Class Action Lawsuit Claims Adobe Fails to Clearly Disclose Subscription, Cancellation Terms

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A proposed class action lawsuit claims that Adobe deceptively induces consumers into enrolling in automatically renewing, costly subscriptions, namely by obscuring key details during the enrollment process, making the cancellation process difficult, and tacking on a hefty early termination fee.

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According to the 32-page Adobe lawsuit, the company misleads consumers as to the duration of its subscriptions, renewal conditions and cancellation policies. The suit charges that Adobe’s enrollment process is purposefully designed to “hide and limit the accessibility of” key subscription details, and that the company’s cancellation procedures are “intentionally burdensome,” trapping consumers into unwanted subscriptions.

According to the complaint, Adobe’s subscription terms and conditions, rather than being clearly and prominently displayed, are hidden in fine print “buried” at the bottom of the page and within hyperlinks that customers must affirmatively follow.

The case says that for Adobe’s annual, billed monthly (ABM) plan in particular, the terms and conditions are intentionally written in obscure and inconsistent language, with necessary details, including the fact that the plan is a year-long automatically renewing commitment that comes with an early cancellation fee, scattered across multiple different locations on the website.

“In totality, the terms of the ABM plan lock unwitting consumers into year-long contracts that strongly deter consumers from cancelling, and automatically renew each year,” the suit summarizes.

Per the lawsuit, the only on-page indication that a cancellation fee exists for the ABM plan is faint, gray text below the price of the subscription that reads, “Fee applies if you cancel after [date].”

Additional information must be intentionally accessed by the consumer by hovering over the icon beside the fine print, which reveals a pop-up box that reads, “If you cancel after 14 days [of your initial order], your service will continue until the end of that month’s billing period, and you will be charged an early termination fee,” the lawsuit says.

The complaint notes that this disclosure still does not mention that the fee will be charged as a lump sum and will be worth 50 percent of the remaining, year-long subscription. There is also nothing on the sign-up or checkout page that explicitly discloses the year-long obligation tied to Adobe’s ABM subscription plan, the filing relays.

The complaint argues that consumers are largely unaware of the fees and terms of an Adobe ABM subscription until they wish to cancel and begin the process, at which point the full terms are revealed, and the price of cancellation often deters them from cancelling as they wish to do.

Additionally, the lawsuit contends that the cancellation process itself is intentionally confusing and frustrating so as to discourage consumers from completing it and instead resign themselves to continue to pay for the service.

The class action lawsuit also references a formal complaint against Adobe by the Federal Trade Commission over the unclear disclosure of the terms and conditions of Adobe’s ABM plan.

The Adobe class action lawsuit seeks to represent anyone in the U.S. who, within the past four years, incurred or paid an annual, billed monthly plan cancellation fee or paid the full-year contract of the ABM subscription, including those who attempted to cancel but ultimately did not or could not go through with it.

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