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Adobe deletes Bluesky posts after backlash

(petapixel.com)
553 points bookofjoe | 4 comments | 11 Apr 25 14:01 UTC | HN request time: 0s | source
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55555 ◴[12 Apr 25 03:33 UTC] No.43661106[source]▶
Adobe runs what must be one of the largest deceptive rebills. The vast majority of users signing up for a monthly plan do not realize that it is actually an "annual plan, billed monthly" and thus that if they cancel after one month (for example) they'll be billed for the remaining 11 immediately. I honestly don't know how they haven't faced FTC action for this, as it's been their primary model for 5-10 years now.
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1. mk89 ◴[12 Apr 25 19:02 UTC] No.43667057[source]▶
Out of curiosity I went to their website to understand how they sell it, because it wasn't clear...

https://www.adobe.com/products/photoshop/plans.html

I am not sure why this should face FTC or any similar mechanism to prevent "deception".

It's written right there:

US$22.99/mo Annual, billed monthly

And if you slightly scroll down the very first question is how much it costs:

> There are several Creative Cloud plans that include Photoshop. You can purchase it as a standalone app for US$22.99/mo. for the annual billed monthly plan or opt for annual billing at US$263.88/yr.

Buying it with the annual billing would save you 1$ per month.

I have seen this model used elsewhere: if you opt in for the yearly subscription, you still pay per month but you save X% over the monthly subscription.

Not sure what could they do to make it more obvious, besides writing big: we only offer yearly subscriptions, although you can pay monthly..

Edit: if you click on buy it, it leads to another option too, the monthly one. Is this the scam one? Because it says you cancel any time...

Edit again: it seems that they did quite some nasty stuff in the past and then US sued them, so now they are more transparent about their subscriptions.

God bless such organizations that sue the hell out of such bad actors until they behave well.

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2. ricardobeat ◴[13 Apr 25 02:00 UTC] No.43669431[source]▶
"Annual, billed monthly" is the deception. That's not a common thing and most users just see it as normal month-to-month billing. Annual billing still having a discount just adds to the confusion.
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3. mk89 ◴[13 Apr 25 08:34 UTC] No.43671126[source]▶
I think they fixed the deception.

Annual, billed monthly cannot be a deception the way it is phrased. Lots of contracts work like that, even my phone/electricity bill and they have been like that forever.

The issue, if you look in one of the links posted in the comments, is that some years ago they didn't mention this specifically. They made you believe it was a monthly subscription and when you canceled it, the termination fees were really high. You know, like those old contracts using 4pt fonts for the important stuff :)

4. smileybarry ◴[13 Apr 25 18:09 UTC] No.43674662[source]▶
IIRC it used to just say “annual” in some words, then the actual terms included the obligation to pay 12 months or pay a cancellation fee. I remember (a while ago when this made headlines) seeing a screenshot of the plans without it being clearly underscored as “annual, paid monthly”.