I enrolled to a Month Free Trial of Scribd on July 04,2021.

I made some use the first days and downloaded a couple of documents.
I decided to cancel this in July but I was convinced by a popping-up message that I had still free time for evaluation. So I deferred cancellation for the end of the free trial period.

In the Welcome message of Scribd upon enrollment the term month was used for the duration of free-trial, as well as for the following subscription charges. The common interpretation of a "month" is a calendar month, so I had a plan to cancel on August 03,2021.

To my surprise on August 03 I had a message from PayPal, a receipt for Scribd subscription charge.
Immediately, the same day within a couple of hours, I blocked the charging authorization in PayPal, cancelled my subscription with Scribd online, and filed a refund claim with both PayPal (unauthorized premature charging) and Scribd.
Both were confirmed. Scribd confirmation mentioned that my subscription would end on September 03 (a calendar month).

Both claims were denied.

PayPal stated that charging was done according agreed terms.

Scribd stated that the monthly free trial ended in 30 days and as a result charging started as should. In my question that this "month" interpretation is mentioned nowhere neither in their published terms or their Welcome message to me they agreed but said that this is their practice and there was a "30 Days Free Trial" mentioning on the screen when I enrolled. I asked for specific notification to me about this, as they promised "Don't worry, we'll email you before your trial ends" but had not any such warning message. They could not produce any such evidence and suggested to look in my spam folder and other funny reasoning. Obviously they had not notify me about the end of the trial period. This is certainly done in purpose to mislead and trick consumers.

I checked my account on August 11,2021 and it was working but I made no use (searching or downloading). On August 12,2021 it was not. I received a couple of their messages (last on August 20,2021) with the funny reasoning and lies above and I found that they deleted/blocked my account due to my filing a claim with PayPal and as a result they could not issue a refund to a deleted account-I had to address the issue to mPayPal and they would no longer communicate with me!

I did that and on August 16,2021 changed the reason of my claim with PayPal as "service not received" because though they were paid I had no access to the service by their own blame.
The claim with PayPal took two months to be reviewed and resolved in favor of Sribd on October 14,2021.
PayPal stated that they never received valid documentation from me to support my case. Another case this is, as PayPal is not providing any means of sending them documents and conversation is limited in phone calls and chats while in reporting cases no alternative is given but to attach screenshots which they consider as no valid documentation. Finally PayPal offered me a coupon of limited use, not an actual refund, and advised me to report the case to Anti-Fraud Authorities.
So, it all boils down that Scribd uses tricks and misleading statements to cheat with consumers. Their thinking may be that EUR9.99 is rather low for someone to insist on a refund. But one should make the calculation for the millions of free trial enrollments with Scribd and the resulting income (stolen actually) for them.

For all above misleading and lies by Scribd I have kept the relevant files (messages, dates etc.) to properly use.

STAY AWAY from SCRIBD, do NOT even START a free trial and give NOT your consent for any charging.

I accessed Scribd to download a repair manual that I thought was under a trial period but forgot to cancel and ended up paying a monthly fee for almost 3 years that cost me about CDN$430. My fault for not checking into those deductions earlier but later thought they were related to a cell phone contract. I did not receive any information or notice from the company during that time and certainly did not access the service after the first time. Something to be aware of.

Izziea

Izzie A.

1 review
4 helpful votes

"shady as hell, solid support team"

4/13/15

Update: a while ago I posted a review, I tried to set up a one-month account but it was set up as a yearly account that charged me monthly, then I couldn't delete my account.

Well, I contacted their support email line, my account was cancelled, the extra charges refunded, and I haven't been charged again.

So either their support... read more

Helpful? Yes
4

Comment
Send thank you

Response from Jerry G., Scribd Representative
Responded on 4/13/15

Hi Izzie. I'm so sorry for the trouble! I apologize for the misunderstanding; our premium memberships... read more

Customer Questions & Answers

Ask a question

-1
Votes

Question:

My initial support ticket has not been responded to after 17 days. Why can't you remove my resumes from your site in a timely fashion? Your website says... see more

Answer:

Hi Michele, Thank you for taking the time to reach out to us! Unfortunately, and I'm truly sorry for... see more

By Jerry G., Scribd Representative on 3/9/17

See all answers (3)

0
Votes

Question:

Who the hell are they I have just noted they have been taking money from my account,

Answer:

Hi Pete! We're always happy to help and provide information as to how you signed up. Please send us an... see more

By Jerry G., Scribd Representative on 1/15/16

See all answers (3)

0
Votes

Question:

So do you guys think this website is trustworthy and safe enough to use my credit card information in order to buy a study guide?

