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:12/15/2024

  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 been charged a monthly fees of $11.99 for several nonths now. I am not able to reset my password and multiple, repeated contacts to scribd support to help cancel my account have not been addressed. I am trying to cancel the autopay setup with ******, BUT it won't work till scribd cancels the ********** this rate, I will keep paying till even after I die, since there is no way to cancel this infernal account.

  Business Response

  Date: 12/20/2024

  Hello *****,

  Thank you for bringing this to our attention! I was unable to locate an active subscription with the email addresses provided. We will have to investigate this further, but we will need additional information that is not suitable for this platform. Submit a ticket via this link and your request will be forwarded directly to our support team: ********************************

  Once a new ticket has been submitted, please updates us here with the ticket number, so that we can escalate your case.
  Thanks! -FC

• Initial Complaint

  Date:12/13/2024

  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 am writing to formally lodge a complaint against Scribd for an unauthorized charge and their failure to resolve the matter despite my multiple attempts to seek a refund. Below are the key points of my complaint: 1. Unauthorized Charge: On 6 December, Scribd charged $10.89 USD to my ****** account without my authorization. I was unaware of any active subscription and have not used Scribd services during this billing period. 2. Account Discrepancy: I originally signed up for Scribd in 2013 via ****** with the username HMKris. I had not accessed the account for years. When I logged in recently to check the status of my account, I discovered that my account username had changed to chooyingying1, and there was no payment or subscription history linked to it. Scribd appears to have deleted my original account. 3. Lack of Communication: I closed the dispute on 9 December as per Scribd's request and sent three follow-up emails since then. However, I have received no response. Today, I logged in to my Scribd account and found that it had been deleted, yet no refund has been issued. 4. Payment Details: The charge of $10.89 USD was made through ****** using my MasterCard Debit Card ending in 1383. Below are the transaction details: - Invoice ID: ****************** - Order ID: *************** - Transaction ID: ***************** - ****** Email: ***************** I believe this charge was unauthorized as I did not knowingly activate or use any subscription. Scribd has not provided adequate support or resolution, and the deletion of my account raises further concerns about the legitimacy of their practices. I kindly request the Better Business Bureaus assistance in holding Scribd accountable and ensuring that I receive a full refund of $10.89 USD. Thank you for your time and support in addressing this matter. Sincerely, ***************** *****************

  Business Response

  Date: 12/19/2024

  Hello Aria, thank you for bringing this to our attention. We completely understand your concern regarding this matter, and we'll gladly work to make this right.

  To begin, we can confirm the account in question was blocked by our system automatically due to the ****** dispute that you filed, so it can no longer be accessed. We apologize if this has caused confusion or concern, but it does appear that a trial subscription was started on November 06, 2024, in order to download documents titled "Tenancy Agreement - Jb" and "Format Tenancy Agreement." After your free trial period ended, your account automatically enrolled in a recurring subscription. Since your subscription was not canceled, you were charged for the subscription as outlined in our Subscriber Agreement (**********************).

  Moving forward, it appears that we had originally followed up with you in response to your support ticket #******* via email to confirm that we're happy to refund this charge, but we're unable to do so until the ****** dispute case has been closed. At the time of this response on December 19, 2024, it appears the case is still open. We'll have a specialist respond to your ticket again to provide this information for your records as well.If you have any other questions, please don't hesitate to reply to ticket #*******. Thank you again! 

• Initial Complaint

  Date:12/10/2024

  Type:Sales and Advertising 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 a legacy plan ($11.99) with Everand that allows for 1 sometimes 2 listens a month depending on the publisher. I finished listen to a book today in full- 12/10 and was brought back to my saved page. All of my previously locked books had become available after removing the saved book I had just finished. I found this strange since I did not pay the extra for 1 or 3 unlocks. I attempted to listen to a book with the "listen now" button and was able to get 3 chapters in before it skipped to the end and proceeded to be "locked again". I attempted to grab another listen now book and it did the same thing but this book was previously a listen now and now it's an unlock title. I cleared out of the app and the 2 books are now "continue listening" as they would be if they were "listen now" and available. If I attempt to continue listening I am just brought back to the finished page and told these titles are locked again. This seems like a predatory way to have people pay the extra for the unlocks and I would appreciate honesty in knowing which books I can listen to per month as I do not want to pay for the unlocks. My plan is setup under the email- ******************** due to a previous issue I had with my own email linked to Everand.

