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

• 

  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:10/27/2022

  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 signed up for Scribd in May 2018, I cancelled Scribd in August 2018. I just found out this past August 2022 that they have been charging my credit card for the last 4 years. I have them admitting fault in email and showing that my account was closed. They have essentially been stealing from me for 4 years. Their customer service is nonexistent. I have sent LinkedIn messages to their head of accounting and to the company owner. No response. Small Claims Court, here we come!!! How can a company who "cancelled" your membership, continue to charge my credit card years after the fact. This is theft. After reading the reviews on this site, I would say this is a pattern of abuse of financial information by Scribd. Class Action Lawsuit will likely be happening once an attorney gets a whiff of this case. Scribd owes me an apology and 47 months x $9.35. Otherwise, the *** allowable small claims court in CA will happen and I will name the owner along with registered agent and the *** handling this trainwreck of a company. Scribd is guilty of theft.

  Business Response

  Date: 10/28/2022

  Thank you for bringing this to our attention. 

   

  We would like to advise ***** that once a subscription is canceled, we are unable to bill the account. If users see billing after cancelation, it is typically because there was a missed step in the cancelation process or they have a duplicate account that is not canceled. That said, we are happy to look into this.

   

  After further review, we have located *****'s ticket #******* and a specialist has followed up with him. If he has any further questions please have ***** follow up with the specialist directly as they will be the best point of contact going forward. Thank you again, have a great day. - MR

• Initial Complaint

  Date:10/24/2022

  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 service at SCRIBD a few years ago and had cancelled it soon after, I made sure to also deactivated my account just in case they continue to charge me, but I checked my bank account and realized that I have been continuously charged EVERY SINGLE MONTH for it since 2021!! I tried to send them an email last month to get my refunds, because why am I paying for a service I don't use on an account that doesn't even exist?? As expected, I received no replies from them because this company seems to be a complete scam, considering the amount of people experiencing the same issue. It seems like there is no way they are going to refund me completely since they are scamming people and that's how they get their money, so i guess the only option for me to stop this is to cancel my current credit card and order a new one because there is nothing else I can do about it. If you are considering subscribing to their service, don't.

  Business Response

  Date: 10/25/2022

  Thank you for informing us 

  To offer some clarification, we are a monthly subscription service. We bring subscribers monthly access to the best ebooks, audiobooks, and magazines. The charges they are seeing is likely for our monthly subscription fee.

  I located an account via their email, but it's not subscribed to us. As we cannot charge without an active subscription, this means there has to be a different account associated with their payment method resulting in the charges.

  I reviewed our system for any emails from the user and cannot locate any in our queue. If they emailed us, please ensure they are using the correct domain [email protected]. 

  That said, we want to ensure they are assisted right away, so we have sent them an email to the domain they have provided here on the BBB. Please inform them to check their inbox (and spam) for our email and we'll keep an eye out for their response. Thanks! -EC

• Initial Complaint

  Date:10/15/2022

  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 have had this app for a few years. Over the last several months every time I try to play audiobooks the audio will go silent for several seconds at a time multiple times throughout the book (over 20 times at least)I cannot replay these sections and I miss many areas of the book. I have tried on multiple occasions to reach out to support and nobody has gotten back to me or tried to resolve my issue in any way. I have tried to reach through multiple avenues and still zero response or resolution. I have asked for a refund and have gotten absolutely no response. The issue is still persisting.

  Business Response

  Date: 10/16/2022

  We apologize for any trouble that this issue has caused ****************. Our iOS team is aware of playback issues within the app and is working as diligently with our audiobook provider to make sure this is resolved as quickly as possible. While we don't have an estimated time of resolution at the moment, we can confirm that her support ticket in regard to this issue (under ticket number #*******) was already responded to by an agent with a status update on the issue. Her ticket has been placed "on-hold" as our team works to resolve this issue, so that we may ensure that her concerns are tracked and that she receives an email update right away when the issue is resolved.
  
