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Adobe also under scrutiny
The US government is suing Adobe for allegedly hiding expensive fees and making it difficult to cancel subscriptions. In a complaint filed in mid-June, the Justice Department alleges that Adobe "harmed consumers by enrolling them in its default, most profitable subscription plan without clearly disclosing important terms of the plan."
They claim that Adobe "hides" the terms of its paid annual and monthly plan in "the fine print and behind optional text boxes and hyperlinks." In doing so, the company fails to properly disclose the early cancellation costs that come with it. "These can amount to hundreds of dollars," the complaint states.
When customers try to cancel their subscription, Adobe requires them to go through a "difficult and complex" cancellation process that involves navigating multiple web pages and pop-ups. They then "stealthfully" add an early cancellation fee to the customer's account, which in turn discourages many users from cancelling.
Customers face similar hurdles when trying to cancel their subscriptions over the phone or via live chat, ministry officials said. The complaint alleges that many “subscribers had their calls or chats dropped and had to explain the reason for the call when they were reconnected.” The suit alleges that these practices violate federal laws designed to protect consumers.
Tožba je ciljno usmerjena tudi zoper Maninderja Sawhneyja, višjega podpredsednika za digitalni vstop na trg in prodajo, ter Davida Wadhwanija, predsednika podjetja za digitalne medije. Pritožba pravi, da sta oba »usmerjala, nadzorovala, imela pooblastila za nadzor ali sodelovala pri dejanjih in spornih praksah podjetja.”
»Adobe je s skritimi stroški predčasne odpovedi in številnimi ovirami pri odpovedi stranke prisilil v celoletne naročnine,” je v izjavi dejal Samuel Levine, direktor FTC-jevega urada za varstvo potrošnikov. »Američani so naveličani podjetij, ki skrivajo svoje namere med nakupom naročnine in nato kasneje postavljajo številne ovire, ko jo poskušajo preklicati.« Zvezna vlada je konec lanskega leta začela preučevati sporne prakse odpovedi.
In 2012, Adobe stopped selling lifetime licenses and switched to a monthly and annual subscription format. The company's subscription model has long caused gray hair for creators. They are often forced to stay subscribed to Adobe in order to continue doing their jobs.
Earlier this month, Adobe's new terms of service drew backlash after Adobe granted itself the right to browse users' products and use them to train artificial intelligence models. Due to the backlash, Adobe is expected to soon introduce new terms and conditions and clarify how it will use user data.
