Tried to Cancel Adobe. Got Ghosted. Now I Owe $500

by lovegrenoble on 4/11/2025, 1:21:18 AM with 7 comments
Adobe raised my subscription mid contract by almost $30/month, then told me it’d cost $500 to cancel. So naturally, I entered the customer support hunger games. I open the chat, pour my soul out and mid sentence they just vanish. Every. Single. Time. No goodbye. No “we value your feedback.” Just a soft digital fart and an empty chat box. I’m not even mad anymore, I’m impressed. I’ve never been held hostage by an app before.

So yeah, I bought Affinity and DaVinci like a recently divorced dad getting into cycling. I’m free now. I export TIFFs recreationally. I sleep with one eye open in case Creative Cloud tries to update in my dreams.

Adobe doesn’t sell software, they sell trauma.

https://old.reddit.com/r/graphic_design/comments/1jvv14h/tried_to_cancel_adobe_got_ghosted_now_i_owe_500/

  • by nextos on 4/11/2025, 1:51:09 AM

    If they are trying to charge you unfairly (I don't know the details) the right way to address this is to fill in a credit card chargeback claim (if you paid with a card, obviously).

    Chargebacks are great to punish rogue companies. If your claim is fair, you will eventually get your money back.

    Furthermore, after a sufficient number of chargebacks, their credit card fees will be raised. For this reason, rogue merchants usually become a lot more helpful when you mention the c-word.

  • by sloaken on 4/11/2025, 1:43:36 AM

    This why I HATE subscriptions.

    Ran into a similar problem in the UK with a cell phone. I called to say I was moving to the US and did not need the phone service anymore. Phones were fully paid for. They would then send me to a 'Handler' who would have me on hold for 30 minutes. Then try and talk me out of dropping the service. WTF I am leaving. Then mid discussion the line would drop. After the THIRD time I decided the easiest method was to CLOSE the bank account the phones were tied to.

  • by jmathai on 4/11/2025, 1:43:42 AM

    The FTC filed a law suit against Adobe for deceptive subscription policies.

    https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/news/press-releases/2024/06/...

  • by lovegrenoble on 4/11/2025, 1:37:55 AM

    Can confirm, Affinity is the best alternative. Fair pricing + innovations.

    And Autograph by Left Angle as a free alternative to after effects: https://left-angle.com

  • by dpig_ on 4/11/2025, 3:18:05 AM

    In the cancellation process, take the offer to switch to an alternative Adobe product, then you will be able to cancel that cleanly within a roughly 30-day window as it is considered a new transaction.

  • by ChrisArchitect on 4/11/2025, 2:46:45 AM

    You wanna share a reddit thread, please submit the link, not copy paste the contents.

    https://www.reddit.com/r/graphic_design/comments/1jvv14h/tri...