Charging a fee for unused portions of software seems unethical, unfair and unjustifiable

[carlr37929967]

I did not realise that there was a fee for cancelling an annual subscription that is paid monthly.  Perhaps I should have read the "fine-print " better - "buyer beware"!!!! 

Although that does not take away from the fact that I do not believe it is ethical or fair for Adobe to do so. In my country we would call your company <profanity removed> but in the USA, clearly unethical/criminal corporate behaviour appears to be accepted as normal. I will certainly not recommend your company to anyone.

[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

[carlr37929967]

Thank you John T Smith.  I recognise that nobody held a gun to my head as I signed up and did not read all of the terms and conditions completely........ "buyer beware".  It is my opinion (and clearly some people do not share this opinion - as is their right) that corporations have an obligation to their customers - especially in on-line transactions where there is no "SME or sales assistant to help to provide better, more customer friendly support it is also my opinion that Adobe should not charge for unused portions of subscriptions.

[michaelm78088356]

Carl,  "John T. Smith" has had his account since 2006 and has 79,000 posts.  He's not a "fellow user", he's an Adobe employee.

[John T Smith]

I have had an Adobe account since January 2002 and my early messages from that time were lost when Adobe moved to new forum software (which is rented from another company, Adobe did not write the software used for this forum) or my count would be even higher

An Adobe employee has a white A inside a red box next to their name, and they are clearly identified as an Adobe Employee

[LinSims]

At least they're putting a short version of the subscription terms on the purchase page now and are providing the cancel by date, too, which is a very useful thing to know.

[carlr37929967]

Thank you LinSims.  I recognise that nobody held a gun to my head as I signed up and did not read all of the terms and conditions completely........ "buyer beware".  It is my opinion (and clearly some people do not share this opinion - as is their right) that corporations have an obligation to their customers - especially in on-line transactions where there is no "SME or sales assistant to help to provide better, more customer friendly support it is also my opinion that Adobe should not charge for unused portions of subscriptions.

[Test Screen Name]

Adobe do provide a monthly plan (at least for all apps, around $80/year). You signed up for the annual plan (paid monthly) for a very large discount over that (around $50/year), so it is natural that they can't allow you to freely cancel: that would be an insult to the people who did pay more for the monthly plan and the right to cancel at any time.  These kinds of plans are extrememely common for software, and outside the computer world, for utilities like electricity, apartment rental, car leasing, cellphones, etc. etc. so "reading the small print" can save you a lot of expense.

[carlr37929967]

Hello no-name.  Thank you for your comment. I respectfully disagree with your logic. It implies that the way things are is the way things have to be. I signed up to try the product and I tried to cancel one day after the deadline.  Adobe would like to charge me 50% of the annual fee as a penalty.  I do not thing that is fair or reasonable - I think it is gouging.

In my country, insurance companies refund unused portions of insurance and banks are not allowed to charge penalties for refinancing home loans - these are just two examples of how business can be done with a service that is provided. I am sure you must think that my country is backward or crazy for wanting to take care of its customers but in some societies it is expected.  Good luck to you, your country and your extrememely (sic) backward ways.

[michaelm78088356]

Carl, It seems that Adobe is using 3rd party companies to respond here in the forum on any customer that has a complaint.  A very shady way to do business, but an easy cheap solution to make customers "go away".

[Peru Bob]

 Adobe is using 3rd party companies to respond here in the forum on any customer that has a complaint.

Absolutely untrue.