DreamstimeReviews 1,260

Dreamstime is my first choice when looking for publishable images for my work or private use. Great selection, very good website, good service, fair prices.

Looking at some of the previous reviews, yes their charges have increase somewhat over the years, but so have competitor's prices. And yes, I did sign up for the promo $. 05 subscription offer, but their website clearly stated that it expires in one week and I'll be charged the regular $39 after that, so if I don't want to continue I'll be careful to cancel the auto-renewal before that time.

I was charged 39.00 mulitple times by this company and only wanted the one download I needed to complete a flyer I was doing for a company event. I did NOT choose to be a monthly customer because I only needed the ONE download. I was surprised to find Dreamstime had charged my card and it took forever to get someone on the phone. Once I did speak to Kimberly she was rude and tried to insinuate that I had chosen the monthly renewal... but here is the thing that questions their ethics... if someone made a claim to me... I would want to research it...(get their number, information, look up the account, etc.)... BUT NONE OF THAT HAPPENED!... therefore the answer she gives that I had to have chosen... points to deception... because I did not choose that option. Deception, deception, deception... Please do not use this company... I have protested with my Charge card company.

I did get a refund for the unwanted service of a monthly subscription. I got an email to state this from another person, not the one that blocked the account when I said I wouldn't be using it because it had become too complicated to use now. So glad to not have to deal with recurring payments. I am glad I paid through paypal. Other people have stated once they had your card details they kept signing you up again. I used their service for years with no problems, just buying some credits to use for photos when I needed. You pay in advance anyway before you use the service, don't know why they have started the cloak and danger mystery boxes you have to unclick. I'd be afraid to use their service again now because of this experience.

I used Dreamstime for several years now and can fairly say am very happy with the overall experience. As any new thing it required a certain change from past service I was used to but the support is simply amazing. All suggestions taken into consideration and sometimes they even swiftly built features based on users requests. Collection is amazing and so nicely edited, it saves me a lot of time for browsing. Am lately using Dreamstime more and more on mobile, they are truly a complete platform. Well done guys!

Purchased a promotional deal of five images for 5 cents. I intentionally did not sign up for on-going membership. My bank's Fraud Alert Department called me because Dreamstime deducted two $39 charges two days in a row in April 2015. Called Dreamstime, spoke with Kimberly, who was appallingly rude and treated me with contempt. She asked my log in ID information which I couldn't remember off the top of my head. She then said I was "being untruthful" because I'd logged in yesterday. Okay, I did log in yesterday, but that doesn't mean I remember my log in information off the top of my head. I can't get this conversation out of my head because it was so traumatic. Worst business experience I have ever experienced.

This is why I'm now a LOYAL Shutterstock customer (in addition to the fact that they have better photography and better search capability). Just got off the phone with a very snarky customer service representative who basically treated me as if I were a complete idiot. After discovering that I was being charge $39/month for a trial subscription account that mysteriously appeared on my CC for the past few months that I do not remember enrolling in, she would not refund my $$ even though I haven't purchased any image on that account for the three months it's been appearing on my CC. I had occasionally purchased one-off images from them in the past, but must have inadvertently missed a very obscure "trial of service" button and once they had my CC they were very happy to go on charging it. Be wary and really look over your purchase order before hitting OK, and check your bank statements even if you are sure you haven't committed.

I signed up with their trial subscription in October. It stated that it was going to be $39/mo after the trail. I paid for October.

In November I was charged for $156. I told visa I did not recognize this charge. So they refunded me, but then in December they reverted the charge. So then I called Visa, Visa said Dreamstime sent them a letter saying that the terms were that after October it would go to a weekly $39, so $156/mo. At that point they told me I need to call Dreamstime. But, I never got an email nor physical mail of the change of plans or what was entailed other than when I signed up it saying that it would be a reoccuring $39/mo. There was no notice in my account or on their website, nothing, absolutely nothing.
So I call them to ask them about this, they said, well you called your credit card instead of calling us so now we can't do anything. And I told them, but you didn't say you were going to charge me more than $39/mo, I thought someone hijacked my account or something. And then I said, but even on your website there's nothing that indicated the weekly charge. They responded that since of December (the month after they charged me $156) they no longer charge that, they just charge a flat rate of $39/mo. And just like that, they wouldn't budge on anything. They won't meet me halfway and just charge me the $39/mo for November, just that I'm out of $156 and I didn't even use their services in November.

Be careful of this company. They say one thing, change the prices drastically without notice and then expect the customer to just pay. Learn from my mistake and use another service.

When I downloaded one photo in spring of 2014, Dreamstime stole my charge card number and started charging me $39 every week. I have fought to get my money, which now totals over a thousand dollars, refunded. Just opened my latest charge card statement and they are still charging me even after two Better Business Bureau complaints and chargebacks from my bank. DO NOT GIVE THEM ACCESS TO YOUR ACCOUNT - YOU WILL BE PAYING FOREVER!

I too have had subscription charges debited from my bank account after unchecking the auto renewal option and choosing credit packages.

They did refund me some credit because of a mistake I made, but when I went back a month later to use up this credit they took four subscription payments in one go and will not refund this money, which is outrageous, because I did uncheck the auto renewal box at the first opportunity that they provided.

They dispute this and managed to convince my bank that I had signed up to a subscription agreement - so beware it is their word against yours and they have your card details. I have no way of proving that I unchecked a box on their website and neither will you.

WARNING! Dreamtime.com has deceptive business practices. Dreamstime.com site and all marketing makes it appear as thought you will receive a "free" image but they really are trying to mislead you into a subscription based model where users will unknowingly incur significant future charges. They claim there was an area approving these charges on the website but I find them unclear and deceptive. Following the initial download there is no email that notifies customers of the renewal of the subscription and no effort to communicate the charges and to see a bill. They then put a 30 day disclaimer (as I was told by someone who answered the phone) that if you do not call within 30 days then the amount is non-refundable. This company should be held accountable for failure to use email marketing to notify their customers by providing a confirmation of the start of the subscription when it officially begins and to also email billing at renewal periods. It is deceptive to not notify the customer at all and then put strict guidelines around cancellation policies.

If I could give it zero stars, I would. Signed up for a "free account" just to check out the quality of the full size images. Now I have to wait until within 72 hours of their auto subscription renewal process to turn off automatic billing. If I want to cancel my account NOW, I should be able to do so. I have made a formal written request that they terminate my account and destroy my credit card information, to which they have replied they don't have the ability to do so.

Hopefully this review will prevent others from providing these scam artists with their credit card numbers.