Adobe SCAM 1 year subscription payment

[karanj27]

I've seen 40+ posts about people unknowingly signing up for an annual subscription under the guise that it's a monthly subscription. Absolutely disgusting and ridiculous that a company is allowed to operate like this. If there are hundreds of people falling victim to this these deceptive antics then it's obviously not a "clearly advertised" plan they're selling.  Absolutely 0 support in cancelling as well. If you try to cancel, they offer you a free add-on, as if they know they wronged you the first time.  Either you pay a $600 cancellation fee (pay off the entire year and get to cancel) or you continue to pay $50 a month. They split test their checkout pages so at times the plan is in bolded text that it's an annual plan you pay monthly (no total price at checkout, just the price of the monthly subscription that is tied into an annual contract) and other times the word "annual" cannot be found. 

I'm making sure my AMEX blocks all future charges from Adobe.

[John T Smith]

When you 'click to agree' to the subscription terms while buying a subscription, that means that you really do need to read BEFORE you enter your credit card number to buy a subscription
-You also need to know that a subscription renews AUTOMATICALLY if you do not cancel during your 12th month

-there are so many people who miss the details that Nancy O'Shea added red arrows
-see the Nancy O'Shea message dated 3-22-2023 (with big red arrows) in this message
https://community.adobe.com/t5/account-payment-plan-discussions/bloated-nonsense/td-p/13669109

ALSO

If you are willing to pay more, SOME programs are available Monthly https://community.adobe.com/t5/Get-Started/Being-charged-for-a-full-year-when-i-m-on-month-to-month/... - links and pictures
-the special Photography Plan is ONLY available on an annual plan, with monthly or 1 annual payment
https://helpx.adobe.com/creative-cloud/help/manage-cc-individual-membership.html

[karanj27]

John, I'm not talking about a yearly subscription I forgot to cancel, I'm talking about the supposed "monthly subscription" that is a yearly commitment in disguise. You reply with this same answer to the thousands of people that are dealing with this issue who are surprised that they're locked in to an annual subscription, or shocked that they're paying hundreds of dollars in "cancellation fees" for what they thought was a monthly subscription. Think about this for a second: If thousands of people, likely tens of thousands a year are falling victim to the same issue, and feel deceived, CLEARLY it's purposely manufactured point of deception.  You can agree with me on that at the very least, right? If I go to purchase something and on the checkout screen it tells me I'm signing up for a "monthly subscription" I'm not going to read the terms & conditions page to make sure I'm not being shown monthly but secretly signing an annual contact, that's incredibly ridiculous.  Does everyone who purchases Adobe products happen to be stupid, or is it more likely that this company is being deceptive?  

[kglad]

@karanj27 

https://www.adobe.com/creativecloud/plans.html

select a plan (eg, all apps) that allows a monthly subscription. copy and paste here the three options shown.

explain what's misleading.

and/or select a plan that only offers an annual subscription (eg, photography).  copy and paste here a screenshot of the two plans offered. 

explain what's misleading.

[John Waller]

So we're clear, which exact wording do you have an issue with?

[karanj27]

[kglad]

that's an adobe stock subscription. did you intend to subscribe to that?

[karanj27]

I'm showing you what the actual checkout page looks like to someone since it's "clearly stated that it's an annual plan" and there's absolutely no way Adobe is being deceptive.   Every single bolded thing is priced monthly (+ tax, apologies, because that's the important part), 30 days, /mo, /mo. There is no way you can possibly think this is not deceptive in any sense.  After a 1 month free trial that charges you $29.99 a MONTH after, it turns out you actually have to pay for an entire year or pay hundreds of dollars for a cancellation fee? Seriously? 

[kglad]

@karanj27 

understood. none of us knew you were addressing a stock subscription. the overwhelming posts here are about adobe app subscriptions.

bottomline: contact adobe support and respectfully make your case.  keep us posted. there are 2 ways to contact adobe; chat and twitter (now x):

chat:
use a browser that allows popups and cookies
and click here, https://helpx.adobe.com/contact.html?rghtup=autoOpen
in the chat field (lower right), type AGENT
be patient, it can take quite a while to reach a human.

twitter/x:
tweet @AdobeCare

p.s. if you're contacted by anyone (via email or private message), it's much more likely to be a scammer than an adobe representative.

[John Waller]

I do see the page you've screenshotted.

The page before that shows the screenshot below with the "Annual commitment" button highlighted:

You then clicked on the Start free trial button to get to your screenshot knowing it's an annual plan.

[karanj27]

John, if you click "free trial" it takes you directly to the page I posted. The page you posted does not come first or show up anywhere after.

[Abambo]

They split test their checkout pages so at times the plan is in bolded text that it's an annual plan you pay monthly (no total price at checkout, just the price of the monthly subscription that is tied into an annual contract) and other times the word "annual" cannot be found. 

I'm making sure my AMEX blocks all future charges from Adobe.

By @karanj27

Annual means annual and not monthly. So an annual contract paid monthly is still an annual contract.

Either you pay a $600 cancellation fee (pay off the entire year and get to cancel) or you continue to pay $50 a month.

