Shutterstock

Shutterstock is a terrible company where the customer comes last. After closing my business, I tried to cancel my subscription only to find out I'd have to pay an exorbitant cancellation fee. So I was forced to pay them for 3 months I never used. In this day and age, when you have so many choices, it's shame they put profit ahead of people. Shame on them. I'll never use nor recommend them to anyone. Their customer service is also lackluster. They site "it's the policy". With little room to negotiate at all.

Needed a quote for a commercial license on an editorial asset. It's been 3 months and I have talked to a dozen reps. Not one person has been helpful, I have no quote, and my issue priority has been "escalated" at least 30 times. At my current priority level, I expect I will be hearing from either the Pope or Jesus Christ himself.

I've used Shutterstock for years. Most recently, I purchased two five packs and a two-pack download for a project requiring 11 pictures. Keep an eye on that little 'auto-renew' button, because as I downloaded the pictures, one after another, the website defaulted to using the two-pack and autorenewing 4 times. I realize part of that is on me for not locating the little auto-renew button, but it should be obvious I did not want to spend extra money when I had a couple 5-packs still available. I contacted Shutterstock, and their policy was not to refund the multiple 2-download packs and use the remaining credits I still had. In other words, once they have your money, it's more important than helping and ultimately keeping a customer.

Sign up for the trial and get locked in for a year, then get charged a cancellation fee. I usually cancel my subs to various companies to go sign up for another month here and there when needed, these guys won't get another dime from me ever

They sent me an e-mail to tell me that there was "suspicious activity" on my account, and tp click on a link, which would result in yet another link to go and change my password. Four days and about ten or 15 clicks on the link to get the password change link, nothing further has happened. Suspect the "suspicious activity" may have been because I got a new credit card number and didn't give not to them, so they couldn't keep charging me 50 bucks a mon th for essentially nothing. Don't understand how one customer of them gave then a one star ( I personally thing it should rate in the below zero range) but say the were treated fairly. They are a rip off. They don't even have a human customer service number to call. Nor a non-automatic e-mail reply, just automated. For a company with 967 employees (according to Forbes), I wonder what all those people are doing. Counting the money flowing in? One of the most suck $#*! companies on the internet. Along with Pay-Pal.

Had to pay them close to $200 to cancel two annual contracts (have more than one work email) that I do not recall asking for in the first place. When I reviewed our account, found out we were paying for 3 plans that were all set to "auto renew" monthly. 2 were annual plans. Confusing pricing and "plans" with the terms hidden in fine print. Tbh, I think they are counting on you not to notice and/or to be too busy to review your account. It's very easy to get on 'auto renew' then just keep paying even when you do not even use their service.

As many others are saying this company absolutely tries to scam you. I got the free trial and then was automatically signed over to the yearly subscription, where they were charging $30 a month, when I went to cancel I was told that I had to pay the difference of what I had been 'saving' throughout the months I was charged. Ended up being nearly $100 AUD on top of the monthly fees I had already paid. I feel completely ripped off and the company clearly does not care about the fact that it's misleading customers. You can easily find a better service, this one is not worth it at all.

Avoid a free trial at all costs. If you go over it at all - you will be signed up for a year long package and charged a huge cancellation fee. I lost over 60 Euro in fees even though the monthly subscription is only advertised as 49euro, because they advertise it without tax. I hadn't even used the service but they didn't even tale that into account. While they're within their rights to do that, I can't in good faith recommend a company that manipulates its customers like that.

They bury the auto renewal info when purchasing a plan, and then charge your account 4 days before your current plan ends. They will then take over a week to credit your account for the early charge. They photos are decent, though a lot of mediocre stuff is on there as well. The price is the only reason I purchase plans. The auto-renewal is unethical at best.

These mofockers charged my card for $30 without my knowledge and when I called to ask about it, those b*ches say they'll charge another $20 to unlock my card. I had no option so they charged me $20 AGAIN just to be able to remove my card from the account. I don't know how many other poor peoples are being trapped in this scam company. I kindly request you to warn anyone who talks about this sh*tty site to stay away from them. This is the first time ever I'm posting a review. I attached the screenshot from my bank account.

They are tricking you into getting a free trial, which turns into an Annual subscription if you don't 'cancel properly'. They are not sending any communication via email, so I only found out that I was charged a few months later (1 transaction for 3 invoices). I contacted Customer support who told me in a very rude manner that they will charge another 40 eur for cancellation.

I give shutterstock one star because zero isn't an option. I went through the signup process and at the end was not automatically logged in. So I typed in my email and password and was notified that my account had been deactivated. Today, after 4 days of pathetic dealings with their service people I received notice that I have been banned for life because of involvement in troubles on the sight. Not sure how that's possible when I've never logged in. Ever. The email also said they will never respond to further correspondence. How is their company successful?

Quality of services was terrible. Was never able to actually download or use any images. Was put into an auto renewal plan, charged automatically every month without notification in advance about any cancelation fees, when I was finally able to cancel over the phone I was told I'd have to pay a "conversion fee" since my previous monthly bills didn't actually cover the monthly cost, $60 to cancel after $90 in monthly memberships. Literally robbed by a company for a product that was never used. But don't worry, I have 17 days to use my remaining downloads... Terrible customer service. Worst experience ever. Literally feel robbed

I bought what I thought was a monthly subscription but is actually a year long subscription with a monthly payment plan. This is not clear on the webpage unless you click on the right thing and reading the fine print. Completely stupid for a large company to be misleading these days. Nobody has time for this kind of crap. I had two projects that I needed photos for and their selection didn't even get me what I needed. So far I've paid $140 dollars for nothing and they are refusing to cancel my "subscription".

They made a tricky system of charges, and the refunds are not applicable. Be Careful, guys, with providing your bank information.
I am surprised they are still exist, in USA, where customers are appreciated! Such a shameful company; I hope they will be condemned.