Auto Renewing Contracts - Legal in Aus?

So back in 2013 I signed up for a 1 year subscription to Adobe Creative Cloud. Have been happily using it for the past 3 years. However stopped using it for the past 6 months and got in touch with them to cancel. Somebody from their customer support called me and turns out that I am in a 12 month contract and would have to pay out a cancellation fee or pay the remaining contract, even though I have been using the service for 3.5 years. I have never come across in Australia a contract that automatically enrolls you into a new contract term upon the original contract term expiring. For example with phone, internet, cable services etc after the original term has expired your service continues but you are not in a contract. This is the first I am ever hearing of being automatically added to a new term.

Upon registering back in 2013 this is what their email said:
"We received payment for your monthly Creative Cloud Student and Teacher Edition (one-year) subscription, and your membership will renew on 14-January-2014 (PT).* Here are the details about your payment. "
So fair enough, they do explain that the membership renews and continues on. However I am just suspicious on the actual legality of locking me into continuous contract terms like this beyond the original signed term.

Comments

  • Credit cards auto renew the annual fee too, I thought it was a bit dodgy

  • For B2B contracts, it is not uncommon in Australia to have a 12 month auto renew at the end of the initial term. So I guess it must be legal. For B2C (so consumer) contracts, I haven't seen this for software agreements (and I would be upset in your situation as well).

  • pretty sure it's legal.

  • It's not the contract that auto-renews, it's an auto-renew clause in the contract, which has no expiry. But obviously they must provide you with a way to terminate.

  • Lodge a dispute with your credit card company, tell them it was an unauthorised transaction, and you may get a chargeback.

    Similar thing happened to my husband with an online gaming 'subscription', he got his money back. Good luck.

Login or Join to leave a comment