Shutterstock

This company does not allow you to cancel an auto renewal annual plan until the month that the annual plan is up. I had contacted them last year and they told me I had to wait until the renewal month. I once again forgot to do it on the renewal month and now they want to charge a $20 a month cancellation fee. They do not allow the user to change auto renewals on the subscription plan which is a deceptive way to hope the user forgets and then is stuck in another contract. They have taken over $360 from us as we have no need for the service. They want to steal from their consumers if not they would allow a simple to way to cancel auto renewals and then not penalize if they forgot.

I have fallen into the Shutterstock auto renew scam, whereby on the pretext of a free trial, I was made to hand over my card details to get "one month" free. I found the service much less convenient than the COMPLETELY FREE services I have used in the past so went to cancel before the first month was up. To my horror, I discovered that I have entered into a one-year subscription which I cannot cancel online without going through Shutterstock's support system (Along with all the other poor souls who have been tricked in the same way). If this wasn't bad enough, not only is it impossible for me to cancel my subscription or even delete my account online without going through Shutterstock's customer services team, I also discovered the other sneaky part of this scam: I have already been billed, four days before my "free" month ends. This "free" month is not free at all, and this is a breach of contract on Shutterstock's part. I cannot believe such a well known household name such as Shutterstock can act in such an unscrupulous manner towards potential new customers. My Shutterstock user ID is:

I have opened an account in 2012. I worked very hard. I had many hundreds thausends works. I had many photographs but mainly I had textures. My textures were selling very well. My main source of income was from SS. On march ***. I got an email where SS is telling me that my account has been terminated for similars. No warning, no nothing. Since than I am trying to talk to someone. I am trying to explain that I did not deserve such a strict punishment.Why deleting the whole portfolio. Above all I can not open another account. 8 years of work, dedication, my time. SS also had a good profit from my account.. I did not copied anyones work. I did not steal anyones work. I must say that they erased my whole 8-years work videos, photographs, vektors, textures wich were not similar and forbiten me to work further. All those works were accepted by their reviewers, and now I am punisheed for that with such strict punisment without any warning or chance to improve. Many contributers have similar works and thay are still working or their portfolio was lower down but nobody was erased complently like they erased me, with no posibility to work futher.And once again all those texures were accepted by their reviewers so why punishing me so stricly.
Hopefully, with respect

This company has been charging me for four months even after I cancelled my trial membership within the allotted time. Whatever you do, do not sign up for shutterstock. Scammy, pathetic company who offered no help on the phone. Shutterstock's entire business model is built on running up people's cards past trial memberships whether they have cancelled or not because most people don't even realize they are being charged. You know a company is worthless when their entire business model is built on scamming people instead of providing a valuable service. As I explained to them on the phone, I only signed up for the trial membership which I cancelled soon after. Since then, I haven't even logged on to their site in the past four months. That didn't stop them from stealing my money or refusing do give it back. I urge all consumers to protect themselves from this despicable company.

Early February 2020: Contacted Shutterstock by email ( twice ) to deleted my account so I would not be charged on my Visa because I did not like their services. I never heard back from shuttestock at all. I was charged $42.44 in Canadian funds today on my Visa.

I signed up for a free month trial and did not find the product useful. I intended to cancel but they billed me early. I was billed for a second month and tried to cancel. There is no way to cancel online. When I called, they asked for my credit card number to verify my account. I asked for an alternative way to verify because that seemed strange. They would not provide an alternative way and told me to email them. I emailed them but have not heard back.

I did not sign up for this service, could not find any record of a confirmation email, yet random $29.00 charges began to be charged to my debit card. I tried to recover my password with my email, my husband's email to login to an account, but my email address wasn't recognized further verifying I never actually created an account. When I reached out to customer service, they said the only way they could pull up my account and information was with my credit card information. I was never able to get them to cancel my account, and I had to cancel my debit card and file a complaint with my bank to freeze the card.

I would give them 0 stars if I could. I signed up for a "free" trial. I cancelled before the end of my trial period. However, I did not look at my credit card statements carefully enough & I discovered that they were still charging my $30/mo -- 6 months later!! I have paid $180 for the use of a single photo!! When I called to ask about this, the rep said that I never paid the "$20 cancellation fee". I never received notice of a $20 cancellation fee, which makes it very hard to pay it. He wouldn't refund me the $180 & said there was nothing further he could to about it. STAY AWAY FROM SHUTTERSTOCK!

I was trying to download a single image and Shutterstock made me create an account. It was offering one month free with 10 free downloads. Before 1st month was over I tried cancelling, and the website gave me the run around. I have called and I can never get through to them. It's very disappointing. Plus I been getting charged monthly for something I'm not using.

I initially signed up for the account during the free trial with the impression that I was able to cancel my account prior to my free trial ending. It appears that I was already charged for the service before to my first month ended! On top of that, I now find out exactly how difficult it is to get my account canceled - there is no clear way to do this and its and endless circle that just goes back to their Help page. I fear there will be a massive CANCELATION FEE for services I haven't and won't be using! This company is completely unethical and should be avoided at all costs. They do NOT make it clear at all when you sign up!

they advertise "30 day free trial" and charged my account at 24 days.
It is impossible to contact them to cancel account or resolve a problem.
They do not answer phone or email.

