• Scribd

Scribd

Write a Review

Overview

Scribd has a rating of 1.4 stars from 877 reviews, indicating that most customers are generally dissatisfied with their purchases. Reviewers complaining about Scribd most frequently mention credit card, free trial, and customer service problems. Scribd ranks 199th among Ebook sites.

  • Service
    145
  • Value
    137
  • Shipping
    82
  • Returns
    109
  • Quality
    128
Positive reviews (last 12 months): 0%
Positive
0
Neutral
0
Negative
5
130
See all photos
How would you rate Scribd?
Top Positive Review

“Surprisingly good”

Dominik K.
7/10/23

Been a user for about 3 years now and I'm continually surprised by what I can find here, from mags, through books to audiobooks. All at a bargain price, half of ehat audible charges for 1 book a month.

Top Critical Review

“Not even worthy of one star!”

J. R.
3/18/24

Joined Scribd/Everand a month ago. Their "free trial" is not free. They charged my account twice within that 30-day free trial period...once after two weeks of the trial and then at the end of it. I canceled my subscription and notified my bank of the fraud. Not only am I disputing the charges but a Have had the bank remove the card from my account so they can't continue to steal from me. I had hoped this subscription would be good...it seemed so at first. Then, I found out that not only are they fraudulent in their charges but there's a limit on how many books you can read in a billing cycle. Initially, when you search online for a good ebook subscription, Everand seems like a good choice until you actually have to deal with them. The complaints about them outweigh the good reviews and all seem to have a common thread - deceptive business practices.

Reviews (877)

Rating

Timeframe

Other

Reviews that mention popular keywords

credit card (172) customer service (117) trial period (29) bank account (28)
Thumbnail of user patriciae49
Florida
1 review
4 helpful votes
  • Send Message
January 29th, 2018

3rd month in a row Scribd has pulled money out of my account, after cancelling... I am not happy at all. I NEVER do reviews, but when a company is continually being reminded that they have been cancelled, and to quit pulling money from an account, there is a problem with the company. Looks like I am not alone in my complaint... SCAM!

Thumbnail of user jerryg31
Scribd S. – Scribd Rep

Hi Patricia - I'm so sorry to hear this. Please send us an email to help@scribd.com and we'll be happy to cancel your account and issue a refund. Thank you!

Thumbnail of user peterr76
Namibia
1 review
6 helpful votes
  • Send Message
April 4th, 2016

I was told that books I was already reading would still be available after the change - they were not. So, ok - the bait business model worked but now I want out if this cannot be resolved - I send written confirmation that no more deductions are to be made from my Credit Card - and this was ignored. Deductions continue to come out.
Do not join Scribd - you will not be able to cancel or stop the Credit Card payments without cancelling your Credit Card.

Thumbnail of user erinm327
Illinois
1 review
4 helpful votes
  • Send Message
December 23rd, 2018

Don't waste your money on subscription. They say books are unavailable due to limited number of licenses but books that you read once are never "unavailable". Seems to to me that once you borrow a certain number of books anything new is "unavailable" until next month. Ta-da! First of the month and there are magically more available. This is not unlimited borrowing.

Thumbnail of user jerryg31
Scribd S. – Scribd Rep

Hi Erin - I'm very sorry that certain specific books are temporarily unavailable to you right now. While we cannot guarantee the immediate availability of every title, all titles found using our Explore page should be available right away: https://www.scribd.com/explore Still have questions? Email help@scribd.com - Thanks!

Thumbnail of user johng5808
Texas
1 review
0 helpful votes
  • Send Message
December 26th, 2022

I've been being billed twice monthly for the last 3 months from this company and I have never provided my bank information to them. The only time I heard about scribe was when they started charging my bank account three months ago when I started getting charges twice a month one for $8.99 and the other for between $10 and $12. I went through my bank to dispute these charges and they said they set me up with a scrib virtual wallet. H
Ow did you get my information to put in the wallet this seems to be illegal please be very careful when dealing with this company they got my information without me even contacting them. I have never received any invoices or confirmation emails stating that I have made a purchase

Products used:
None I didn't even know they had me signed up for an account

Service
Value
Shipping
Returns
Quality
Thumbnail of user jerryg31
Scribd S. – Scribd Rep

Thank you for informing us, John, and we apologize for any confusion or frustration. Scribd is a monthly subscription ebook and audiobook service. You can read more about who we are here: https://bit.ly/3d9yRYs. The payments you are seeing have to be for our monthly subscription fee. As we cannot charge for the monthly subscription fee without an active subscription, that means there has to be an active subscription resulting in your monthly payments. We're available to help locate the source and ensure the subscription is canceled and refunded, however, we just need you to email us. If you emailed support already, let us know your ticket number and we can help escalate your case, otherwise, use this link to email us: https://scr.bi/assist and you'll reach our accelerated queue where one of our agents will assist you within 24 hours. Thanks! -EC

