Complaints

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

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  Getty Images

  605 5th Ave S Ste 400 Seattle, WA 98104-3887

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  Getty Images

  6000 N Forest Park Dr Peoria, IL 61614-3556

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  Getty Images

  701 5th Ave Ste 4200 Seattle, WA 98104-7047

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  Getty Images

  5232 E Pima St Ste 200-C Tucson, AZ 85712-3659

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  Getty Images

  195 Broadway Fl 10 New York, NY 10007-3140

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:07/15/2025

  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 subscribed to iStock (Getty Images) using their free trial. After the trial, I paid for two months of service and then July 13th I attempted to cancel my subscription due to no longer needing the service going forward. When I contacted their support e-mail, because I could not find a solution to cancel online, I received a defensive and unhelpful response stating I would need to pay a $70 administrative fee to cancel before the end of a 1-year term. This was not made clear that a penalty would be charged for early cancellation. They also tried to justify this through citing my usage history, and focusing on that I could have cancelled during their free trial. This is all arbitrary because this has nothing to do with me deciding to cancel my subscription. I also never requested a refund, only cancellation of my subscription.I cited California Business and Professions Code *****, requiring clear and easy cancellation and prohibits cancellation barriers or fees that prevent a consumer from ending an automatic renewal subscription. Their company does not comply. It requires email exchanges and a fee to stop recurring billing with no easy to cancel methods online. After I cited the code and requested cancellation without additional charges in two separate emails, the company stopped responding completely despite replying quickly earlier in the conversation. It has been well past 24 hours since a response to my last email request, and as of the evening of July 15th I still have no written confirmation of cancellation or deactivation of my account.This seems like a pattern of predatory cancellation practices, and I believe they are violating state business code by imposing unlawful cancellation fees and failing to provide a simple opt-out for subscribers.I am requesting help with the immediate cancellation of my subscription without any cancellation fee, written confirmation that no further billing will occur, and my account be deactivated.

  Business Response

  Date: 07/28/2025

  Ms. **** subscription has been cancelled as requested.  There will be no additional charges to her credit card.  

• Initial Complaint

  Date:07/01/2025

  Type:Product Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  I subscribed to a free trial offer on the iStock website, with the free trial period starting on May 30. However, the exact date when the trial would automatically convert into a paid annual subscription was never clearly indicated or sufficiently highlighted at the time of subscription. The amount of ***** was charged on June 30, without me being explicitly informed of this deadline.During the trial period, I only downloaded one image and had no intention of continuing the subscription. The warning email sent by iStock was automatically classified as spam on my phone, so I never saw it. For a financial commitment, it would have been reasonable to receive an SMS notification in addition to the ******** soon as I noticed the bank charge, I immediately contacted iStock. My subscription was indeed canceled, but no refund was granted. Furthermore, the rights related to the payment were immediately revoked, which means I no longer have access to the service even though the payment was made. Even in this situation, iStock refuses to issue a refund.The refusal to refund is justified by a contractual clause stating that no refund is possible even after cancellation. However, this condition was never clearly presented at the time of subscription.I consider that this clause, which prevents any refund after cancellation, constitutes an abusive clause to the detriment of the consumer. Therefore, I request that an investigation be conducted into these practices.

  Business Response

  Date: 07/07/2025

  Ms. *** signed up for a free trial on May 30th, 2025.  We can confirm she actively used the free trial downloading a single images. Its important to note that customers can cancel their free trial subscription using the self-service feature or by contacting **************** prior to the conversion to a paid subscription.   Ms. *** contacted **************** on June 30th to request cancellation of his subscription. Ms. **** subscription was cancelled as requested and according to our cancellation policy found at ********************************************************************************. Because of the minimal use as a courtesy to Ms. *** we are refunding the one month she was charged. 

• Initial Complaint

  Date:06/30/2025

  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.

  Subject: Urgent Request for Subscription Cancellation and Refund Due to Misunderstanding and Financial HardshipDear iStock Support,On June 29, 2025, I subscribed to the iStock Essentials AI images plan under the impression it was a flexible, cancel-anytime monthly subscription. I was prompted to purchase the plan while attempting to download an image and assumed cancellation would be straightforward if needed.Within 30 minutes of subscribingand before using any servicesI realized the plan did not suit my needs and immediately contacted your team to rectify the situation. Unfortunately, I was informed that refunds are not issued, and I was unable to delete my credit card information from your platform.Despite promptly turning off auto-renewal and not utilizing the service in any capacity, my request for cancellation due to mistakenly buying the wrong product was denied. I believe the subscription terms were unclear at the time of purchase, and the lack of support leaves me concerned about the companys billing practices.I respectfully request that you cancel my subscription, cease all future billing, and refund the initial payment given that no services were rendered. I hope iStock will consider resolving this situation in good faith.