  Upon review of her account, it appears that she has successfully canceled her subscription with us as of October 16th, 2022. She will not be billed again as we cannot charge canceled accounts that are no longer rendering services with us. If she is seeking a refund, she will need to reach out to Apple Support as her subscription was billed directly through them. We're happy to help **************** with her issue as much as possible, however, subscriptions purchased through the iTunes App Store are managed by Apple, and Scribd, unfortunately, cannot issue refunds or cancel them on her behalf. She can follow the link here to contact Apple Support directly for a refund: http://www.apple.com/support/itunes/
  
  We hope this helps to clarify her experience, and we look forward to resolving this as quickly as possible for her. Thanks! -VG

  Customer Answer

  Date: 10/16/2022

   
  Complaint: 18229367
  
  I am rejecting this response because:

  I did not ask for my subscription to be cancelled. I simply asked for a response (which I did not receive one the last two times I reached out until after sending this message. I also asked for a refund which was not given and I did not want my account cancelled.
  
  Sincerely,
  
  ***********************

  Business Response

  Date: 10/19/2022

  We thank the user for following up with us. To clarify, the user asked for a refund for the recent charge on her account, however, the account was created via Apple Pay/iTunes. As we explained via email for the user, we are not able to refund charges set up this way and they'll need to contact Apple Support for any assistance with that. 

  That said, one of our troubleshooting agents did reply to them via email regarding the iOS skipping issues. We are still working on resolving the issue and they are attempting to help the user out via email in the meantime. Please inform them to reply to us via email if they need more help. We hope they have a great rest of their day -EC

• Initial Complaint

  Date:10/12/2022

  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.

  In June of 2020 I signed up for a service with Scribd **** In April of 2021 I decided that I was not using the service, and went online to cancel it. I continued to be charged, and continued trying to cancel the subscription. Every month I was charged, and every month I continually tried to cancel the subscription and communicate to the company that I was still be charged despite wanting to cancel the service. In all, $135.96 was charged to me over the months during which my attempts to cancel the service went ignored by the company. During this period, I also spoke with my bank and attempted to dispute the charges through them, but their systems were unable to clear the charges.In October of 2022, the customer service department finally acknowledged one of my complaints, in which I explained that I had been attempting to cancel the service for over a year, and wanted a full refund for that time frame). The person who responded to me (************* said that they showed no record of my previous attempts to cancel, and would refund me only the most recent month's charge.This is not an acceptable solution to me, and I want the full year of charges refunded, as it is not my fault that their system did not function the way it was intended to function and cancel my subscription when I first requested.

  Business Response

  Date: 10/13/2022

  Please thank the user for reaching out to us here as well 

  As we informed them via email, we typically can only issue refunds within the last 30 days of the charge or for however many charges may have incurred after they reached out caused by a delay from support. 

  That said, one of our agents did issue them a single refund as outlined in our policy, however, we went ahead and escalated their case for a total of six months of refunds

  This is the maximum amount of refunds we are able to issue due to limitations from our payment processors, so I hope that's helpful for them. 

  If they decide to set up a Scribd subscription in the future, we recommend they review our guide on How to Cancel, or email Scribd support at [email protected] where one of our agents will always be available to help. We are also able to assist customers with cancelations on our ******* support page @AskScribd as well. 

  We also emailed the user regarding this, so please inform them to check their inbox and spam for our reply and to feel free to let us know via email if they need more help. Thanks. -EC

  Customer Answer

  Date: 10/14/2022

  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:10/11/2022

  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.

  Scribd refuses to bill me as a resident of ******* which I have been since ****. I currently use ******** Internet - the gateway does not have a GPS. When I subscribed to SCRIB - the gateway gave me a location in Washington - the current location is *************. As a result from 12/24/21 I paid $1.02 tax per month. The 9/24/22 bill included **** tax. ******* is a no tax state.I attempted to resolve this with SCRIBD through email with their support after subscribing - the bottom line was they refused to resolve it. I can provide copies of that correspondence.I do want to continue the service but I believe I should be billed accurately and am willing to take steps necessary to prove I am and have been a ******* resident. One could question just where these tax $ go - do they just provide additional income to SCRIBD?