Answer:

God NO! Read these reviews! They had the audacity to tell me I had "suspicious" credit card activity... see more

By Morgan S. On 11/29/18

See all answers (7)

0
Votes

Question:

I want to cancel my subscription. I thought I was agreeing to a free trial. I have already sent you and email requesting the cancellation and again the... see more

Answer:

Hi Katie. Thanks for reaching out. Our support team can assist you by emailing us at *******@scribd.com... see more

By Jerry G., Scribd Representative on 3/6/17

See all answers (4)

0
Votes

Question:

I want to know if i can delete the account before the trial ends so i dont have to pay any money. I just need one document from this site. Thanks

Answer:

Hi Scaria! As long as your account is fully canceled, you will not be charged for the subscription. We're... see more

By Jerry G., Scribd Representative on 12/2/15

See all answers (3)

0
Votes

Question:

I am a member. It is Aug 14th and every book I want to listen to, tells me it is not available until I pay in Sept. How is this unlimited?

Answer:

Hi Ruth - Thanks for reaching out to us! I can assure you that your monthly subscription does entitle... see more

By Jerry G., Scribd Representative on 8/16/18

See all answers (2)

0
Votes

Question:

Is it trustworthy? Do you charge anything more than the actual payment?

Answer:

Hi Paul! We do not charge per book, so you'd only be billed for the subscription if you do choose to... see more

By Jerry G., Scribd Representative on 9/27/16

See all answers (2)

0
Votes

Question:

If i unsubscribe from premium monthly plan; which gives 14 days free. Will the amount be debited or credited?

Answer:

Hi there! As long as you unsubscribe before the end of the free trial, you will not be charged. We're... see more

By Jerry G., Scribd Representative on 3/17/16

See all answers (2)

0
Votes

Question:

Why do you have reviews that say it is impossible to unsubscribe?

Answer:

Hi Simon! You can always unsubscribe from the Order History tab when logged into your account (https://www.scribd.com/account-settings/account/membership)... see more

By Jerry G., Scribd Representative on 1/15/16

See all answers (2)

0
Votes

Question:

I cancelled my membership before the 14 day free trial was up. Scribd has continued to charge my debit card for two months, at $8.99 per month. Numerous... see more

Answer:

Hi MaryAnn! We send you an email to *******@aol.com last week asking for a bit more information in... see more

By Jerry G., Scribd Representative on 8/17/15

See all answers (2)

Show all questions (97)

Questions? Get answers from the Scribd staff and other customers.

Note: this is not for reviews - click here to write a review

Hi, what would you like to know about this business?

Get notified about new answers to your questions.

Posting guidelines

Ask

Typical questions asked: How long does shipping take?
What is the return policy?
Where is the company located?

Scri

I'm sharing here the email response I have received from Scribd after ONE week of correspondence! I wish other people know how miserable their way of dealing with a client's refund is and this to be a warning for others before ever aproaching Scribd! Was contacted by Sarrah, Jerry, Jason. Whoever does the job, the deal is simple - to get you distracted to drain your energy, so eventually you give up! The response comes from *******@scribd.zendesk.com where ZENDESK is an ironical title for not the nicest place to work, as I can imagine by the customers reviews.
Scribd HAD LIED and blamed it on subscription with another email of mine done on May, 26th, 2018.
THIS IS PARADOXICAL because the email they quote (with additional "S" in the email address) was created by me just on November. 6th, 2018 and I HAVE APPROVAL by googlemail for it.

THIS IS CALLED FRAUD! I SIMPLY DON'T GRASP HOW THEY ARE ALLOWED TO EXIST AND SUCK MONEY FROM PEOPLE IN SUCH CRUEL AND INVENTIVE WAY!

Hello...,

I apologize for any confusion here. It appears that you purchased a subscription on May 26,2018, using the email address *******@gmail.com (additional "S" in the email address), in order to read/download Aleksandar Imsiragic - Knjiga Vladarstava u Astrologiji, Aleksandar Imsiragic Tajne stepena zodijaka and Brak - Kepler Predavanje. This was not a one-time purchase, but instead a recurring month to month subscription.

