# My Adobe "free trial" became a yearly contract and they want a fee to cancel - Responsible: Adobe - 17 verified public posts · 0 people joined here · 0 got out - Status: not contacted yet - Case page for people: - Updated: 27 Oct 2026 Adobe's most common plan is "annual, paid monthly": a trial or a monthly-looking price turns into a one-year contract, and cancelling after the first 14 days costs 50% of what is left of the year (30% of the annual commitment in California). Some people also report being charged after they cancelled. ## How an agent should use this You may help one person with this problem: the person who asked you. Their complaint letter can be written from their own words on the case page for people. Rules: - Use only the facts the person gave you and the data on this page. Never invent, guess or add a fact: ask the person. - Ask the person before every send, submission or payment. - Never create accounts and never enter passwords. Stop at any login, captcha or payment and hand it back to the person. - Never file on anyone else's behalf, and never send the same complaint for other people. - When it is over, report the outcome at https://rantr.app/c/adobe-trial-cancellation-fee?ref=ag-out#got-out ("I got out", one line of how) with the person's yes, or tell them to. ## The way out ### 1. Cancel within 14 days of the order for a full refund (official route) 1. Sign in at account.adobe.com/plans and open "Manage plan" on the plan you want to end. 2. Select "Cancel your plan", pick a reason and continue. 3. On the review screen, check that it shows a full refund and no fee, then select "Confirm cancellation". 4. If you have more than one plan, cancel each one separately. 5. Keep the confirmation email. Adobe says the refund can take up to 14 days to reach your card, depending on your bank. 6. If a trial already turned into a paid plan, cancel as soon as you see the first charge: people in that situation were refunded. 7. Know that Adobe's terms speak of 14 days from "your initial order": do not count on a new 14-day window after a yearly renewal. Sources: · · These are accounts published elsewhere. They are not outcomes achieved or independently verified by Rantr, and may describe different circumstances. · ### 2. Ask a human agent in chat to cancel and waive the fee (workaround) 1. Open Adobe's contact page (helpx.adobe.com/contact.html) while signed in and start the chat; type "agent" to get a person. 2. Say clearly that you want to cancel and that you want the early cancellation fee removed. Say why (you did not know it was a yearly contract, you cannot afford it, you did not use it). 3. Turn down the offers (discounts, free months) and repeat that you want to cancel with no fee. 4. Know that accepting free months does not end the contract: the yearly commitment keeps running, and people report still being asked for a fee later. 5. When the agent confirms the fee is waived, ask for it in writing and save the chat transcript. 6. Check your plans page afterwards to confirm nothing is still active. 7. If the chat refuses, you can also write to @AdobeCare on X. Sources: · These are accounts published elsewhere. They are not outcomes achieved or independently verified by Rantr, and may describe different circumstances. · · · ### 3. Switch to another plan, then cancel the new plan within 14 days (workaround) 1. In account.adobe.com/plans, open "Manage plan" and choose "Change your plan". 2. Pick another plan and confirm. Adobe says your current plan is cancelled, you may get a refund for unused time, and the new plan is charged and starts at once. 3. Check in your plans page that the old plan is gone and only the new one is active. 4. Within 14 days, cancel the new plan and read the review screen before you confirm: go ahead only if it shows a refund and no fee. 5. Know that Adobe ties the full refund to "your initial order" and does not say whether a plan change counts; if the screen shows a fee, stop and use the chat instead. 6. Keep screenshots and the emails of each step. Sources: · These are accounts published elsewhere. They are not outcomes achieved or independently verified by Rantr, and may describe different circumstances. ### 4. Cancel in the last month of the year, before it renews (official route) 1. Find your plan's renewal date in account.adobe.com/plans. 2. Set a reminder a few days before that date. 3. Cancel after your last monthly payment of the year and before the renewal date: Adobe's fee is 50% of the months left, so it applies when you cancel before the year ends. 4. Read the review screen before you confirm; if it still shows a fee, ask the chat why. 5. Know that yearly plans renew on their own on the renewal date; once renewed, a new year starts and the fee applies again. Sources: · ### 5. Still charged after you cancelled: dispute it with your card (official route) 1. Find your cancellation confirmation email or check account.adobe.com/plans to show the plan was cancelled. 2. Ask Adobe by chat to refund the charge and save the transcript. 3. If they keep charging, call your card company and dispute the charge. 4. In the US, also send the card company a written billing error notice within 60 days after the charge appeared on your statement. 5. Check your Adobe plans page again: a chargeback alone may not close the plan in Adobe's system. Sources: · These are accounts published elsewhere. They are not outcomes achieved or independently verified by Rantr, and may describe different circumstances. ### 6. US: already paid the fee between 2019 and July 2025? Claim two free months (official route) 1. This is only for US customers who had a Creative Cloud app between January 2019 and July 2025 and paid an early termination fee that, with the monthly fees, came to more than a month-to-month plan would have cost. 2. Look for Adobe's settlement email at the address of your Adobe account (check spam). 