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Important information
- Customer Complaint:
Scribd came to BBB’s attention in March 2010. A review of complaints was completed in July 2024.
Consumers are urged to review the following link regarding accounts and cancellation information.https://support.scribd.com/hc/en-us/articles/210134046-How-to-cancel-your-subscription
Complaints
This profile includes complaints for Scribd's headquarters and its corporate-owned locations. To view all corporate locations, see
Customer Complaints Summary
- 259 total complaints in the last 3 years.
- 59 complaints closed in the last 12 months.
If you've experienced an issue
Submit a ComplaintThe 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:08/11/2024
Type:Billing IssuesStatus: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 do not have an active subscription with this company, yet for the last three weeks they have been attempting to charge me. Luckily my credit card on file expired or I would have been charged for something I cancelled. Their website says my subscription is not active, yet theyre trying to charge me. I have reached out to their customer service each time Ive been charged with no response.Business Response
Date: 08/11/2024
Thank you for bringing this to our attention. According to our system, you did have an active subscription with us connected to the account under the email address that your provided. This subscription was started on June 27, 2024.
Since this subscription was not canceled prior to the end of its trial period, we attempted to renew your subscription with the payment information that you provided. This is the source of the recent charge attempts that you saw. However, after reviewing your account, our system shows that your subscription has since been canceled as of August 11, 2024, so you should see no further charge attempts going forward.
We hope this helps provide some clarity, and wish you a wonderful rest of your day.Customer Answer
Date: 08/12/2024
Better Business Bureau:
I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference tocomplaint ID ********, and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me.
However, I would like to point out, for future customers, that one of their customer service representatives confirmed with me that my account was cancelled in July, and that it was cancelled again August 11th by their staff. Im done with this complaint but hope others do not get burned by this company.
Sincerely,
*****************************Initial Complaint
Date:08/05/2024
Type:Service or Repair IssuesStatus: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 signed up for a 30-day free trial of Scribd, as they advertised a book I wanted. Once I gained access via the free trial, the file for the book was incomplete and in another language. I looked around the app and couldn't find anything that I might want, so I cancelled my free trial. After my 30-day trial ended, they automatically charged me $127.97 for a yearly membership. I disputed the charge and they submitted the info for my free-trial as evidence. Needless to say, they do not give you a confirmation number or receipt when you cancel a free trial. The credit company found in their favor, so I was still charged. When I tried to login to find out what was going on, it kept saying I had no account. After months of this, I finally logged in using every email address and ******** and found that Scribd cancelled my membership THE SAME DAY as the charge and says the money was refunded. The refund never showed up with my credit company. I reached out to Scribd and they told me it is an issue with my credit company. When I reached out to my credit company, they told me to ask Scribd for the transaction code so they can check. Scribd then came back and said they cannot provide that and a refund was never provided, but now that it is over 6 months, they cannot do anything. Therefore, Scribd fraudulently billed me for a yearly membership, said they refunded and now admit they were lying.Business Response
Date: 08/05/2024
After reviewing your account under this email address, there is no record of cancellation prior to the subscription's scheduled renewal on August 12, 2023. When you filed a chargeback with your bank for the charge on August 12, 2023, our system automatically canceled your subscription due to the chargeback that you filed.
While we apologize for any confusion, we can confirm that the information we provided you in your ticket #******* is correct. In our reply to this ticket, we stated that our system shows that this chargeback was reversed, and as a result, we're unable to provide any further refund or assistance for this charge as the payment has already been removed from our processing system.
While we apologize for any confusion caused by the response to your ticket #*******, we can confirm that the information above is correct. We are not able to offer you a refund for this charge to the above reasons, and we do apologize for any inconvenience this may cause. For any further assistance or questions regarding a refund for this charge, you will need to reach out to your bank directly.
We hope this helps provide some clarity, and we appreciate you bringing this to our attention. Again, we apologize for any confusion caused by the response to your recent ticket #*******, and we hope you have a wonderful rest of your week.Customer Answer
Date: 08/06/2024
Complaint: ********
I am rejecting this response because as shown in the attached documents, I was charged for a service I never received. You charged me AND canceled my account, this is fraud and theft.
Sincerely,
Emily M**********Business Response
Date: 08/06/2024
Hello Emily, thank you for taking the time to follow-up with us about this. We are genuinely sorry for not only any inconvenience this matter might have caused, but for the frustration as well. Our system confirms that you did initially file a ****** dispute (or "chargeback") that was reversed on August 26, 2023, at 02:10 UTC. However, we have escalated your support ticket #******* and a specialist will be following up with you shortly via email in regards to this annual subscription transaction. We are happy to work with you to get this resolved as soon as possible and should you have any questions then please let us know in response to our email. Thank you again!Initial Complaint
Date:07/27/2024
Type:Billing IssuesStatus:AnsweredMore info
Complaint statuses
- Resolved:
- The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.
- Unresolved:
- The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.
- Answered:
- The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.
- Unanswered:
- The business failed to respond to the dispute.
- Unpursuable:
- BBB is unable to locate the business.
I was going through my bank statements and see that I have been billed for a monthly subscription since March 2023...I have never used this service before and I don't even have an account. I know it's crazy that I didn't see it until now but it was such a small amount it went unnoticed. I have been charged $167.86 in total for 14 months and I don't even know what your company does sorry. I was refunded for one month but ** writing to request a full refund. You can probably see that I didnt even log into the account because it wasnt even set up with my primary email. I didnt use the service and thats a lot of money to take from someone who isnt your customer. I asked if there was any activity on the account and your customer service rep avoided the question. Can I please get my money back?Business Response
Date: 07/27/2024
Hello ********,
Thank you for reaching out about this.
I am sorry for the experience you have had. I located your support request #******* and was able to refund 3 additional charges. I understand you were unaware of the charges and I would be happy to issue a full refund, however our system finalized transactions after six months and the older charges are not available to refund.
You can expect the refunds within 3-5 business days.
If you have any questions please let us know. Thank you and have a great day!Customer Answer
Date: 07/28/2024
Complaint: 22052180
I am rejecting this response because while I appreciate that gesture I first complained about this in May of 2024 so if your agent had the power to refund another two months there why didnt he? I made it clear from the beginning that I was fine with a partial refund but your reason of your system only letting you go back a certain amount of months is not satisfactory as I imagine you can issue checks. I work with disadvantaged kids who often have to borrow my laptop because they dont have one of their own which is how I imagine I even got into this in the first place, or identity theft. I recognized I shouldve looked at my statements with more diligence but Im assuming you can see the activity on each account and if so you would see zero activity on mine because I was unaware this account even existed. I am tired of free trial scams are when a business offers a product or service for free for a limited time, hoping people will forget or not notice so you can keep banking on it. I looked you up and you have books and magazines that children can access for homework with your free trial and Im sure Im not the only one who has ended in this mess. I truly await the day class action suits against these types of scams become the norm. If you truly want to make this right you should refund me the additional two months I wasted because your customer service tried to give me the run around and you can keep the rest of the money you stole. I use the word stole because I never got any goods in exchange for my subscription.
Sincerely,
*********************************Business Response
Date: 07/29/2024
Hello ********,
Thank you for following up with us.
As mentioned in our previous response, we are not able to offer any additional refunds due to limitations with our payment processor. This is not a limitation we are able to go around, so we are not able to offer any additional refunds beyond what has already been provided.
With regards to your refund in May, it's important to note that per our Refund Policy, we only issue refunds within the past 30 days. This is why only one charge was refunded. The extra refunds you received in July were done as a one time courtesy. You can view our refund policy here if you wish: **********************
Finally, our Subscriber Agreement does state that the subscription will renew monthly until the account is canceled, as Scribd does not monitor accounts for activity. You can view this agreement here as well: ***********************************
We hope this helps provide some clarity. Thank you again for reaching out to us, and we hope you have a wonderful rest of your week.Customer Answer
Date: 07/30/2024
Complaint: 22052180
Please confirm youll send the 3 month refund and Ill accept that response
Sincerely,
*********************************Initial Complaint
Date:07/17/2024
Type:Product IssuesStatus: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.com charged me for a free Everand trial I had cancelled a week before. On 7/12, I contacted them about this. On 7/14 they refunded my money.The issue is that after refunding my money and cancelling the account, they then turned right back around and charged my debit $12.71. I'm guessing they thought I wouldn't notice it, but in these times, you notice every single dime a company grifts off you.I have contacted them about this, and they replied that they noticed a "duplicate account" and were going to merge it. They didn't even address the fact that they'd charged me - unauthorized - on 7/14 for an account that's cancelled. Here's the funny thing: The email address they mentioned isn't mine. I have no idea who's it is, but it's not my email account, so there is no duplicate account, and they've stolen $12.71 from me that I want back now.Business Response
Date: 07/17/2024
Hello *******,
Thank you for bringing this to our attention! We are trying to locate your ticket, but we're having trouble finding it. Can you please respond to this message with your ticket number? If you do not have your ticket number, please submit a new one by going here: *********************************
Please be sure to reference this BBB complaint in your new ticket.
