A new lawsuit filed by the U.S. Department of Justice is taking aim at software developer Adobe over alleged consumer protection violations related to the subscription model it uses to sell access to its products.
The suit, filed Monday in the Northern District of California, alleges that Adobe deceived subscribers to its “annual paid monthly” payment plan by “hiding” early termination fees that can amount to hundreds of dollars and throwing further “onerous and complicated” roadblocks in front of customers wishing to cancel their subscription. That process includes “resistance and delays from Adobe [customer service] representatives” and being “forced to navigate numerous pages in order to cancel.”
“Adobe trapped customers into year-long subscriptions through hidden early termination fees and numerous cancellation hurdles,” Federal Trade Commission Bureau of Consumer Protection Director Samuel Levine said in a statement. “Americans are tired of companies hiding the ball during subscription signup and then putting up roadblocks when they try to cancel. The FTC will continue working to protect Americans from these illegal business practices.”
The complaint further claims that Adobe “pushes” its “annual paid monthly” as the primary, default subscription choice to customers while obscuring that an early termination fee amounting to 50% of remaining monthly payments is charged should they cancel their subscription in the first year. It also charges that Adobe “ambushes” customers with early termination fees during the cancellation process as a tool to deter customers from canceling subscriptions.