SUBSCRIPTION SCAM??

[Guest]

It tastes like a scam.

I just finished a "conversation" with one of adobe's support guys. An unpleasant experience.

Dear Navleen .. I hope you see this.

I tried to cancel my subscription 4 months ago and failed, and then got caught up with work and forgot about it, realizing today that I've paid extra 4 months for a month-to-month subscription for Premiere, which I haven't used. ( I used it a few days only after I bought it in April 2017)

1)It is unreasonable that you have to cancel a month-to-month subscription, why cant I just pay for one month? Makes me miss the pre CC days.

2)it is unacceptable that I have to then, contact tech support for them to cancel it for me. Yes I know, you click manage my plan, you click the cancel button, and ta-da. That's not the case for many of us outside the US/EU zone I guess, as I learned today. That button doesn't exist.

And it's so confusing. Made me even believe, the subscription might cancel itself at the end of the month. Boy I was mistaking. A mistake that cost me 120$.

3) my conversation with the tech staff ( NAVLEEN) ended a few minutes ago by saying ... and I quote

" IN SOME COUNTRIES ADOBE TAKES HELP FROM THIRD PARTY TO SELL THE PRODUCT. IN YOUR COUNTRY ADOBE IS TAKING MONEY TROGH DIGITAL RIVER, THEREFORE THE CANCELLATION OPTION IS NOT THERE AND YOU NEED TO CONTACT US FOR THE CANCELLATION AND WE CAN SUPPORT FOR THE SAME"

Mr Navleen then shut me off and ended the conversation.

I can't accept this, this information is not clear on the website to any average Joe like me. Nowhere does it say "contact us to cancel if". On the contrary, it just makes me think it will automatically get cancelled.

I asked for a refund, and Navleen just ignored me, that's around 120$ loss for me. Just cause there is no Cancel button.

I want the cancel button.

I want a refund.

I want clearer information for customers outside US/EU.

[Guest]

Many others on this forum have raised the same concern. As I see, each one of them gets shut off by a moderator that "it has been resolved, subscription cancelled".

That's an easy, cheap 'FIX'.

[carinr52736644]

I have experienced the same issue. Month to month payment, but was unabale to cancel the subscription after two months without having to pay for at least 6 months. Funny thing though is that I get different answers from the support. Apparently I'm supposed to be able to end the subscription after two months, but the next agent told me the opposite. What to do??? I live within the EU.

Most disappointed and highly frustrated!

[Sheena Kaul · Accepted solution]

Hi there,

I really apologize for the terrible support experience and believe me, this is not what Adobe wants to provide.

I have checked the chat conversation you had with the agent and I am escalating the case to the concerned team so that they can help you on priority and also I will pass on the feedback for the agent to the correct team.

Appreciate your patience.

Regards,

Sheena

[carinr52736644]

Hi,

thanks for you prompt reply. I was allowed to end the subscription after two chatting sessions and one phone call. Now I'm not sure I will start a subscription later on due to all the hustle.

Regards,

Carin

[prestonc9578073]

Adobe's practices around their subscriptions (my experience is with Acrobat Pro) may be legal, but are most certainly unethical, and definitely fall into the bucket labelled "SCAM". Paying extortion to stop using their products can hardly be described as anything else. When I attempted to cancel my subscription (one that was automatically renewed without any verification from me that I wished this to happen) I was told that I either had to keep paying every month until next January (9 more months of charges), which is my "subscription date", or pay a "cancellation charge" that amounted to effectively the same amount - and all of this for a product I never use. Customer service? Hardly. How about "bend over and take it"? Sheesh.This is a horrible business practice, and one that has convinced me to NEVER, EVER use Adobe products again.

[danav87075891]

yes, its a scam!!! i tried to cancel my subscription but its impossible without a fee. i talked to a adobe agent on the chat and since they didn't give me any solution for my request i decided to wait for my subscription to end and surprise! it was automatically prolonged with 1 year! fee for canceling the subscription: 250 euro!!! dont make the mistake to make a subscription!!

[John T Smith]

When you "click to agree" you are agreeing that you have read the Subscription Terms https://www.adobe.com/misc/subscription_terms.html

Which tell you that your subscription will renew automatically and that you pay a fee to cancel early

[catpergolski]

I have been charged the last 6 months for the month to month membership that I cancelled within the first 2 weeks. I just noticed on my paypal that I have been getting charged this whole time. Now, I am trying to cancel it again, they want to charge me $35 to cancel it. I tried contacting someone via support IM, I had to wait over 45 minutes and still nobody helped me. I tried calling and that was unhelpful too. How do I get refunded? I feel like I have been scammed out of a lot of money!

[matthewr3707857]

Please advise how I can cancel this plan. I will never use your products again. How can you auto-subscribe me on a 12-month contract and tell me I can’t turn off auto-renewal and I have to pay 50% of the year’s subscription fees on a plan I didn’t even have knowledge I was entering into.

I want my plan cancelled now. This is a shameful scam by Adobe, your products are great, but you’re business philosophy is shameful. How can you treat your customers like this?