Their "free trial" for a subscription is downright predatory. No reminders, and no easy "click here." No, you have to contact Customer Service and that takes forever for a response.

I wanted to get some free pictures. So I searched, and I found the "Shutterstock site". I tried to get some pictures, but I could not because if I get pictures I need to sign up. But there was a trick, which means Shutterstock gave me a free option. So, I signed up, and I downloaded 10 pictures from Shutterstock. But the free option was a yearly plan which I cannot cancel. I think it tricked me into signing up, so I was forced to use a year plan that I really never wanted to use. Several times I tried to cancel the plan, but I could not because there was no option to cancel. They should give me an option to cancel it.

I initially signed up for the account during the free trial with the impression that I was able to cancel my account prior to my free trial ending. When I went to check my credit card statement, it appears that I was already charged for the service before I had the opportunity to cancel prior to my first month ending! On top of that, I now find out exactly how difficult it is to get my account canceled AND there will be a massive CANCELATION FEE for services I won't be using! This company is completely unethical and should be avoided at all costs. They do NOT make it clear to you when you sign up!

Shutterstock charging me for unused services from 2017, which has only been brought to light as of today after being charged £34.95 qaurterly over two years.

They have refused to refund any of it except for the latest payment taken.

I've communicated with Shutterstock about leaving automatic renewals turned off. There is no warning, and no indication in my profile or package details that I will be charged $229 for a package purchased last year that auto renewed. This is a very sneaky and deceptive practice. Auto renew should default to OFF. At the very least, there should be a reminder that the charge is coming so a customer has the opportunity to fix it before a charge is made. How is this practice legal? The auto renew button that defaults to ON can very easily be missed by a consumer. A year later there is a surprise charge! Very very dishonest business strategy Shutterstock.

I am on a one month free trial ending on 6/*/2020 but I have been billed £22.80 GDP today, (3/*/2020) and entered into a year contract without my knowledge. I wanted to cancel before a subscripton started, I have attempted to contact the support team but the website will not let me cancel. If I was able to cancel they would charge me a cancelation fee for a contract I did not agree to enter.

I signed up for Shutterstock with the 1-month free promotion. When I was on the page to sign up, it mentioned that the subscription could be canceled before the end of the trial at no cost, but that cancelling after the end of the trial could result in a cancellation fee (without specifying that it is, apparently, $130 according to a friend of mine). I was considering cancelling after I used up my 10 downloads for the trial, but then I decided that maybe I'd go ahead and keep the subscription, because I liked what I got and I found some great artists there.

So tonight after I get off from work, I go to log into my account and I get a message stating that the password/email is incorrect. I try again. And then I get this message: "This account has been disabled. Please contact your organization..."

Um, what? Seriously? Just when I'd decided to keep my subscription! With shady business practices like that, I am no longer interested in the subscription, so that's just fine. As long as I don't get charged for a service I suddenly am no longer allowed to use, with NO warning, not so much as an email or an explanation. What I'm worried about is that I will be charged anyway. I'm just appalled by this.

Shutterstock, you've lost a customer.

Upon signing up for a free trial, it became apparent that I could not cancel during the free trial on my own. I attempted to email Shutterstock from their website, which has not worked. I have also attempted to call and have had no luck getting through to anyone. With no communication, I see that my card has been charged for $31.39 on an auto-renew that I still cannot turn off. This is absolutely stupid.

FREE TRIAL ADVERTISED. AFTER MONTH FREE, AUTO-BILLING SET UP FOR AN ACCOUNT THAT NOT ONLY CHARGES YOU FOR A MONTH, BUT A CANCELLATION FEE OF $20/MONTH. WEBSITE STATES CONTRACT ENDS 1/, SHUTTERSTOCK INSTEAD BILLS ON 1/. SINGLE BUTTON CLICK TO SIGN UP FOR A FREE TRIAL. NO WAY TO CLOSE ACCOUNT OR UNSUBSCRIBE WITH A SINGLE CLICK. INSTEAD FORCED TO EITHER CHAT/EMAIL/OR CALL. FOR CHAT: THEY WANT TO HAVE YOUR CREDIT CARD# TO BILL YOU ADDITIONAL $20/MONTH, WILL NOT CLOSE ACCOUNT. EMAIL: THEY SAY THEY WILL CLOSE YOUR ACCOUNT AND ALLEVIATE CANCELLATION FEES, BUT TRICK IS -THEY ALREADY BILLED YOU FOR MONTH YOU WILL NOT BE USING (1/) AHEAD OF TIME. CALL: CONVENIENTLY THEY ARE CLOSED ON THE WEEKENDS WHEN YOU NEED TO CLOSE YOUR ACCOUNT BEFORE FURTHER CHARGES.