Adobe's Subscription & Cancellation Terms

[Neil22602722n5qv]

I only intended to evaluate this software over others during the free period. I then forgot to end the subscription at the end of the free period - so was happy to pay a monthly charge. HOWEVER, they now want to charge me nearly £90 to cancel, otherwise I have to pay for the full year. Pretty disgraceful. 

[Topic edited for clarity.]

[Ged_Traynor]

Moving thread to the Account, Payment, & Plan forum from Photoshop ecosystem

[LinSims]

When you clicked "I agree" to the terms and conditions, you acknowledged that Adobe would charge a cancellation fee if you canceled your subscription early. The cancellation fee is actually 1/2 of the remaining cost of the subscription. For example, if there's 6 months remaining on the subscription, the cancellation fee is the equivalent of 3 months.

[Neil22602722n5qv]

Yes there was probably some small print somewhere, but my observation is how unusual this is. Other subscription services where I have not used the software have noted the lack of use and issued refund with no question, regardless of terms (fitness apps spring to mind!). I have never been caught out like this before, it seems very unusual and frankly a bit sly. I am the customer, and I was not that I would be charged £90 to cancel the subs. However you cut it thats falling below my expectations for such an established company - either make the charge more obvious, or show some leniancy.   

[LinSims · Accepted solution]

On the subscription page, Adobe specifically gives you a date by which you must cancel to avoid the cancellation field.

The print is not particularly small. See the highlighted text in the screenshot.

[Neil22602722n5qv]

Hi Lin

Thanks for taking the time to make your point so clearly, if I can just make mine one more time...

I was not aware that I would be charged £90 at the time of taking the subscription - perhaps I was busy, perhaps I was distracted, perhaps I was in a hurry, whatever the reason I was not aware. This is the first time I have ever been caught out like this, you I'm sure are more exposed to this type of tranaction in your day to day digital life than I am. 

To end, regardless of what small print there was, I was unaware of the charge, and I am surprised that this is their policy.

Thank you. 

[LinSims]

It is sort of sucky, and I wish so many people weren't getting caught in it. Adobe added that highlighted text at the end of 2020, I think, because so many people never bothered to read the Terms they were agreeing to. It doesn't seem to be helping, though. 😞

I believe the reasoning is that since the all apps plan is significantly cheaper when on an annual subscription than the month-to-month one, Adobe wants to recoup the amount of money "lost" when they charged the discounted rate rather than the full rate. I am not an Adobe employee, however, so I am very definitely not speaking ex cathedra.

Some of the plans DO have a month-to-month option, but they cost more each month. Still, if you need it for less than 6 months, it's cheaper to go that way and you don't have to worry about a cancellation fee. Although you do still need to remember to cancel it since it autorenews. 

You can contact customer service and see if they'll waive the fee. Sometimes they will, especially if you're experiencing financial hardship. This is not guaranteed, but it doesn't hurt to ask. Good luck.

[Neil22602722n5qv]

Thanks Lin, I'll give that a try and keep fingers crossed 

[Roger27599533mdla]

Totally agrees it's dirty. I replaced my card to avoid the fee because even if you block Adobe they'll try take the payment from a new source automatically as they know that X percentage of people will block the payment from its usual source - so very muggy, most criminals are more honourable than this, perhaps other than those who are professional scammers 

[Roger27599533mdla]

Clearly the UX is designed to mislead in order to extract money from people and Adobe is morally wrong for doing this. You are presented with monthly and annual options however both are annual contracts but you are not explicitly told this. Then it employs staff to reply back to defend the interests of its wealthy shareholders and blame the situation solely on the user, even though the billing process has been optimised to mislead users, it is literally designed to rip people off. 

[kglad]

with most plans you're presented with 3 options: 1 monthly plan and 2 annual plans. one of the annual plans can be paid by the month.

the photography plan offers the 2 annual plans only. 

[LinSims]

We're not Adobe employees.

[Jackie_Perez5580]

It's actually still complete bs.

[kglad]

@Jackie_Perez5580 

if you're having an account problem, contact adobe support.  there are 2 ways to contact adobe support; chat and twitter (now x):

chat:
if you have or want to purchase a subscription, 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.

