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1.2 55 Reviews

Shutterstock Complaints Summary

3 Resolved
52 Unresolved
Our verdict: If considering services from Shutterstock with a critical resolution rate, extra caution is advised. Examine detailed customer feedback to understand the severity and nature of unresolved issues. Be prepared for the possibility of unsatisfactory responses and have contingency plans, including seeking assistance from consumer advocacy groups if necessary.
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Shutterstock reviews & complaints 55

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12:55 am EDT

Shutterstock Unauthorised credit card charges

Date : 29.03.2017

Oman,

Phone: +[protected]
My name is Anup it was found that OMR 88.853 has been debited from my BANK MUSCATcredit card on 29th March 2017, I was not using this card from long since and also not purchased any thing from ShutterStock, I need this amount to be credited back to my card at the earliest to avoid any further complication.
Here you go with my card details.

Debited by : STK*SHUTTERSTOCK, INC.
No authorization given.
Card : [protected]

I need a immediate reply for this mail. I am available at [protected]@yahoo.co.in

Anup Balakrishnan

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7:51 pm EST

Shutterstock Auto renewal

I purchased 2 stock photos from shutter stock last year & now they charged my credit card again for "another year of service" - I never signed up for anything yearly, I only purchased a few photos. Apparently they put everyone on AutoRenewal & recharge you each year! Seriously! This is absolute fraud! All I wanted was a few photos for a website... not a headache year after year being scammed by these people!

I will never do business with them EVER AGAIN... and neither should anyone else! it's absolute fraud!

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12:47 pm EST
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Shutterstock - Can't cancel plan

I have registered on Shutterstock for the 1-Year Subscription, Standard License with 750 Downloads per Month - with monthly payment. Due to this, I had a discount. I realised that I don't use so many images and asked them for a solution to get a more affordable plan with less images. Their answer was this: "I checked your account and the charge you're...

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1:49 am EST

Shutterstock They scammed me and stole my money!

I was signed up for this scam and I when I contacted them I told them that I was not interested in their service and did not want to renew my account. Shutterstock assured me that they will not renew my account and that I have nothing to worry about but that was just a scam. Next month I got a charge on my card for an auto renewal of my subscription. I was so angry and demanded all of my money back and even threatened them with the police, but they were so ignorant and simply did not care. They said there was no way they could refund me. What a joke of a company! Don't deal with them if you don't want to be robbed!

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8:04 am EST

Shutterstock Thieves

Do not deal with Shutterstock they are real thieves and they use this well known automatic renewal scam! I used their service only once and next month they charged me again. I tried to get my money back but they refused and said that was impossible. But they promised they will not charge me again, but later I got another charge from them and when I contacted Shutterstock they said it was a renewal fee! Avoid this scam!

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3:59 pm EDT

Shutterstock Auto renewal

In September 2014, I purchased 2 images for my freelance work.

In 2015, I noticed a charge on my credit card. I didn't realized that Auto Renewal is on as a default as soon as I make a purchase. So I made sure that the Auto Renewal was turn off on my account.

Today (September 2016), I saw the charge again on my credit card. When I called in they said there was actually a few steps to turn off the Auto Renewal. I had to answer their surveys to make it effective.

They said they are going to give me refund, but as I am in Canada, I will still be charged for the currency rate.

1. Auto Renewal should NOT be default setting
2. Turning off Auto Renewal should be one step (no trick!)
3. I never received any emails about the renewal

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1:16 am EDT
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Shutterstock Automatic auto renewal on all orders

When purchasing credits on Shutterstock for either images or video clips they automatically opt customers in to auto renew so they are continuously billed until they go into their account and turn auto-renew off.

I wanted 10 video clips which I paid for and downloaded. When I looked at my bank statement I had been billed $528 twice. The reason I was given was my account had got to zero credits and therefore triggered automatic re-billing.

The checked auto renew button is deliberately small and discrete at the bottom of the checkout screen and very easy to miss.

When I spoke to customer support they agreed to reimburse the money and when I asked if a lot of people requested a refund he said 'quite a few do'. When I suggested the practise of automatically opting customers in was at best misleading and at worst completely dishonest, he gave a practised answer of 'Shutterstock is trying to make our customer's lives easier and most customers like the convenience of auto renew'.

The honest and transparent practise would be to ask customers if they want to turn on auto renew at checkout. This would be no less convenient for customers, and would avoid thousands of customers being charged significant amounts without realising they had opted in to continuous billing.