  Business Response

  Date: 12/19/2024

  Hi ********, thank you for sharing this feedback with us!  We understand how important transparency is when it comes to subscription updates, and we apologize if our communication didnt fully address all aspects of the new plans, and if it may impact our legacy subscribers.
   
  Our goal with the new plans was to provide additional value and flexibility by offering more choices, including premium titles. We want to clarify that Everands catalog now includes both unlimited and premium titles, with the majority of titles being premium. Please note that due to our licensing agreements with publishers, occasionally titles may expire and be moved between our content catalogs, which may require an unlock to access moving forward. Much like other entertainment subscription services, there's always an ebb and flow of content that we can make available.
   
  As a legacy subscriber, you can continue to access our unlimited catalog includes a selection of 20k+ ebooks, audiobooks, magazines, podcasts, and sheet music, including Everand Originals. This content does not require unlocks! We hope this provides clarity, but please don't hesitate to open a ticket with our support team using this link, if you have any other questions: *********************************.

  Thank you again! -MW

• Initial Complaint

  Date:12/02/2024

  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 been charged every 5th of every month by this company and dont ever remember signing up with their services. I have been getting charged since July and they barely respond back. I have been contacting them for two weeks now and nothing has been solved yet. I hope with all these complaints they get sued, they continue to charge me even when I changed my card info.

  Business Response

  Date: 12/19/2024

  The customer started a subscription on September 04, 2022 on a second account with email nemah************************. At registration, they agreed to our ToS and recurring subscription. They have already been assisted with this second account via help ticket #*******. Thanks! -GT

• Initial Complaint

  Date:12/01/2024

  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 am a paid customer of **********************, and for one month, after multiple complaints, I am unable to log into my account.

  Business Response

  Date: 12/18/2024

  **** you for bringing this to our attention. We have located the ticket you created about this issue, ticket #*******, and have made sure it's been sent to the appropriate team for further review. While we apologize for the delay in following up with you about this issue, we can assure you that our team will follow up with you as soon as they are able to. We appreciate your patience in the meantime, and we look forward to helping get this issue taken care of!

• Initial Complaint

  Date:11/28/2024

  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.

  In 2023 I had a subscription with Scribd which I canceled in April. Scribd stopped charging me, but in September 2024, it started the automatic monthly billing again @***** per month. The method of payment was automatically charging my card, and it was three months before I noticed the charge. I complained to the company, but they would only cancel my account ... no refund.

  Business Response

  Date: 12/18/2024

  Thank you for bringing this to our attention! As mentioned in the ticket you created for this issue, ticket #*******, we are not able to offer a refund for your charge since it does not meet the requirements outlined in our Refund Policy. According to our policy, charges must not be older than 30 days and not have been used to access premium content in order to be eligible for a refund. You can review this policy here if you wish: **********************
  With regards as to why these charges started, our system shows that you started a new trial subscription with us for this account on August 19, 2024. After your free trial period ended, your account automatically enrolled in a recurring subscription. Since your subscription was not canceled, you were charged for the subscription as outlined in our Subscriber Agreement. You can view this here if you wish: ***********************************
  We hope this helps provide some clarity.

  Customer Answer

  Date: 12/19/2024

   
  Complaint: 22616967
  
  I am rejecting this response because: The reply from Scribd was incorrect. I did not restart my subscription as stated. 

  
  
  Sincerely,
  
  **** ****

  Business Response

  Date: 12/19/2024

  The customer started a subscription on August 19, 2024. At registration, they agreed to our ToS and recurring subscription. Per the customers ticket #*******, they accessed premium content after the subscription renewed, making them ineligible for a refund. Thanks! -GT

  Customer Answer

  Date: 12/20/2024

   
  Complaint: 22616967
  
  I am rejecting this response because: as I stated before, the reply from Scribd is incorrect. Scribd had my contact and credit card information from my cancelled subscription, so they were able to restart monthly billing without me requesting it. Scribd states that I was using the service. I was not aware of that. Evidently there is both premium and non-premium (free) content on the same web site and that their system was allowing me to use the premium content, and charging me for it. I was not aware that this was happening.  It is not reasonable to expect me to pay for something i had not agree to pay for. 

  I don't want to argue about this any more. I suggest that BBB keep my complaint so that it is available to other consumers.