[Kristen237271217054]

I've experienced the same thing. It's a bait-and-switch tactic accompanied by nonexistent customer service. I would've expected better from Adobe. Guess my standards are too high. It's very misleading. 

[neil237854445lio]

Have you tried calling customer service? They accepted by case and refunded in the end. Best of luck.

[Kristen237271217054]

Thank you! Have had no luck finding any sort of phone number to call customer service. Chatting with an "agent" right now. Guess we'll see. 

[LinSims]

You can search this page for a regionally appropriate phone number for customer support.

https://helpx.adobe.com/contact/phone.html

[ProDesignTools]

Hi Kristen, were you able to connect with Customer Service? Here's a guide explaining the process which should help you find the best solution, and possibly save some time or money:

What You Should Know Before Canceling Your Adobe Trial or Subscription

Not sure how it's misleading or a bait and switch tactic. Adobe's Annual plans are for a 12-month commitment. Was that not clear when you signed up? There are also Monthly plans available for shorter-term use.

[Kristen237271217054]

Yes I was able to connect with customer service and they agreed to cancel and waive the fee.

Respectfully, in my opinion, the answer to your question is no, it was not clear when I signed up. 

[ProDesignTools]

Thank you for the update, Kristen, and for letting us know.

We regulars on these user forums frequently pass feedback along to Adobe. Can you say how or why it wasn't clear when you signed up?

In other words, could you be more specific as to what can be made clearer? Did you see a screen like the above when you signed up? Thanks!

[Kristen237271217054]

Thank you for your response and offer to pass feedback along to Adobe. 

I am of the same opinion as user Neil22602722n5qv expressed in his earlier post: "Yes there was probably some small print somewhere, but my observation is how unusual this is. Other subscription services where I have not used the software have noted the lack of use and issued refund with no question, regardless of terms (fitness apps spring to mind!). I have never been caught out like this before, it seems very unusual and frankly a bit sly." 

Whatever the details, this too was my user experience and it has had a negative impact on my opinion of Adobe as a company. 

As my immediate issue has been resolved, I will no longer be participating in this forum, as I and I'm sure many others here have lots of other work to do! Thank you all and have a great day.

[David25782276wb4n]

How many time do I need to cancel my Adobe subscription? How many times do I need to contact my banking institution to stop the payments, that I have already cancelled? SEE you in court eventually. Going to write a letter to my elected government representative.

David

[John T Smith]

Nobody here in a public forum can see your account information
What do you see for your account at https://account.adobe.com/
This space is provided by Adobe, but this is not Adobe support
This is a public forum, you need the link to Adobe support, not other users
Help Center https://helpx.adobe.com/support.html is a good place to start
Be sure to remain signed in with your Adobe ID before accessing the link below
Do be aware that wait times are sometimes long before an agent responds
.
You MUST make sure that your browser does NOT block ads, scripts, or pop-ups
You MUST also allow 'cookies' in your web browser for the link to work
This will NOT work if you are using a VPN
.
This link will go directly to the chat option
https://helpx.adobe.com/contact.html?rghtup=autoOpen
Type "Agent" in the chat box to bypass the chatbot and be connected to a person
-Meaning type in the word Agent in the lower right, without the quote " " marks
or
X (aka Twitter) tweet @AdobeCare
.
Adobe does NOT do support by email, so beware of answering anyone who sends you a private message
-click for more information about scammers https://tinyurl.com/10791730

[kglad]

and to everyone complaining:

go back and click one of the plan offerings (preferrably the same one you subscribe to and think hid the terms of your subscription).  don't subscribe to anything and don't enter any payment info.  just start the process and at that very first step, check what's offered.  you'll see nothing's hidden.

what could (and imo should) be done is after you proceed from that first step after you enter info and click submit, a popup should appear clearly explaining what was one that first page again.  something to slow you down, because, none of you are alone in feeling the terms to which you agreed, were hidden or written in fine print or just not presented, at all.

but as mentioned above, you can go back and look at first thing that appears when you select a plan and before you select annual paid monthly, annual paid yearly, monthly.  ie read those 3 (or two if you selected the photography plan) options.