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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.
The lawsuit also targets Maninder Sawhney, senior vice president of digital go-to-market and sales, and David Wadhwani, the company's president of digital media. The complaint says the two “directed, controlled, had the authority to control, or participated in the actions and practices of the company at issue.”
"Adobe has forced customers into year-long subscriptions through hidden early cancellation fees and multiple cancellation barriers," Samuel Levine, director of the FTC's Office of Consumer Protection, said in a statement. "Americans are sick and tired of companies that hide their intentions when they buy a subscription and then put up a lot of obstacles later when they try to cancel it." The federal government began looking into the controversial cancellation practices late last year.
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.
