The government of the United States is suing Adobe, a firm that makes computer software, on the grounds that it concealed early cancellation penalties and made it difficult for customers to end their subscriptions.
In response to the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) recommendation, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) filed a complaint on Monday. The Department of Justice (DOJ) claims in the complaint that Adobe “has harmed consumers by enrolling them in its default, most lucrative subscription plan without clearly disclosing important plan terms.” Interestingly, the DOJ claims that Adobe concealed from customers signing up for a “Annual, Paid Monthly” subscription plan that they were actually entering into a year-long contract and that canceling would incur a costly termination fee. The DOJ claims that Adobe used this deceptive tactic as a “powerful retention tool” to trap customers.
The Department of Justice (DOJ) claimed that Adobe would discourage customers from canceling by implementing a complicated cancellation procedure that presented multiple challenges that would “impede or delay their attempts to cancel.” Customers who have had their phone calls or live chats terminated and are required to re-explain their request to the representative are among the examples given.
“Through numerous cancellation hurdles and hidden early termination fees, Adobe trapped customers into year-long subscriptions,” FTC Director of Bureau Consumer Production Samuel Levine stated in a penalty release. “Americans are fed up with businesses that play a secret when they sign up for subscriptions and then put up obstacles in their way when they try to cancel. The FTC will keep up its efforts to shield the public from these unethical business practices.
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A brief summary of the common complaints made about Adobe
One of the biggest software firms, Adobe focuses on productivity and design products like Illustrator and Photoshop. Over time, the company’s membership model has come under fire from people who reluctantly use the site for work-related reasons. An further contentious issue has been its cancellation costs. The corporation faced criticism in 2021 after a user shared a screenshot of their over $300 invoice on X/Twitter after canceling their subscription to Creative Cloud: All Apps.
Earlier this month, Adobe revised the Photoshop Terms of Service and included a statement stating that “[Adobe] may access your content through both manual and automated methods, such as for content review.” This modification caused criticism for Adobe. There was anger since it was implied that Adobe would use this content to train its AI models, and the work also included projects covered by nondisclosure agreements. Later, Adobe would revise its Terms in an effort to address some of the charges leveled against the business.