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Business Profile

Internet Services

Scribd

This business is NOT BBB Accredited.

Find BBB Accredited Businesses in Internet Services.

Important information

Complaints

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

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.

    Please enter a valid location.

    • 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

    Customer Complaints Summary

    • 264 total complaints in the last 3 years.
    • 58 complaints closed in the last 12 months.

    If you've experienced an issue

    Submit a Complaint

    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.

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    Complaint status

    Complaint type

    • Initial Complaint

      Date:07/23/2022

      Type:Sales and Advertising Issues
      Status:
      Answered
      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 offered a free trial, as a student while i was looking for an essay, i found an essay but it wasnt as i had thought, so i cancelled the free trial thr following day, within the free trial, never thought would be charged, when i saw the charges on June 11, for $11.99 then i have called the scribd number and there was no answer as there is no support, i emailed them, no answer at all but the automatic emails, then waited for their replies and after a month was charged once again for $11.99 again called them and emailed them informing trial was canceled and i have no access to scribd account and it's not 'ethical' to keep charging and no answer, so i had to open a dispute with paypal (paypal said brcause it's a service and paypal policies doesnt include buyer protection for service disputes to ask seller to refund) and asked scribd to refund but scribd didnt refund knowing their 'ethical' responsobilities, then paypal closed the disputes based on their policies asking me to ask for refunds from scribd, scribd didnt refund or answer emails, so i am asking for a refund for both and scribd feel free to see the usage was the account was within the week trial for used for a day or two and never used the account after canceled and it should have been canceled and refund would be fair for these, i ask scribd to be ethical and do refunds

      Business Response

      Date: 07/24/2022

      Thank you for informing us

      We were able to use the screenshots to find an account in our system that was created with the email zb**************** (redacted for security) that was used to access some of our premium documents, including: "Annotated Bibliography - *************** 1" (https://bit.ly/3z3zr3E) 

      Our system shows that it was not canceled until after the first payment processed, which is why the user was billed. 

      That said, we can confirm they have already filed a dispute with PayPal. As outlined in our Refund Policy (https://bit.ly/3qRRrJk), we are no longer permitted to issue refunds once disputes are filed. If they have not yet received their refund, they'll need to take it up with PayPal. We have also already informed the user of this via email. 

      We appreciate their time and wish them the best -EC

      Customer Answer

      Date: 07/25/2022

       
      Complaint: 17614673

      I am rejecting this response because:

      Sincerely,

      *******************

      Customer Answer

      Date: 07/31/2022

      hi, bbb, i was offered a free trial, as a student while i was looking for an essay, i found an essay but it wasnt as i had thought, so i cancelled the free trial the following day, within the free trial which was for a week, never thought would be charged after subsctiption for scribd was canceled, when i saw the charges on June 11, for $11.99 then i have called the scribd number and there was no answer as there is no phone support when u call their phone numbers, then i emailed them, no email were answered at all but the automatic emails said to wait then waited for their replies and after a month was charged once again for $11.99 again called them and emailed them informing trial was canceled and i have no access to scribd account and it's not 'ethical' to keep charging and no answer, so i had to open a dispute with paypal (paypal said brcause it's a service and paypal policies doesnt include buyer protection for service disputes to ask seller to refund) and asked scribd to refund but scribd didnt refund knowing their 'ethical' responsobilities, then paypal closed the disputes based on their policies asking me to ask for refunds from scribd, scribd didnt refund or answer emails, so i am asking for a refund for both and scribd feel free to see the usage was the account was within the week trial for used for a day or two and never used the account after canceled and it should have been canceled and refund would be fair for these, i ask scribd to be ethical and do refunds

      Business Response

      Date: 08/02/2022

      We appreciate this user reaching out to us here as well

      Please inform them that we were already able to locate their subscribed account under the email z***************** (redacted for security) and, as we informed them via email, we are no longer able to assist them with refunds due to the disputes they have filed with PayPal. 

