Author Topic: Everyone, stop contributing...SS is literally stealing from customers now (Read 7042 times)

rcnyc · « **on:** August 16, 2023, 16:31 »

I know that old habits die hard and that people are relying on SS for income. But just know that over the past year or so, SS has been literally scamming customers.

Scam #1: Customers are misled into thinking that if they sign up for a one month trial, they'll be billed monthly afterward. Instead, they are billed for the entire year. When they try to cancel, they're hit with a massive cancellation fee.

Scam #2: Customers are misled into thinking that cancellation is hassle free. Instead, customers continue to get billed the annual fee.

You can read complaints here: https://www.trustpilot.com/review/www.shutterstock.com

I know that user review sites don't tend to be reliable, but customers were angry enough to file complaints with the BBB: https://www.bbb.org/us/ny/new-york/profile/digital-media/shutterstock-inc-0121-81420/customer-reviews

Photobomb · « **Reply #1 on:** August 16, 2023, 16:59 »

Customers have been complaining about this for years.

Evaristo tenscadisto · « **Reply #2 on:** August 16, 2023, 17:40 »

Quote from: rcnyc on August 16, 2023, 16:31

I know that old habits die hard and that people are relying on SS for income. But just know that over the past year or so, SS has been literally scamming customers.

Scam #1: Customers are misled into thinking that if they sign up for a one month trial, they'll be billed monthly afterward. Instead, they are billed for the entire year. When they try to cancel, they're hit with a massive cancellation fee.

Scam #2: Customers are misled into thinking that cancellation is hassle free. Instead, customers continue to get billed the annual fee.

You can read complaints here: https://www.trustpilot.com/review/www.shutterstock.com

I know that user review sites don't tend to be reliable, but customers were angry enough to file complaints with the BBB: https://www.bbb.org/us/ny/new-york/profile/digital-media/shutterstock-inc-0121-81420/customer-reviews

I don't use SS much often... Actually i don't like them for contributor reasons. Anyway I think I bought 3 or 4 clips from them since pandemic.
I was curious so I just tried to sign up for the free trial to see what you were talking. When i click the sign up free trial, where you fill up the credit card info it is explained in order summary, on the right side the following (written in small letters):

"FLEX 10 Annual Subscription, Monthly. By signing up for a free trial of an annual subscription plan, you agree that Shutterstock will automatically charge the monthly subscription fee €29 to your payment method every month for 12 months until your subscription has expired, unless you cancel before the end of your free trial.By purchasing you agree to the Shutterstock License Agreement, or a separate written agreement in effect with Shutterstock."

I am not really a subscription person since i shop my clips around all microstock sites but i don't see the "scam" the reviewers were talking only contract written in small letters. Maybe they update this info Order summary in last 10 days.

Best lesson i learn here i would say to avoid subscriptions plans in everything I can and nothing is free specially trials where we must put our credit card info.

rcnyc · « **Reply #3 on:** August 16, 2023, 20:27 »

Quote from: PhotoBomb on August 16, 2023, 16:59

Customers have been complaining about this for years.

I don't think the issues have been this brazen. But even so, why associate with a company like this?

rcnyc · « **Reply #4 on:** August 16, 2023, 20:31 »

Quote from: Evaristo tenscadisto on August 16, 2023, 17:40

"FLEX 10 Annual Subscription, Monthly. By signing up for a free trial of an annual subscription plan, you agree that Shutterstock will automatically charge the monthly subscription fee €29 to your payment method every month for 12 months until your subscription has expired, unless you cancel before the end of your free trial.By purchasing you agree to the Shutterstock License Agreement, or a separate written agreement in effect with Shutterstock."

The scam is in the wording. It's deliberately ambiguous. The bolded part makes it sound as if someone will be charged monthly, not the full annual price up front.

