Complaints

The complaint text that is displayed might not represent all complaints filed with BBB. Some consumers may elect to not publish the details of their complaints, some complaints may not meet BBB's standards for publication, or BBB may display a portion of complaints when a high volume is received for a particular business.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:01/19/2023

  Type:Billing Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  In October of last year, I purchased a plan for $****** which allowed me a certain number of images to ************ did so and I never signed up for auto renewal. When I finally realized that I was being charged, I reached out again on 1-17-23 & asked to have my card refunded because I did not select auto renewal. Dreamstime stated that I have to go in my account & search for the option to de-select my auto renewal in order for it to no longer be charged continuously. I told the agent that I already stated in November that I did not want auto renewal, only my select images & reiterated this on 1-17-23. At first, this agent told me on 1-17-23 that he & no one at Dreamstime can access accounts to add or remove auto renewal & that "it was my fault," not theirs that auto renewal was perpetuating. However, moments later during the same phone call, my auto renewal was cancelled by another agent. Therefore when I spoke about this with Dreamstime in November and again in January, my auto renewal should have already been cancelled. This agent gave me conflicting information & when I asked to speak with the owner or manager, he said his manager could not be reached, was not there, had no extension, had no voicemail and he couldn't leave her a note, but I could leave her a message in a general mailbox. I purchased several images & am being told that I should have downloaded all of them within 1 month otherwise I will continue to be charged. I downloaded 25 images & accidently downloaded another 2. When I discovered this, I gladly offered they could remove 2 from my account so I will just keep the 25 I already paid $****** for. I never even used the service during the stagnant months or the total downloading of images but was I charged ****** monthly X 3 none the less. I ask the ******** be refunded. I have reached out to the business in both November & in January to cancel & I have left a message for the "Owner" to call me.

  Business Response

  Date: 01/19/2023

  I have already spoke on the phone with this customer and resolved this issue.

  He had placed chargebacks at his bank for the charges. He agreed to remove those for a refund.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:01/03/2023

  Type:Order Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  Dreamtime stock photo services are operating without regard for the law. After signing up for the free trial and being told I would need to upgrade my account further to use the service. I decided to cancel my free trial just minutes after opening an account. But Dreamtime already has a scam in place that does not allow you to cancel your account or free trial. This is because to cancel your account or free trial; you need to input your Dreamtime account password. The problem with this is that inputting your account password tells you the password is incorrect. To verify this is a scam, I signed out of my Dreamtime account several times and logged back in using the same password. When I attempt to use this password to cancel my account, I'm told it's incorrect. Quite obviously a scam that the owners of this fraudulent website are perpetuating. I would like my account closed and my personal information removed before Dreamtime can do any further harm. I have called the listed ************** customer service number, and no one ever answers, with a recording that does not let you leave a message. I have also attempted to email customer support with no response.

  Business Response

  Date: 01/03/2023

  This is not a scam. This customer was already able to cancel his/her subscription from the account:

  user set auto-renew OFF *********************

   

  We have also removed the card on file for them.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:12/27/2022

  Type:Sales and Advertising Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  I've been a member of this site for over a decade. I have 74 active photos for sale as stock photos. I requested a payment of $108 that my account had acquired through sales of my photos. They sent an email verifying I requested payment, next thing I know they've blocked the access to my account, won't help me over the phone, won't respond to my emails & haven't payed me for the sale of my photos. At this point, I could care less about being a member of their site, I just want the money I'm own from the sale of my photos.

  Business Response

  Date: 12/28/2022

  Unfortunately, this person created another account and downloaded his/her own images. This is strictly prohibited in our terms. Contributors cannot download their own images to make profit.

  *****************************************************

  "Contributors are not allowed to download their portfolio (partly or completely) , especially if this is performed in order to take advantage of any available discounts and bonuses provided by Dreamstime.com. "

  Because of this infringement, those earnings were removed and this person was banned from the site.