Thanks again and we look forward to hearing from you soon! -FC
Initial Complaint
Date:07/16/2024
Type:Service or Repair IssuesStatus: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.COM for a few years, then canceled my subscription on the web site because I never used it. However, the company continues to bill my credit card each month for $12.78. I've had a lengthy correspondence with them. The upshot is, they insist that they need the original credit card number that I used to open the account to resolve the problem. I told them that my **** card has changed a few times since I opened that account so I don't even know the original number. We're apparently at a stalemate.Business Response
Date: 07/16/2024
Hello Fred,
I just sent you a message through your support ticket. We have located the duplicate account generating charges to you. We need you to verify the account so we can take the next steps. As soon as you have the time, please reply back to us. We will be looking forward to hearing from you.
Initial Complaint
Date:07/10/2024
Type:Sales and Advertising IssuesStatus: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.
*******, owned by Scribd, is advertising and selling an e-book version my book "************ ******" without permission. I want them to take it down from all their websites, and remove all advertising on ******* and elsewhere. I am the author and publisher of the book.Business Response
Date: 07/10/2024
Hello Jacqueline,
We appreciate and understand your concern. We actually have a dedicated team that handles these types of requests. You can get in touch with them directly by filling out the form here: ****************************
We hope this helps! Thanks and have a great rest of your day! -FC
Customer Answer
Date: 07/14/2024
Complaint: ********
I am rejecting this response because: I asked for my books and advertisements for them to be removed and they were not. I also discovered additional copyrighted material posted to your Scribd site - free reports I offer to new subscribers you have no permission to use. This site is a scam. They put unauthorized material up and wait for authors to find out and then take it down. They even have a page dedicated to getting your stuff removed when you find out, which I filled out. I don't know how this business is getting a B rating - it should be an F like i'ts sister company, *******. Look at all the other complaints filed as well.
Sincerely,
Jacqueline K***Business Response
Date: 07/15/2024
Hello Jacqueline,
We appreciate you following up! We have located your ticket #******* and made sure to escalate your case. Someone will be contacting you shortly. We hope this helps! Thanks again and have a great rest of your day! -FC
Customer Answer
Date: 07/16/2024
Better Business Bureau:
I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference tocomplaint ID ********, and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me.
Sincerely,
Jacqueline K***Initial Complaint
Date:07/05/2024
Type:Product IssuesStatus: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.
Hello,Someone gained access to my email account physically and was able to log into my secondary email address. They subscribed to Scribd on 3/14/2024 and then it charged my card again on 4/14/2024 and 5/14/2024. I did not notice this until 5/15/2024 and I contacted Scribd support who did not inform me that there was a 30-day policy for requesting a refund. I even explained the fact that these charges were unauthorized and not made be me. Per their review, it does not appear there was any activity on April/May in the account. I understand on your website you state the 30-day policy. However, these charges were not authorized by me and I did not want to pay for this service. I already have an active Scribd subscription through my employer. Thus, I do not need to buy another subscription. Irregardless, these transactions were made without my knowledge. The support agent did not tell me that I could request a refund when contacted on 5/15/2024. I did cancel on 4/28/2024 which I still have an email proving that, and for some reason I was still charged? I did reach out to Discover about the unauthorized charges and they stated that I should try and work out a refund with Discover. Once again, I understand your policy, but I believe these circumstances (charges unauthorized, not having access to the account, as well as support not telling me when explaining the situation that a refund was an option), warrants a refund. I was charged three times for *****. Please let me know if you are able to assist in this matter. Thanks!Business Response
Date: 07/07/2024
Hi *******,
Thank you for bringing this to our attention, and we're sorry for the experience youve had. We've refunded your other 2 payments, made sure the subscription is canceled and removed your payment information from the account. Please allow 5-7 business days for the refund to clear.We hope this helps! If you have any other questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to reach out. Thanks again and enjoy the rest of your day! -FC
Customer Answer
Date: 07/07/2024
Better Business Bureau:
I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference tocomplaint ID ********, and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me.
