Adobe renewed my subscription at non-discounted rate without warning.

[BiteMyShinyMetal]

They have locked me into a year of high price which I cannot afford. They didn't send me a warning. I barely use the software now. I live in Australia, what are my legal options to get out of this predatory scam without paying $300+? I am contacting the ombudsman, but I'd prefer to just do it the easy way, ie Adobe realises this is a shady way to get money.

[John T Smith · Accepted solution]

When you 'click to agree' to the subscription terms while buying a subscription, that means that you really do need to read BEFORE you buy a subscription... https://www.adobe.com/legal/subscription-terms.html

You may not have read before buying, but a subscription has automatic renewal unless you cancel during the final month of your 12 month contract

I don't know if this will help, but here is how you contact Adobe

Be sure to remain signed in with your Adobe ID before accessing the link below
-you must also allow 'cookies' in your web browser for this to work
https://helpx.adobe.com/contact/support.html for chat or https://helpx.adobe.com/contact/phone.html
-click the chat icon at the bottom right of the page to open a chat session
-the chat icon looks like '3 dots inside a circle' at the lower right
-type AGENT into the chat window to connect directly to a person rather than the AI
Do be aware that Adobe's staffing is impacted by the virus, so wait times are long
.
Also: beware of answering anyone who sends you a private message
-click for more information about scammers https://tinyurl.com/10791730

[BiteMyShinyMetal]

Hi John,

Thank you for the reply.

I did read BEFORE as you have so helpfully (and perhaps slightly CONDESCENDINGLY) mentioned, but it has been a distracting time, and there are plenty of requests for Adobe to make auto-renew default to false which is a trivial change and they haven't. They have deliberately ignored such calls because people inevitably forget and Adobe profits from this.

You must be aware of Adobe's reasoning behind this. Adobe would much rather create anti-Adobe evangelists to make a quick buck now, not from good products but deliberate scams.

But it's okay, if I can't get out of it, I will use their products for a year longer, then never use them again There are plenty of good alternatives out there nowadays, and I'm not forced to use Adobe. I will also make sure to hate on them as much as possible given any opportunity, and recommend the alternatives.

Again, thank you for the reply, please don't assume criticism of Adobe is criticism of you because you like their products. You obviously use and enjoy their products, more power to you.

Kind regards.

[LinSims]

It's not meant to be condescending. Like many of the ACPs and MVPs, John has a canned response for telling people about the subscription terms because we see multiple people every day claiming that Adobe is being scuzzy about the auto-renew. It's easier to use the canned response than to tailor the response to the individual.

You will, I hope, be happy to know that Adobe now presents that information on the purchase page, along with the renewal date. It's not quite as good as being able to opt-out of the auto-renew, but at least you no longer have to click a link to find out about the auto-renew and the cancellation fee policies.

I think (but do not know, I am not an Adobe employee nor am I privy to their decision-making process) that Adobe made subscriptions auto-renew because they were getting complaints from people whose subscription ran out without their noticing and they suddenly couldn't open or edit their files anymore. More than likely Adobe thought customers would be happier to auto-renew rather than risk losing the ability to work on their files. 

[BiteMyShinyMetal]

"getting complaints from people whose subscription ran out without their noticing"

Adobe gives you a grace period to renew. They don't lock you out of your files immediately. And if they did you can renew immediately with a simple visit to the Adobe site.

"we see multiple people every day"...

That indicates a problem.

ACPs and MVPs respond to get their gamification points and maintain their Adobe forums status.

It is a simple fix and it isn't done because Adobe makes money from it. End of story.

I am now discontinuing my Substance subscription. Money problem solved, another Adobe anti-evangelist created.

[John T Smith]

>it has been a distracting time

I have a notes text file that I open every morning... with important dates at the top of the file to be sure I don't miss a date

There are also reminder programs available to have a notice pop up on a computer screen

However you do it, be sure to cancel next year before the end of your subscription