Thumbnail of user olamideb2
Nigeria
1 review
0 helpful votes
  • Send Message
February 15th, 2021

Stop debiting my money when I don't have an account with you. I've sent numerous emails to scribsupport I still getting debit alerts?. Honestly I'm tired of your website and poor services, I got debit alert this morning again. I need a refund of my money. I can't even remember opening an account with you... If I don't get a refund and my account completely deleted and forgotten I will come for you on a
Your social media platforms. Stop debiting my account!

Thumbnail of user jerryg31
Scribd S. – Scribd Rep

Thank you for informing us and we apologize for the problem with these charges and the delay in response from support! Scribd is a digital reading subscription that brings you monthly access to the best books, audiobooks, news, and magazines. The charge you are seeing is likely for our monthly subscription fee.

That said, we cannot charge someone the monthly subscription fee without an active subscription, so there is likely an account somewhere in our system causing your charges. So we can escalate your ticket, please let us know your ticket number. We'll use that to locate your ticket and escalate you to the top of our queue so we can help you ASAP.

Thumbnail of user gujak
Canada
1 review
5 helpful votes
  • Send Message
August 21st, 2019

It's 2019 August and yes, all the reviews here are telling the truth, these theives are still tricking people to sign up for the free 30 day trial and making it difficult to cancel to they keep stealing your money. Do NOT give them your credit card information.

Tip for consumers:
Stay away

Service
Value
Shipping
Returns
Quality
Thumbnail of user jerryg31
Scribd S. – Scribd Rep

Hi Guja - Thank you for your feedback, we're sorry to hear Scribd was not the best fit for you! We're constantly growing and improving, and hope you'll check us out again in the future! If you'd like to email us at help@scribd.com, our team is happy to assist you with anything else. Thanks!

Thumbnail of user mels132
California
3 reviews
10 helpful votes
  • Send Message
November 22nd, 2016

After years with scribd, I cancelled and will never return. Years ago, Scribd had a wonderful book plan. The rules changed dramatically over the last year (2016). What I signed up for is NOT what Scribd delivers. It went from unlimited and the ability to read books offline to only three books each month, only available to read on the internet. No internet means no book access.
I get a much better deal at my county library for FREE. The selection is also broader at the library. The public library loans e-books and audio books and I may borrow up to ten or more (enki and larger city libraries allow far more book downloads) at a time. And I can read them OFFLINE. Scribd cannot match this service even though they charge about ten dollars each month. Don't bother with Scribd.

Tip for consumers:
Just say NO to scribd.

Service
Value
Shipping
Returns
Quality
Thumbnail of user robbiep37
Nevada
1 review
52 helpful votes
  • Send Message
February 7th, 2020

You guys are crooks! When i finally get an email back after numerous complaints. It states you cant find my info. I cant log on because my account dose not exist. NO CUSTOMER SERVICE SUPPORT! Now they take the payment 3 days earlier when it used to be taken out on the 10th. Maybe we need to find an attorney who will handle a class action law suit against these bastards. I wonder how much they have stolen from numerous people over the years.

Thumbnail of user jerryg31
Scribd S. – Scribd Rep

Hi there Robbie, we're truly sorry for the cancelation difficulties you experienced here and we would be happy to look into this for you. Please update this review with your support ticket number so we can be sure to follow up, thanks!

Thumbnail of user jessicar98
California
2 reviews
9 helpful votes
  • Send Message
April 12th, 2016

Don't worry you still have unlimited sheet music. Who the hell uses scribed for unlimited sheet music?! Charging more than Netflix in offering only three books a month without the offer of being able to keep what you buy, this app is the worst type of expensive whore.

Thumbnail of user niket
Austria
1 review
3 helpful votes
  • Send Message
February 28th, 2020

Warning, they have admitted serious technical problems that make one of the books I read on their platform seriously illegible. They've known this problem for more than a month, but don't have a date to fix it. I really liked their product, but if I can't read the books it doesn't make sense. They reach for the stars, but struggle with the simple tasks.

Thumbnail of user jerryg31
Scribd S. – Scribd Rep

Hi there - We sincerely apologize for the frustrating reading experience! It looks like this has already been reported to our development team and is being worked on. This case is independent of our typical process, which involves requesting a new version of the title from our publishing partners. To further clarify, we have very little input on how our publishers send us files and in what quality and coding type they may be in. At this time we, unfortunately, can't provide a timeline of completion as many factors are involved in these types of fixes. However, the specialist you're working with will make sure to update you as soon as this is resolved. We apologize again for the inconvenience, and thanks so much for your patience here!

