Scribd

I opened a free trial on their website (not through itunes.) It said I had until March 12,2017 to cancel. On March 11,2017 at 7pm I checked my bank account and saw that I had already been charged! I went to cancel and found out I could not cancel until April 12. I still went through the process of canceling (yes you have to click through about 10 pages and find teeny tiny little font that says I STILL WANT TO CANCEL) it said my account would end on April 12, rather than the next day, March 12, when my free trial was over or that same day, March 11 when I wanted to cancel.

I contacted Scribd support on March 11 when all of this was happening and have yet to hear a single thing back from them. Now I am worried my card will get charged again since people say they are mysteriously being charged over and over again. PLEASE STAY AWAY FROM THIS SITE. THERE IS NOTHING ON THERE THAT IS WORTH A PREMIUM MEMBERSHIP THAT YOU CANNOT GET ELSEWHERE!

And since they apparently have customer service people that respond to THESE message boards (rather than their own customer service emails) I am writing this review... and adding my support ticket number.

Support ticket #*******
Email *******@gmail.com

GET AHOLD OF ME SCRIBD

May-20 Thank you for using your Debit Card XX3806 for a transaction of Rs. 840.08 at Scribd Netherlands BV on 24-05-2020 00:29:29 IST.
Jun-20 Thank you for using your Debit Card XX3806 for a transaction of Rs. 842.94 at Scribd Netherlands BV on 24-06-2020 00:29:31 IST.
Jul-20 Thank you for using your Debit Card XX3806 for a transaction of Rs. 827.26 at Scribd on 24-07-2020 00:29:28 IST.
Aug-20 Thank you for using your Debit Card XX3806 for a transaction of Rs. 828.83 at Scribd on 24-08-2020 00:29:42 IST.
Sep-20 Thank you for using your Debit Card XX3806 for a transaction of Rs. 813.70 at Scribd on 24-09-2020 00:29:29 IST.
Oct-20 Thank you for using your Debit Card XX3806 for a transaction of Rs. 815.56 at Scribd on 24-10-2020 00:29:30 IST.
Nov-20 Thank you for using your Debit Card XX3806 for a transaction of Rs. 819.99 at Scribd on 24-11-2020 00:29:33 IST.
Jan-21 Thank you for using your Debit Card XX3806 for a transaction of Rs. 807.86 at Scribd on 24-01-2021 00:29:30 IST.
Feb-21 Thank you for using your Debit Card XX3806 for a transaction of Rs. 802.24 at Scribd on 24-02-2021 00:29:29 IST.
Mar-21 Thank you for using your Debit Card XX3806 for a transaction of Rs. 801.32 at Scribd on 24-03-2021 00:29:31 IST.
Apr-21 Thank you for using your Debit Card XX3806 for a transaction of Rs. 833.50 at Scribd on 24-04-2021 00:29:31 IST.
May-21 Thank you for using your Debit Card XX3806 for a transaction of Rs. 807.57 at Scribd on 24-05-2021 00:29:31 IST.
Jul-21 Thank you for using your Debit Card XX3806 for a transaction of Rs. 823.53 at Scribd on 24-07-2021 00:29:31 IST.
Sep-21 Thank you for using your Debit Card XX3806 for a transaction of Rs. 816.90 at Scribd on 24-09-2021 00:29:30 IST.

