441–450 of 603 posts
You have had over 25 years to contribute to The Gimp and other open source software. You made your bed with proprietary software, now sleep in it.
This was unacceptable to me, so I simply got on the live chat and (politely) bothered their sales reps until they stopped it for me. As a last "screw you", they cancelled my entire sub, rather than just the renewal. But, hey, good enough.
Adobe: Never again.
https://responsivedesign.is/articles/cancel-adobe-without-pa...
Happened to my daughter she needed InDesign in order to do a once off college project. She missed the small print and signed up to an annual sub (€300 total). She managed to get out of it using the method described above.
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This is exactly how contracts for a lot of things, most notably ISPs work in Germany and it's infuriating.
Except that you can put in your cancellation notice early, even on the very first day.
At any rate, what's even worse for me is that you can't cancel in the last 3 months of the contract with ISPs which nobody tells you so it's even easier to get stuck with it for an extra year.
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When you lease an apartment or a car, the monthly rate stated is usually the actual month-to-month cost. They don't demand a full year in advance to get the stated cost, or increase the monthly cost because you didn't pay for a year upfront. That's why this pricing feels dishonest, even if it's technically true. Other companies handle it much more fairly. If you want to subscribe to World of Warcraft, Blizzard makes…
Ummm, leases definitely have variable terms depending on length and also have fees for exiting the contract early. And even more so, I bet if you asked, they would give you a further discount for upfront payment (since it removes non-payment and early cancellation risk that’s priced in) I guess I’m just unclear what you’re on about?
Not a lawyer, but come from a family of bankruptcy lawyers. If your landlord went bankrupt after you pre-paid, it could get dicey. It's a risk, and probably a low probability of downside, but I encourage people to do more research if interested.
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Exactly. Even the public transport company in my city has a similar TOS. If you have an annual subscription and cancel it early, they will charge you the elapsed months accordingly to the monthly fee, not the yearly one and I had to pay 150 Euros for early contract termination.
Whereas in the UK, cancelling an annual travelcard has at most a £10 administration fee and you get a refund based on when you cancelled (although since it's discounted to 10 months cost, you probably won't get anything after that.) https://www.nationalrail.co.uk/times_fares/ticket_types/4657...
So, how do they motivate people to buy the annual subscription when there is no monetary advantage for binding yourself yearly instead of monthly.
In Berlin, if you get an annual subscription instead of a monthly one, you will get two months for free.
And if you cancel early instead of waiting for the whole year, you pay the difference between the monthly and yearly subscription for the months already used.
I don't see anything scummy or illegal here.
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> While I agree it is "in the contract" it's not SUPER obvious that there is an early cancellation fee during the checkout process. Because it’s common sense and practice. Why would anyone commit to a yearly contract otherwise?
It is to you. Just imagine someone having a mental handicap or just tired and not paying enough attention. Terms should be easy to read and understand, that is one part of accessibility.
If you have an actual mental handicap that's keeps you from understanding, you are usually not entitled to sign contracts without a supervisor anyway.
> or just tired and not paying enough attention.
Then you shouldn't be signing contracts in that condition. It's like complaining to the police that they caught you speeding and then excusing that with tiredness. I'm pretty sure the officer won't accept that excuse.
> Terms should be easy to read and understand, that is one part of accessibility.
They are. It's your duty as a grown-up to read a contract before signing it.
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It‘s perfectly legal for the banks or companies to send a bailiff in such a case and seize your property to pay for your debts.
Not in the US. Although a lean could certainly be imposed by a court, you don't have anything to place a lien against when you're poor.
If someone owes me money in the US, I don't have any means to send a legal request?
I Germany, I can just go to court without needing a lawyer and the court will eventually send a bailiff if my claim is justified.
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> This could be a country specific thing but Adobe’s Australian site does not say that at all, quite the opposite. Nope, perfectly normal business practice and not even unethical. Please learn and understand how contracts work. They are a legal _obligation_ and you cannot just unilaterally change the conditions after signing a contract without provoking a contract penalty. It’s really just how contracts work, everywh…
Contracts that involve money over time should state the exact amount you are obligated to pay in total , including any and all fees. Adobe does not currently do that. In Australia at least, they can renew your annual contract at a higher rate without notice. That's not OK with me. The fact that you defend this practice shows where our ethics differ. I do not know how you can justify: A company signing you up for anot…
It was shown in screenshots in the Twitter thread that Adobe _actually_ does that.
> The fact that you defend this practice shows where our ethics differ. I do not know how you can justify: A company signing you up for another year at a higher rate without telling you.
So, you think it's justified to punish Adobe for the negligence of the customer?
Both Adobe _and_ the customer have the duty to study a mutual contract before signing it. Not reading what you are signing can also backfire for companies:
> https://www.nasdaq.com/articles/updated-russian-man-turns-ta...