Adobe Class Action: ‘All Sales Are Final’ Contract with Minors Illegal

Adobe Systems Inc. has been hit with a class action lawsuit alleging the company misrepresents its policy as “final” and nonrefundable when minor children purchase subscriptions because such a policy is a violation of federal and California state law.

“This consumer class action arises from minor children purchasing subscriptions from Adobe incurring charges for voidable purchases that Adobe has misrepresented as ‘final’ and nonrefundable, under a scheme that does not comply with either California or Federal law and regulations,” the lawsuit states.

According to the Adobe class action lawsuit, Adobe does not allow minors to void agreements for use of Adobe’s Creative Cloud Platform, a suite of tools that allows users to develop and distribute creative content. Adobe reportedly charges a monthly fee to use this platform, and when minor children attempt to cancel the contract, Adobe allegedly charges “an exorbitant cancellation fee.”

Adobe’s user agreement reportedly indicated that a user must be over the age of 13 to sign up for the Adobe Creative Cloud Program. Parental consent was not required for the minor to enter into the contract, the Adobe class action lawsuit alleges.

Lynn Kresch, guardian ad litem for a minor child called T.K., filed the Adobe class action lawsuit last week, claiming that 13-year-old T.K. registered for the Adobe Cloud Computer Platform in March 2016 after receiving a one-year license to access the platform. Even though it was prepaid, T.K. was allegedly required to provide a debit card number to access the platform. She used her own debit card to create her Adobe account, according to the Adobe class action lawsuit.

On Feb. 20, 2017, T.K. reportedly received an email from Adobe notifying her that her subscription would automatically renew on March 20, 2017 on an annual basis, for a fee of $49.99 per month, plus tax. T.K. reportedly did not respond to the email.

On March 21, 2017, T.K. was charged $52.99 by Adobe, the Adobe class action lawsuit alleges. She was charged an additional $52.99 on April 21, at which point her parent contacted Adobe and disaffirmed renewal of the agreement. Adobe reportedly refunded $52.99 instead of the $106.98 total that T.K.’s debit card was charged for the two months of auto-renewal payments.

“The terms of service provided by Adobe and for which T.K. and members of the class agreed does not mention anything concerning auto-renewal,” the Adobe Systems class action lawsuit states. “Thus, even without a minor disaffirming the agreement, Adobe had no right to auto-renew Class Member’s subscriptions.”

Further, Adobe repeatedly misinforms users that “all sales are final” because such a policy violates Adobe’s obligations under federal and state law, the Adobe class action lawsuit alleges.

The Adobe Systems class action lawsuit asserts claims for declaratory relief, breach of good faith and fair dealing, violation of the California Consumer Legal Remedies Act, violation of California Unfair Competition Laws, and unjust enrichment.

The plaintiff is represented by Keith L. Altman and Solomon Radner of Excolo Law PLLC.

The Adobe Systems All Sales Final Class Action Lawsuit is T.K. v. Adobe Systems Inc., Case No. 5:17-cv-04595, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, San Jose Division.