Evaristo tenscadisto · « **Reply #5 on:** August 16, 2023, 23:23 »

Quote from: rcnyc on August 16, 2023, 20:31

Quote from: Evaristo tenscadisto on August 16, 2023, 17:40
"FLEX 10 Annual Subscription, Monthly. By signing up for a free trial of an annual subscription plan, you agree that Shutterstock will automatically charge the monthly subscription fee €29 to your payment method every month for 12 months until your subscription has expired, unless you cancel before the end of your free trial.By purchasing you agree to the Shutterstock License Agreement, or a separate written agreement in effect with Shutterstock."

The scam is in the wording. It's deliberately ambiguous. The bolded part makes it sound as if someone will be charged monthly, not the full annual price up front.

OK thanks I understand now. I also got the idea that it would be billed monthly and not a one off annual payment.

So if I understood correctly in this case it is a matter of purchasing a subscription service valid for 12 months and not a 1 month subscription service with automatic revalidation for 12 months although they present the idea that it is the second through so-called "dirty" marketing.

Normally when we press the "proceed to checkout" button we are taken to a page where the total amount to be paid appears to validate with a code sent to smartphone before the payment is actually made. It is at this time of payment that the total value and VAT for the purchase must appear, which differs greatly from €29 to €348. Anyway, the total amount to be paid should appear on the page where we entered the card data.

It sounds like a desperate move by SS to sell subscriptions. I'm curious to see the company's next report as the shares fall in the last 6 months from $76 to $42.

kuriouskat · « **Reply #6 on:** August 17, 2023, 01:59 »

Quote from: rcnyc on August 16, 2023, 20:31

Quote from: Evaristo tenscadisto on August 16, 2023, 17:40
"FLEX 10 Annual Subscription, Monthly. By signing up for a free trial of an annual subscription plan, you agree that Shutterstock will automatically charge the monthly subscription fee €29 to your payment method every month for 12 months until your subscription has expired, unless you cancel before the end of your free trial.By purchasing you agree to the Shutterstock License Agreement, or a separate written agreement in effect with Shutterstock."

The scam is in the wording. It's deliberately ambiguous. The bolded part makes it sound as if someone will be charged monthly, not the full annual price up front.

On the sign up page, for subscription packages, (as opposed to one off purchases), I get the option to select the following:

Annual - billed monthly (Default option)
Annual - billed upfront
Monthly - no contract

When selected, each option clearly states what I will be charged, and when.

Are other people seeing something different to this?

Her Ugliness · « **Reply #7 on:** August 17, 2023, 02:01 »

Quote from: rcnyc on August 16, 2023, 16:31

When they try to cancel, they're hit with a massive cancellation fee.

This is not a scam, but customers and people who want free images not reading the terms correctly or at all.

There really is not much text on the registration page to read, but it does mention the cancellation fee.

I do not understand why people have so much problem understanding the problem here: If you sign up for a yearly subscription (And yes, It IS mentioned on the page where you sign up for the trail that if you do not cancel before the trial period is over, it will become an annual commitment!), you get charged less per month than you would have been charged if you sign up for a monthly subscription that you can cencel after each month. The yearly subscription is cheaper than the monthly subscription.
However, if you want to cancel before the year is over, you are basically asking for a mothly subscription for the cheaper price of the yearly subscription. The moment you agreed to that cheaper yearly subscription price you comitted for a whole year and if you want out eralier, Shutterstock will basically charge you the money that you got as a discount for getting a yearly subscription - but then cancelling the subscription before the year is over, as if you had a monthly subscription.

All that is really happening is that Shutterstock is taking away a discount they gave you under the condition that you subscribe for a year. You break that condition and they want back the discount as cancellation fee.

You cannot have a monthly subscription for the price of a yearly subscription.

I don't have pity with all the angry reviewers on Trustedpilot. It is very clear that most of these people just wanted the free images and didn't read any of the conditions, so thought they'd just get 10 free images because Shutterstock was such a generous agency that just likes to give away free images without any personal gain and didn't even read the part where they had to cancel the subscription at all. And once they found out the trial was automatically turned into a yearly sbscription as they had not canceled in time, they wanted out of the deal - and that's where the cancellation fee comes in place, because they agreed to a yearly comitment.