  Business Response

  Date: 07/07/2025

  We can confirm that Ms. ********** subscription with iStock has been cancelled as requested and she has been refunded the one charge she received. 

• Initial Complaint

  Date:06/27/2025

  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 signed up for a free trial with iStock. Within a few minutes, I realized that they did not have the services I required. I navigated the confusing website to cancel my free trial. I never received confirmation of signing up for iStock nor for cancelling my free trial. A month later I was improperly charged $70 for a year's worth of subscription that I do not want, did not authorized, and in fact had cancelled. I emailed iStock letting them know about the issue and requesting a refund. Via email, iStock has said "We do not offer any refunds for charges that have already been processed" and there are "zero exceptions" to this rule. I would hope this is not true for technical glitches, otherwise they could just take peoples' money due to errors in the system, and refuse to return it.

  Business Response

  Date: 07/07/2025

  Ms. ****** signed up for a free trial on May 27th, 2025.  Ms. ****** actively took advantage of the free trial by downloading 10 images.  Its important to note that customers can cancel their free trial subscription using the self-service feature or by contacting **************** prior to the conversion to a paid subscription.   Ms. ****** contacted **************** on June 27th to request cancellation of his subscription. Ms. ******* subscription was cancelled as requested and according to our cancellation policy found at ********************************************************************************************;      

• Initial Complaint

  Date:06/23/2025

  Type:Customer Service Issues
  Status:

  ResolvedMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  I unsubscribed from their monthly service following a free trial subscription and was still charged the monthly fee for service post-cancellation. I have reached out to customer service multiple times and no one is willing or able to speak with me further on the matter.

  Business Response

  Date: 07/01/2025

  We appreciate Mr. ****** patience as his case was under review.  Mr. ****** subscription has been cancelled and he has been refunded the once month he was charged. 

  Customer Answer

  Date: 07/01/2025

   
  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:06/22/2025

  Type:Billing 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 signed up for the iStock photo free month trial (May 22) that switched to the yearly subscription paid monthly (starting June 22) after that was over. I downloaded three images during the free trial and then planned on cancelling before the yearly subscription started as I really had no use beyond the little bit I checked out the site. Then due to a family emergency, (death in the family), I missed the cancellation email as I had my hands full with far more important matters. I caught the charge for the monthly subscription on the day it happened and reached out to the iStock chat. I explained the situation to the person I was talking with and received little empathy and practically no help. The best he said they could do was cancel my subscription starting today but I would still be charged $90 for the one month, despite not downloading a single thing, and the subscription literally being active for 12 hours. Why would a company have a system set up that makes it "impossible" to reimburse its clientele? And if you're going to force me to pay for the month, I should be able to at least access I-stock for the next month as opposed to just having a 90$ penalty for missing my cancellation by twelve hours because of an emergency. I could understand no reimbursement if I had downloaded 15 images since the subscription started, then tried to cancel, but I downloaded nothing in the 12 hours since it charged me and saying reimbursement can't be done because of a restricting "system" that was put in place by I-stock itself seems like an excuse to s**** over anyone who's found themselves in a situation out of their hands, similar to mine, or anyone who is the forgetful type. Not something I want or have time to be dealing with right now. Very disappointed.

  Business Response

  Date: 07/01/2025

  We appreciate Mr. ****** patience as his case was under review.   Mr. ****** subscription has been cancelled as requested and he has been refunded the once month he was charged. 

  Customer Answer

  Date: 07/02/2025

   
  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:06/19/2025

  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.

  Dear Getty Images/iStock and BBB,I am writing to request a refund for a subscription charge of $14.90 USD on June 19, 2025 that occurred right after my free trial expired.I fully understand that I agreed to the subscription terms, and I did use some content during the free trial. However, I did not download or use any content after the trial ended and I was not aware that the subscription would renew into an annual ************* soon as I saw the charge, I immediately contacted iStock support and asked to cancel and request a refund. My subscription was canceled, but I was told that the payment is ***************** a consumer, I feel this situation could be handled more flexibly. I respectfully ask that you consider issuing a one-time refund for this transaction, as I acted in good faith, used nothing beyond the free trial, and canceled right away.Thank you for your time and consideration.Sincerely,********************************** Email: ****[email address]Location: *******

  Business Response

  Date: 06/30/2025

  On  May 19th, 2025, Mr. ****** actively opted for a free trial subscription and downloaded 5 images  during the trial period.   Its important to note that customers can cancel their free trial subscription using the self-service feature or by contacting **************** prior to the conversion to a paid subscription.  Mr. ****** contacted **************** on June 19th to request cancellation of his subscription. Mr. ****** subscription was cancelled as requested and according to our cancellation policy found at  ********************************************************************************************;      

