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.
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.
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.
I was lured into their online site to download a pdf. However I tried to cancel multiple times afterwards as I didn't find anything else of value. Close to impossible to cancel, and after months of trying to cancel I'm not yet sure if off the hook. Stay away!
This company kept charging my debit card 7 times, once for $8.99 each month. I only wanted one month of the subscription and have never received any invoices or bills from Scribd regarding the six extra monthly charges. I want a refund for the six months of monthly charges!
Hey Adam. We sent you a message last week for additional information to assist you with the issue you're having with this textbook and your computer. Please email us at help@scribd.com and we'll be able to further assist you. Thank you. -Donni, Scribd Customer Support
Although I cancelled my subscription back in 2020, Scribd continued to charge my credit card for the subscription fees. I have complained again July 2023, their AI responds with the same messages that the account is cancelled. And yes, they charged the amount again for Aug. 2023! I am now taking legal action and report them to the FBI as I am not the only victim. This is their business model!
Tip for consumers:
Due to the fact that the monthly subscription fee is low, they get away with their fraud. However, they are taking money from many people, it must amount to a lot of money. Furthermore, there is no telephone number and only 2 AI responses that are emailed in an endless cyber loop without resolution.
Hello Marina, I am sorry to hear about your experience! I am happy to help explain the charges and cancel the subscription. Please share your support ticket number or you can submit a new request through this link and your request will be escalated straight to my inbox: bit.ly/social-support-help
Thanks! -LC
I'm still being charged. I have no way of accessing the account to make sure I cancelled my subscription properly because I deleted it! Can't stop the payments which have been coming since July for a service I have never used. I even changed my credit card and I'm still being charged on the new one. Don't know what to do. Ticket #*******. I want a refund for all the charges since July.
Hi Laura - I'm sorry to hear about your unexpected charges. Since your primary account (mcg*****@vid******. Ca) was deleted, you most likely have a second account you created with us that was not cancelled. We'll be happy to issue a refund once we are able to locate the account, so please either update your review with any other emails you may have or send us an email to help@scribd.com so we can track it down. Thank you!
They have charged 2 times my bank account with an ammount of 9.99 each time. I had cancelled my free trial subscription right after I created my account, however, it appeared as if it was on when I went to my account to see what happened.
Ticket number: #*******.
Hi Ricardo! We apologize for any difficulty you experienced. After further review, it looks one of our agents has already reached out to you. If you have any further questions feel free to reach back out to the specialist who is already assisting you to ensure your concerns are answered as quickly as possible. Thanks again, have a wonderful day! - MR
1) i do not have any email regarding activation of scribd account
2) If i have membership it should show up in my account (it is not showing up!)
3) I still see last two months charged by scribd on my account.
4) don't know whom to contact. How to generate ticket. No contact number found on website
Ticket Request #*******
Hi Gautam - I've taken over your ticket and sent you an email. It looks like you purchased a subscription with us using an alternate email address and may have forgotten about it. We've refunded your most recent charge and canceled your subscription. If you have any further questions, please reply back to the email that was sent to you. Thank you!
I was elated when I saw Scribd reinstated their unlimited program. Their website advertises that they are "truly unlimited". As of June, 2019, it appears that this is not true. After listening to 2 full audiobooks, I started seeing "Available Soon". The initial top books are not available after reading, listening, or just skimming.
Message to Scribd, your advertising is disceptive and dishonest. If you need to raise your price, mention it in your advertising.
Hi Kristina - We apologize for any confusion with your Scribd membership. You'll notice the catalog rotate as you read. While some titles may not be immediately available, there will always be something you can read! Please feel free to email us at help@scribd.com with any questions or concerns, our support team is more than happy to assist you. Thanks!
Very deceptive. This is not an unlimited service. After you listen to 2 audiobooks during a billing cycle you are cut off. After you are cut off you can see the title and the date it will be available. I researched this and found countless reviews with the same issue. They were told that they "throttle abusers of the system". I am not sure how paying for a service and then trying to use it can be considered abusive. Very disappointed since I prepaid for a year. Will be requesting a refund. Audible may be a little more expensive but they are upfront about their service, offer discounts and you can purchase more books if you'd like. With Scrid you just have ti wait.
Hi Jolie - I'm very sorry to hear about your disappointment with our service and that 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!
I'm really surprised about all the bad reviews on here. I've been using it for years and i love it. I also had it for my husband for a bit and had no problems canceling the subscription for him. They only reason I came across these reviews is because I'm having trouble signing in with google on my PC (usually use my phone) and was looking for some answers. This is part of the reason for the one star missing. That and I can't ALWAYS find what I'm looking for, but I usually can. I commute quite a bit so I love the audiobooks and this is a way better price than audible. Plus you get all the other mediums too. Ebooks, sheet music, magazines, etc.