   

   

  Customer Answer

  Date: 12/28/2022

   
  Complaint: 18637060
  
  I am rejecting this response because: I did not download my own images. My wife had noticed that the photos on my profile were images that were personal photos lost on a failed hard drive. She decided to download them for memorabilia. Beside that I had $98 in earnings from sales of my photos before she did this. Dreamstime should make it right & at least pay out the $98 I'm owed.
  
  Sincerely,
  
  *****************************

  Business Response

  Date: 01/10/2023

  Unfortunately all earnings are forfeited due to the infringement of the site terms

  Customer Answer

  Date: 01/11/2023

  
  Complaint: 18637060
  
  I, myself, in no way "infringed on the sites terms." Dreamstime profited from sales of my uploaded images & owes me a the small percentage of said profit ($98usd). It is absurd that this obstruction of dues owed has gone this far.

  If necessary I will invoke legal counsel as an active member of the ************************* of Teamsters, for withholding monetary compensation for payment due... & if not done in a timely manner may result in additional fines.
  
  *****************************

• Initial Complaint

  Date:10/31/2022

  Type:Sales and Advertising Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  Dreamstime SCAM is more like a CONFIDENCE SCHEME Do they think they fool people with their trickery? The only people they are fooling are their merchant provider underwriters, who will soon catch on to their SCAM. Here is how it works and what they did to me...They gain your confidence with a "Free 7-day Trial" to download 15 images. But you have to enter your billing information. And they do inform you that you must cancel before the trial ends or you will be billed. The process creates a situation where they trick you into clicking an upgrade button. But quickly you realize the images they give you access to are useless and cannot be used. THEN... just when you are thinking you should cancel right away since they have your card information, AND HERE IS WHERE THE **** CONTINUES... They send you an email saying the "plan hasn't been finalized", as shown here https://capture.dropbox.com/bebb8sO2oNewGm2o And so they trick a person into thinking that they will not be billed, and so they do not bother to cancel since they believe the account did not process, as shown here https://capture.dropbox.com/bebb8sO2oNewGm2o Then they bill you a week later without warning or without even an emailed invoice or receipt for the payment they steal from you. Obviously, this is done this way so that many people won't even notice.I was scammed and so was my friend and business partner who just told me the same thing happened to him and he just discovered you have been billing him for months! I have read the complaints here and the responses from Dreamstime. What I see here is a clear pattern of Theft Bt Deception. That is a crime. I will create a class action lawsuit. I can be contacted by anyone interested in further details, simply ****** the class action page I will post very soon for more on this.As for the BBB, they need to take a closer look here.

  Business Response

  Date: 11/02/2022

  There is no scam.

  It is stated as a 7 day trial and will charge if not turned off

  This customer ALREADY contacted us and was refunded on Oct 31.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:08/15/2022

  Type:Sales and Advertising Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  On July 29th, 2022, I signed up for a free trial of the Dreamstime stock photo service as a free trial. To open the trial, you were required to place a credit card on file; I did so. I went to download the desired image-set, and when I did so, a popup appeared with the prominent text "2 in 1. Upgrade your free trial!" (attached as "1") The explicit intention on the retail side was to allow you to access unwatermarked images, which would also increase the amount you pay once the trial period ended. I clicked the bright pink button, downloaded my images, and made sure no autorenewal was present at that time. I see the next day that a charge had been made to my credit card, which is axiomatically mutually exclusive with the fact that that this was a free trial. The service ceases the become a free trial at that point, so why was that language being used? This is a deceptive business practice, cut & dry. This has nothing to do with the $22 charge, more so about protecting others who may not possess the same level of agency to defend themselves from a business clearly interested in obfuscating the services & charges that are being provided & drawn, respectively.
  

  Business Response

  Date: 08/22/2022

  Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2022/08/16) */
  This is all explained clearly when you make the purchase. You were charged because you upgraded the subscription.
  The free trial includes 15 high resolution watermarked files for testing purposes.
  You can cancel before the week is up and not be charged or you can upgrade for a charge and receive the files without watermarks ( the 15 for free and the 15 you paid for).
  
  In this case, it was upgraded and you received unwatermarked images. If you wanted a refund, you will need to contact us directly as you would need to delete all images downloaded.