Okay, so here's exactly what happened.
In September, Adobe offered an upgrade to get Adobe Stock images for $30/month. Initially, I thought I'd give it a try. I clicked the link where the page asked me to authorize a $30 charge to upgrade my subscription plan, which I did.
This is not on a credit card, it comes directly from my checking account. And since I hadn't received my paycheck yet, I was really surprised when I received an acknowledgement email from my banker that I was charged $85! $30 I could do. $85 I could not.
I immediately called Adobe and they explained that I would receive the $55 difference back in 10 business days. That's a deal-breaker. In addition, it's fraud. The website said $30, not $85 with a refund in two weeks. I told her to cancel the transaction. Keep in mind, this is the same day as the errant charge. She cancelled, alright, by charging me another $55 with a promise of a refund of the $85 within two weeks!
Obviously I had no choice but to report this to the bank, and they gave me "provisional credit" until the Adobe credits came through. Which, by the way, were both reduced to pay for the time I had the Stock plan - which I never even browsed. So, I lost $5 right there!
The bank even canceled the credit card and assigned a new number to keep Adobe from screwing around even more.
The next month, before the renewal date, I updated the payment method with a valid card. The date came and went, and Adobe charged me the $55 for the next month on October 24. No worries, right? On November 3, they sent me an email stating that my "membership has ended. To reactivate it, contact Customer Support." "In the meantime, your account has reverted to a basic, free level of membership."
I immediately contacted Customer Support and they told me to update my payment. I did it - twice. Then they told me just to "buy the plan again." I did that, even with PayPal, and all of the charges were authorized. Still, no active membership. However, one more time, they told me to update my payment method. This time, the website said I would be reinstated within 24 hours.
24 hours later nothing worked. I called again. This time they told me that I had requested cancellation the day before! But, I should just pay for the plan again and everything would be fine.
One more attempted purchase and again, the payment was rejected, each time the website said "please try another card or call Customer Service."
One more call to Customer Service and they told me that I had been blacklisted due to the disputed charges in September.
Wow. Can you believe it? Adobe would rather throw away a customer of over 6 years than to try to work out an obvious dissatisfaction event.
So, even when I generated a new account with a new email, it matched my name and blacklisted me.
Takeaway: For any and all products and services offered by Adobe that I can purchase elsewhere, I will - even if it costs a lot more. Adobe does not deserve my business.
But, as there are some CC products that I must have, I have now changed my name and signed up as a new customer.
Most companies will bend over backwards to save a customer - even Adobe will offer half off if you threaten to leave. But apparently they're not interested in keeping long-term customers that have a brief spat with them. Honestly, after the charge in October went through, I thought we were past our little fight. But, since Adobe wants to hold a grudge over that - even though they ended up with an extra $5 that I just let go - I'll hold a grudge too.