FTC Lawsuit Alleges Adobe’s Cancellation Fees Are Illegal
Ashley Belanger, reporting for Ars Technica:
The government’s heavily redacted complaint laid out Adobe’s
alleged scheme, which starts with “manipulative enrollment
practices.”
To lock subscribers into recurring monthly payments, Adobe would
typically pre-select by default its most popular “annual paid
monthly” plan, the FTC alleged. That subscription option locked
users into an annual plan despite paying month to month. If they
canceled after a two-week period, they’d owe Adobe an early
termination fee (ETF) that costs 50 percent of their remaining
annual subscription. The “material terms” of this fee are hidden
during enrollment, the FTC claimed, only appearing in “disclosures
that are designed to go unnoticed and that most consumers never
see.” […]
Because Adobe allegedly only alerted users to the ETF in fine
print — by hovering over a small icon or clicking a hyperlink in
small text — while the company’s cancellation flows made it hard
to end recurring payments, the FTC is suing and accusing Adobe of
deceptive practices under the FTC Act.
Adobe is too good a company to push dark-pattern subscription schemes like this. They should concede, apologize, and eliminate every subscription that isn’t a simple straightforward annual or monthly plan.
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Ashley Belanger, reporting for Ars Technica:
The government’s heavily redacted complaint laid out Adobe’s
alleged scheme, which starts with “manipulative enrollment
practices.”
To lock subscribers into recurring monthly payments, Adobe would
typically pre-select by default its most popular “annual paid
monthly” plan, the FTC alleged. That subscription option locked
users into an annual plan despite paying month to month. If they
canceled after a two-week period, they’d owe Adobe an early
termination fee (ETF) that costs 50 percent of their remaining
annual subscription. The “material terms” of this fee are hidden
during enrollment, the FTC claimed, only appearing in “disclosures
that are designed to go unnoticed and that most consumers never
see.” […]
Because Adobe allegedly only alerted users to the ETF in fine
print — by hovering over a small icon or clicking a hyperlink in
small text — while the company’s cancellation flows made it hard
to end recurring payments, the FTC is suing and accusing Adobe of
deceptive practices under the FTC Act.
Adobe is too good a company to push dark-pattern subscription schemes like this. They should concede, apologize, and eliminate every subscription that isn’t a simple straightforward annual or monthly plan.