Like everyone else here, I've been scammed by Scribd. I'm ON IT with tracking my free trials and subscription services and set alarms in my calendar so I can avoided cases like this. So when they charge me twice well after I canceled subscription (during my trial period) I started questioning MYSELF. Luckily I had screenshots to prove I canceled before the trial period ended, but doesn't seem to make a difference as they ignore all emails requesting support.
So I'm just writing here in a desperate attempt to get their attention because I feel very uncomfortable knowing they can pull money from my card whenever they want even after I've canceled the auto-pay service. I want that money refunded immediately and I want you to delete my account/ credit card #s and all the data you pulled from me. This is wrong and you guys know it. Cut it out and either shut the site down or create new terms that protect the customer!
My support ticket # is *******.
Thank you!
1. They do not send out an e-mail to remind you that your free trial is over and you will be getting a $9.99 charge
2. The cancellation process is really annoying and there are many opportunities for you to be tricked into not cancelling in error,
3. They will not give you a refund if you did not cancel before they took your money
Hi John, we're sorry for any confusion with our cancellation process and your membership. To confirm, when canceling your subscription with us, you will immediately receive a confirmation email of the cancellation to your primary email address on file. If you did not receive this confirmation email from us -- then the subscription cancellation was not completed successfully. We go over this in detail in our cancellation guide, found here: https://support.scribd.com/hc/articles/210134046-How-to-cancel-your-premium-membership
With that being said, we're happy to help with a cancellation and refund for you. Please email our support team at help@scribd.com and update your review with your support ticket number so we can get this taken care of ASAP. Thanks!
I cancelled the membership few months ago, however they still charging membership fee every month!
I couldn't delete my credit card details. Submitted many refund email, no reply yet.
My ticket number #*******.
Don't use this site, no contact number and no response! But take money at the day!
Thanks for your comment here - I apologize for our delay in response! We are experiencing a backlog of tickets, which is causing us to be unable to reply as quickly as we'd like. However, please do not worry! We can absolutely escalate your ticket for you. I have located your ticket using your ticket number and have replied to you there. Let me know if you have more questions by replying there and I'll get back to you as soon as possible
Multiple confirmation steps are required and basically it's impossible to do it properly from Android.
They have rob me of a month subscription as I believed I cancelled the trial period.
This simple stage is the epitome of bad practices and poor marketting. Do not subscribe to their trial.
Hi BC - I'm sorry to hear about your unexpected charge and I'm happy to help! Please send us an email to help@scribd.com and we will absolutely issue a refund. Thank you!
I got an account the beginning of September to see one book, and then cancelled later in the month. I was just billed $12.27CAD this October, but when I wrote to them about the issue, I got an immediate helpful reply on the same day. They are refunding my money, and said my account will remain active for free the rest of October anyways. So despite the cancellation problem I had, I have to say they do have excellent customer service, which matters a lot to me.
To Scribd,
I am currently a student and I availed of your free trial but was charged for it! Afterwards I cancelled and I was charged again this month when it specifically says on my account that I cancelled my subscription. You are deliberately taking money from me without my consent.
Please know that as a student, I don't have enough funds to continue the subscription. Hence, the cancellation.
If you charge my membership after December 27,2019, I will be calling the card issuer to do a chargeback.
My ticket number is #*******.
Hi Ciara - To confirm, we cannot bill a canceled or deactivated subscription. Scribd also does not "sign up" or "start subscriptions" for our users without their consent. In order for someone to have an active subscription with us, the only way to do so would be for them to sign up when creating an account or restart/renew their membership from their Account Settings page. We apologize for any confusion there.
Upon review, it looks like our specialist Vanessa has followed up with you on your support ticket with more information. Your subscription has been canceled, you will not be billed further, and your recent charge has been refunded. Please allow 3-5 business days for these funds to be credited back to you. Thanks for reaching out, and have a great day!
This people make it virtually impossible to cancel! I went all over their site to try to find out where to cancel... I had to call my bank and get a new credit card! Plus I was on a "trial" period and still got charged for 2 documents I downloaded... CROOKS!
Hi Maria. I'm following-up on the reply I left you the other day. Please DM your email and I can check your account for you. Thanks -Donni, Scribd Customer Support
I really like Scribd and what they do, but I just wish it wasn't so gosh darn expensive. I'm not that fast of a reader so sometimes it seems better to just buy one book and take your time with it. If you read and listen to books all day everyday then Scribd might be suitable for you.