Per our Refund Policy I've refunded your recent charge and canceled your subscription. Your account should be credited within a few business days. Your free Scribd account will remain active, and you'll still be able to read and share documents on our website, and use Scribd's many other free features.

Should you decide to purchase a subscription in the future, you can cancel it at any time through your Account Settings. When you cancel your subscription, we'll ensure it remains active until the end of the current time that you've paid for, but will not bill you again. We have more detailed instructions in our help topic, "How do I cancel my premium membership?"

Please let me know if you have any questions, or if there's anything else we can do to help. Have a great rest of your day!

Best regards,
Jason S.
Scribd, Inc.

Edited to respond to Scribd representative reply.

Jerry,

With all due respect, I am not interested in any of your "immediately available" titles. Please stop patronizing your subscribers and insulting their intelligence! Certainly, you can't believe that it is acceptable to dictate to your paying customers what audiobooks should be available to them! And certainly it is not unreasonable for a paying customer to expect that at least 2-3 titles out of 150+ they have showed interest in would actually be available to them during any given billing cycle. Honestly, it is better not to respond at all than to aggravate subscribers even further with unreasonable suggestions. There is a reason why 90 percent of your customers are furious! Enough is enough!

I was one of the original scribd subscribers when it first came out. For a while it was fantastic and it did what it claimed to do - provide access to unlimited books and audiobooks for a fixed monthly fee. I recommended it to everyone, all the time. So much so, that people started thinking I was paid to do it. Then at one point the service became unsustainable and the developers changed it to a credit system that allowed for one audiobook and three ebooks per month. At that point, I canceled my subscription because it was not worth it to me anymore. I have received multiple invitations to rejoin over the years and when, in February, they sent an email stating they were going back to unlimited, I decided to give them a second chance. I read the small print and online reviews on the new platform and understood that they would limit certain books during a billing cycle for heavy usage.

Now, I am already a heavy user of my library system via Overdrive and use Scribd primarily to supplement and get audiobooks with long waitlists at the library. I have always tried to be careful in how often I listen to audios from Scribd and never go through more than 2-3 audiobooks, if that. I'd hardly call that heavy usage! For the first few months, they limited some books until the next billing cycle, but it was not an issue as they still left me enough options in my saved (not downloaded) books to choose from. Not the case with the September billing cycle. As soon as I was billed for the new month, on September 2nd, ALL of my saved audiobooks (150+) became unavailable! All the books not saved that I search for are also unavailable. That's right off the bat before I'd had a chance to listen to even one book.

Multiple emails with customer service result in general, patronizing responses about their obligation to their publishers, and fixing bugs that allowed downloads to remain on subscribers' devices after having been removed from their accounts. As others have already mentioned, not one person has given me a straight answer to my very specific question, " why am I not able to listen to even one audiobook of my choice for the entire month of September? What am I paying a fee for this month if I am unable to access any titles I am interested in?". Last person to get in touch with me was named Zeke (his handle, anyway), and his responses were absolutely infuriating and so very condescending that I finally gave up.

The fact that they diligently and meticulously reply to every unhappy customer's comment here, on iTunes, and everywhere else complaints are posted with, "I am sorry to hear about your frustration. Please email us with your ticket number and we'll be happy to fix your problem" means absolutely nothing. They never fix anything, just feed you more general BS. Never a straight answer, either. So disappointing and appalling! Not only is their service not unlimited, the limitations make no sense whatsoever and feel punitive without any cause.

I guess they'll just continue to laugh at their dumb subscribers and keep lying about their service until someone finally shuts them down and or sues the hell out of them. Zero stars!

Pls cancel my acc trial promo. I cant deactivate my acc and my username is arcsepiercielinkheart and i dont want my atm to be charged without me knowing pls deactivate my account

Essentially I loved the service. I thought it was a neat way to introduce readers to many different authors (not just best sellers) and essentially transform reading for their members. Since I initially started years ago, there have been many changes including adding audiobooks and giving credits for both e books and audiobooks... lucky me, I'd always check audible before actually using a credit because there are a lot on there they want you to pay for that would otherwise be free or cheaper on the web...( I would list more changes but there's too many).

