Adobe sued by the US for using tricks to steal users’ money: Making new payments for canceling Creative Cloud plans

In addition, users are tied to annual subscriptions by Adobe without their knowledge.

The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) have filed a lawsuit against Adobe for imposing hidden cancellation fees on users who want to cancel their plans subscribe to Creative Cloud. Adobe is accused of “forcing users to go through a complicated and arduous cancellation process to prevent them from canceling packagesI no longer want it.”

Adobe offers Creative Cloud products as monthly subscriptions. Monthly payments implicitly understand that users can cancel at any time, but this is not the case. Most customers locked into a hidden annual deal.

Customers who sign up for a free trial are then charged and automatically switch to the default Creative Cloud plan, which is an annual contract. To Canceling this contract, the user must pay a fee equal to 50% of the value of the “remaining contract amount” even though the service will end that same month.

Adobe offers a monthly subscription option, but the fee is higher than an annual contract that is paid monthly. This difference is not clearly explained to new or old customers. Adobe even has a separate help page due to the complex nature of the subscription plans.

For example, on Adobe’s website, the fee for full app access is $60 per month, but this only applies if you agree to a perpetual contract The true monthly plan, which allows you to cancel at any time, costs $90/month. If you pay for the whole year, you will not be refunded for cancellations after the 14-day period.

According to the U.S. Department of Justice, Adobe’s behavior violated the “Restore Online Shoppers’ Confidence Act (ROSCA)” through the use of printedand hard-to-see hyperlinks to hide information about early cancellation fees.

The indictment alleges that for years, Adobe took advantage of this hidden fee, deceiving consumers about the true cost of the package. and suddenly impose this fee when they cancel the service, using it as an effective user retention tool.

The indictment also accuses Adobe of violating ROSCA once again for failing to provide users with a simple mechanism to cancel their plans. online registration periodically. Instead, Adobe allegedly protects subscription revenue by preventing users from canceling the service, forcing them to go through the unsubscribe processcomplex and inefficient ideas with many unnecessary steps, delays, unexpected incentives and warnings.

The lawsuit seeks an unspecified amount of compensation to the consumer along with civil penalties in cash and The permanent ban prevents Adobe from continuing to use hidden fees to prevent customer cancellations.