You know this is a problem (you’re message boards prove that) yet you choose to continue practicing unfair and sly trading policies.

I want my membership cancelled TODAY without any additional charges.

I also want my personal information removed from your company.

Please let me know how you are going to proceed.

Matthew.

[erikaz50826232]

Matthew, you are so right. I also went through the same thing. I'm a student as well and I have very little money. I signed up for a monthly-paid, one-year subscription for AU$18.69. Without any given notice, the rate had gone up substantially and so unreasonably to AU$43.99. I checked my bank account two months after my first subscription ended to realise that they had automatically renewed my subscription, so that if I wanted to cancel I had to pay 50% of the rest of the 'contract'.

I've contacted the company, they made several offers for me to switch plans which I disagreed as I wanted to cancel the subscription immediately. I've also contacted my bank to stop making payments to Adobe as a safety precaution. After several attempts at trying to get me to buy into another 'scam', I told Adobe I would contact my lawyer and press charges for unfair trade practices. They then agreed to cancel my subscription without any fees.

It's such a shame as I also believe it's a great program for artists out there. Unfortunately, the way they carry out their business is so immoral and unjust, it reeks of greed and maliciousness. Adobe is so widely well-known and used globally by so many big companies yet it fails to use common fair trade practices. It misleads and deceives vulnerable young students who already does not have the financial capacity to deal with this 'scam'. It's clearly unreasonable and abhorrent.

So Adobe, no matter what reasons you may provide (e.g. saying that the customers have agreed with the terms and conditions upon entering the agreement), we all will ultimately know that this is unethical sales practice and no customer in the future would trust their money in you.

[Russell1988]

I think it's disgusting that they try to take a full year's payment for a monthly rolling subscription and then you'd still only be able to use it for one month. Absolute scam. They're having a laugh if they think they're going to take my money for nothing. Daylight robbery and taking advantage of customers. This isn't even a credit agreement! What drugs are you on Adobe? What drugs are you on????

[ilanag8085121]

Honestly I hate Adobe, I think they have terrible service and they don't care about their customers. They just try to get as much money as possible. They would learn that they would have continued success through loyal customers if they were more transparent about their policies...i mean seriously do they ever look at these forums? YES everyone says "read the terms" I did read the terms. And it does not state that at the end of the first year you still have to pay a cancelation fee. That makes no sense at all!!!!

I am required to use this product for school, you don't offer a monthly option, they say its monthly but its yearly, they just charge you on a monthly basis to make you think you're paying less. My year long subscription was up, and two weeks prior to the new, year long renewal they tried to sneak by me, I called to cancel. They still wanted to  charge a cancellation fee even though the year contract was up and I wanted to cancel for the next year, before i got suckered into a new subscription. DO NOT LET THEM TELL YOU THAT. IF YOU HAVE PAID FOR 12 MONTHS and want to cancel starting at the end of the 12 months before the 13th month it is ILLEGAL for them to charge a cancellation fee. DO NOT LISTEN TO THE CUSTOMER SUPPORT THAT TELLS YOU OTHERWISE, JUST KEEP PUSHING. Everyone is allowed to opt-out before a new year long contract.

I really hope a new company with better morals comes to market with comparable products. It sucks that adobe is really the only option for some of us right now. There should be a true month-to-month option that is $30 for one app. Its seriously ridiculous. Cant wait until classes are over so that as an UNPAID STUDENT i don't have to spend $300 a year on this product. ITS A SCAM

[kirsten_nl17224246]

I see I'm not alone.  I subscribed in 2017 as a university employee and was charged once for a full year.  (My university offered this option.) At the end of the year, I got a notice about renewing.  This time, I'm charged every month!  Luckily I caught it the second month.  1. There were no details in the renewal notice about the change in the account type.  I remember being confused about the notice and looking for more info.but I couldn't find any.  2.  I am still an employee and I assume the university still has the deal with Adobe....but it is not made clear how to continue under the original deal.  I guess I would have to cancel and then sign up again?  3. the person I communicated with on-line, never cleared up the confusion for me.  He said he would not charge me the fee...I had better double check I guess.  When I explained my unique situation he never clearly addressed what happened or why.  I'm afraid to sign up again!  Any other good software out there I could use instead?

[PotatoApe]

Haha... you can remove my message from here but you can't remove it from other forums. SCAMMERS!

[Abambo]

You used strong language and that’s not allowed here. You are free to rephrase and it will be published. Other fora are not of my business.

[svenh44837755]

Hello, same problem here. Due to circumstances i was not able to cancel the subscription for stock photos in the first month, and now i have a €134.96 cancellation fee, for 1 stock photo i used. Please Adobe, fix this (problem).

[mauritzr60537546]

Yeah, they also worked me over with a 7-day free trial that would automatically become a $14,99 per MONTH subscription. I let it go through in the first month, but then no longer needed it so wanted to cancel. Only then did I discover they indicated in the very first "Welcome to your 7 day free trial" email that it is a year contract. So now I had to pay another $80 odd to be rid of Adobe. In the finest of fine prints. Probably a size 6 font and hidden between a wall of nonsensical text. Well done Adobe. You trick people the best!!