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dyalry
, CA
Oct 06, 2016 6:11 am EDT

I didn't even know there was an auto renewal option until last year. So I turned off the option online thinking that was all I needed to do. But NO I was supposed to answer their 'survey' in order to complete the request. I only found out when they charged me again this year. They are giving me refund, but I still have to pay for the currency difference. I asked them to remove my credit card information and am cancelling the account as soon as I get my refund.

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3:03 am EDT

Shutterstock Fraud

Our bank account was charged £130 and we had not placed any orders. Neither my wife nor I are customers of this company. I rang immediately after I discovered this to tell them - the day after the fraudulent deduction. The man who answered said he had raised 'an account', which would be passed to their billing department. They would then ring me the next day. This has not happened - no-one has contacted us.

He suggested this was simply a typical online fraud from someone accessing my wife's card details. However, no other fraudulent payments have been made against this.

So the facts are that £130 of Shutterstock products ONLY have been fraudulently charged against this card, and they are not contacting to us to explain why or reimburse us.

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2:15 am EDT

Shutterstock Download deadline

I had no idea that there was a deadline to download something! No one said anything about that!
I have purchased an image from Shutterstock but I was in a hurry and decided that I'll download when I return home.
When I came back from work and immediately went online and tried to download the picture. Only then I was told about the deadline and since I missed it I was no longer able to download anything!
Contacted customer service and they refused to refund my money and said that it was fault. Terrible service!

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7:49 am EST
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Shutterstock Images

I signed on to Shutterstock last night to check some images and I always do that as my profession requires. This morning I found out I bought their images and they charged me 49.00 US for nothing. This is simply outrageous. I didn't buy anything (no images, no plan) because I don't need to. When I buy I use my cc, and yesterday, they had my cc number from my past transactions and charged me which is not right. Guys, be careful in signing on in Shutterstock. You can be charged illegally and then become frustrated. They are real crooks.

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A
Adrian Alexandru
, US
Feb 02, 2016 4:55 am EST

Hey Guys,
I personally had the same problem with Shutterstock and was charged for purchases I didn't do. But I needed a workaround because I use stock images daily, this is why we made Dashmote.We combine images from different sources in one search and you don't need subscriptions or credits you, can just buy the images individually. We will add also free content soon, give it a try.

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Josh20
Toronto, CA
Dec 19, 2015 7:54 am EST

They're real crooks. If you google for free images, you find Shutterstock.com. You'll go to that site. And bam. You are trapped this way or that way. There're lots of free image sites. Go there man.

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5:19 am EDT
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Shutterstock Deducting $49

My name is Praseetha S P, it was found that $49 has been debited from my HSBC credit card on 6th May, I was not using this card from long since and also not purchased any thing from ShutterStock, I need this amount to be credited back to my card at the earliest to avoid any further complication.
Here you go with my card details.
Card No- [protected]
Amount- $49
Transaction No- 001635

I need a immediate reply for this mail. I am available at aathi.[protected]@gmail.com

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10:42 am EDT
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Shutterstock Shutterstock is a pyramidal scheme and mock of privacy policy

1. Shutterstock is a pyramidal scheme

The way it works is simple:
You make photograph/video-graph believe they can make a fortune selling their work online through this website. Thousands of amateurs, pro, semi-pro or anybody who believes in it send its pictures for review. Selection is made based on the mood of the day and the dubious competence of the reviewers.
Then the image/footage are online and shutterstock can claim it has millions of pictures online !
Comes the 1st sell: you get between 10 cents up to 10 $ for a picture you have worked on for hours (shooting, processing, photoshop, keywords, submission). Amateurs are happy to sell a bad holiday picture at this ridiculous price. shutterstock won't give you any money until you reach a certain amount (hundreds of $).
Smarter people understand the scam: 90 to 99% of "artists" are there to furnish the gallery. only a tiny minority (always the same) will make money in this pyramidal scheme.
Most of the contributors will sell few pictures, not enough to get a check, not enough to pay for all the cost incurred by their job/hobby anyway.
And you still have some people commenting happily on how they made 300 $ last year on shutterstock allowing others to become millionaires with their work.
Even the clients who buy cheap pictures for low aren't happy since they realise after a while that they can find even cheaper in another pyramidal scheme like i-stock and others.

2. A mock of privacy policy
Shutterstock displays a privacy policy on its website BUT it's onle there for the show. They scorn your rights, your privacy and your confidentiality. Once you have made the mistake to send information, to register, send in data and details, they won't let you remove it, access it, delete it contrary to what is written in their mock policy.
Not only they clearly abuse the current legislation but they abuse their users, clients and contributors.