  Business Response

  Date: 10/12/2022

  We apologize to the user for any ongoing confusion or frustration. As we explained to the user via email, one's taxes and associated rates are heavily reliant on multiple factors at the time of signup. If they as the user are not currently within **********, it may prove beneficial for them to consult with their carrier and/or device settings, as these are likely defaulting to incorrect information based on its current automatic settings. These settings are independent of Scribd, and can only be corrected at the base level by the source which dictates their location (which can be through your carrier, device, or any other potential sources - we cannot determine this on our end, as Scribd itself did not set the location used within your signup).
  
  If they have any other questions for Scribd, please inform them they can reply to us via email at any time. We are always happy to help as we can. Thanks and have a good day -EC

  Customer Answer

  Date: 10/12/2022

   
  Complaint: 18197858
  
  I am rejecting this response because:

  At the time is signup - ******** showed me in Washington - when that changed to ********** - SCRIBD was able to change it to ********** and a higher tax rate almost a year after signup.  

  it should not be difficult for even a non-IT person to understand that without a GPS the Internet Gateway does not have an actual location - and there are many examples discussed on the Internet.  Fubo has adjusted my location for local channels twice.  Some of the devices I use to access SCRIBD do not have cell service and must use my home Internet.

  Finally - the technical issues aside - the unwillingness of SCRIBD to provide an alternate method of location verification is unfair to all of the customers who have already or will move to home Internet whose gateway does not provide a location.

   I am not just claiming I live in Montana - I can prove I live in *******.

   

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

  Business Response

  Date: 10/19/2022

  As a final reminder, one's taxes are heavily reliant on multiple factors at the time of signup and is not determined by Scribd. The tax they are being charged for is determined by their bank and they will need to contact their bank for any assistance. Scribd is physically unable to alter this on our end and we appreciate their understanding in this matter. 

  If they have any other questions about Scribd's services, please ensure they email us, otherwise, we wish them them best. Thanks. -EC

  Customer Answer

  Date: 10/21/2022

   
  Complaint: 18197858
  
  I am rejecting this response because:

   

  SCRIBD submits an invoice for my account to PayPal - and PayPal pays it.  PayPal has no involvement in any taxes that *** be included.

  this is copied from SCRIBDs website

  October 1, 2019
  Some state and local laws require Scribd to collect tax on the cost of our premium membership. Starting in October 2019, the price for a Scribd subscription will include VAT (value added tax). If you reside in a location where Scribd is required to collect tax, the tax amount will be included in your recurring billing amount. 
  

  A s previously stated - SCRIBD does not base taxation on the location at the time of subscribing - if that were the case it would not change which mine did and would also conflict with reside in a location from above since people do move.

  The issue is LOCATION and the unwillingness of SCRIBD to employ a process that accurately determines location including a process to correct any location errors that are not due to any action of the subscriber.

  if the subscriber is not liable for the tax then it is being collected illegally.

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

• Initial Complaint

  Date:10/10/2022

  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.

  Canceled after free trial. 6 months later saw a recurring change of ***** on my bank statement. When trying to cancel the account, I can't log in ** I have no account. I had to cancel my debit card. My bank told me to cancel my account with Scribd and I can't bc I don't have an account. There is no phone number to call. Their on line resolution is no help

  Business Response

  Date: 10/11/2022

  Thanks for informing us! We located the users account via the email they provided. It looks like a subscription was set up via the uses email address a while back to view some of our premium documents, including: "Construction Surveying and Layout Third Edition" (https://www.scribd.com/document/344314864/Construction-surveying-and-Layout-third-edition). We're a monthly subscription service and the subscription was never canceled, which is why they were charged. 