By @karanj27

Show me that? The Early cancellation fee is half of the remaining fee. So if you cancel the first month of your $50/month annual subscription, you will have to pay $275.

Moreover, just because some individuals are voicing their dissatisfaction with the treatment they receive is not a corresponding indication that they are, in fact, correct. Adobe has millions of subscribers, having only 40+ complainers is a great success.

[karanj27]

Amambo, I apologize but this image you sent is garbage. It has been referenced in every single complaint reply but I promise you maybe 10% of people actually see that type of checkout page. There are much more scummy pages and I will show you an example of one the one you find normally. If you're a Software Engineer for Adobe you should know that they have multiple checkout pages, and they split test checkout pages. This is what I saw right now when I went to try a "free trial" for Adobe. It's completely deceptive and it blows my mind that you could possibly defend this. Only a SINGLE BULLET POINT vaguely touches on the fact that this is an annual commitment. Big letters, 30 day (monthly) free trial, 29.99 a month, starting Nov 3, 29.99 a month. Absolutely disgusting deceptive practices. 

[Abambo]

My image is, what I see, when I take a plan for Adobe Creative Cloud. It's not garbage because it's the actual screen shown to millions of users around the world. In the past, there were others, but companies are evolving.

You are talking about the stock plan, who actually has many different features (30-day trial, against 7-day trial, free assets against free access to the programs, …) compared to a Creative cloud plan.

Nevertheless, you can't say that it is not an annual plan. You need to say that you explicitly need to accept the terms and conditions. You have to say, that in the terms and conditions there is a paragraph about cancellation and the cancellation fees. And, finally, you get again all that e-mailed to reading in all tranquillity once more what you have agreed upon when you entered your credit card (!) and took the plan. I can agree upon that you didn't read it, but you can't say that Adobe did not give you every chance to learn about those conditions. You can argue that the conditions are not what you expected, but that does not excuse you for not reading them.

You complain that there is only one bullet point about an annual commitment, out of only five? Furthermore, you forgot to mention the bullet point talking about “cancel risk-free before your free trial ends”! Didn't you see that as well? I suppose you only saw free, free, free, which is OK because it's psychological.

I do not see “Big letters, 30 day (monthly) free trial, 29.99 a month, starting Nov 3, 29.99 a month.”, at least not on your screenshot.

Incidentally: I'm not a software engineer for Adobe. I'm a paying customer, reading the terms and conditions. I'm also hiring people to work for me, and I read their terms and conditions. Normally, there is a clause in the contract, that when I need to early terminate the contract some amount of money needs to be paid. That's also in my contracts when my company sells my services.

When I read my telecom contract, that made the commercial nervous (also because there was a considerable line-up behind me). Whatever you do, read your contracts, before you sign them. It will help you later on.

[karanj27]

Well I just posted my screenshot. Look at it. Adobobobo it's pretty obvious that if you cancel a free trial before it ends, it's free. I've seen your condescending replies on other posts of people facing the same deception.  Btw thanks for restating that for my stupid brain that can't distinguish a monthly plan from an annual plan. Big letters:* is it easier to understand what I meant now? "Annual" is a singular word part of a grayed out text bullet point, every piece of bold text is defined monthly. There is no obvious notion that you are committing to paying $400 if you let your MONTHLY payment free trial run.  I never said it wasn't an annual plan, I said it's purposely designed and deceivingly worded to trap people into paying for it. I'm not asking for an excuse. I'm saying that Adobe purposely tries to deceive customers and it is absolutely mindblowing to me that you can't agree. You spend time browsing this forum to shoot down people who get "got" and defend a multibillion dollar corporation.

[Abambo]

 I'm saying that Adobe purposely tries to deceive customers and it is absolutely mindblowing to me that you can't agree. You spend time browsing this forum to shoot down people who get "got" and defend a multibillion dollar corporation.

By @karanj27

Surly, it's marketing. It's like everywhere, when people see “free” they do not see anything else. Nevertheless, you agreed to the cancellation terms. And you should read them. There is nothing more to add.

[karanj27]

Abamdambo, I don't think you know what "marketing" means. 

[kglad]

@karanj27 

did you contact adobe support?  (engaging in quibbles here is unproductive.

[John Waller]

Only a SINGLE BULLET POINT vaguely touches on the fact that this is an annual commitment.

By @karanj27

To be fair, it's stated more than once.

On the screen immediately prior to your screenshot, there is a large blue button indicating that you are viewing plans which are subject to an Annual Commitment.

[karanj27]

There was no prior screen

[kglad]

@karanj27 

how did you get to that page?

[karanj27]

Go on an incognito browser, look up adobe stock, click the massive blue banner in the middle of the screen that says "Get 10 Free Images". Poor non-lawyers thinking they're about to get 10 free images and maybe continue monthly payment for another month, but they're really about to risk getting stuck paying $600 for Adobe Stock over the next year. (Or pay $300 to cancel). 

[John Waller]

When I do that, I get this:

I take your point that it is not as clear as it could be but I personally don't think it falls into scam category.

[kglad]

@John Waller 

click the start free trial.