RalfLiebhold · « **Reply #8 on:** August 17, 2023, 03:56 »

Quote from: Her Ugliness on August 17, 2023, 02:01

Quote from: rcnyc on August 16, 2023, 16:31
When they try to cancel, they're hit with a massive cancellation fee.

This is not a scam, but customers and people who want free images not reading the terms correctly or at all.

There really is not much text on the registration page to read, but it does mention the cancellation fee.

[/b]

I agree and also feel a certain gloating. The negative reviewers are almost exclusively customers who do not want to pay anything for the products - our products - from the outset.

I don't mind if they go directly to the free agencies.

rcnyc · « **Reply #9 on:** August 17, 2023, 06:12 »

Quote from: Her Ugliness on August 17, 2023, 02:01

Quote from: rcnyc on August 16, 2023, 16:31
When they try to cancel, they're hit with a massive cancellation fee.

This is not a scam, but customers and people who want free images not reading the terms correctly or at all.

No.

This is exactly what is says on the US SS page:

Quote

To cancel during your free trial period, visit the Plans page. If you do not cancel within the free trial period, your annual commitment will begin and you will be charged monthly.

This is deliberately ambiguous. It says that customers will be committed to a full year subscription, but says they'll be charged monthly, as in, they will get a monthly charge on their credit card, Paypal, etc. Not, "They will be charged the entire year's sub as soon as the free trial expires."

So, what SS is doing is misleading customers into thinking that if they sign up for a free trial on the annual subscription, they'll just be billed monthly. Instead, they're being forced to pay the entire year up front when the free trial ends. There is absolutely nothing legal about this practice. It's a scam to trick customers into thinking they'll get billed monthly, shocking them with an annual bill, and then telling them they have to pay a fee for canceling their commitment.

No amount of doubletalking erases the fact that SS is using flim-flam techniques to get $80 out of people by confusing them into thinking they'll be billed monthly. You talk about people trying to get "free images." You don't seem to see this the other way around, that it's SS creating a fake free trial in order to get $80 out of the customers who decide not to sign up.

rcnyc · « **Reply #10 on:** August 17, 2023, 06:25 »

Quote from: Evaristo tenscadisto on August 16, 2023, 23:23

Quote from: rcnyc on August 16, 2023, 20:31
Quote from: Evaristo tenscadisto on August 16, 2023, 17:40
"FLEX 10 Annual Subscription, Monthly. By signing up for a free trial of an annual subscription plan, you agree that Shutterstock will automatically charge the monthly subscription fee €29 to your payment method every month for 12 months until your subscription has expired, unless you cancel before the end of your free trial.By purchasing you agree to the Shutterstock License Agreement, or a separate written agreement in effect with Shutterstock."

The scam is in the wording. It's deliberately ambiguous. The bolded part makes it sound as if someone will be charged monthly, not the full annual price up front.

OK thanks I understand now. I also got the idea that it would be billed monthly and not a one off annual payment.

So if I understood correctly in this case it is a matter of purchasing a subscription service valid for 12 months and not a 1 month subscription service with automatic revalidation for 12 months although they present the idea that it is the second through so-called "dirty" marketing.

On the US site, it confuses customers into thinking that a subscription works the way it does when you sign a long-term contract with an ISP.

In other words, when you sign up for a two year contract with a cable or phone company, you may be locked into a two year contract, but you will still get billed monthly, like $80 a month. You will not be forced to pay the entire amount of the two year contract up front. You will never, in other words, suddenly be forced to pay all $1920 at once.