When companies trick people in this way, they erode the confidence of web user to their own detriment. This is so stupid and after this I will never ever again use anything from Adobe. In fact I will now select sub-contractors only if they don't use Adobe and I will tell the wordl about their questionable business practices. They must be desperate to exchange their reputation for a mere $80.

Take my money and take a hike Adobe. Never again - not even a free product of yours. Good riddance and goodbye.

[Abambo]

mauritzr60537546  wrote

Yeah, they also worked me over with a 7-day free trial that would automatically become a $14,99 per MONTH subscription.

That's correct isn't it?

mauritzr60537546  wrote

Only then did I discover they indicated in the very first "Welcome to your 7 day free trial" email that it is a year contract.

So you where aware that you made a contract for a year. Adobe also offers contracts for the month. The contracts for the month, however, are more expensive. A lot of people think that PAYING FOR THE MONTH means the they have a contract from month to month.

mauritzr60537546  wrote

When companies trick people in this way, they erode the confidence of web user to their own detriment.

For your reference, I've snapshot different plans. I'm not a native English speaker, but I understand this very well and the difference too:

mauritzr60537546  wrote

This is so stupid and after this I will never ever again use anything from Adobe. In fact I will now select sub-contractors only if they don't use Adobe and I will tell the wordl about their questionable business practices.

a) you will having trouble selecting your sub-contractors.

b) we are in a free world. You can work with all tools you want. However, before making a contract, read next time the subscription and cancellation terms. It will help you.

[kirsten_nl17224246]

I absolutely agree with all your points.  Everyone is responsible for making sure they understand the terms of the agreement, which means reading the contract.  All of the info is provided by Adobe for the purchaser to read before signing up.

However, a company can make it difficult to read the parts of the contract that may be less appealing to consumers.  That is certainly not illegal; however, there is some degree of manipulation involved. Mauritzr60537546 points out that the certain terms are in a significantly smaller sized text.  This is perfectly legal, and it is the user's responsibility to read it, period.  But there is a degree of manipulation involved.  Why not include those terms in a easier to read format. 

I had a related problem with Adobe and my university account.  Long story short, when I got my renewal notice, they took me to the regular account page where I would pay full price rather than what my university's contract provides.  No specific info was provided explaining how to renew for my university account.  Again, my fault, I should have remembered how I signed up last year.  But I definitely felt things were set up to take you to the more expensive, restrictive option.  Definitely not illegal . . . just a little manipulative.

Of course, i will still use Adobe.  I like their products.  I will just be extra careful before I click anything on any of their pages. I don't believe they are scamming me, but I do feel manipulated.

[Abambo]

https://forums.adobe.com/people/Kirsten+Nicole  wrote

I had a related problem with Adobe and my university account.  Long story short, when I got my renewal notice, they took me to the regular account page where I would pay full price rather than what my university's contract provides.  No specific info was provided explaining how to renew for my university account.

That's when you need to get after customer care as they will handle that.

My credo is, when I buy an annual plan paid monthly, it's still an annual plan. I had an biannual plan for my phone, but I paid monthly. I knew it would run for 24 months.

[nicolasm10195071]

I have had this same issue, as well as a consistent issue with the functionality of the Adobe customer service chat, beginning when I tried to cancel my trial. When I recently realized that I was AUTOMATICALLY enrolled into an expensive subscription, with a fee for cancellation, I encountered problems with the chat as well.

Severe dissatisfaction and no resolution from attempts to fix this. This experience has left me feeling so sour that, after I cancel, I will never bring my startup back to subscribe to AdobeCC products. I feel scammed and slighted. I will also contact my Tech friends who host blogs, so they can help warn others about getting pulled into a similar nightmare experience.

[tracyl92839986]

Adobe are nothing but a TOTAL RIP OFF, do yourself a favor & NEVER subscribe to them.  There are lots of other choices out there that are very good & they do not rip off their customers like Adobe.  Good riddance so glad that I have cancelled my subscription even though they have charged me lots of money for doing so.  Adobe - you should be ashamed of yourselves, what a disgraceful organisation.

[Abambo]

Hi Tracy,

I'm sorry that you were in trouble. I personally did not have any problem in cancelling any subscription I took until now with Adobe and people I know do not have trouble either.

The money that you got charged was for an early cancellation and that is clearly shown in the conditions. Reading before buying could be a money saver in the future for you.

Abambo.

[tracyl92839986]

If you had bothered to read, I was merely adding a comment to a page where

many other people were writing about the adobe supscription SCAM which is

exactly what it is - a SCAM!!!

This is also noted on various other websites including the Consumer Affairs

website, Trust Pilot & BBB.org where many people are complaining about

adobe & their SCAM tactics.

As a business we have numerous subsriptions set up with various businesses

& none of them operate like adobe.

Your response sums up adobe

- Rude, Unprofessional. SCAMMERS!!!