• Initial Complaint

  Date:06/18/2025

  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 what was presented as a free trial with iStock. At no point was it clearly communicated that this trial would convert into an automatic subscription plan charging $70/month for 12 months. There was no prominent notice that I would be enrolled in a long-term installment plan.I was charged $70 on June 18, 2025, which appears to be payment 2 of 12 under this subscription. I did not knowingly agree to this structure. This setup feels deceptive, as it enrolls users into a costly, long-term billing commitment without proper transparency or consent.?Resolution Requested:- Immediate cancellation of the remaining 10 installment payments - Written confirmation that no further charges will occur

  Business Response

  Date: 06/30/2025

  Mr.  ****** subscription was cancelled as requested when he contacted our **************** team on June 18th.  There will be no additional charges.  Its important to note that customers can cancel their free trial subscription using the self-service feature or by contacting **************** prior to the conversion to a paid subscription.  Our offer is transparent and straightforward; there's nothing hidden or misleading about it. At iStock, we clearly outline that new customers can enjoy 10 free downloadable ********************** as part of a trial connected to an annual subscription. 

• Initial Complaint

  Date:06/18/2025

  Type:Order 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.

  On January 17, 2025, I signed up for what I believed was a free trial with a monthly subscription to iStock. I was under the impression that I could cancel at any time without penalty.However, I later learned that the monthly plan was actually tied to a year-long commitment, something I did not realize during sign-up. This was not clearly communicated during the enrollment process.When I contacted iStock customer support on June 17, 2025, to cancel, I was told I would need to pay a $70 administrative cancellation fee to end the subscription early.I understand that the terms and conditions may outline this, but I feel that the presentation of the subscription during sign-up was misleading. I would not have agreed to a year-long contract if it had been made clear that a penalty would apply for early cancellation.With that said, I am kindly requesting immediate cancellation of my subscription. And a waiver of the $70 administrative cancellation fee, as I was genuinely unaware of the annual commitment.Thank you for your time and assistance.

  Business Response

  Date: 06/30/2025

  Ms. ****** subscription has been cancelled as requested and there will be no additional charges.  We appreciate Ms. ****** business and her patience as we resolved this case. 

  Customer Answer

  Date: 07/01/2025

   
  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:06/16/2025

  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.

  This is in regards to iStock a part of Getty Images, re: Order # **********. I signed up for a free trial in January. I only used the service once and did not use it again. However, they kept on charging me a $70/month subscription fee February June 2025. Because of the aftermath of my multiple family members displacement after the ***** Fires I did not notice the recurrent charges. But it will be abundantly clear to iStock/Getty Images that I did not continue to use their services. These free trial/automatic subscription renewal charges are clearly a scam that takes advantage of overwhelmed consumers.I found it impossible to cancel and request a refund on their web portal using their purported Account Overview cancellation or Chat. I finally called them today and iStock would only agree to cancel my subscription and refused to refund the charges. I also enacted a Merchant Block with **************** which has been processing the charges. I hope that the Better Business Bureau can help me in this individual case, but also crack down on these free trial scams.

  Business Response

  Date: 06/28/2025

  On January 15th, 2025, Ms. ****** actively opted for a free trial subscription and downloaded an image  during the trial period.   Its important to note that customers can cancel their free trial subscription using the self-service feature or by contacting **************** prior to the conversion to a paid subscription.     Ms. ****** contacted **************** on June 16th to request cancellation of her subscription 5 months after initiating the free trial.  Ms. ****** subscription was cancelled as requested and according to our cancellation policy found at   ********************************************************************************************; Because of Ms. ******* minimal use we are refunding the most recent month she was charged as a courtesy.    

  Customer Answer

  Date: 06/28/2025

   
  Complaint: 23477303
  
  I am rejecting this response because: "Free Trials" entrap consumers who are overburdened by products and subscriptions, and as a result of this dispute, I have seen warnings from this agency the BBB and others. Getty Images states that I signed up for a free trial and I did, in fact, download one image during the trial period. I then lost track of the continuing fees because of my escalating responsibilities as a result of my immediate family's losses due to the ***** fire. I also did not make any further downloads other than that one during the trial period. I imagine consumers like me are a part of Getty Image's business plan -- to take advantage of overburdened customers who also may, as in my case, face unexpected crisis -- and collect their unmerited fees. I belong to a number of professional associations whose members are heavy users of archival footage/image vendors, including *****, ATAS, *** and others, and I will make sure to alert my colleagues of this risk of doing business with this vendor.
  
  Sincerely,
  
  ***** ******