ShutterstockReviews 533

Hello, Today i buy US 299 Plan. But mistakenly i clicked wrong plan. Then i call some lady attend my call and she ask me to Early Cancellation Fee: $40.00 i said okay and she cancel my plan but then she said you use 1 image so refund policy is not applicable if is there not applicable then why you peoples Early Cancellation Fee: $40.00 charge. Why my US 299 not refund. Really its worst service if you not refund my money US 299 then i am going to lawyer... i am good but i am very bad for bad peoples. Peoples never ever buy there anyplan subscriptation plan here they cheating with you worst servise here

Scam.

Autorenew on by default - turn it off.

Shutterstock does not send a monthly renewal email or send a monthly invoice as is usual because they know they are scamming. It just keeps billing your card.

1 month pack turns into several month billing.

Autorenew must be clear and conspiciuous - can you find it?

Customer support does not respond. On second email they ask for details they already have (user id, credit card) and after 2 days someone from India replies that they cannot give a refund because... autorenew is on by default, and hope you understand.

Shutterstock then stops answering emails.

Super expensive. Crappy picture selection. Horrible policies. Rude robotic customer service. When you sign up for a subscription model, no other service that I have ever used has charged you to cancel. Other services do this for a reason. They do this in hopes that you leave happy with their service and will come back in the future.

Shutterstock doesn't want you to come back. They want you to leave frustrated, angry and to find a better service. They just don't realise this. Won't ever use them again.

Ive been in digital marketing for almost 20 years. This is the worst way to conduct business that I have ever seen. A.) If you dont use your images in an allotted time period, you loose them. Which no one ever told us upfront. Second when we realized this, we started shopping around and realized we were getting screwed. There are other sites out there that dont do this, with great selections. B.)... When we tried to cancel our services after 6 months because A.) we were informed for the first time we are locked in, and to cancel its like $120 dollars... If this company doesnt change their ways unsuspecting people may start out with your services, but they sure as hell wont be coming back once they figure out how it works.

As long as nothing goes wrong the site is fine and the image selection is adequate. Unfortunately, the customer service folks are unhelpful or ill-equipped and the account reps are just awful people or are directed to be awful. Just had a customized contract expire 2 days ago. We realized we had about $3000 of unused images that we mistakenly didn't take advantage of in time. In stead of being cool and understanding, or at least enterprising / compromising. They essentially said "too bad". So, they keep $3k and I get nothing, on a technicality. I get it... blah blah, I should have realized, you snooze, you lose... But, the ethical thing to do would be to offer a short extension or to at least offer a compromise; let's say access to half of the images, or perhaps a credit towards a new contract.

I contacted them multiple times in order to cancel the membership with them. I acknowledged that I may have misunderstood the membership information and was (originally) willing to pay a cancellation fee. But after one reply from their customer support, requesting information, which I sent, the response was crickets. And their vagueness about the cancellation fee is disturbing.

After more attempts that included warning them that I was going to cancel the card in order to avoid unwanted charges, I cancelled the credit card and removed my name and address from the system.

The sad thing is? I found the images I actually wanted elsewhere and for less money.

Shutterstock is a very unethical company. I bought some images in 2016, and I did not agree to let them automatically charge my card. Nonetheless, they charged my card every year since without my knowledge, provided absolutely no service (I did not download any images in 2017 or 2018), yet when I complain about it, they refuse to refund me any money. Apparently, a big part of their business is to charge people money without providing anything. That's why they will charge you for a period of time, and if you don't download any images, you don't get anything at all for the money you paid. This is quite deliberate, and should be illegal.

The company also makes it impossible to remove your credit card information when logged into your account. You have to actually communicate with someone to cancel the account. What other companies do this nowadays? They apparently don't want you to remove your card or cancel your account so they can continue to charge you even when you're getting absolutely nothing for it.

There is a lot of art out there that is not provided by Shutterstock. But be careful, because they will buy ads that pop up even if you search for free images and icons. That's another lie, because they aren't free, and they make it difficult to tell until you click on the link.

I would suggest to anyone who is considering Shutterstock, find your art somewhere else. They will deliberately rip you off and then refuse to do anything about it, just like a scam artist.

I use Shutterstock on occasion, but only buy credits vs. a subscription. I avoid subscriptions as often as I can because they appeal to your sense of a good deal/bargain, but rarely pan out to the extent you originally envisioned.

My issue with Shutterstock is that they default to auto-renew credits rather than default to not auto-renew. The vast majority of clients will purchase credits based on their current needs. If customers wanted more, they will buy more, and do not need Shutterstock to "conveniently" automatically buy more credits. It's like having a drink at the bar and the bartender automatically filling your glass when you finished because you have a tab open. Yeah, it's nice to have that option, but, no I want you to always ask before spending my money.

Seeing all the overwhelmingly bad reviews really confirms how little Shutterstock values customer experience.

So many trick to steal your money! I wish I had read the reviews here before I subscribed.

The principle of the trick is hidden the simple meaning in the obscure, tons of garbage words.

Nov 2017.
I need a few photos for a project legally. Google told shutterstock.
1. The company looks great and professinal. So many official good news and paper.
2. The photos are nice.

Look at the price. Two plans: "$10 got 1 photo" VS "$29 got 10 photos in a month".
I choose $29/month happily.___

Here is the trick No. 1. Monthly paid DO NOT MEAN monthly plan.
It is a annual plan. It is a none stop annual plan. The true is $348 to have 10 photos download right every month.

June 2018.
When I notice they had charge me $29 every month, was 6 months later. So I check the console to stop.And search from google, there is no way to stop by myself. Then I send email to support. Ask to stop and return the money. They replied. "they has stopped the plan. But no return"

Is that all? NONONO

Uptil Dec 2018.
I still the the bill from shutterstock every month.
WTF. There is auto renew subscription in the term. And no button to stop autorenew by myself.

=====
Jan 2019
After complain again to the customer support, with clear screen shot evident. They promise the return the charge since July 2018. Still waiting

Is that all? NONONO
I had to remove my credit card information from shutterstock. But how? No way, but send support ticket after the plan terminated.

Make sure you read their terms before signing up for a subscription. There are much better and cheaper options out there with the same content!