      If they have any additional questions for us, they can follow up with us via the email we have already been communicating with them on, otherwise, we hope they have a great rest of their day -EC

       

      Customer Answer

      Date: 08/03/2022

       
      Complaint: 17614673

      I am rejecting this response because the business is not only lying but contantly lying about their emails and communications with me, paypal has the policy that seller is able to refund, and they were not answering emails and calls thats the reason paypal disputes were opened, which are now closed as paypal doesnt support services refunds, scribd is a non ethical business, they dont answer emails, phones and also lying about thei communications with customers and refunds, they havent refunded, and they are able to refund according to paypal, also they have been practising this not ethical business practises eith their not valuable subsriptions and they dont cancel and refund their subscription and dont answer emails and phones, i will also file a complaint with other similar companies like bbb so customers are aware of scribd lake of customer support, ethical responsibilities, and no refunds policies on subs which was canceld, and no answer to emails and phones :

      Sincerely,

      *******************

      Business Response

      Date: 08/05/2022

      Thank you for making us aware of the rejection to our last response. 

       

      As a final correspondence and reminder, since the customer issued a chargeback dispute through PayPal on this account, any refunds due will be handled through the dispute resolution system at PayPal. Please note that as PayPal disputes are reviewed by PayPal themselves, the outcome of the dispute is binding and we will not subsequently offer additional refunds or credit beyond what is offered through this system.At this point, we are unable to provide refunds for this account due to the chargeback disputes that the customer has opened through PayPal, as the funds have already been removed from our system. Please remind the customer to follow up with PayPal support for further information regarding your dispute. However, we can confirm that their subscription has been canceled and they will not be charged again. 

       

      If the user has any further questions, please have them reach out to the specialist directly through their ticket. Thanks again, have a great day. - MR

       

       

    • Initial Complaint

      Date:07/22/2022

      Type:Product Issues
      Status:
      Answered
      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 want to cancel my account but I do not have the information they require, I never got an invoice number or most other information since I purchased through a third party.They have my account information and my email address as well as my credit/debit card number. With that info there is no reason they cancel my account. They do not have a customer service number or a way to cancel on the web site that I could find.Thank you ********************* Thank you

      Business Response

      Date: 07/23/2022

      Thank you for bringing this to our attention. 

       

      After further review, we were able to locate ******* subscription with the email provided. We went ahead and processed the cancelation as well as refunded for the last invoice per our Refund Policy. That said, please advise ***** to allow 2-5 business days for the refund to process. If the charge was pending, it will simply disappear.

       

      Thanks again, have a wonderful day. - mr

    • Initial Complaint

      Date:07/22/2022

      Type:Service or Repair Issues
      Status:
      Answered
      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 charged a reoccurring charge since 8/2017 on my credit card. It is an account linked through my ******** that I NEVER authorized. I am seeking reimbursement from the company, who does not have an active telephone number.

      Business Response

      Date: 07/23/2022

      Thank you for bringing this to our attention. 

       

      After further review, it looks like the subscription was opened in 2017 in order to download a couple documents. The subscription was never canceled by the user until July 22, 2022 which is why ***** was still billed. 

       

      That said, we went ahead and refunded the last 6 payments as an exception however, no further refund will be provided as our system does not allow refunds past the 6 months. Please advise ***** to allow 2-5 business days for the refunds to process. If she has any further questions, have her reach out to our support team here: https://scr.bi/assist. Her request will be escalated to a specialist as soon as its submitted through that specific link.

       

      Thank you, have a wonder day.  - MR

      Customer Answer

      Date: 07/24/2022

       
      Complaint: 17611694

      I am rejecting this response because:I personally did not sign up for this subscription. It is linked to a username that I have never used before. 

      Sincerely,

      *********************************

      Business Response

      Date: 07/30/2022

      Thank you for letting us know of the rejection to our response. 



      Unfortunately, we have refunded the maximum refunds of the last six months and no further refunds can be provided as our payment system does not allow any further refunds. 

       

      Although we understand the user is stating she did not create the account, it is still their responsibility to manage their debits in a timely manner. We always happy to help and refund for previous charges as long as it falls within our policy and is permitted within our system. Unfortunately, any further refunds is completely out of our scope. 

