The U.S. Department of Justice sued Adobe on Monday, alleging that Adobe’s terms of service for apps like Creative Cloud and Photoshop included cancellation fees that were applied when consumers signed up for a one-year subscription.
“For years, Adobe has harmed consumers by enrolling them in its default, most lucrative subscription plan without clearly disclosing important plan terms,” the DOJ alleged in its suit, filed in district court in Northern California.
Specifically, the DOJ alleged that Adobe only disclosed the fact that signing up for an “annual, paid monthly” plan forced consumers to commit to a year’s subscription as well as “hefty” early termination fees in the hundreds of dollars. Adobe only makes the ETF clear after a consumer tries to cancel, the suit says. Otherwise, they’re hidden behind optional textboxes and hyperlinks, it said.
“Adobe then deters cancellations by employing an onerous and complicated cancellation process,” during which it surfaces the cancellation fees, the DOJ said.
In one exchange cited by the government, a consumer cited a “negotiation” that they went through to get out of their subscription. “I have corresponded with Adobe on the phone and via their chat support over three times in the last few months to try and cancel my membership,” they said, as cited by the DOJ. “Each time I try to cancel, there is a rigorous negotiation and instead of allowing the user to cancel their account, they offer two months at no charge.”
The DOJ is asking for, among other things, fines and a permanent injunction against Adobe’s behavior.
Adobe had yet to issue a response by press time.