FTC Sues Adobe for Using Deceptive Subscription Practices against Its Users

• On Monday, a lawsuit was filed against Adobe for using deceptive subscription practices.
• The company is accused of making it difficult for users to cancel their subscriptions and hiding the fact that early cancellation of the annual plan comes with an extra fee.
• However, Adobe has denied these allegations and said that its cancellation process is quite simple and its terms and conditions are quite transparent. It has never hidden or tried to trick its users.

After recent scrutiny and massive public backlash over changes to its Terms of Service, Adobe finds itself in hot waters once again.

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has accused Adobe of using deceptive subscription practices, such as making it difficult for users to cancel their subscriptions and hiding early plan cancellation fees from them.

Basically, Adobe pushed its popular annual paid monthly' plan to its users without explicitly telling them (it was hidden in fine print) that canceling this plan before the tenure was up would lead to a hefty early termination fine.

What's more, the process of cancellation in itself was tedious, too. Users were forced to navigate through multiple pages and popups before they could reach where they wanted to. Plus, it wasn't any easier via call or live chat, either. Some users reported that calls would constantly drop during ongoing conversations.

The lawsuit specifically mentions two top-level Adobe executives, Maninder Sawhney and David Wadhwani, accusing them of being the ones who directed and controlled these practices.

The case was triggered by a series of complaints from consumers across the country who were dissatisfied with their experience with Adobe.

What Do the Authorities Have to Say?

In a statement, Samuel Levine, director of the Federal Trade Commission's Bureau of Consumer Protection, has assured that the FTC will continue to protect Americans from such illegal practices. He said:

Americans are tired of companies hiding the ball during subscription signup and then putting up roadblocks when they try to cancel."

The Department of Justice (DOJ) has also joined the fight and said that Adobe's practices have not only harmed its customers but have also violated several federal laws.

What Does Adobe Has to Say in Response?

Adobe plans to challenge the accusations made by the FTC in court because it believes it has been transparent with its customers.

According to Adobe, their cancellation process is fairly simple and the terms and conditions of their subscription agreements mention everything a customer might need to know before they sign up.

This might seem true in theory, but in practice, canceling a subscription with Adobe is indeed painstakingly difficult. One of TechReport's key team members, Alex Popa, has had first-hand experience with this issue.

I was a one-time user of the Adobe package. I was naive, so I hadn't really paid attention to the terms and conditions. I tried canceling the subscription early, but there was a canceling fee. Then I had to go down a rabbit hole on Reddit and forums to see what this was about. I eventually contacted Adobe and asked them to waive the fee. Although this worked, it still left a sour taste."

This goes to show that Adobe isn't denying cancellation-nor is it bent upon charging users a fee for it-but it's still a tedious process that doesn't prioritize the users' best interests.

More Trouble for Adobe

Just last week, Adobe landed in trouble for updating its Terms of Service in an unclear manner, which led people to believe that the tech giant will now use content from its users to train its AI models. This led to a lot of criticism and backlash as users took to social media to protest against Adobe.

However, the company was quick to clarify that the update had been interpreted wrongly and that it will never use any user data to train AI. It then revised its Terms of Service and also promised to soon release an updated version that will clear out all the confusion.

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