  
  
  Sincerely,
  
  **** ****

• Initial Complaint

  Date:11/22/2024

  Type:Product Issues
  Status:

  UnansweredMore 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 a member of SCRIBD and cancelled membership in Jan. 2022. I received the confirmation email that my membership is cancelled (attached). Since December 2022, SCRIBD secretly charged my credit card on their record every month till November 2024, namely $11.99 for each month. Three-year credit card charges are attached as well. During the 24 months, I have never received a single email or invoice from SCRIBD stating they are charging me. I sent emails five times to ********************************** and ************************************ from Nov. 13, 2024 as they have no phone number listed. On Nov. 15, 2024, a technical support named Kefiloe Molaba stated that I may have duplicate account registered with "****************************************". Although I did have a *** account, it was ****************************** More importantly, I graduated from *** in May 2020 and my UML email address has been inactivated since June 2020 (my diploma is attached). It is unreasonable to charge a customer two years after the email address is inactivated and using so called duplicate account as an excuse. Unfortunately, I have not received any reply from SCRIBD so ****** is simply unacceptable to charge a client for 24 months consecutively eight months after the membership is cancelled. I therefore request SCRIBD to refund $287.76 to me as soon as possible.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:11/20/2024

  Type:Customer Service Issues
  Status:

  UnansweredMore 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 renewed my annual Scribd/Everand prescription then I was locked out of my account on 11/1/2024. I get an error message saying I've tried to login to my account too many times and my account is locked and I should contact Customer Service. I've sent 5 emails to Customer (no)Service and my issue isn't resolved.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:11/19/2024

  Type:Service or Repair Issues
  Status:

  UnansweredMore 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 a paid subscriber to Scribd/Everand for 4+ years. I currently I pay $11.99 a month for access to any number of **************** Ive seen notices advertising new subscription plans for several weeks now. Ive checked into the new plans which have either 1 or 3 unlocks for premium books for $11.99 & $16.99 respectively. The new plans promise access to more books, a more extensive library, better premium books, etc. Their new plan notices also indicate that while its an option to switch now, it soon wont be. I switched my plan to the new plan at the same rate I currently pay, $11.99. Now the only books (audio or E) that I have access to are the books Ive already read/listened to and an EXTREMELY limited number of other unlocked books. All the books I previously had access to are now locked. Not only that but even if I increased to the $16.99 plan I will only have access to 2 extra books that I almost unlimited access to before changing plans. The trickery and deceit is my complaint. If ******* wants to change their format or book accessibility, fine. I will decide whether to continue my subscription. But to advertise more access with the new plans and TRICK users into switching to a plan without 90% less access is UNETHICAL. I have RAVED about Scribd/Everand to anyone interested in books or podcasts. Not only will I not be raving about them now, I will be making their unethical practices known to anyone who mentions them.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:11/18/2024

  Type:Billing Issues
  Status:

  UnansweredMore 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.

  Signed up for a monthly membership at $11.99 per month.
  Three months ago they started double-billing us, charging
  us twice each month. One of these monthly charges never
  showed up on the platform's "Billing History" in our account
  section, but did show up on our bank's monthly statement,
  along with the debit. In effect, they created a "ghost" acount
  for us in addition to our actual account. The ghost account
  typically posted on or around the 8th of each month, while
  our actual legitimate account posted on or around the 15th.
  This was easy to prove, it was in plain black and white on
  the bank's monthly statements.
  
  We sent them all the details and evidence they ever could
  have needed to effect a refund, and they eventually responded
  with some outlandish double-talking nonsense. The only part
  that was unequivocal was they weren't going to refund any of
  the illegitimate charges... or anything else. To compound
  the problem, we cancelled on the 6th of November aside from
  filing our complaint with the company, and they charged us
  AGAIN on the 8th and reclassified our account as active, with
  future charges forthcoming. These people are just straight-up
  thieves, I mean beyond any doubt. They are probably doing
  this to a mind-numbing number of people, and the fact that
  these people are not investigated, prosecuted and jailed
  exposes a glaring hole in the criminal justice system that
  needs to be plugged immediately. Companies like this with
  no integrity have no incentive to play it straight anymore
  because there are no apparent repercussions for their
  specific class of internet fraud and theft. Really what I have
  experienced with this company is beyond belief and has left
  me stunned.