I'm pretty fond of MuseScore - both the software as well as the website. I've used to find numerous scores for many of my favourite video game compositions. Many of the people leaving bad reviews are simply salty about not knowing how free trials work. MuseScore is not the only company that does this.
Like many others, I was tricked into paying $40 for a yearly subscription. I cancelled not even an hour after subscribing and did not use the service. After a few back and forth emails with customer support, in which I had to quote their TOS to them, I eventually was refunded $30 and my account was changed to a monthly subscription, meaning I now paid $10 for a month of the service, most features of which are useless to me. Awful customer service and predatory business practices.
Again, I wish to sue them! They are Scammer! They are a Scammer by the so-called "free trial". Then charge you money yearly. I was once "free trail" many years ago, then not using it at all. Then I recently found that I have been charged for a few years and didn't realize it.
I would give 0 stars if I could. I signed up for a free trial and was immediately charged $59.99. I reached out to the company immediately to give them a chance to rectify this error and I was met with much resistance. I was offered two options of which neither were full refunds. When I demanded a refund because I was not given a free trial, and immediately charged a large amount of money, I was told that they would not be refunding me due to their "policy." I did not use their services at all, so they have stolen money from me. Judging from the reviews here, I see I am not the only one. I hope they are found out for the thieves that they are, and shut down. I will be recommending other sites to my musician friends and slandering their name all over the Internet. This is disgusting.
This platform used to be good because it was called "open source". However, it starts to ask for money whenever you want to download any music scores. Therefore, it becomes an profitable company and no more an open source.
Never never agree for a pro plan. They will charge without any prior notice. Although they say that you agreed yourself, using the common sense it is clear that after a year anyone will forget about subscription.
They charged me $#*! ton of money without prior notice and refuse to refund.
Surprise surprise, yet another customer who has cancelled their trial only to be charged for a subscription anyway. Which they will refuse to refund even if you contact them minutes after being charged. MuseScore is a complete scam and their customer service is absolute garbage.
I mistakenly did not cancel the free trial. My fault.
I emailed customer service. They essentialy told me too bad. I acknowledged it was my error. They offered a 35% refund. Seriously?
Again, this was a user error (mine).
They DON'T care about their customers though, be warned!
This company is a scam! They advertise a free trial but charge before the free trial period is complete. Then if you cancel a service you do not intend to use on the actual day the free trial ends, they still charge you for a years worth of a service. There is no way to downgrade to the service or select what type of service you want after the free trial either! And good luck trying to go through your credit card company, they will just say "product was sent and received". What product, this is a service that wasn't provided and not wanted and charged without my consent! I should have done my research on reviews before I signed up for a "trial", hoping to help one of my students learn a difficult piano song. For just trying their scores this was a total waste of money and effort! I will never recommend or use this service again.
How can they sleep at night. Scammers. Lying website with a "free trial", that leads to a $40 subscription. It was NOT clear, despite what support tried to gaslight me into believing. Reporting them to bbb.
I signed up for a trial and turned off my auto-renew settings expecting no email from them to tell me that my subscription was going to renew. SUPRISE! It $#*!ing renewed for whatever reason. Fine, its only been 2 days since the recharge, maybe like amazon it will give you a full refund or close enough to one? Haha nope. I was offered a 35% refund and or other pro benefits even after I told them i couldn't care about them. After sending them more emails about my situation, they completely went radio silent and didn't care.
As so many others have reported, this company advertised a free trial to download digital music from their website, https://musescore.com, and then without my authorization, fraudulently charged my credit card for an annual subscription with automatic renewal charges. When a full refund was requested, the company refused the refund by attempting to negotiate. I have filed a formal complaint and request for investigation of deceptive business practices with the FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3). I have also notified additional international law enforcement agencies and have had to cancel the credit card number used by this website. Although MuseScore has now refunded the $39.99 unauthorized charge, I was told via email that the transaction charge was my fault, even though I selected the option for the free trial. If you are reading this post, you have likely already been victimized by MuseScore. If so, I encourage you to file a formal complaint at https://www.ic3.gov.
Hello Brian, Thank you for your feedback. Yes, some of our subscription plans do not include a free trial period. Since a subscription with a free trial period is preselected, if you wish to obtain a subscription without a trial but with a discount, you need to click on the "special offer" button. It seems that you have clicked this option and selected a plan without a trial. This information is indicated in the descriptions of these plans and at the final confirmation of your subscription choice, where you also authorize the purchase or the free trial, depending on the option you have selected.
Timeline of what happened:
- I wanted to download a music sheet and was lured into signing up for their free trial.
- They didn't make it clear about the subscription that follows the free trial.
