Shutterstock
Reviews and Complaints

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.

I just wanted to buy 5 pictures from shutterstock and paid $51.70. I took about 2 weeks looking through images on their website until I found the 5 pictures I wanted. I downloaded the 5 pictures on [protected].

Later that day I checked my bank records and saw shutterstock had automatically taken AN ADDITIONAL $51.70 from my bank account. I didn't know that they have a stupid "auto-renewal" policy that charged me a second time for 5 additional images that I don't want! I find these kinds of business practices to be slimy and dishonest. I requested a refund via customer support e-mail. Too early to see if I'll get my money back.

Imagine if grocery stores worked this way; you pay $2.00 for a gallon of milk and they charge you and additional $2.00 for a gallon you don't want and didn't ask for! And if you foolishly pay for and take the second gallon, they "auto-renew" and charge you a third gallon and charge you an additional $2.00. It would never end, and is clearly a dishonest scam.

SHAME ON GREEDY SHUTTERSTOCK MANAGEMENT FOR WRECKING AN OTHERWISE EXCELLENT IMAGE SERVICE!

Yes I agree.
Cancellation fee at shutterstock is ridiculous

The same thing is happening to me. It's outrageous and unethical and I cannot believe this company is allowed to get away with this. All legitimate, decent companies allow you to cancel automatically if you no longer require their services.

I'm facing the same issue. I had no idea I was subscribed to an annual plan. What a scam!

I signed up for an annual plan in Dec. In Jan before the due date, I sent them a mail and they charged me the cancellation fine.And then again charged me for the next month!

When they have already charged me the fine, why arent they closing the account? Why are they charging me again?
I had planned to return to shutterstock in two months time but if this is the way they act, never ever!

Calls to their service center drop and I have to write mails to which they send ambiguous responses.

Stay away! I don't think they care much but make sure you read their terms before subscribing. There are much better options out there with the same content but priced reasonably and with better conditions!
Stuck in an annual subscription and the unused downloads don't even roll over. It's the least they can allow!

It seems the so-called "early cancellation fee" was $100 just 2 months ago, and now in my last call with this call center dude it is $180! In their subscription page they say "10/month", makes you think that you are paying monthly, and under that, with a small, small text they say "29 per month for a year. An early cancellation fee may apply". To me this is very close to fraud.

What's the most absurd part is that when I request to stop my auto-renewal, the gay said "there's no way to stop the auto-renewal, you can only stop it within 30 days before your plan ends, so you'd better keep this noted on your calendar".

Shutterstock, SHAME ON YOU.

WTF 2. Annuler l'abonnement de manière anticipée avec des frais de 20 EUR pour annulation anticipée (égaux au montant que vous avez économisé jusqu'à ce jour avec cet abonnement). Ces derniers seront facturés sur votre moyen de paiement enregistré. Si vous choisissez cette option, veuillez confirmer et je pourrai facturer les frais et annuler votre abonnement.

Totally agree with the above complaints. Scam system and will need to talk to my bank to enforce chargebacks otherwise they just keep billing. Cant turn off auto renewal and emails to them to turn it off are just ignored. Don't join.

Hey folks, wanted to show you all what worked for me.

Not only do they charge you to cancel your account, if you don't use all the images within the time limit, you lose!

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.

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.

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.

Last week, we had 5 fraudulent charges to our account, totaling $1, 365. I was a told the charges would be reversed immediately, but it took their billing department three days to reverse them, so the money was taken from our account already, and will take 5 days to be put back. Meanwhile, I had to call to get the purchases restored that we had actually made. No telling how many others this has happened to or how many times it has gone unnoticed by the consumer.

I just had same thing happen to me on my online Account Now debit card. Same charge of $249. I googled Shutterstock.com and came upon there site: http://footage.shutterstock.com/ and called the number listed. The person who answered call took my info and passed it along to a Christine who called me back. Meantime my bank said that the funds are just on "hold" but still in my account. They said if Shutterstock.com could send a statement on letterhead with my full card number and amount and ask that my bank release the hold, my funds would be available to me by end of business day TODAY. Shutterstock.com would not do this because it isn't part of they're process and that they need to do a "refund" which would not take place til Monday because we were still on the transaction date. The earliest I can have my money back is by Tuesday. I feel further victimized by both Shuterstock and AccounNow for not doing anymore than what they said they could. I was told by a number of people in banking profession that my funds should have been released to me the moment the bank was made aware of this fraudelent activity instead of making the victim - ME, jump through hoops.

I had same unauthorized charge of $ 249.00 in the name of SHUTTERSTOCK.COM NEW YORK on my card.

Report your fraudulent charge, cancel that credit card # now before they hit you again!

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.

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.

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

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

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.

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.
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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

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. :@

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

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.

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.