Adobe tried to trap me with an early termination fee, but backed down when I pushed back
I finally got out of Adobe’s cancellation fee trap.
I recently subscribed to Creative Cloud Pro and honestly thought “annual, billed monthly” meant I was paying monthly and could cancel like a normal monthly subscription.
Nope.
When I tried to cancel, Adobe wanted an early termination fee. Apparently “billed monthly” does not actually mean monthly in the way most normal people understand it. It means you are locked into a yearly contract, but they take the money from you every month.
First, support asked why I wanted to cancel. I told them I had finished studying and no longer needed the subscription.
Then they offered me 2 free months to stay.
I declined. I told them I did not want free months, a discount, or some retention offer. I wanted to cancel without paying an early termination fee, because I did not feel the 12-month commitment and cancellation fee were made clear enough before purchase.
I also mentioned that I am a Norwegian consumer, and that key information like total price, contract duration, binding period, and cancellation terms must be clearly presented before purchase under consumer law.
After that, they cancelled my plan and refunded me NOK 296.25.
So yeah, if Adobe tries to charge you to leave, do not just accept it. Push back. Stay polite, but be firm. Say you do not accept free months. Say you want the early termination fee waived. Ask them to escalate the case if needed.
The wild part is that this should not even be necessary. A company should not be allowed to make a subscription look monthly, then punish people for leaving.
Fuck Adobe’s subscription model.