Adobe tried stealing my money

[aak221]

I know I should be more on top of checking my bank account- that's on me. However, not the point I am just ranting.

Today I noticed there was a $29.99 charge on my bank account from 4/20, and I realized I've been getting this charge since January 2024. I was at a complete loss, since I know for a fact, I cancelled my personal Adobe account, I even have a screenshot of the cancellation. Keep in mind I have two accounts: one that my university provides (I've made no purchases on it, and never touched it so the account basically doesn't exist), and another personal account (I had to make a purchase there, $19.99 a month for a year).

I reached out to customer service about the $29.99 charge I've been getting since January, and they said I purchased something on my university account on January 13, 2023. I told them according to my Adobe billing history, there is 0 record that I purchased anything. They sent me to another person- and let me tell you: rudest dude possible. Despite showing my bank account Adobe charges that don't line up, and a screenshot of the 0 billing history on my university account, the person not only spelled my name wrong, but also told me I may be using the wrong email address, they couldn't give me a refund because of the 14 day rule, and offered free credit and free access to Adobe for the next 3 months. I told him I have no confirmation email on my school account that I even purchased something. They said they see the emails getting sent to me, and to check my emails "that I opened". I haven't deleted anything from my school email, and saw I haven't received anything about such a purchase. I told them that, but as a follow up, they only sent me an invoice from 4/20. After telling them I have no email history, I gave them the benefit of doubt and said "Please give me an invoice showing my purchases on my university account because I don't have access to them". (Again, my university Adobe account says I have 0 billing history). They told me to check my emails even though I told them I did not receive any emails about a purchase. Their follow up in a nutshell: we cannot give you the refund, verify your account here's a link to your university account. You probably can't see your billing history because you didn't verify your account. One, when I clicked the link to verify, it didn't even let me verify my account (proving my point earlier that I didn't touch the university account). Two, this dude is reluctant to send me an invoice in general. So I called them out and asked why they won't send me an invoice of this purchsse I supposedly made, and since they're so reluctant I'm going to assume they're stealing money from me and I will take it to court. After getting transferred to an executive supervisor, without any problem, they issued me a refund for the last 4 months and said that my account "wasn't cancelled properly". This back and forward exchange went on for almost an hour. 

[Abambo]

If you have the e-mail you received with the cancel, contact Adobe customer care. Adobe sends a confirmation for a successful cancellation. Adobe customer care can be contacted by beginning a secure chat session at https://helpx.adobe.com/contact.html?rghtup=autoOpen. Pop-up blockers need to be disabled, you need to accept cookies! If the chat window fails to open, or is non-responsive, use a different device and/or browser to start the interaction.

For support via Twitter:
https://twitter.com/AdobeCare

(see also here: https://community.adobe.com/t5/creative-cloud-services/how-to-contact-adobe-support/td-p/11875703 or here
https://community.adobe.com/t5/account-payment-plan/how-to-contact-adobe-support/td-p/11843852)

Important: Adobe does NOT contact you unsolicited by e-mail or direct message. If you get contacted by direct message from a person, claiming to be an Adobe employee, look at that profile and check if they bear the “Adobe Employee” marking under their name. Adobe support does not use Skype to give you support.
If in doubt, ask the forum.

[aak221]

As I said, they cancelled it already and I got two emails for it. After an hour, the supervisor also told me they'll issue a refund for the last 4 months they've been charging me without warrant. I also spoke to said supervisor on the chat link you said. I'm just posting what I experienced here, and how absurd this whole situation was. Since the specialist did not send any receipts when asked, it's best to assume they were scamming money out of me- which is fraud.  

[Abambo]

So the issue is solved. And that is great. 

Your "fraud" suspicion is nonsense. Adobe is a multi-billion company. They do not need to defraud you for $120. 

[aak221]

Yeah. As I said in the first paragraph "I'm venting".  And the process of this whole thing was ridiculous especially since I had proof.

Nonetheless, I have every right to suspect potential lies and/or fraud. They were charging my card despite 0 history of purchasing anything in my account. When I asked (twice) for an invoice to show proof I purchased anything (because again, I didn't have any proof, and I was giving them the benefit of the doubt), they were reluctant and did not send anything to me. This can shows either there was fraudulent activity going on, the specialist knew that I was in the right, and/or the specialist was lying to me so they can continue getting revenue. 

I've seen many posts on this forum, and on other social platforms having very similar issues. The way Adobe handles these situations is either suspicious or terrible. I get it your a community specialist, but you can't deny that Adobe was being completely unnecessary. I don't know how you're able to sit there and not empathize with this situation, 

[Abambo]

Nonetheless, I have every right to suspect potential lies and/or fraud. They were charging my card despite 0 history of purchasing anything in my account. When I asked (twice) for an invoice to show proof I purchased anything (because again, I didn't have any proof, and I was giving them the benefit of the doubt), they were reluctant and did not send anything to me. This can shows either there was fraudulent activity going on, the specialist knew that I was in the right, and/or the specialist was lying to me so they can continue getting revenue. 

I've seen many posts on this forum, and on other social platforms having very similar issues. The way Adobe handles these situations is either suspicious or terrible. I get it your a community specialist, but you can't deny that Adobe was being completely unnecessary. I don't know how you're able to sit there and not empathize with this situation, 

By @aak221

You do not have a right to call someone a fraud. And not everyone calling fraud is doing that correctly. You can't see that may posts. Adobe has millions of customers.

I'm locking this thread now. Your case is resolved.

[aak221]

Update: I got my money back! Pretty quick to- they told me to wait 5-7 business days. Kind of surprised to- people have been through my situation and still get charged.

Also- just because multimillionaire companies exist does not mean that shady stuff happens behind it. We hear of this all the time. Don't excuse Adobe's poor customer service behavior. Take Apple for example- they got called out because they would purposely make old Apple devices slower so you can buy a new one. Everything I went through, and everything I've seen people went through with Adobe, I can suspect any type of shade. 

This is also to bring awareness that if you know Adobe is taking money from you without authorization, and you've double checked that you're sure of it, take screenshots like I did of your bank account statement (filtering Adobe only transactions), your Adobe billing history and invoices, and emails. Since I had this interaction on a chat platform, take screenshots of what the people say, and their promises just in case they break them.

Cheers for me standing up for myself and not letting large corporations continue taking my money!