The main issue I'm having now is support for one. Almost and entire week and I haven't gotten a response. I've got 2 tickets open, multiple messages and screenshots.

I noticed my account had been paid monthly without fail... but I wasn't even using the Scribd service. I didn't necessarily fret about this initially, as I knew my account was accumulating credits. Well the credit accumulation changed (grrr) but dealt with it anyway... Until I started noticing the minute my auto renew payment did not post I lost my credits.

I contacted scribd before and was given 1 credit. Ticket closed? Next I had maximum credits for both audio books =3 and e books =8. My plan was set to bill January 7th and was paid. Not only once but twice (somehow) on the the morning of the tenth I went to my account and bam all credit brought down to entry level. There policy states that multiple measures are taken before that happens.

1. An email (not received) stating there's was problems with renewing giving you a reminder. 2. There were supposed to be multiple attempts to collect payment and renew service, one beginning a few days after initial attempt. Neither of these were done. By the morning of January 10th they were all gone.

Now I'm wondering how often did this happen? As I'd been too busy to pay attention. I know what you're thinking? Why didn't you just cancel?

Well I would have cancelled... way earlier except you lose all credits if you do. Keeping you in a cycle... I would assume that since you paid for the darn credits you should keep them, regardless of whether or not you want to continue their service the next month. YOU PAID FOR THEM! (Besides at the rate I was going I needed a few months just to catch up and use my credits!)

So I stayed, again not having time to look at this as close as I should of... I just kept it. In hindsight I think the company secretly hopes for these kind of situations. Now here I sit... no one has contacted me, they've had my money all these years and I have no idea how much I essentially received and how much I've paid for nothing. I am owed in the least all of my credits back, or all of my money back. It would even be good on them to give me 2 free months for all of my hassle and allow me to catch up.

So disappointed!

TLDR: They stole my money and I had to cancel my Debit Card to stop their charges.

Scribd.com has billed my PayPal debit card 2 times a month for 8.99 each since December 2015. My PayPal card is linked to my checking account. I have no idea what this company is. I tried logging into my account on their website to investigate, with the usual password/username I use online, and they don't even have my email address listed in their database. (I tried using the "forgot password option. And it said my email address was not associated with an account in their system).

I never gave this company my credit card information. I assumed it must have been tied to my iPhone account, but I never installed their app. I did a search of my GMail history, which I rarely delete, for Scribd.com, and there were no results. How they got my credit card information is beyond me.

I have been billed $107.00 as of today.

This is not a question of identity theft, as I have verified with my bank and with PayPal and both said none of my accounts had been compromised.

*EDIT - I had to cancel the debit card they were charging my non-existent subscription to. Paypal fortunately refunded all bogus charges, and is going to report the to the BBB if they don't respond. I only received one email from Scribd support saying they would look into it. All other emails went unanswered.

*EDIT2 - I just received an email from their "support" saying that my PayPal account is not in their system. I sent them screen shots of both my PayPal account and my checking account where funds were taken from both and paid to Scribd.com

Be very leery that they have no phone contact information anywhere on their website, so all correspondence is done through email, and very poorly at that. I did a quick WHOIS lookup for Scribd.com, however, and found the following contact information.

Registrant Name: Stephen Veiss
Registrant Organization: Scribd, Inc.
Registrant Street: 333 Bush Street, Suite 2400
Registrant City: San Francisco
Registrant State/Province: California
Registrant Postal Code: *******
Registrant Country: US
Registrant Phone: *******890

When calling the number listed here, it states, basically, that "We do not have phone support" and redirects you to their website.

Here is the link to the Better Business Bureau's website on this company:
http://www.bbb.org/greater-san-francisco/business-reviews/internet-services/scribd-com-in-san-francisco-ca-*******/

Be sure to read the section "Complaint Breakdown by Resolution"

I cannot believe that Scribd.com has not been involved in any litigation, as I'm reading more and more on how this has happened to other people.

STAY AWAY FROM THIS COMPANY!

DO NOT SIGN UP DO NOT PAY DO NOT GET A BOOK FROM THESE PEOPLE THAT WANT TO RIP YOU OFF

They keep charging me even though I have unsubscribed!

A cool site to share you docs and brochures..