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Comment by Kelteseth | Hacker News Reader

And you will get screwed a second time, because you have to pay the cancellation fee.

> Should you cancel after 14 days, you'll be charged a lump sum amount of 50% of your remaining contract obligation and your service will continue until the end of that month's billing period.

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Lawyer up! They unilaterally changed the contract, that probably invalidates that clause in any sane country (so, not USA). They might even have to pay you the cancellation fee, or more.

It may even in the us, but a lawyer will cost you more than paying the fee. Though there is a class action in the us if enough people cancle - the lawyers get the cancle fee and you get $.25

Adobe's fine print contains a Binding Arbitration Agreement and Class Action Waiver, which would prevent class action in the U.S. if you didn't follow the instructions to opt out.

Similar clauses, some without opt-outs, have proliferated widely throughout the tech industry. Most notably, Windows added them to most of their products shortly before the release of Windows 8. Interestingly, GitHub does not have these clauses yet.

In some countries, the loser pays for both lawyers (and there are rules about how much money that can be).

you can almost certainly do a chargeback on your credit card, then they have to come after you, and their legal costs will hugely outweigh any payment they are seeking

Check your credit card terms of service carefully. Cards do have consumer protection, but generally it isn't about this type of situation. If you owe the fee then it is fraud to do a chargeback and you can get into legal trouble (though odds are as the other poster said: they will just send you to collections and it will hit your credit report).

I agree that this type of change to contract terms is not acceptable, but unfortunately you need a lawyer to fight it.

No, they’ll just sell the debt for peanuts to a collection agency, who will ruin your credit.

> Lawyer up!

Did their previous contract said they could unilaterally change the contract? :-)

It doesn't matter, because in sane countries, even when such clauses aren't outright illegal, you still have the right to refuse the change and cancel the contract without penalty. I am not sure exactly which countries are sane.

There's all kinds of law about what you can and can't put in a contract. You can't just write whatever you want and then hold people to it. Why do you think they always have a clause that says that if part of the contract is found to be invalid, the rest still applies?

That kind of clause won't stand up in court and they know it.

https://www.adobe.com/legal/terms.html

"1.5 Updates to Terms...

...We may make changes to the Terms from time to time, and if we do, we will notify you by revising the date at the top of the Terms and, in some cases, we may provide you with additional notice. Adobe will not make changes that have the effect of imposing additional fees or charges without providing additional notice. Any such changes will not apply to any dispute between you and Adobe arising prior to the date on which we posted the revised Terms incorporating such changes, or when the Terms otherwise become effective. You should look at the Terms regularly..."

"...Unless otherwise noted, the amended Terms will be effective immediately, and your continued use of our Services and Software confirm your acceptance of the changes. If you do not agree to the amended Terms, you must stop using our Services and Software and, if applicable, cancel your subscription..."

You can add anything you want to a contract, but that doesn't mean the courts will uphold it.

How did the contract made it through Adobe Legal Dept?

It doesn't have to be court-enforceable. It just has to be scary enough that the customer will self-enforce. Usually the worst thing that happens if you put something invalid in a contract is that it's as if you didn't write it. Which is fine because that's what you would have done anyway.

I’m trying to free your mind, Neo. But I can only show you the door. You’re the one that has to walk through it.

Ok ...give me the pill...

Lawyers write legal documents that they willingly know have no chance of surviving even cursory prosecution.

You can get around this by switching your subscription (free of charge), then canceling.

I think your theoretically have the right for a free out of bad cancellation if a provider changes their TOS in a way where it's reasonable to argue it affects the usability of the product for you. At least in the EU.

Common law countries in general as well. You're not supposed to be able to rewrite a contract arbitrarily, nor can you simply write into a contract that you can rewrite it at will. In common law, that theoretically makes it not a contract in the first place.

For that reason, if you raise the right kind of fuss and raise it to their legal team, the legal team will almost certainly let you out for free rather than run the risk of getting their contract invalidated to any degree in a court of law. I speak here generally in such countries, not just for Adobe.

However, this is theory. The rule of law is generally declining in the West. Your mileage may vary in any specific attempt.

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