       

      Thanks again, have a great weekend. - mr 


    • Initial Complaint

      Date:07/20/2022

      Type:Billing Issues
      Status:
      Answered
      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.
      To Whom It May ********* few days ago, I saw on my bank account statements that I've been paying for a subscription by Scribd (https://try.scribd.com/) that I did not even know I had. I often receive emails from Scribd offering a 30-day free trial, I took it for ******* but cancelled my subscription before the month was even over. I'm appalled by this.The amounts charged were:Feb 9,04 Mar 9,37 Apr 9,47 May 9,80 Jun 9,80 Jul 10,24 I wrote them an email and a message in their help center, but nobody has answered me. I think it is completely unacceptable that I was offered a free trial, cancelled it and then was charged unknowingly.Best,

      Business Response

      Date: 07/22/2022

      Thank you for bringing this to our attention.

       

      After further review, we have located her ticket #*******. Please let ***** know what her request has been escalated and a specialist will be following up with her within 24 hours. Thank you! - mr

    • Initial Complaint

      Date:07/17/2022

      Type:Product Issues
      Status:
      Answered
      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 cancelled this subscription before the free trial ended still got charged, thought maybe it was a ONE time mistake but now Ive been charged TWICE. And I cant find a way to contact Scribd from there website, their contact us doesnt have a email or phone number to call for things like this. Ive read that other people have had the same issue as me. I want a full refund for both months. I tried to go through my phone to do it and it not letting me because as one of the screenshots shows I am NOT subscribed therefore I cant get a refund on it

      Business Response

      Date: 07/18/2022

      We thank the user for informing us 

      We were able to locate the account under the email they provided and can confirm it was canceled and never charged, however, she had a few duplicate accounts in our system. One of the duplicates remained subscribed to our monthly subscription service, which is why she was recently charged. 

      We have canceled and refunded the duplicate account and emailed her at the email address she provided here. Please inform her to email us back if she needs additional help, or to consult our customer care portal here: https://bit.ly/2LjHjc1 which would also have helped her to email us. 

      Have a great day! -EC

    • Initial Complaint

      Date:07/13/2022

      Type:Customer Service Issues
      Status:
      Answered
      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 just cannot cancel this Scribd account. There is no phone number. I have tried for months before it was to renew in June. I finally thought I was through with them after seeing I no longer have an account. I was just charged $84.99 again! I tried getting some help from customer service. There is no customer service. This is just not right. Thank you

      Business Response

      Date: 07/13/2022

      Thank you for bringing this to our attention.

       

      After further review, we can confirm that the account was not canceled which is why the user was still billed. Not to worry though, we are happy to make things right!

      We went ahead and canceled the subscription, as well as refunded the most recent charge. If the purchase was still in a "Pending" state, it will simply disappear; otherwise please allow up to a week for the refund to clear.


      If the user has any further questions, please have them reach out to our support team here: https://scr.bi/assist. Thanks! - MR

    • Initial Complaint

      Date:07/10/2022

      Type:Billing Issues
      Status:
      Resolved
      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 believe someone opened an account with Scribd without my knowledge, using my credit card. I just noticed the charge this month$8.99, but it has been ongoing since May 2021. My problem is that I cannot contact this Company. When you call *************) a message tells you that do not do business over the phone, you must email. When you go to their support sight there is no online chat. You cannot have any dialogue with anyone. You can't even email them. Since I did not set up this account, my email is not recognized by their system, so there is no way for me to Log In. I had the same situation with another Company, Spotify. They have an online chat and were able to resolve this same issue. Someone with another email opened an account around the same time as the Scribd account was opened. They issued a full refund..

      Business Response

      Date: 07/11/2022

      We apologize to this user for any trouble they've had contacting support 

      Though we do not offer phone support, our customer care team is absolutely available via email to help, however, I do not see any emails in our queue from them

      Please inform them to use this link to email us: https://scr.bi/assist and one of our agents will help them within 24 hours -EC 

      Customer Answer

      Date: 07/15/2022

      Better Business Bureau:

      I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and find that this resolution hopefully will be helpful. I was able to send them a message and now await their response..

