According to an unredacted Federal Trade Commission complaint against Adobe, one company executive said that the early termination fees were “a bit like heroin for Adobe” and that removing them would be a “big business hit.
“During enrollment, Adobe hides material terms of its APM plan in fine print and behind optional textboxes and hyperlinks, providing disclosures that are designed to go unnoticed and that most consumers never see. Adobe then deters cancellations by employing an onerous and complicated cancellation process. As part of this convoluted process, Adobe ambushes subscribers with the previously obscured ETF when they attempt to cancel.
Rao also says that the person in question who was quoted isn’t part of the executive team that reports to Adobe CEO Shantanu Narayen, did not have any decision making authority, and also did not have access to information that would allow them to make an informed statement as to the value of ETF. Rao positions the value of ETF as not so high as to warrant being compared to a drug addiction Adobe can’t kick because it would be a “big business hit” as the quote claims.