They feign not to read or heed your mails, warnings and requests. The only way to deal with these people (and they are used about it), is the lawsuit.

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brunocfer
, BR
Mar 07, 2015 8:35 pm EST

Afte buying (and paying) for 5 pictures several months ago, i just got charged for another 5 images in the most hidden scam of auto-renewal i've ever seen. Stay clear from this one. Much better services and transparent billing options around.

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haymant
Bristol, GB
Apr 09, 2015 5:32 am EDT

Hi, it happened to me aswell.
Can i ask for refund?
Also, where to complain about it.
I am based in UK.

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1:53 pm EDT
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Shutterstock Privacy violation

Please don't send any data, information and details to this "organisation". Having done so I regret it. I have sent my details and information in 2012.In 2013 I wanted my details and data to be removed from their systems. Their privacy policy pretends that you can do so but when you write to them to do so, they simply refuse to do it !
I actually ended-up emailing with one of their junior employee pretending that she couldn't do it because the law forbid them to so so. Also asking me to call her to discuss about it. She's based in new york and I live in europe ! She clearly takes people for idiots.
I then directly wrote to her management who ignored my requests. Instead the intern is answering back to me !
I am now in the process to escalate the whole issue to relevant U.S. authorities and the c-level executives of this very low company.
If you are a photograph or a picture buyer, flee this pitiful company. Your data are not safe with them. Contrary to what they pretend, you have no right to access, modify or delete your data afterwards.

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10:56 am EDT
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Shutterstock - unauthorized debit

I found my credit card charged for 1 transactions of $ 249.00 in the name of SHUTTERSTOCK.COM NEW YORK . I know nothing about them as i made no subscriptions or purchases.

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9:10 am EDT
Resolved
The complaint has been investigated and resolved to the customer’s satisfaction.

Shutterstock Terrible company!

I purchased a 1 month shutterstock account (costing $200) because they are one of the biggest stock photo sellers out there, and it seemed alot more economical than IStockphoto which is currently very expensive. Don't get me wrong, they are a great value if you don't mind:

1. Quite a few 'error' situations that arise - some of the photos I tried to download were 'not available' or just plain errored out when I'd attempt to download them. It also sucked up one of my daily points that I was allocated for my 25 downloads a day. When I contacted them about the problem photos, they told me they could 'load them fine and it must just be me'... doubtful.

2. One day after my first complaint about the above, they shut down my account and everytime I tried to download photos a huge FBI warning screenshot came up. The treated me like a CRIMINAL for no reason. I called them and asked what the hell was going on. They said they got a charge back notice from my bank WHICH THEY DID NOT. They never gave me a reason for this 'error' and said 'oops, our mistake' then switched me back on. They also said this happens occasionally on 'various' accounts. What kind of crackheads do they have working for them!?

3. I had ordered a backup CD set before I closed my account (I really had it with their poor customer service). The CD set was supposed to be shipped within 7 days of the end of the 1 month account period ending. 7 days went by, then more days... I emailed them and asked them where my CDs went to! (Almost a month later). They did not give me an explanation and said we will 'reprint' you a set. 7 days later I did get my CD set and 2 of the CDs were severely damaged! (to the point of being unreadable) and it wasn't from shipping either, it was from the poor discs they used that the substrate was flaking off! I called them back on the problem on 3/28/08 and spoke to 'Patrick' who refused to let me speak to a manager and said they can 'reprint' me a set taking another 7 days. I told him this was UNACCEPTABLE and I'd like a refund and my CDs shipped to me FedEx or something. So we'll wait and see if they actually intend to CARE about me as a customer... I seriously doubt it by their track record.

I would think twice before doing business with this weak a*s company.

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pararescue123
Oakton, Virginia, US
Nov 14, 2022 1:16 am EST
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Constant rejection of my photos and videos for dubious reasons, from folks who are (obviously) not real photographers.. No way to appeal. I would swear clear of this site.

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Ms.lll
, US
Mar 08, 2020 1:31 am EST

The customer services of Shutterstock in Singapore is the WORST! The lady Ms An is super rude and has no empathy at all. She not only called the customer unreasonable and she hung up on the customer. During the whole conversation, she didn't care at all about the customer's opinion and didnt let the customer talk. I'm so disappointed.