Thumbnail of user gibranknight
Indonesia
1 review
2 helpful votes
  • Send Message
July 16th, 2023
Verified purchase

This is the guide to remove yourself from the eternal subscription.

So apparently, they make the confirmation page looks like a "successful cancel" but actually it's still a confirmation page. It took about 3 or 4 pages to cancel the subscription. We need to scroll down to the very bottom of the page to confirm the cancel.

What a $#*! move.

Products used:
PDF

Service
Value
Shipping
Returns
Quality
Thumbnail of user jerryg31
Scribd S. – Scribd Rep

Hello Gibran, Thank you for your feedback on our cancellation process and I am sorry for any frustration you experienced canceling your subscription. You can cancel at any time from your account- https://bit.ly/3NbCUVQ. When you cancel your subscription, we'll ensure it remains active until the end of the month that you've paid for, but will not bill you again. You can visit our help topic, "How to cancel your subscription- https :// bit.ly/42ppZUS", for more detailed instructions. If you have any questions or need any help please submit a ticket through this link and your request will be escalated straight to my inbox: bit.ly/social-support-help
Thanks! -LC

Thumbnail of user osamaa68
Texas
1 review
0 helpful votes
  • Send Message
April 23rd, 2021

Hello,
I was charged twice for scribd. I NEVER made an account and was charged twice for $10.81 on 03/22 and 04/22. I need a refund for $21.62 ASAP. This is absolute disgrace from your company to take away the money from hard-working people. THIEVES!

Service
Quality
Thumbnail of user jerryg31
Scribd S. – Scribd Rep

We have a dedicated support team who can assist you further with this. We'll be happy to work with you in locating these charges, as well as clarifying the situation. Please get in touch with us through this link here https://scr.bi/assist so we can help. -AR

Thumbnail of user aishwaryam5
India
1 review
0 helpful votes
  • Send Message
October 6th, 2020

After purchasing the premium version, I received a confirmatory mail for the same. When i try logging in within hours with the same email id shows that there is no account with that mail id. Also, customer support is of no use. Support ticket #*******.

Thumbnail of user jerryg31
Scribd S. – Scribd Rep

Oh no! That is certainly not right, and thank you for letting us know. I have located your ticket number and I will be getting back to you shortly. Please watch for my email and let me know if you have more questions there. Thanks for your time!

Thumbnail of user martinm769
Australia
1 review
1 helpful vote
  • Send Message
April 5th, 2020

A scam. My review seems to be the exact same as hundreds of others here (1 star or zero if it were possible). If you sign up for the '30 days free,' they will charge you even if you cancel. Then it will be up to you to chase them up at which point they will send you a generic message they have sent to thousands of others saying sorry but we have no record of your cancellation. When your cancellation is finally processed (and after you have likely gone through the hassle of speaking to your bank to block any future payments), you will have lost money for nothing. Avoid signing up for Scribd period.

Thumbnail of user jerryg31
Scribd S. – Scribd Rep

Hi Martin, we're sorry for the trouble with canceling your subscription with us. Generally, we do have a set of confirmations to finalize your cancellation with us. If you do not cancel your subscription entirely, then your account remains active. We recommend checking out this article on how to successfully cancel your subscription located here https://support.scribd.com/hc/en-us/articles/210134046 for further information on how to do this. If you need further assistance, please update this review with your support ticket number so that we can make sure your case is escalated, if it's still open. Thanks!

Thumbnail of user mikec306
South Carolina
2 reviews
1 helpful vote
  • Send Message
May 10th, 2017

Same scam different day... I signed up for the trial... closed the account... they acknowledged it was closed and they keep charging... NEGATIVE ZERO STARS
Everyone in this company should be in jail...

