iNDICA NEWS BUREAU-
The US government sued software giant Adobe on Monday, June 17 for allegedly concealing expensive fees and making subscription cancellation difficult.
The Department of Justice (DoJ) filed a complaint claiming that Adobe “has harmed consumers by enrolling them in its default, most lucrative subscription plan without clearly disclosing important plan terms” for years.
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced action against Adobe and two executives, Maninder Sawhney and David Wadhwani, for “deceiving consumers by hiding the early termination fee for its most popular subscription plan and making it difficult for consumers to cancel their subscriptions”.
The federal court complaint alleges that Adobe pushed consumers toward the “annual paid monthly” subscription without adequately disclosing that canceling within the first year could cost hundreds of dollars.
Wadhwani is the president of Adobe’s digital media business, while Sawhney is an Adobe vice president.
Samuel Levine, Director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection, stated, “Adobe trapped customers into year-long subscriptions through hidden early termination fees and numerous cancellation hurdles. Americans are tired of companies hiding the ball during subscription signup and then putting up roadblocks when they try to cancel.”
The complaint alleges that Adobe pre-selects its “annual paid monthly” subscription plan as the default option on its website, prominently displaying the “monthly” cost but burying information about the early termination fee (ETF). The ETF, which is 50 percent of the remaining monthly payments for first-year cancellations, is hidden in small print or behind hover-over icons.
Despite being aware of consumers’ problems with the ETF, Adobe reportedly continues to steer customers toward this plan while obscuring the fee details, the complaint says.
Consumers attempting to cancel through Adobe’s customer service allegedly face resistance, delays, and obstacles such as dropped calls, multiple transfers, and continued charges even after believing they had successfully canceled.
Adobe did not immediately comment on the DoJ lawsuit.
