It was nearly one year ago that I shared how I was putting several of my subscriptions on the chopping block and making other efforts to save money each month. As part of that push, I explored the idea of using other video and audio editing platforms so that I could move away from my pricey Adobe Creative Cloud subscription. Alas, while I found an audio program I could deal with and made a couple of strides on the video front, seeing how much easier Adobe Premiere made it to key out my green screen than the software I was trying to learn instantly led me to call off the search.
However, a couple of months ago, the cost of my Creative Cloud plan went up. Now, it costs me a whopping $59.99 a month for access to the programs I need. So, once again, I set off to see what alternatives I might have. But, before downloading programs this time, I headed to the Adobe site to cancel — and that turned out to be a smart move.
Before I could finish the cancellation process, Adobe presented me with a different option. Rather than paying the current $59.99, they were willing to let me keep the same plan but pay $29.99 for a full year! What’s more, they even gave me a prorated refund for the current month, which ended up being more than my new rate. Needless to say, I was quite pleased with this development.
Now, am I saying that you should try canceling your Adobe Creative Cloud membership to score the same deal? Not exactly. While this happened to work for me, I’m not sure how targeted these retention offers are or how they differ. For example, the last time I tried this, I was offered two months free instead (which was still a great value and helped ease the pain a bit). Also, for the record, I would have canceled, so this wasn’t a bluff on my part.
By the way, Adobe isn’t the only company known for giving out lucrative retention deals to those trying to cancel. Recently, after a short trial, I canceled Fubo TV, only to be met with a discounted offer. Actually, when I turned that one down, they offered me an even better deal (that I still declined). Meanwhile, you may have also heard that some credit card companies will give customers specialized bonuses if they threaten to close their accounts. I’ve never done that for myself, but it is definitely a thing.
The moral of the story, if you’re looking to cancel a subscription, you might want to consider what it would take for you to keep it instead. Who knows — perhaps the company will be willing to play ball. At the same time, if it’s a service you really don’t need, then don’t let yourself be swayed by these “exclusive” deals and be ready to walk away.