  We have canceled their subscription and refunded their recent charge per our Refund Policy. We also replied to them via email, so please inform them to check their inbox (and spam) for our reply and to let us know via email if we can be of any additional assistance. Thanks! -EC

• Initial Complaint

  Date:10/07/2022

  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 28, 2022 I have beee charged $9.99 for Scribd **** I created an account and used the free trial and made sure to cancel within the window. However, I have been charged monthly for this service. Everytime I send an email I never get a response. Not even a ticket number or reference number for the problem. There is absolutely no effective communication within the company and I would compare this to someone going into your bank and stealing your money with no regard for you or the business they work for. Reading it seems that this is a consistent problem with several other individuals. You must fix this. It is wrong ethically, morally, and shows complete disregard not only for the customer, but for people in general.

  Business Response

  Date: 10/08/2022

  Thank you for bringing this to our attention. After further review, we can confirm that a specialist has followed up with ******* through his ticket  #******* (A screenshot has been attached).

  If ******* has any further questions or concern, please have him reach out to the specialist directly as they will be the best point of contact. Thank you, have a great day! - MR

• Initial Complaint

  Date:10/05/2022

  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 have been trying to cancel a free subscription but keep getting sent in a loop. This is rediculous. I have now been charged twice for something O have not used. I have not found a phone number or email. I want a cancellation and refund. I want to know what other avenues I can ****** because I believe they are not allowing people to even contact them

  Business Response

  Date: 10/06/2022

  Thank you for bringing this to our attention. 

  
  
  We have located ***'s account and have canceled the subscription. We also went ahead and provided a refund for the last two invoices as a courtesy. Please let *** know that the If the purchase was still in a "Pending" state on her card, it will simply disappear; otherwise please allow up to a week for the refund to clear.

   

  If there is anything else we can help with, please have *** submit a ticket to our support team here: https://scr.bi/assist. Thanks again, have a great day! - MR

  
  

• Initial Complaint

  Date:10/03/2022

  Type:Sales and Advertising 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 am being charged monthly by Scribd for a service I no longer want. I tried to cancel by phone but Scribd does not offer phone support. I tried emailing them several times to the [email protected] email address with no response. I tried messaging Scribd on FB Messenger, but received only automatic replies. Scribds ******* account does not accept direct messages. Its clear to me this is a company that takes your information for one purchase and intends to never stop charging you.

  Business Response

  Date: 10/04/2022

  Thank you for informing us! We apologize for the delay. While were excited that the Scribd community is growing as rapidly as it is, weve admittedly not been able to reply as quickly as wed like to. We're working to improve this moving forward and, in the meantime, I'm more than happy to help in any way I can.

  That said, I reviewed our system for the users email and was not able to find a record of a subscription. I did find one unsubscribed account, however, I was not able to locate any active subscriptions. If they have a more recent charge, there must be a duplicate account under a different email resulting in these payments. 

  I have escalated their email to the top of our queue and replied to them there so we can assist them sooner. Please inform them to check their inbox (and spam) for my email and I'll wait for their response. Thanks! -EC 

  Customer Answer

  Date: 10/05/2022

  Better Business Bureau:
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and I have since been contacted by the company. They have located my information and have issued me a credit.  
  
  Sincerely,
  
  ***********************

• Initial Complaint

  Date:10/03/2022

  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 never heard of or subscribed to this "scribd" company. Yet I somehow ended up getting a monthly subscription to them and they have charged me $11.99 without my consent, agreement, or knowledge of what the company even is. This is a major red flag and seems like a scam, upon research there are many accounts of the same happening.

  Business Response

  Date: 10/03/2022

  Scribd is a monthly reading subscription that provides users with the best ebooks, audiobooks, magazines, and more. The charge they are seeing it for our monthly subscription service. 
  
  We located an account under the email the user provided and can confirm it was set up about a month ago and canceled by the user yesterday. We refunded their recent payment per our Refund Policy and can confirm we will not charge them again.
  
  If the payment was still processing, please inform them to allow some time for it to cancel, otherwise, refunds typically process within 3-5 business days. 
  
  We apologize to them for any inconvenience and please have them reply here if they need more help. Thanks! -EC