Hi Anthony - we totally understand; we do offer audiobooks and sheet music which definitely adds value for someone who may not read as fast. If you have any questions, please reach out to us at help@scribd.com. Thank you!
I signed up for the free scribd trial in summer 2017 and used the service for a few months. I never received an email confirming free trial or continuation of subscription. I cancelled the service following instructions on their help centre page but the charges keep coming every month. Sofia A.
Hi Sofia - I'm so sorry to hear about this and we will get it resolved for you ASAP. Could you please send us an email to help@scribd.com? That way, we can cancel your subscription and issue a refund. Thank you!
I wanted to sign up for the free trial period, so i signed up and put in my credit card info, clicked the button and the page just blinked. Nothing else happened. I didnt get an email or anything to confirm whether or not it went thru. If possible i would like to cancel this subscription immediately since i cant access anything on the website anyway.
Hi Tasha! I sent you a private message here on September 28th requesting more information in order to assist you further. Please reply to my message here, or send us an email to help@scribd.com and our support team is happy to help. Thanks! - Zoë, Scribd Customer Support
I have been a member of Scribd for close to a decade and love the service. I'm a voracious reader and can almost always find the books I want to read. Scribd's recommendation engine alerts me to other interesting books related to ones in my saved queue. They have a large selection of audiobooks, all included in the monthly fee. Their app works well on all my devices and the web. In addition I like that you can upload documents and pdf articles for reading on the site. To my mind, it's a bargain.
A friend bought me a 6 month gift card. I was excited because I read a lot on my nook and it was nice of this person to get me something that I would use. I entered the site and began trying to find books to read. The selection is limited and does not let you preview the books. It takes too much time to find what you are looking for. I could not figure out how to log back on and find the book that I started. I called the person who bought me this giftcard and told them to try and get a refund because I will not be using it. I love my Nook.
Hi Alan, thank you for bringing this to our attention. We're sorry for the trouble you encountered navigating the site. We do offer our full library to view and each book does have a preview period. Someone from our team would be happy to help you out if you're still encountering difficulties and need further help. Feel free to submit a ticket for support here: https://scr.bi/assist -AR
The book selection is like going through a carton at a charity show with most volumes brown at the edges. New books are rarely added and it is impossible to keep track of ones read so it is easy to select the same book twice.
Audio books often play badly and downloaded books mysteriously disappear.
Waste of money
This site charged me twice for a 'free' trial.
They have responded and said that it was just a checking mechanism they have, but I still don't know, the charges have still not be cleared up, so I'm going to wait and update this review if anything changes.
But maybe they should mention this when we are signing up or in the terms and conditions so that it's not such a shock.
Whatever their procedure maybe, they should at least clearly mention this so that new customers aren't intimidated when they sign up.
Hi Divya! We've replied to your support ticket yesterday and once again this morning. Please let us know if you have any other questions. Thanks again! - Zoë, Scribd Customer Support
After my free trial expired I cancel subscription (at least I thought so) but they charged me for 2 more months. I don't think it's fair how they are doing it, but it is my fault that I didn't pay attention to that. Finally, I managed to cancel the subscription but because the card information cannot be deleted I want to delete my account permanently. My problem and reason for the 1 star is that I can't delete my account! I've read ALL the instructions on the internet and FAQ about deleting accounts, but that button just doesn't exist on my Account Setting page. I'm really disappointed and I don't think this is an appropriate way of treating clients!
(I uploaded a screenshot of my account settings page where the button "delete account" is supposed to be.)
Hey there! So sorry for the confusion. The reason you are not seeing the "Delete" button, is because your membership remains active until the end of your paid month. Once this time expires, you'll be able to delete your account. That being said, our support team is more than happy to take care of this for you right away! Please email us at help@scribd.com, then update your review with your ticket number and we'll reach out to you shortly. Thanks!
I had a bad experience with this service - signed up twice by mistake and it took their staff 1 month of email communication to let me know that they won't refund me for paying double fee for almost a year.
In general it's a very useless app, few good books, loads of useless documents and it feels like half of their stuff is uploaded for the "bulk" to make it seem like they have a lot of resources. Trust me, they don't.
I regret signing up for it and paying double for nothing.
Hi Alex - We're very sorry for the trouble here. We see that our Trust & Safety team responded to you on October 3rd, 2019 and processed the maximum amount of refunds that we can issue per our Refund Policy for your duplicate subscription. Please let us know if we can help with anything else. Thanks!
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
Hello Jakob, Sorry to hear about the difficulty you had canceling your account. I would like to confirm the cancellation and address any questions you may have. Please submit a ticket through this link and your request will be escalated straight to my inbox: bit.ly/social-support-help
Thanks! -LC