to contact the company. Found a support help on their website & Ticket claims 2 weeks or MORE to get a response. And thats even if we can figure out where the account is.

  Business Response

  Date: 02/01/2023

  Thank you for informing us. To clarify, Scribd is a digital reading subscription service. Any charges they are seeing would be for our monthly subscription fee. 

  We can help the user locate the account resulting in their charges, however, we need to get in touch with them via email 

  We located an email from the user in our queue that we just responded to now so we can assist them. Please advise them to check their email for our reply and we'll keep an eye out for their response. Thanks! -EC

• Initial Complaint

  Date:01/27/2023

  Type:Customer Service 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 received an unauthorized email with an invoice attached to my work email address from ************************* for services NEVER ORDERED: "Good Afternoon ***********************,Enjoy reading with Scribd! Your new subscription will be activated right now. The Scribd app is available on iOS/iPad OS devices, Android devices, and devices like some Kindle tablets and the Nook Tablet. You can also use Scribd's website on a laptop or desktop browser. If youre interested in using our Scribd app, check out our article Installing the Scribd app for more information and detailed installation instructions.There is nothing you need to do in order to stay with us! The payment for this subscription will be taken off from the payment details that you mentioned automatically.You will be able to get the detailed information and our customer support phone number in the invoice attached. Call our customer care support if you have any problems with your subscription or if you want to cancel it.If youre looking to gift someone a Scribd coupon, we offer several different plans to suit your recipients needs. We offer various lengths of plans. Dont worry there arent any recurring fees, so you wont be charged again later.Yours,Scribd team"Since I am not permitted to open the attachment per company policy (which is likely containing malware), I went onto Scribs website and ******** pages and there is NO CUSTOMER SERVICE NUMBER. I refuse to file the complaint on their site for fear of tracking and more pfishing schemes.

  Business Response

  Date: 01/28/2023

  Thank you for for bringing this to our attention. 

   

  After further review, we were unable to locate any account with the information provided this far. We are happy to look into this further however, we will require additional information. Although we understand that ***** would prefer to not submit a ticket to our support team, in order for us to be able to further investigate this, we will need her to send a request directly to our team. ***** can submit a ticket directly to us via this link: *********************. Scribd takes customer support very seriously and we can assure her that her ticket will be addressed with the utmost care. 

   

  Once the ticket is submitted via the provided link above, the request will be escalated and a specialist will follow up with ***** within 24 to 48 hours. Thank you again, we look forward to getting this taken care of. - MR

  Customer Answer

  Date: 01/30/2023

   
  Complaint: 18939936
  
  I am rejecting this response because:

  1. the response "prompts" to submit a complaint directly on their site which means they will automatically add my email into their system and I refuse to allow that. Since I am not a customer of theirs at all, I will not be inconvenienced to do this. Additionally, as I stated previously, it is against my company's policy. 

  2. my demand is for this company to remove my email address from whatever list they got it from and stop sending pfishing and spam emails to my work email address. 

  3. I refuse to have any direct contact with this company because I am not their customer. 

  
  Sincerely,
  
  ***********************

  Business Response

  Date: 02/02/2023

  Thank you for bringing this to our attention. Unfortunately, we are unable to assist without more information. 
  
  If ***** can submit a ticket directly to our support team with a screenshot of the email she received we can definitely further investigate this matter. ***** can submit a ticket directly to our team via this link: *********************. Once the ticket is submitted, it will be escalated to a specialist who will follow up with her within ***** hours. 
  
  Thanks again! - MR

  Customer Answer

  Date: 02/02/2023

  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 am not permitted to enter their website to submit a ticket per my company policy. I reached out separately from my personal computer with the information and it has been address that way. 
  
  Sincerely,
  
  ***********************