Sincerely,
*****************************Initial Complaint
Date:07/02/2024
Type:Service or Repair IssuesStatus: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.
After cancelling subscription five months ago, they still charged me for it.Business Response
Date: 07/03/2024
Hello Jose,
Thank you for bringing this to our attention! It appears our support team has responded to your ticket, asking for you to provide the full email address of the account we located, but we have not heard back from you. Please reply back to the message we sent, or submit a new ticket via this link and your request will be forwarded directly to our support team: **************************
Thanks! -FCCustomer Answer
Date: 07/06/2024
Complaint: ********
I am rejecting this response because I have provided the complete email address that they are requesting on more than one occasion. In fact, the main problem is that I am no longer able to access the email address *********************************** because I have concluded my study course, and they disabled that email address.I will be again resubmitting the address to them, to be able to conclude this situation.
Sincerely,
Jose N***** ********Business Response
Date: 07/09/2024
Hello. We have replied to your support ticket where we need confirmation of another account we have located with your billing information. Once you have replied to us, we will be able to take the next steps. Thanks!Customer Answer
Date: 07/11/2024
Complaint: ********
I am rejecting this response because:
They charged me again.Sincerely,
Jose N***** ********Initial Complaint
Date:06/28/2024
Type:Service or Repair IssuesStatus: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 would like to request a refund for a charge based on fraud and theft, I have numerous attempts to recover my account after I was charged $11.99 on June 19th, the business stated they provided over 170million documents (pick a subject) you can look up many different types of documents to get a depth analysis on your favorite topics. The business has taken my information like my name, the last 4 of my debit card, but has not gotten back to me. Website states about one business day. The last i heard from a generated bot email was on June 24th, today is June 28th, 2024. Please shut down website because this is a scam. By the way the number ************* is a fake number, it only rings once and hangs up automatically. As you can clearly see in my Apple ID account, ********************** says $0.00, as their is no charge stated by the app developer during the download process.Business Response
Date: 06/29/2024
Thank you for bringing this to our attention. We apologize for the delay in response, and we have followed up with your in the ticket you filed for this issue: Ticket #*******. As mentioned in this ticket, our system shows that you started a subscription with us on May 20, 2024 for the account under the email address you provided.
We have canceled this subscription as well as refunded your recent charge. We have also reset your password so that you can access this account, and you can find more information in our response to your ticket.
Should you have any further questions, please feel free to follow up with us through your ticket and we will be happy to assist.Customer Answer
Date: 06/29/2024
Complaint: 21915807
I am rejecting this response because: the account was hacked and the account was reset FIRST in a separate email, why cant I make the new password and verify that the account is still valid and locked when I Log out? then as I followed the instructions in the second email, I filled in the temporary password and then as I waited for a verification code ************************ from 1-10 minutes, hitting request another verification code with another email address just in case the email was incorrect. Nothing. This company is playing games. I want the general public to know that the phone number is a scam/not legit!
Sincerely,
*********************************Business Response
Date: 07/01/2024
Hello *******,
We appreciate your message! I apologize for any inconvenience, however, at this time, we do not offer phone support. We are more than happy to help you via email. Please respond to ticket #******* with your exact issue, and we will be sure to find a solution for you. Just wanted to reiterate that we have canceled the subscription and issued a refund, so you will not be able to take advantage of our premium content when you log into the account.
Also, we have removed your payment information, to ensure there will be no more charges from this account. There is also the option pf deleting the account. Please let us know how you would like to proceed by replying to our message on ticket #*******. Thanks! -FC
Initial Complaint
Date:06/22/2024
Type:Sales and Advertising IssuesStatus: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.
This company is a scam! Their website is broken and will not allow you to sign in to close your account so they continue to charge you monthly fees on a service no longer being used. *** tried emailing and they have no phone listed to contact. I keep getting charged ***** for an account I cannot manage or contact anyone about. Ive reported the charges to my bank.Business Response
Date: 06/23/2024
Hello *****, Thank you for bringing this to our attention! I was able to locate your ticket #*******. We will be in touch via email.
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