SS is doing exactly that. It's telling people they'll get charged monthly, then hitting them with an annual bill as soon as the free trial expires.

rcnyc · « **Reply #11 on:** August 17, 2023, 07:35 »

Quote from: RalfLiebhold on August 17, 2023, 03:56

Quote from: Her Ugliness on August 17, 2023, 02:01
Quote from: rcnyc on August 16, 2023, 16:31
When they try to cancel, they're hit with a massive cancellation fee.

This is not a scam, but customers and people who want free images not reading the terms correctly or at all.

There really is not much text on the registration page to read, but it does mention the cancellation fee.

[/b]

I agree and also feel a certain gloating. The negative reviewers are almost exclusively customers who do not want to pay anything for the products - our products - from the outset.

You are wrong. From SS's own page:

Quote

To cancel during your free trial period, visit the Plans page. If you do not cancel within the free trial period, your annual commitment will begin and you will be charged monthly.

People who decide to continue with the free trial are told they will be charged monthly, then billed for the entire year on the second month. When they try to cancel (because they didn't expect to get charged $348 up front), they are hit with the cancellation fee.

cascoly · « **Reply #12 on:** August 17, 2023, 15:51 »

Quote from: Her Ugliness on August 17, 2023, 02:01

...

I don't have pity with all the angry reviewers on Trustedpilot. It is very clear that most of these people just wanted the free images and didn't read any of the conditions, so thought they'd just get 10 free images because Shutterstock was such a generous agency that just likes to give away free images without any personal gain and didn't even read the part where they had to cancel the subscription at all. And once they found out the trial was automatically turned into a yearly sbscription as they had not canceled in time, they wanted out of the deal - and that's where the cancellation fee comes in place, because they agreed to a yearly comitment.

right - just another case of RYFM. too many just choose the cheapest option w/o understanding their commitment.

blvdone · « **Reply #13 on:** August 17, 2023, 16:03 »

I thought those negative 1 star reviews came from angry contributors after they announced royalty structure change. If those are really from buyers, Shutterstock has a problem with their business practice.

rcnyc · « **Reply #14 on:** August 17, 2023, 17:07 »

Quote from: blvdone on August 17, 2023, 16:03

I thought those negative 1 star reviews came from angry contributors after they announced royalty structure change. If those are really from buyers, Shutterstock has a problem with their business practice.

No, they're mostly from customers, because the BBB and Trust Pilot are for consumers. I was curious how microstock was doing because it seems as if Big Tech during the pandemic started losing its collective mind and implementing all of these brazen anti-consumer business practices. I knew what was happening everywhere else, but I didn't expect to see this happening in microstock.

cobalt · « **Reply #15 on:** August 17, 2023, 18:23 »

Scary. Was SS always like this? And will this happen to pond5?

rcnyc · « **Reply #16 on:** August 17, 2023, 23:16 »

Quote from: cobalt on August 17, 2023, 18:23

Scary. Was SS always like this? And will this happen to pond5?

Something very weird happened to all of these major Big Tech platforms during the pandemic. It's like they went mental or something. The Internet Archive started giving away books of copyrighted books and music. Amazon started selling counterfeit refurbished PCs. YouTube reversed the decision on conspiracy theories and fake news. Apple started throttling iPhones to force customers into upgrading, etc., etc. I don't know what on earth is going on.

cascoly · « **Reply #17 on:** August 18, 2023, 13:41 »

Quote from: rcnyc on August 17, 2023, 23:16

Quote from: cobalt on August 17, 2023, 18:23
Scary. Was SS always like this? And will this happen to pond5?