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kimmiebebe
, US
Oct 07, 2019 12:21 pm EDT

the service can't be download or use . thief and scam

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Joe Savery
, US
Apr 10, 2019 4:39 am EDT

I recently downloaded the marl seamless pattern ref number [protected] that doesn't seamlessly match up when working with the swatch in illustrator

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nell pivo
, US
Apr 09, 2019 3:40 pm EDT

I had a bad experience. with this company in which I would not recommend to anyone. Not understanding that I could only down load 5 photos for $49.00, I downloaded 14 in which I will be only possibly using one that worked out with my project. I was billed an additional $49.00 for additional photos. I called and customer service was not helpful and would not credit my account and it did not matter that I did not understand that an additional charge would not be made if you were downloading the same photo. It was not clear in the language. I will do my business elsewhere.

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Mich1234
, US
Sep 20, 2018 2:21 pm EDT
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Has anyone gotten this email?

This seems very sketchy as this is my personal business and I am the only person who works in the business. I will be using the images for the businesses social media and website only, not any client work. It seems like they are trying to get more money out of me even though I have already paid close to $800 for images already. I didn't see any "Business License" sign up when I chose the original account. There was only individual or multi-user options...

As well he says they have been getting alerts about multi-user sessions yet I have been the only person on the account on the exact same computer.

Please help! I can't afford to pay more money to this company. This is extremely frustrating and would highly recommend not using this company. They are very sneaky and greedy.
--

I hope you’re doing well.

My name is Jay Martinez and I am your new Licensing Solutions Manager here at Shutterstock. I wanted to reach out on behalf of my team to review your current account and license.

We've noticed that your business/organization is utilizing the images from a personal account and is not registered with us under a Business Agreement/Business License . Currently, you’re set up with a single user personal license which means there is only one person allowed to utilize and is responsible for downloading/working with the copyrighted material under their name/assets.

We're concerned that your license isn’t covering your business and the unregistered/unauthorized people that may be accessing this type of license.

I look forward to discussing this with you because there are some irregularities that need attention as soon as possible to avoid issues with the current terms of service. We have been receiving alerts due to multiple user sessions and we're concerned about getting the right license and protection for you and your company.

Could you help me better understand the workflow, image use, and team size?

1) How images are used (i.e., web or print, packaging, billboards, merchandise, etc.)

2) What's your current workflow (number / roles of people who work on images on your company's behalf)?

3) How many images (and/or video clips) do you think your business will need for upcoming projects within the next 12 months?

I look forward to working with you to make sure you are properly covered for your needs.

Further licensing information:

Your company will benefit from a business license since your creative team will be covered to work with the images. When switching to a business license, all images will be registered to and become assets of your company in perpetuity.

Another important aspect is that, much like software licensing, your current account is personal, even if purchased by and for the company. As per the Terms of Service, the user can’t share images or store them on DAMs or similarly networked folders because other employees are not licensed to use images from this account.

The individual listed on this account is also personally liable for any licensing repercussions.

We offer worry-free licensing and I’d like to present you with a solution which will take care of all these issues. With the annual business license, you’ll have the same download flexibility. The account with all images will be licensed and registered to the company; all liabilities will fall under said organization. The license will also enable multi-users and have business-appropriate indemnification.

Kind regards,

Jay Martinez

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Sujith Babu
, US
Sep 02, 2018 1:46 am EDT

How dare you upload indian map without Jammu & Kashmir? dont you know this is against the law? ill sue you for sure . ill raise a complaint againts you in the court. how dare you approve this image? remove all incomplete indian maps as soon as possible or this is going to get serious. :@

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Shubham khot
, IN
Aug 20, 2018 9:52 am EDT

I was by mistaking type wrong birth date i.e 18 years.this is my huge mistake i am accepting that but i have completed the 18 year, Now i am 19 year old.
Please receive my complaint and enable my account
My account is shubhamkhot25@gmail.com

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lesaha23
, US
Feb 26, 2018 3:07 pm EST

I purchased a package from shutterstock. I use a bunch of places to purchase photos. When I went through a google search to find some images, it lead me to shutterstock. Here they told me that there were free downloads. Well, nothing is free. Everytime I looked at a picture I was intersted, it said it was free. What I didn't know is that they were charging my credit card, even though it is not saved in my profile. Instead of asking me to repurchase a package or credits like most photo places, it kept charging my credit card that it had from a month prior. I think that it's deceitful and non-transparent. I tried to contact them about it and they sent a form letter and never called me back. I tried to stop payment and was told becaue there was a delivery and I can't return it I have no recourse. I wish I could report them, but I don't know where or how effective that will be. Meanwhile, I'm out $200. I don't even want these photos.

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Blaise Samoy
, US
Oct 02, 2016 7:06 am EDT

This company is using the old autorenew technique without your consent and when they autorenew your membership (229 $), they certainly do not inform you by email.

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