Hi Mateo, Thank you for following up on this. I sincerely apologize for any confusion here! Scribd, Inc. does not sell books or other products directly, nor do we offer access to physical... See more
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Explore over 170 million documents and counting from a global community of users. Find and upload text on every topic and niche, including research papers, official government documents, user manuals, and more! Our monthly subscription starts at just $11.99 USD and automatically renews unless the subscription is canceled at least 24 hours prior to the next billing date. A Scribd monthly subscription also includes access to Everand (ebooks, audiobooks, and more) and SlideShare (presentations and professional content). Please visit our Help Center for answers to frequently asked questions and the option to connect with our support team for further assistance: https://support.scribd.com/hc/categories/360005188511
460 Bryant Street, Suite 100, 94107, San Francisco, United States
Replied to 63% of negative reviews
Typically replies within 2 weeks
Yet another scammy parasitic company eager to grab your money. Thanks for your honest reviews folks, you saved me from signing up with those.
Reply from Scribd
Hi Mateo,
Thank you for following up on this. I sincerely apologize for any confusion here!
Scribd, Inc. does not sell books or other products directly, nor do we offer access to physical copies of books. Scribd, Inc. only provides a subscription service that offers digital access to content on all three of our products: Scribd, Everand, and SlideShare.
Please note that since another company made the charge, and you must contact that company directly for help. Thanks again, and have a wonderful day!
Best regards,
Monika W.
Almost a month after I tried to get my neuroscience book this is what they replied to my email, the books seller refused to send me the ebook or my money back. It is disappointing to see no one is taking responsibility, avoid like the plague
Reply from Scribd
Don´t use it, its a scam. Every single document that I downloaded was incomplete or had most pages blank. A waste of money.
Reply from Scribd
Cancelled my subscription August 22 and received a confirmation email. They have continued to bill me.
Reply from Scribd
Scribd just charged my PayPal account, unauthorized. PayPal is doing nothing about it. I have no clue what service Scribd provides.
Update:
They asked me to submit a ticket, which was done multiple times 2 days ago.
Reply from Scribd
Scribd’s business model is a masterclass in exploitation disguised as access. For years, they accepted uploads from the public—copyrighted or not—without verifying ownership, and quietly built a massive inventory of books, documents, and creative work. Now, under the legal shield of the DMCA, they’ve repackaged that content into an $11.99/month subscription. Essentially, the books you uploaded for free are being sold back to you.
This isn’t just a technical loophole—it’s a betrayal of creative trust. Scribd didn’t build a library; they harvested one. And now they monetize it without compensating the original contributors, many of whom never consented to commercial use.
The billing complaints across the internet only reinforce the pattern: unauthorized charges, confusing cancellation flows, and a lack of transparency. These aren’t isolated incidents—they’re systemic. Scribd’s customer service responses often feel like scripted deflections rather than genuine attempts to resolve issues.
If you support this kind of business model, understand what you're endorsing: a platform that profits from ambiguity, user naivety, and the unpaid labor of creators. You gave them the content, and now you’re paying to access your own generosity. You get what you pay for—and in this case, what you deserve.
Addendum: notice how Scribd's reply below has absolutely no connection with the content of this review, which illustrates their pattern of ignorance.
Reply from Scribd
Like many others, it seems, I got charged after my free trial even though I'd canceled it. But after no joy getting the money back through PayPal, I figured I may as well go and use the month I'd paid for. However, got to the Scribd website to find that it says the payment wasn't processed correctly and therefore I can't access anything. Both PayPal and my bank show that the money has come out, so Scribd definitely has it. I emailed Scribd about it, and despite their promise to try and respond to everything within 24 hours, I've gotten no response. So Scribd has just stolen my money. Awful, scummy company. Don't even do the free trial, it's not worth it.
Reply from Scribd
Asked me to sign up just to be hit with a subscription screen
Reply from Scribd
Absolutely unusable without subscribing. Adverts plague the website and prevent any sort of meaningful reading without handing over information.
Reply from Scribd
If I could give it zero stars, I would. I canceled my Scribd subscription during the trial period, yet they still charged me. When I requested a refund, I provided everything they asked for — the full 9-digit Scribd order number, the merchant order ID from Apple Pay, screenshots, and account details.
Instead of refunding me, customer service agent ShaQuetia C. dragged me through an email chain of over 12 emails, constantly pretending they didn’t receive my proof or claiming the order number was “incomplete” — even after I spelled it out in plain text.
This was not an accident. It was deliberate runaround. Scribd will not give you your money back, no matter what proof you send. Their practices are dishonest and predatory. Avoid this company at all costs.
Reply from Scribd
NOTHING… and I mean NOTHING IN THIS WORLD has sent me into a SPIRAL of WHITE-HOT RAGE like this. First, you make me SIGN UP. Oh, wow, look at me. Typing in my email like a good little soldier, handing over my INFORMATION. And then. THEN. You hit me with a SUBSCRIBE TO DOWNLOAD. Oh, are you KIDDING ME?! Are you actually, in the year of our lord, pulling this NONSENSE? What am I signing up for, huh? What? AIR?? INVISIBLE CONTENT?? HOPES AND DREAMS??? You gave me NOTHING. NOTHING! And you expect me to smile through this abuse like a DUMB LITTLE SUBSCRIPTION CLOWN?! Absolutely not. Respect your users ffs.
Reply from Scribd
It requires five uploads, but after that, you can't download anything. The download carousel spins for hours, and if you reload the page, it requires five more uploads.
Simply a rip-off.
Reply from Scribd
They asked to signup to download any document but then they ask to subscribe any plan to download the PDF.
Reply from Scribd
Prompts users to sign up for an account to download something as simple as a PDF file. As if that wasn't enough, it then wants you to sign up for a subscription service and enter your payment details.
Reply from Scribd
Full of pubs, really bad website in general and does not work properly. I highly discourage this website. DO NOT USE THIS
Reply from Scribd
With my premium subscription I am allowed 3 unlocks per month. However, every book and audio book that I want requires an unlock. So I am very limited in the titles I can download. In the past, it seems that I didn’t have this limitation.
I cancelled my subscription in 2022 and received a subscription confirmation. The company continues to keep charging me monthly (for 3 years now!). I've sent multiple e-mails but no one is returning my messages. I'm planning to report them to the better business bureau. This is terrible.
Reply from Scribd
When you want to download something from this website, it asked you to make an account then after you wasted a few minuets creating an account they asked you to subscribe to their services.....Greedy AF!
Reply from Scribd
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