Samantha D.

I bought 3 packs of video clips from Shutterstock. When I saw the auto renewal I had immediate reservations. Anyone with automatic access to my bank account without me 'opting in' is a recipe for disaster and an excuse to overcharge. I was charged for 4 packs instead of 3. I was forced to transfer money into the account in question so I would not go overdrawn and be charged every day. After purchasing one pack I tried to switch the other auto renewals off however the website would not allow me to switch one of them off (surprise surprise).

I emailed Shutterstock immediately and got a prompt reply telling me that all of them had been switched off. Checked my account and they were all off. Then a few days later when checking with my Bank they can see that I have been charged for another 25 pack of videos at £298.80 which sends me overdrawn again. I cannot access funds going into my account. I cannot buy stock for my business and I can't work as my business is very small.

It could not be an auto renewal issue the second time. I tell them that I do not agree with the reason for the charge, but they keep ignoring me and specifically writing in their emails that auto renewal is the cause to cover themselves no doubt.

I have asked for the contact for the Director/s of the company or their Customer Service Department so I can make a formal complaint and I have been ignored each time that request has been made. Hmm doesn't sound like they want me to be able to explain my side of the story.

Good content on site, but absolutely not trustworthy with regards to access to your bank account and money. They seem to think that a quick response to queries in enough in itself. No it is not. You need to stop taking unauthorised payments and using AR as an excuse and allow people to complain when they have been messed around due to your mistakes.

The auto renewal thing was designed in my view partly as a cover for overcharging and with a large account where people are spending considerable amounts of money maybe these extra payments do not get picked up so easily. If I was a large business using this company I would back track a little and recheck what you were charged for your photos and videos, just to be on the safe side.

I am writing this review in order to highlight what I feel is an important misuse of an internet website. The site concerned allows people registered or unregistered, to watch movies and television programs for free and in this respect it is quite good. You can also talk to some very nice people from around the globe and from the UK who are interested in films, although as always, there will be the odd person, who you will not want to engage in conversation.

However, there is a chatroom attached to this site and I have been on the receiving end of some disturbing behaviour by a particular moderator. Now I know this sounds odd, but over the couple of months I have been in the chatroom, I have noticed a disturbing pattern. The first example was when someone began to site racist language. When I asked the moderator in question to please ask them to stop, I was immediately turned on and told to stop causing trouble and shut up. A number of what I believe are this persons 'followers' then began to bully me online. I was more than perplexed by this and have never experienced this in a chatroom before. As I was new, I thought that may be, there was a misunderstanding of some kind and decided to let it go.

However, I began to notice that every time I was online and this particular person was moderating, another provocative message would pop up in the chatbox. I started to put 2 and 2 together and my theory is that this person is deliberately getting others to make inflammatory comments in order to cause trouble. As I had cottoned on to this I made sure to steer clear from any argument and keep everything light-hearted. I did not take the bait and kept calm and tried to talk about movies with people in the chatroom. As she continued to goad me all I said very calmly was that they did have a responsibility to be fair, which resulted in me being immediately banned from the website.

I was also warned that peoples photographs have been taken from this site and turned into pornographic images and published online. I have no proof that this is something this person is involved in, but like I said, i have a nasty feeling that there is a very spiteful manipulative person at work here. Some people on the site will swear blind she is the nicest mod there ever was, but thats how clever she is. She will be nice to others in order to manipulate them into backing her up when she engages in cyber bullying, but if your face does not fit you will be treated very badly.

This is all highly unprofessional, but not only that, there are young people who use this website, some as young as 13. These sort of games, bullying and manipulation could be used against much younger and more vulnerable people than myself and I find that worrying.

You may join the chatroom and have no problem at all, but - and I know this sounds like a cliche - but if you are good looking/pretty, are intelligent and articulate, get along with people on site and have a lot to say about movies etc. you may be the subject of harassment or if you threaten this somewhat insecure individual in anyway, you will be the focus of her spite.

If you read site directions e. G regarding viruses, the tone of what is written, gives you a flavour of where the people who have created this site are coming from. Its quite abrupt and aggressive. If you are banned you are told to beg for forgiveness before being let back on. Its presented as a joke but after experiencing what I have, in actual fact it isnt. I believe this mod is a founder of the website, hence her power mad attitude. I tried to complain about the racist incident and never received a reply. I think that says it all really.

Now, to put this into perspective, I am a 40 year old mother of two, who is a mature medical student. I physically train 6 days a week, play the piano and electric guitar - a bit :) -, love the cinema, club still and enjoy a rich and fulfilling life with my boyfriend and my dogs. My point is, that Im not someone who is in need of a life and doesn't have anything better to do than to complain about things on the internet. Far from it. The reason I have bothered to write this is, that when I get a nasty gut feeling about something, it bugs me to the point where I think other people should know what is going on.

Remember, there are many faceless people on sites such as these, who hide behind avatars and who are probably not the happiest of souls. Take care online and enjoy the websites which deserve your support.

Thanks