This is advisable https://www.fbi.gov/scams-and-safety/common-fraud-schemes/internet-fraud

SCRIBD
539 Bryant Street
Suite 200
San Francisco, CA *******
United States
Founded in 2005
Phone:
*******890
Fax:
*******896
www.scribd.com

Thumbnail of user jerryg31
Scribd S. – Scribd Rep

Hi Mike. Thank you for writing back with additional concerns, however, without any information from you to help us locate any tickets you've written in or providing an email, we are unable to locate and bring up an account. We're here to help and whenever you are ready to give us the information that is requested, please private message us, as you did, with your information. Thanks! -Donni, Scribd Customer Support

Thumbnail of user bobl231
Florida
1 review
12 helpful votes
  • Send Message
August 23rd, 2018

Every month I listen to a single book then am told I have to wait till Next month to get a new one and everytime I Co tact support they say it's an avaiblilty issue. This month I just got access back 2 days ago. And already can't listen to any books till next month what's the point? Unlimited means one book apparently. I can't wait for the class action suit

Thumbnail of user jerryg31
Scribd S. – Scribd Rep

Hi Bob - I'm very sorry to hear about your experience with our unlimited service. We do our best to make sure that popular titles are available at all times. Could you please reply to this with your ticket number? That way, I can personally assist you with this. Thank you!

Thumbnail of user kurth22
New York
1 review
2 helpful votes
  • Send Message
April 3rd, 2016

I am disappointed in their new limited model as I read thousands of books when it was unlimited. Yet still because of their continued free documents section which has hundreds of books and articles for any interest scribd rmains for me my favorite site.

Thumbnail of user shubhams5
India
4 reviews
16 helpful votes
  • Send Message
March 14th, 2017

They provided me free 30-day trial and after only two days, they r sayin' that my 30 day trial is expired. I don't know what the $#*! is this but I am giving it 1 star because of that Poor and $#*!ing sick service.

Thumbnail of user jerryg31
Scribd S. – Scribd Rep

Hi Shubham. I'm following up on my reply I left you on 3/14/17 for more information regarding your account. Please direct message me your email or ticket number f you have already emailed us at help@scribd.com. Thanks! -Donni, Scribd Customer Support

Thumbnail of user donk199
Ohio
1 review
3 helpful votes
  • Send Message
November 6th, 2019

I cancelled my account over 4 months ago and they continue to charge me. I am sick of this. I went online every month and cancelled it and it magically reappears. No customer service, you cannot call them to resolve these issues.

Thumbnail of user jerryg31
Scribd S. – Scribd Rep

Hi Don, we're sorry to hear about this issue! While we don't offer phone support, you can reach out web-based team at help@scribd.com. Can you please email us the details and update this review to include your ticket number so that we can connect asap? Thanks!

Thumbnail of user belyndan3
South Africa
1 review
0 helpful votes
  • Send Message
August 3rd, 2023

I gave notice to cancel my subscription as per their instructions on their site. They have since continued to take payments off my account, sometimes twice in a month and attempts to communicate with them have failed. My account says it's been terminated but they still continue to take my money. Will NEVER subscribe to them again.

Thumbnail of user jerryg31
Scribd S. – Scribd Rep

Hi Belinda, thank you for bringing this to our attention - though our sincerest apologies for any frustration this may have caused! If you've received duplicate charges from us in one month then this means you may have a duplicate account in our system.

It looks like a member of our support team has responded to your support ticket #4943082 to request some additional information from you, so if you could please respond directly to that ticket, we'd be happy to get this resolved as soon as possible. Thank you again! -MW

Thumbnail of user georgeh346
California
3 reviews
16 helpful votes
  • Send Message
June 21st, 2019

About a year ago, I downloaded one page of sheet music from Scribd using a free membership. I have never used the site since. However, the company secretly converted my free membership to a full membership without notifying me. Then they secretly charged their monthly membership fee to my credit card without sending any email notifying me of the charges. So now a year later I finally discovered $100 worth of charges on my credit card bill. They refused to reimburse me for the full amount and only offered to return a small portion of what I paid.
This method of hidden membership activation and hidden credit card charges is in my opinion highly unethical, ugly, and and very likely fraudulent.

Thumbnail of user jerryg31
Scribd S. – Scribd Rep

Hey George, so sorry to hear about this trouble! Could you please update your review with your ticket number? We'd like to escalate your case to a support specialist for review. Thanks!

Thumbnail of user wendykevinw
North Carolina
1 review
6 helpful votes
  • Send Message
June 26th, 2016

I signed up for a free membership and Scribd wrongly charged my account 47$. Despite a ticket number and several emails with proof, they have not resolved the issue with my bank acount. Instead, they have sent emails stating that they are too swamped due to the influx of credits changes and thanking me for my patience. As the website states, they do not have phone support... I'm wondering if they will ever refund my money.

Thumbnail of user jerryg31
Scribd S. – Scribd Rep

Hi Wendy, I'm so sorry for the delay here. We've located your ticket and are replying to you now. Thanks!