- I get charged 49$ for a one-year subscription
- I emailed them immediately after being charged and they replied within minutes using their regular template with two options: A: refund 35% and keep the one-year subscription. Option B: no refund, keep one-year subscription + 10 more months. After I reply they stop responding.
- I am going through a dispute on Paypal to get the full refund but I am not that hopeful
If anybody has their detailed information please inform me so I can notify the authorities for fraud, or go to the police yourselves. Let's shut them down before they rip off more people.
If a business makes money by tricking and deceiving people it shouldn't exist. Especially when it involves music which supposed to bring people joy.
We tried out the free trial to get a song for the piano. After printing it on the "free trial" it charged us for the entire year and would only give back 25%. This website is an awful scam and should be avoided. You WILL lose your money if you use Musescore.
Found this website because I wanted to find a place to leave a review about this awful business. I was trying to find music for my daughter and I to perform and thought this website might be helpful. The preview of what I needed wasn't loading so I clicked to sign up for a free trial and ended up paying 40$ bc of their bait and switch tactics. Then to find out the score didn't have what it said it had. Customers service refuses a refund, but did offer me half price subscription.
Hello Wendeth, Thank you for your feedback. Yes, we offer a plan with a 7-day free trial period. This plan was pre-selected by clicking on the "Start free trial" button. However, you did not start the free trial. Instead, you selected a 12-month plan at a discounted price by choosing the "Special Offer" option during the subscription process. Consequently, you were shifted to a plan that offers a discount but does not include a free trial. Following this, at the next step, you reviewed the details of the discounted non-trial plan, entered your payment information, and confirmed your direct purchase. Yes, our refund policy does not imply a full refund due to licensing agreements, but you can create refund request by ToS to receive the maximum possible refund: https://musescore.com/legal/terms.
I signed up for an annual subscription and then when I logged in they asked for further subscription sign up and more money. In reviewing the website there is no easy way to find music to my liking and skill level. The site is very confusing and disorganized.
Scam that dosent work, they attract the client with fake promesses like free trial or free download, we put the number of credit card, and after I decided to go backwards because it's very complicate, they took the money and they would have continued if Paypal had not protected me. And again, I'm not sure because now I have to fight to prove that they are exaggerating. Run away from these crooks!
Click on trial period and the subscription is switched in the sign up period to a one year membership.
No receipt is provided so you don't know until the money is taken from your account.
After this it is difficult to get a refund. They waste your time. I went for a charge back via the credit card company.
Support consistent refer to terms of service that no one agrees to during the sign up phase. (site relies on browsewrap Terms of services that are not valid in court)
Hello Richard, Thank you for your feedback. I'm sorry, but we didn't advertise a 5-day free trial. We have a 7-day free trial for some of the plans. It seems that you have clicked the "special offer" option and selected a plan without a trial. Since a subscription with a free trial period is preselected, if you wish to obtain a subscription without a trial but with a discount, you need to click on the "special offer" button. Yes, some of our subscription plans do not include a free trial period. This information is indicated in the descriptions of these plans and at the final confirmation of your subscription choice, where you also authorize the purchase or the free trial, depending on the option you have selected. Also, you agree to our Terms of Service during the registration of your MuseScore account.
Don't what ever you do sign up for there free trial and give them your PayPal details. They will still take your money even if you cancel before the trial period ends. PayPal aren't very helpful either.
Hello Pete, Thank you for your feedback. If you cancel your subscription, it is technically impossible to charge you without your authorization after the cancellation. It is likely that you did not manage to cancel the automatic renewal before the end of the trial period, which is why the charge was made.
When you sign up for their free trial, they trick you so that you cannot cancel it and they charge you anyway. Their support is not helpful and will only give you 40% of what they fraudulently charge you back. I highly recommend staying away from this company at all costs.
Hello Nick, Thank you for your feedback. You can always cancel the free trial on the website, in your account options, or write to us at support@musescore.com with a cancellation request and we will cancel it within 24 hours.
Overview
The company's reputation is significantly marred by numerous customer complaints regarding deceptive subscription practices and poor customer service. Many users report being misled into signing up for costly subscriptions under the guise of a free trial, with challenges in obtaining refunds despite prompt cancellation requests. While some customers appreciate the quality of the MuseScore app and its extensive sheet music offerings, the overarching sentiment reflects frustration over perceived scams and inadequate support. This combination of positive product feedback and negative service experiences suggests a critical need for the company to enhance transparency and customer care.
This summary is generated by AI, based on text from customer reviews
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- Sitejabber’s sole mission is to increase online transparency for buyers and businesses
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Hello Claudde, Thanks for your message. All the scores in our database are legal and licensed so we pay royalties to copyright owners. That's why you need to pay for the subscription.