What do you dislike about Shutterstock?
I don't consider myself a difficult customer—quite the opposite, in fact. However, my experience with Shutterstock has been by far the worst I've had with any stock service or subscription.
When I first started using Shutterstock, I noticed that it was overpriced, but that's their choice. To get a more reasonable rate, you have to commit to a yearly subscription paid monthly, which is their policy and I accepted it.
The real issue arose when I tried to cancel my subscription. If you attempt to cancel before the end of the year-long commitment, you are required to pay all the remaining monthly payments upfront, and you lose access to the service for the rest of the period!
There is no option to simply "Cancel Auto-renewal." If you want to continue using the credits you've paid for, you have to stay subscribed and remember to cancel exactly on the renewal date. If you miss that window, they will charge you for another full year, and if you then try to cancel, you'll have to pay for the entire next year without being able to use your credits.
I contacted their support three times, and each time they apologized and told me those were the terms I had agreed to. But I never agreed to be locked into a service that's nearly impossible to cancel!
Again, I don't have an issue with their pricing or subscription terms themselves, but making it so difficult to cancel auto-renewal feels abusive and unsettling. It leaves you feeling completely powerless.
In the end, I managed to cancel my subscription, but only after paying the cancellation fee because I had no other choice. It's a disappointing experience.
Please, don't make the same mistake I did. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.
