Story: Cancel maze

I really care about the monthly expenses as a graphic/web designer. I dislike a subscription business whatever the service is. Once I contract it, a company charges me every day/every second even I did not use it in a month. I simply cannot accept it.

On January 6th, 2021, I subscribed to Adobe AI for the client project, CAD$45.91/mo. I was anxious about it, because it’s auto-renew only, no a manual setting. In February, I had to cancel it, but I am an ordinary person. I wrote it on Apple Calendar. Then, I forgot to cancel. I believe it’s a quite common situation.

On the morning of February 6th, 2021, I tried to cancel and receive a refund it. I access the Adobe website, but I could not find a human contact form/chat. I also think this is not only me.

I would like to blog about my experience.

How to cancel my Adobe plan

I could find the cancel button on my account. I don’t think it’s a problem for the Adobe User. I needed to discuss the refund. Because I won’t use AI for next month, by March 6th, 2021, but it was auto-renew this morning. That’s the problem.

Understand Creative Cloud subscription terms and refund policies

– Annual plan paid monthly: After 14 days, a cancellation fee of 50% of the remaining balance of your contract obligation may apply. Your service will continue until the end of that month’s billing period.
– Prepaid annual plan: After 14 days, your payment is non-refundable, and your service will continue until the end of your contracted term.
– Monthly plan with no annual commitment: After 14 days, your payment is non-refundable, and your service will continue until the end of that month’s billing period.

Very business-like. If Adobe has confidence in their services, Adobe should allow manual setting or send invoices every month for the user. Currently, there is no benefit for the user. Whatever Adobe mentions on the website, we could not give up a refund as a consumer. I looked for the contact information.

Look for the human 1

At the very bottom, I could find a contact button.

Welcome to Adobe Customer Care! Need help?

I want to contact to human, but I cannot find it. I clicked, Cancel your trial or plan.

Backed to the page, Cancel Adobe trial or subscription.

Look for the human 2

Help Center on the footer.

Adobe Help Center, but this is not what I was looking for. It was totally maze. I clicked Individual > Sign in to contact us. Back to below.

Where the human is

Click View account and log in.

Support history

Contact Us. I could find the window. Looks still a robot, but I could chat with human.

Conclusion: What I got and impression of the process

Adobe support did not refund. Therefore, I asked to change the software, AI to AE(Adobe After Effect). I bought an AE course on Udemy on Black Friday. Even this is not the best outcome, but the better solution for me.

Through the process, I think 2 obvious issues on the Adobe website.

– The user cannot find human contact easily.
– Adobe renews the subscription automatically.
– Adobe does not send monthly invoices.

I understand the business, but it was not a good user experience. I hope Adobe updates the policy in the future.

Reference:

Article: Cancel Adobe without paying the cancellation fee
DoNotPay: How To Cancel Adobe Free Trial