Thumbnail of user jackeg
Texas
1 review
4 helpful votes
  • Send Message
April 1st, 2019

My husband has a Scribd account and my son set it up in my ipad and for some reason I started to get charged on my apple account, even though my husband and I don't share the same ID. By the time I realized, this had already been going on for 6 months! I talked to apple and explained what happened and they told me to cancel on my app, which I did but Scribd kept on taking my money, even though I stopped it and even deleted the stupid app. I talked to apple again and they refund one month only, out of 8! But, I just realized today that they had keep on charging me every month! In summary, I have tried to stop them to charging my account 3 times, today it will be the 4th time. This has been going on for more than a year! I want them to stop taking my money and a full refund! This is ridiculous!
Not even a phone number where I can talk to someone about this!

Thumbnail of user jerryg31
Scribd S. – Scribd Rep

Hi there Jacke - If you canceled your subscription via Apple and have continued to be charged, it may be you or your husband have a secondary account with an active subscription. Please email us at help@scribd.com, then update your review with your ticket number and a member of our team will reach out to assist you with this. Thanks!

Thumbnail of user milenan1
Romania
1 review
3 helpful votes
  • Send Message
June 22nd, 2021

This is outrageous! I thought cancelling my subscription with SCRIBD was enough not to pay for it anymore. Wrong! On June 10th here there is... another transaction on my credit card $8,99. And, again, I ask for a refund but surprise... no customer service! And I apply again and again, no answer! This is theft! You have no right to take money from me like that! What do I need to do to be heard? Sue you? I WANT MY REFUND!

Tip for consumers:
If I had known it would be so tricky to cancel my subscription with Scribd, I would have NEVER made it. It cost me more than if I had bought the actual books!

Products used:
EBooks

Service
Value
Shipping
Returns
Quality
Thumbnail of user jerryg31
Scribd S. – Scribd Rep

Thank you for bringing this to our attention. We're truly sorry for the delay! Our general support team is encountering a high amount of requests during this time, however, we would be happy to get any messages you have sent over escalated for a reply within 24 hours. Please update this review to include your support ticket number so we can be sure you get the assistance you need -AR

Thumbnail of user robertl4058
Minnesota
1 review
2 helpful votes
  • Send Message
November 29th, 2022

Scribd is an audio book company, which has ZERO customer service reps. That seems appears a deliberate tactic to keep subscribers hostage, and their funds. Canceling MUST be done on their terms, which I found impossible. Only on their site or app. I thought I had and received no confirmation of my canceling. They are a dishonest company, that needs to be investigated by the US and (MN) AG's offices. DO NOT SUBSCRIBE. I did, and when I attempted to cancel, and thought that I had, Scribd continued to charge my card $12.95/month. What kind of a consumer-facing company has no customer service reps? A shady, dishonest one, in this case.

Tip for consumers:
I found canceling the service impossible. They make you jump through hoop after hoop, such as forcing one to set up a new password, and then claiming each new password invalid. And you CAN'T REQUEST A REFUND, or even cancel, without signing in. Which they make impossible. So call their customer service reps? THEY HAVE NONE.

Products used:
Audiobooks

Thumbnail of user jerryg31
Scribd S. – Scribd Rep

Hi Robert, we apologize for any confusion or frustration with our cancelation process. It's actually quite simple to cancel your Scribd subscription and can be done at any time within your account settings: https://www.scribd.com/your-account
Additionally, our Help Center contains a step-by-step guide on how to properly cancel. You can follow the link here to access the public support article: https://support.scribd.com/hc/articles/210134046-How-to-cancel-your-subscription

If you still require assistance, our support team is in fact available and we are more than happy to help. You can use the link here to connect with them directly and a specialist will follow up right away: https://scr.bi/assist
We hope this helps to clarify your experience. Thanks! -VG

Sitejabber for Business

Gain trust and grow your business with customer reviews.

From the business

Explore over 170 million documents and counting from a global community of users. Find and upload text on every topic and niche, including research papers, official government documents, user manuals, and more!

Our monthly subscription starts at just $11.99 USD and automatically renews unless the subscription is canceled at least 24 hours prior to the next billing date.
A Scribd monthly subscription also includes access to Everand (ebooks, audiobooks, and more) and SlideShare (presentations and professional content).

Please visit our Help Center for answers to frequently asked questions and the option to connect with our support team for further assistance: https://support.scribd.com/hc/categories/360005188511

Company Representative

Thumbnail of user jerryg31
Scribd S.

How do I know I can trust these reviews about Scribd?

  • Sitejabber’s mission is to increase online transparency for buyers and businesses
  • Sitejabber has helped over 200M buyers make better purchasing decisions online
  • Suspicious reviews are flagged by our algorithms, moderators, and community members
Have a question about Scribd?