Frustration with Adobe Hidden Contract

[tarae54588021]

I am really upset with how Adobe is advertising and locking you into a hidden contract and monthly fee's.  I wanted to try this product out, the only way to do this, a free trial and adding a credit card, you can quit anytime... nope.  Suddenly I have charges on my credit card.  I have no invoice, no communication from Adobe that hey we are going to start charging you, oh and by the way we wrote in small letters in that pages long terms and conditions that you are now in a monthly contract.

It is obvious to me that this is an unfair marketing strategy to keep people in a monthly contract paying for something they only want to try out.  Now I am being offered 2 more free months in a hope that I will forget again and continue to pay monthly fee's.  But if I really quit I have to pay a termination fee, REALLY!!! Abode has already charged me for two months for a product I don't want.

I actually did like the Adobe product but as soon as I saw charges that I had no expectation of and no communication for, I was angry and after several request to cancel and refund my money to no avail but "why? and can we just offer you another month in your contract?" I don't want to be in a contract, I didn't sign anything, I just wanted to try a product and be given the right to make a choice on purchase.  When you take away choice, you take away trust, I will not work with Adobe now no matter how great the product is. 

[John T Smith · Accepted solution]

To Cancel https://helpx.adobe.com/manage-account/using/cancel-creative-cloud-subscription.html

-or Chat link https://helpx.adobe.com/contact/support.html

[99jon]

Sorry to hear your pain. The best companies like Netflix allow customers to opt-in and out as required, without entrapment. This builds confidence. Unfortunately Adobe has not demonstrated such confidence since requiring a credit card number for commencing a trial; notably a 7 day trial. It seems the marketing people are in control; not the CEO or people that really care.

[anonb66614325]

I have experienced the exact same problem with Adobe's deceptive billing practices and hidden cancellation charges. I tried talking to the chat person and Kshitij was very unhelpful.

How many other people have been tricked by this hidden contract??

[natl74896930]

Me! Adobe has scammed me, too. I am speechless seeing the number of people deceived in this manner by Adobe. I could not cancel my free trial, because this function was not available on my account during the trial period, then a few things happened, and when I was finally Able to cancel - it was already too late. Now I See, that all the 'technical issues' were part of an Adobe's rip-off scheme. The offer as such was very misleading, too. According to the law of my Country, the provider must inform the customer about the termination terms in a clear and explicit form, which did not happen here as well. This is not only unethical but also against the law of my Country. I am still talking with Adobe's CS, we'll See how they will go about it...

[Abambo]

Do you have an update on this?

[Abambo]

There is no "hidden contract".

[Pmendell]

To which I'd add:

I don't have a major problem with the negative-optioning automatic trial rollover into a paid subscription trap - it is a fairly common model in my experience.  The problem I have with Adobe's implementation is that they silently default you to "Annual Subscription" without alerting to you to the fact that, if you ultimately do decide that you are willing to pay for a little bit of use past the 7 days, they've got you locked into paying montly for a year!. I had no concerns when my credit card was charged on day 8 but I am absolutely appalled that I'm now being charged more than a two month subscription as an early cancellation fee. This is clearly a caveat emptor situation and I have no one to blame but myself for assuming, incorrectly, that a corporation of Adobe's stature would exhibit marketing ethics a step or two above your average bookey or loan shark.  It is a good thing that there is a remarkable array of excellent document management and image processing software from other commercial enterprises and, indeed, Open Source projects because Adobe has lost my trust (and will lose a couple of subscriptions on my next anniversary date).  

[Rob5E41]

100% agree. I share your frustration. It is completely disingenuous of Adobe to lock the user into a year contract!!! It is especially painful having to pay in dollars where the currency of my country of residence is so weak.  Absolute rip off. SHAME on ADOBE!!!