ShutterstockReviews 532

I just called the support line due to the 3 charges of $29 that were charged in the month of June. I only have a $29 per month fee authorized. The customer service agent, Joe indicated that one of those charges was a manual download and one was an auto renewal' of the manual download. I indicated that this was completely unwarranted and I did not need an auto renewal. The agent refused to refund the amount. I asked to speak to a manager and was told one was not available. I asked to cancel my monthly subscription due to the unfair billing and was informed that this was not possible and I would have to call back otherwise would have to pay a cancellation fee. I was unaware that the billing was a commitment and was informed that this was on the purchase page that I completed years ago. The company has never sent another email indicating that there would be a renewal since then. I decided then that I did not want anything to do with shutterstock and would be willing to absorb the cancellation fee so I would not have to deal with them again.

I am amazed that a company would engage in such underhanded billing techniques and also such poor customer service. For a dispute over $29, the customer service agent forced me to cancel my subscription for the entire year and basically resulted in lost revenue per month for many years to come.

Needed an image for a non-profit organization. The least expensive option was what we thought was a one month/10 image plan for $40. The board decided that it was acceptable for full license to a single image we wanted for advertising. However, once we got the image we realized we had not just signed up for a one month/10 image plan, but we signed up for a year long program with an early cancellation fee that was more than the monthly fee. Spoke with "customer(un)service", and they could do nothing but charge the early cancellation fee. Asked to talk to a supervisor, however was informed they could not change anything. Then we indicated we would be contacting our credit card company to report fraud and suddenly they could cancel the plan with no early cancellation fee. DO NOT PURCHASE ANYTHING FROM SHUTTERSTOCK. There are much better options!

Do NOT go with Shutterstock. I have been paying Shutterstock $31+ per month... only used 3-4 images in the past 3 months. Tried to cancel and was told it would cost me $80 to cancel... then suddenly, when I got mad, he (Afaque) told me that it would cost me $20 to unsubscribe... they would give me "a break" on the cancellation fee. I was unable to get into my account to cancel my credit card. TOTAL SCAM! DO NOT USE. They suck. Stay away from them. They are unscrupulous, Worst site ever!

Had to pay them close to $200 to cancel two annual contracts (have more than one work email) that I do not recall asking for in the first place. When I reviewed our account, found out we were paying for 3 plans that were all set to "auto renew" monthly. 2 were annual plans. Confusing pricing and "plans" with the terms hidden in fine print. Tbh, I think they are counting on you not to notice and/or to be too busy to review your account. It's very easy to get on 'auto renew' then just keep paying even when you do not even use their service.

This Shutterstock is a scam.
I am a contributor and suddenly I cannot get into my account to upload photos, none of my login details have changed.
They don't even recognise my email address when I try to change my password and I have tried different email addresses, in case I have used the wrong one. The password is correct.
I have requested my earnings so far and to demand they remove my photos as I do not want them making money off my photos as I do not want to deal with them anymore as all I make is 19p (GBP) per photo sold.
All this by email and all I get, if I get anything back, is someone who gives me the usual 'have you gone to the correct site'.
Yes I am on the correct site.
I just wish I'd have checked their reviews before I signed with them.
I will expose these scammers and the people who defend them.

On what planet do you think it's ok to automatically charge me again for the image I already purchased? Number of downloads is not a commodity. You completely lost a customer and I'll be sure to tell everyone of my clients to never use you again. You want deceptive practices? Be prepared to pay the price in massive customer loss. Idiots.

Shutterstock has deceptive advertisements, they don't clearly state the cancellation costs. Stay away from their annual plans, they will charge you cancellation fees that are not clearly stated.

Once you subscribe an annual plan until the last month of your subscription you can not turn of your auto renewal. As a user you can't control your renewal option of your plans they control it.

Bad customer service support. Before subscribing to any plans be very careful, ask a lot of questions, if possible avoid and go for an alternative option to shutterstock because you will be safer