      Sincerely,

      *******************

    • Initial Complaint

      Date:07/07/2022

      Type:Order Issues
      Status:
      Answered
      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 cancelled the subscription 4-5 months ago.But they are still collecting

      Business Response

      Date: 07/08/2022

      Thank you for bringing this to our attention. 

       

      We have looked into the account and the subscription was not canceled which is why the user was still billed. That said we went ahead and canceled the subscription as well as granted a one time exception and refunded the last 4 months. If the user has any questions, please have him reach out to our support team here: https://scr.bi/assist. 

       

      Thanks again, have a great day! - MR

       

       

    • Initial Complaint

      Date:07/07/2022

      Type:Billing Issues
      Status:
      Answered
      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.
      *************************** May 4, 2022, 8:27 AM PDT ******, From what I can see on my bank account I have been being charged for this subscription since 12/1/2020. I have not once used this service. I want a refund! In the amount of $240.00. I have just tried to log in on the account, but it is not working for me to even read or listen to anything. I want my money back or a free subscription for 24 months to compensate for the fraudulent activity by your subscription service on my bank account. There is no reason anyone should be charged for something they were not able to use.*************************** May 4, 2022, 8:06 AM PDT the site is saying that I do not have an active account but a subscription fee is being taken out of my account. I need someone to contact me ASAP! This fraud. The username that it says on the account is samantha3mcco-813658 Attachment(s) scribd.JPG Your request (#*******) has been updated; please see the comments below. You may respond on the web or by replying to this email, whichever is most convenient for you. Your request summary: ******** (Support Desk) May 9, 2022, 5:37 PM PDT Hi there ********* I am more than happy to help you with this, but 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 one of the following: Paid by Card: 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 Paid by PayPal: A copy of your most recent PayPal receipt for Scribd Paid by ****** Play: A copy of your most recent ****** Play receipt for Scribd Paid by iTunes: A copy of your most recent iTunes receipt showing your payment to Scribd Paid by EBANX: A copy of your most recent E

      Business Response

      Date: 07/08/2022

      Thank you for bringing this to our attention. After further review, we have located her open ticket #******* and it has been escalated to our specialist team. Someone will be following with her within 24 hours.- MR

       

       

       

    • Initial Complaint

      Date:07/07/2022

      Type:Product Issues
      Status:
      Answered
      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 tried Scribd for free for 30 days in 2016 and then cancelled my subscription. On 1/27/2022, I received an email from Scribd regarding subscription price changes. This was the first email Id received from ********************** since 2016. When I logged in to my account to check if the email was sent mistakenly, I was shocked to discover that Scribd continued to charge me monthly even after I cancelled my subscription. When I contacted Scribd, they told me they could only refund the last 6 charges instead of all the charges going back to January 2017.

      Business Response

      Date: 07/09/2022

      Thank you for bringing this to our attention. 

       

      After further review it looks like Mehreen spoke to the a manager already and was provided the full refund amount that we are able to provide in ticket #*******. As mentioned by the supervisor, there was no prior cancellation on the account to the one on January 28 when our agents refunded Mehreen's account (Emails have been attached).

       

      Now, while we understand the point the user is trying to convey, the fact remains that they created a subscription and it is up to to the user to maintain your subscriptions and services. When a user first enters their payment information within the Scribd platform to start their trial, it is also their responsibility to evaluate and understand Scribd, including all of its features, limitations, system requirements, refund policies as well as all legalities. The moment the subscriber solidified their payment details, they agree to Scribd's Paid Access End User License Agreement. This information is listed on our website ready at your disposal: https://bit.ly/389jBHo.

       

      As mentioned, we are unable to refund anything past six months not only because its outside of our policy but also because our payment system locks the payments after six months. Unfortunately, the maximum refund amount has already been provided. If they would like to refund any further refunds, they will need to reach out to their bank directly.  Thank you, have a great weekend. - MR

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