Something very weird happened to all of these major Big Tech platforms during the pandemic. It's like they went mental or something. The Internet Archive started giving away books of copyrighted books and music. Amazon started selling counterfeit refurbished PCs. YouTube reversed the decision on conspiracy theories and fake news. Apple started throttling iPhones to force customers into upgrading, etc., etc. I don't know what on earth is going on.

not really recent, it's been happening fora long time

apple has always been exploitive -; selling overpriced products that do not use standards, limiting what apps can be sold, etc

amazon doesnt sell re-furbished computers - 3rd parties do & amazon eliminates them when exposed

just more examples of laissez faire capitalism at work for you and me!

dragonblade · « **Reply #18 on:** August 18, 2023, 17:32 »

Quote from: rcnyc on August 17, 2023, 17:07

I was curious how microstock was doing because it seems as if Big Tech during the pandemic started losing its collective mind and implementing all of these brazen anti-consumer business practices. I knew what was happening everywhere else, but I didn't expect to see this happening in microstock.

In the old SS forum, someone posted a link to a list of angry customer reviews regarding SS. It sounded like shady and deceptive business practices that buyers were unhappy with. This was a long time before the pandemic and it was a very long list.

dragonblade · « **Reply #19 on:** August 18, 2023, 17:58 »

Quote from: rcnyc on August 17, 2023, 06:12

So, what SS is doing is misleading customers into thinking that if they sign up for a free trial on the annual subscription, they'll just be billed monthly. Instead, they're being forced to pay the entire year up front when the free trial ends.

Adobe use a similar tactic with the free trials of their editing software. Back in the old days, you could download a free Adobe trial for 30 days with no strings attached. Nice and simple. But then later on, they changed things and became very ruthless. Earlier this year, I downloaded a trial for Lightroom and Photoshop and the trial period was super short - about 15 days or less. Not only that but I would be billed after the trial ended (if I didn't cancel.) And I got the impression from their wording that I would be billed monthly which didn't sound too bad. Though some people advised me on another forum that that wasn't really the case. I would be billed for a whole year's worth after the end of the trial. I would not be happy about that at all.

I definitely cancelled when the trial ended but gosh, I was cutting it fine. I was editing images right until the very end. I cancelled just a few minutes before the cut off point. Frantically trying to go through the cancellation process as the clock was ticking. I may have avoided that massive bill by about a minute or so. I was so desperate to get that image editing done. Gosh, I'm glad that the internet didn't drop out or go super slow during this critical period.

cascoly · « **Reply #20 on:** August 19, 2023, 12:42 »

Quote from: dragonblade on August 18, 2023, 17:58

Quote from: rcnyc on August 17, 2023, 06:12

So, what SS is doing is misleading customers into thinking that if they sign up for a free trial on the annual subscription, they'll just be billed monthly. Instead, they're being forced to pay the entire year up front when the free trial ends.

Adobe use a similar tactic with the free trials of their editing software. Back in the old days, you could download a free Adobe trial for 30 days with no strings attached. Nice and simple. But then later on, they changed things and became very ruthless. Earlier this year, I downloaded a trial for Lightroom and Photoshop and the trial period was super short - about 15 days or less. Not only that but I would be billed after the trial ended (if I didn't cancel.) And I got the impression from their wording that I would be billed monthly which didn't sound too bad. Though some people advised me on another forum that that wasn't really the case. I would be billed for a whole year's worth after the end of the trial. I would not be happy about that at all.

I definitely cancelled when the trial ended but gosh, I was cutting it fine. I was editing images right until the very end. I cancelled just a few minutes before the cut off point. Frantically trying to go through the cancellation process as the clock was ticking. I may have avoided that massive bill by about a minute or so. I was so desperate to get that image editing done. Gosh, I'm glad that the internet didn't drop out or go super slow during this critical period.

likely AS changed their policy because too many people were using the free trial to get free use of the program with no intention of ever buying the product

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Author Topic: Everyone, stop contributing...SS is literally stealing from customers now (Read 7042 times)

rcnyc

Photobomb

Evaristo tenscadisto

rcnyc

rcnyc

Evaristo tenscadisto

kuriouskat

Her Ugliness

RalfLiebhold

rcnyc

rcnyc

rcnyc

cascoly

blvdone

rcnyc

cobalt

rcnyc

cascoly

dragonblade

dragonblade

cascoly

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