I’m about to attempt to switch to just Linux soon, so I can no longer use Adobe stuff (nor do I want to). The only reason I still have the subscription in the first place is because I’m still on the student discount.
Coincidentally, my bank account was locked for suspicious activity on the day my Adobe payment was going to go through. So of course that got declined.
Adobe wants me to update my payment method or retry. That’s understandable. My bank account is no longer locked so I am able to make the payment.
I was actually going to just cancel and pay the early termination, but in order to do that they want me to pay the current month first. So that’s $20, plus $50 to cancel. Last month, if I were to cancel it would have been $60. So really it’s not like I’m being totally screwed. It’s annoying, but it is part of the contract. I just don’t want to subscribe for another month when I don’t even currently have the software installed and I’m not going to install it again.
So what happens if I just… don’t?
Do they eventually just close the account? Do they potentially send it to collections? I’d imagine that would be a bit extreme but I don’t know.
I realize this is probably a question to ask Adobe customer service or something, but since this is a forum full of computer people I was curious if anyone has had this happen themselves.
Not legal advice, and YMMV - that said, Sarge beat me to it: nobody is going to send $50 to collections.
If you aren’t interested in dealing with Adobe in the future, I’d tell them to go pound sand (or just ignore them) and go on with your life. That’s just me, though, and I suspect I know a couple people around here that would disagree.
Adobe is a shit company in general, I’m not surprised.
Well when you sign up it’s a 1-year commitment. And if you cancel early then you owe half of what you would have paid if you stuck with it for a year.
Does that make it any better? In my opinion, no. But now we’re getting into what is ideal vs. what is real. I try to avoid subscription-based anything (software, gym memberships, ISP’s, etc.) when it has a time commitment. If I’m paying for software as a service, I should be able to cancel any time without any fees. It’s not like I took out a loan to pay for it. I used the software/service for 6 months, I should only have to pay for 6 months.
If I were to keep paying my membership, I’d actually pay $100 over time instead of $50 today, or $0 if I just ignore it. Still dumb though.
As rather a rule-follower, I probably would pay the ETF, but I am curious, what is the worst-case scenario here?
If Adobe was to use collection agents or lawyers, what is the maximum they could extract from a person?
If you have not been able to use the software this month, the actual loss on its part is 60 USD, the previous month’s ETF. How much more than that is collections legally able to collect? In theory, if taken to court, what sort of “damages” could a court award Adobe?
Ya that’s what I’m cusious about as well. Just skimming the Adobe forum it sounded like basically they’ll just lock you out of the software. Which has no effect on me, except I’m not sure if I have a local backup of some of the more recent photos I’ve edited or if they’re only in Lightroom CC.
I don’t know if you even can pay for a full year up front tbh.
There’s just so much bullshit going on with software and DRM. And not just with PC and productivity software but games and consoles as well. It’s basically the driving force behind me wanting to switch to Linux permanently, because it’s simply not an issue with free (as in freedom) software.
It’s a total crash-grab. Being locked into a contract when you get a new phone or something is one thing, because in addition to the service you’re also paying for the phone in monthly installments.
For a software subscription there’s no other resources which carry an additional balance to be paid if you cancel early. The deal here is that Adobe isn’t really offering a monthly subscription. They’re asking you to pay for a year at a time, but are being shifty about how they present it.
Friend of mine did what you’re thinking of - Adobe let the account build up with backcharges and then added payment default fees to it. He ended up having to pay several hundered dollars to sort it out and it WAS sent to a collections service and came up on his credit history.
If Adobe is willing to do that, I wonder what it might do to a user who paid with a prepaid debit card.
Would it start using analytics data gathered by the Creative Cloud programs to try to de-anonymise the user?
If anyone is willing to risk his or her credit and a few hundred dollars, this would make for an interesting experiment; though a further curiosity would be, would doing this intentionally as an experiment make you even more liable, or is Adobe already hitting the limit for damages when they do what you describe?
If you don’t mind the potential dent to your credit history, you can stick it to them. In the future, this is a case where a credit card would be helpful, as if you dispute the charge with your credit card, most of the time credit card company will side with you.
However, you might want to avoid damaging your credit, so I’d write the situation off as a hard lesson and pay it (though I’m in a position where I have the luxary to do so). Before paying the fees, I’d give a call to a support rep explaining the situation and try to get them to drop the fee.
Being calm and cordial with the support rep goes a long way. I wouldn’t go in expecting them to drop the fees, but come out surprised if they do.
Not unfortunately not in most cases, that could be a thjng and would be nice… But no, prepaid card are for whose with money controls on them, poor impulse control, under (credit card ownership) age use and security that there is no account to drain or run up charges on attached, it has what it has then its done.
They still want all the traditional details. I mean most still send out a card too so theh need an address minimum, even if PObox a collector will find the owner.
anyways, Collections isnt usually used for amounts under $300 in my experience. I used to work for DPS and The City police in uni. Even then as a state or city agency they didnt do it for less than $500
A couple of my friends who worked for several companies and banks that did it. It really has to be worth the time effort and money.
I mean one time I forgot my AAA account login and I forgot my card changed. i let it lapse. Nothing happened. They just closed the account. I ultimately never returned cuz I realized they beyond suck out here unless you are on an interstate. To be completely fair this is on an auto renewal so technically all it did was cancel a membership
If I sell a flash drive, but the fine print says it is a three month payment plan; then 5 years down the line I say you owe me 500+ in backcharges+fees+interest, presumably that is illegal; I would hope.