So, a month or so ago, I subscribed for the Scribd free membership trial, thinking that I might need it. In the duration that I had my free trial, I looked up only one book for some research work I was doing. I was informed via notification when I signed up for the free trial, that I would be charged money if I continued with my account from 5 November onwards (when my free trial ended, and my first paid month began). I was sadly mistaken - Scribd, when compared to other sites, is utterly useless. Today is 5 November, 2019. I just got a message around an hour ago ago, saying that I have been charged INR 636.16 from my debit card, for the Scribd membership. I was not asked if I wanted to continue, or informed just before this happened, that it was about to happen. A warning beforehand would have been nice. I would have cancelled my membership immediately, before the amount could have been deducted from my account. My money has been deducted from my account without my explicit and express permission. Regardless, since I have not used Scribd services for the paid month that begins today, I have spent the majority of the past hour, trying to get a refund by contacting Scribd support, but every time I press the link to do so, I get a notification telling me that I must verify my account by activating the link Scribd has sent to my registered email account, which I will receive atmost within ten minutes. I have pressed the resend button multiple times, and gotten no link - and its clearly been more than ten minutes. I tried changing my email address thinking that that might work, but it has been to no avail. I still have not received the link. I have not used Scribd's services and I want my money back. I want it back immediately.

Yes, there's a great choice of books and more unusual titles than you might expect. So I tried the 30 day 'unlimited ' reading trial. I chose a few ebooks, thoroughly enjoyed reading ONE of them, had a quick look at a couple more and after that could not access any of the chosen titles, except the few I'd had a quick peak at. Apparently they'd all suddenly become 'unavailable' at the same time until, you guessed it, a date one day beyond the time when I'd have to pay. A lame notification explained that this was unfortunate but unavoidable because of publishers etc etc A$13.99 a month is a lot in times of financial struggle AND I don't get to keep ANY of my downloaded books if I discontinue the subscription! I can get by using Amazon ( which I philosophically despise with a passion and was hoping to get rid of and replace with Scribd) without paying A$13+ per month for ebooks.
At the very least the promise of "unlimited" reading on the free trial is false advertising, at worst it's a SCAM!
Some of the Ebooks are in tiny font and cannot be enlarged. The Ebooks where print can be enlarged do not go big enough for me to read without glasses, which is why I need to enlarge the font in the first place.
Look for free books on Amazon, the Internet Archive and the Gutenberg Press and AVOID Scribd!

1. I have read most of the other reviews here and agree with them all.
2. Scribd, you could do yourself a very positive benefit if you A. State up front that what you offer is a streaming service. ( not hid this in you FAQ, and leave it to subscribers to work that out, after you has siphoned off 1 or several months subscription fees. B. Deliver what you advise, simple and clearly if its a free trail, should not require a credit card subscription.
3. For the benefit of others, I will summarize my experience with Scibd.

Took up the 30 day trail on 1 Sept 2017. Noted on same day that the PDF I was searching for was not in Scibd inventory, despite being lead to their site by my search engine, suggesting I would find it there... Unlike others, I didnt provide my CC details, instead, I download the IOS app to enable viewing the catalogue.
Once I confirmed ( on the same day) this site didnt have what I required I reviewed the FAQ and attempted both suggested methods to cancel the subscription ( Device and iTunes, both of which didnt work). I contacted Scribd support team (via email) and explained this to Ben (case number # *******) who stated he/they could not do anything, as I didnt subscribe directly with them, but had subscribed via Apple and that Apple had to cancel the subscription. Ben was kind enough to provide a link to Apples subscription. It this time I was over it, I only came back to the topic after noticing subscription fees on my CC. Once reminded of the Scribd subscription, I cancelled via Apple as suggested by Ben, but by this time 3 months had past. Upon cancelling I learnt that I had 9 book & 3 audio credits. Having been charged for these I decided take up the credits, 1 book and 3 audio. As I have limited internet access I downloaded them to enable listening and reading offline. I found it odd that every time I accessed the downloaded content ( with internet disabled) it would respond, stating I was offline and could not access the content. Once I connected and opened the content then disconnect from the internet, I could continue to access the offline content. ( this would suggest that Scribd are conducting an account subscription validation each time you access the offline content, to ensure you still have a paid up account.)
All was working fine until I received a message from Apple advising me that my subscription was to end on 31 Dec 2017. I understood this, as I had cancelled my subscription, as mentioned above) The hook came on January 1 2018, when I could no longer access any content and was being prompted to renew my subscription.
SUMMARY. Poor ethical responsibility Scribd.