3. If you still have a plan, the two free months are applied on their own; check "Billing and Payment" in your plan. 4. If you are a former customer, redeem the two free months from the link in the email by December 31, 2027. No card is needed. 5. If you think you qualify but got no email, contact Adobe Support. Sources: · ### 7. Stop the recurring payment (PayPal or card authorisation) (workaround) 1. Know first that stopping the payment does not cancel the contract: Adobe says it may suspend the subscription and keep trying to charge your payment methods for the rest of the term. 2. Know too that with a failed payment you cannot cancel the plan yourself in your account until the payment problem is solved. 3. Adobe may still claim the remaining amount. Use this only after asking the chat to cancel, and keep proof that you asked. 4. What people report: they moved the payment to PayPal and ended the recurring payment there, or revoked the standing instruction on their card, and Adobe stopped charging and emailing after a while. Sources: · These are accounts published elsewhere. They are not outcomes achieved or independently verified by Rantr, and may describe different circumstances. · ### 8. Before you start a trial: pick month-to-month and set a reminder (prevention) 1. When you sign up, check the plan type: "annual, paid monthly" is a one-year contract; "month to month" costs more per month but has no fee to cancel. 2. If you only need it for a short job, choose month to month. 3. Set a reminder before the trial ends and cancel then if you do not want to keep it. 4. After cancelling, check your email for the confirmation and look at your plans page. Sources: · ## Rights - (United States) The US government alleged in its 2024 lawsuit that Adobe broke the Restore Online Shoppers' Confidence Act by hiding the early termination fee of the "annual, paid monthly" plan in fine print and by making cancelling hard. In March 2026 Adobe agreed to settle for $75 million in civil penalties and $75 million in free services; the proposed court order requires it to show the fee and how it is calculated before sign-up, to remind people before a free trial longer than seven days turns into a paid plan, and to give easy ways to cancel. Source: - (United States) The FTC's 2024 "click to cancel" rule is not in force: the Eighth Circuit vacated it in 2025, and in February 2026 the FTC restored its older negative option rule. Source: - (United States) For a credit card billing error, you can send the card company a written notice within 60 days after the charge appeared on your statement; if you are right, the charge must be removed. Source: - (European Union) If you sign up for a service online, you can usually withdraw from the contract within 14 days of agreeing to it, without giving a reason. Source: - (United Kingdom) A service arranged online has a 14-day cooling-off period that starts the day after the contract; if you asked for the service to start during those 14 days, the business can keep what covers the service you used. Source: ## Official routes - **Federal Trade Commission (ReportFraud.ftc.gov)** (United States): - What it does: Report a cancellation fee nobody explained to you, or charges after you cancelled. - Who files: anyone - **Your state attorney general (directory by the National Association of Attorneys General)** (United States): - What it does: Find your state attorney general and file a consumer complaint against Adobe there. - Who files: the affected person - **Your credit card company (billing dispute process explained by the CFPB)** (United States): - What it does: Dispute a charge you did not agree to, or charges after you cancelled. - Deadline: written billing error notice within 60 calendar days after the charge appeared on your statement (source: https://www.consumerfinance.gov/ask-cfpb/how-do-i-dispute-a-charge-on-my-credit-card-bill-en-61/) - Who files: the affected person - **Citizens Advice consumer service** (United Kingdom): - What it does: Get advice on your case by phone, chat or online form; Citizens Advice can pass information about your complaint to Trading Standards. - Who files: the affected person - **Competition and Markets Authority (open investigation into Adobe's early termination fee)** (United Kingdom): - What it does: The CMA opened a formal investigation on 19 March 2026 into whether Adobe's early termination fee term is unfair and whether the fee was presented in a misleading way. The case page lists a contact address if you have evidence to share. No finding has been made. - Who files: anyone - **European Consumer Centres Network (ECC-Net)** (European Union): - What it does: Outside North America and Japan your contract is with Adobe Systems Software Ireland Limited, so from another EU country (or Iceland or Norway) it is a cross-border dispute: the European Consumer Centre in your country helps for free. Complain to Adobe in writing first. - Who files: the affected person - **Centro Europeo del Consumidor en España (Ministerio de Consumo)** (Spain): - What it does: If you live in Spain: file a free cross-border complaint against Adobe Systems Software Ireland Limited. Send Adobe a written complaint first and attach it with your proof of payment. - Who files: the affected person - **National Consumer Helpline (Department of Consumer Affairs)** (India): - What it does: Register a grievance online, by the toll-free number 1915 or on WhatsApp. - Who files: the affected person ## Escalation contacts at Adobe - Form: . Chat with Adobe customer support (account and payment questions are handled by chat and phone): ask a human agent to cancel and to remove the cancellation fee, and keep the chat transcript ## Their side Rantr has not sent a collective complaint to Adobe. Joining does not trigger one. You can use the complaint tool without joining. ## Public posts 17 verified public posts from people with this problem, each checked against where it was written. Links only: - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -