Similar to my experience last year.... i think it took about a week to get sorted. Basically my serial no. would not work for the upgrade so i had to go through a complicated back route into cs2 if i recall correctly. I was so close to cancelling my order, but it finally worked.... i dread the next upgrade though... hope you get it sorted, drink got my through my ordeal!!!!!!

I'll keep this short, but I tried to get online customer service because one of the cd's became defective while I was trying to reinstall Creative Suite CS. When I tried to open a "web case" I needed a serial number for the product I was having trouble with. When I entered it, it said that it was invalid. I tried again, and again and no luck. So I have yet to be able to tell them about my problem because I can't get to the next step without a valid serial number. It's frustrating.

The worst customer support I have ever experienced at Adobe
Having worked in Customer relations/technical support for a few years now as well as running my little production company I have learned to treat people as human beings and to take their frustrations, limitations and issues into account then find a way to help them. I did not see much evidence of this at Adobe today although my problem was supposedly solved I still had to languish on hold from 8am est to 2:54 est.

The problem, I want to transfer Macromedia Flash MX 2004 to a Macintosh G5 Quad Xeon which I recently purchased because of the Mac's legendary advances in the field animation and entertainment. Ideally Flash should run just fine on a Mac. At 8am I attempted to install Flash MX 2004 on my Mac. I was given an error it has been registered too many times. I called the number that was given a number to call. The woman who answered told me to call the general customer support line and they could help me. However, they do not open until 8am CST aka noon.

At noon I called again and spoke to a very exasperated gentleman named Anthony who told me I need to speak to the lisencing department and gave me the original number that my software had prompted me. He attempted to transfer me but was unable to and I called the line direct. There I spoke to a woman who sounded Hindu I believe her name was Lila. She told me someone from customer support, the same people who transfered me would provide me with a number that will work on my Macintosh. She refused to transfer or confrence me in with the customer support line and basicly blew me off.

Now armed with the statement that I was told I will receive a new authorization number I called back held for another hour and spoke to a gentleman named Dan. He was very apologetic and laughed and told me the number was not operating system specific and warm transferred me to a fellow named Anton who had no idea what was going on and told me I could not install Flash on the Macintosh and hinted that I would have to purchase a new copy of Flash to run it on the type of machine it was designed for. At that point I became quite angry and demanded to speak to his supervisor. At that time he put me on hold for 15 minutes to find a supervisor. He came back and told me that no one was avalable to speak to me and I would receive a call back. I opted to hold and was put on hold for another 20 minutes when Anton told me that someone would have to call me back.

That was when my girlfriend called to say hello and told me not to be fooled I need to call them back. After another 40minutes of holding I spoke to a woman named Krystal who listened and then advised me there was nothing she could do. At that time I demanded to speak to a supervisor again. She found a gentleman named Joe. Joe advised me the number is operating system specific. However, I will receive a call or an email within 3 business days with a new code. Four days pass with no contact at all. So I call back demanding to speak to a supervisor.

The young lady I spoke to did not want to give me to a supervisor but offered to help. After some time I finally got her to admit that she could not help me but kept offering to help me needlessly. When I finally spoke to a supervisor he told me he would call me back the next day. I have not received a call at this time and I just got an email stating my case has been solved. Now I'm stuck in the endless web loop. I really hope that Apple or someone with some customer service savy buy Adobe quickly. This is simply pathetic.

Mutant Corp... I hear you loud and clear. The original reason I posted this, was because I couldn't find any other channel to vent my frustrations... However, If we can get enough creatives posting experience on websites like this... who knows?! Maybe adobe ears will perk up and listen.

Well, last week I went around in circles, talked to customer service, then technical support then back to customer service. I then spoke to a new supervisor who, miraculously, was able to give me a proper serial number (5 days of waiting.)

Boy am I glad I didn't wait for my original webcase to be solved... below is the actual email that started my troubles, and the response that came today, almost a full two weeks later (not to mention they've answered a completely different question than I had asked)

ORIGINAL EMAIL (FROM ME)
Downloaded CS 2.3 upgrade. There was not a proper serial number included
in my confirmation email. In place of a proper number was the cryptic command "Contact Customer Service". I've also tried using my old CS Serial #. Nothing works. Please help.

RESPONSE 2 WEEKS LATER (FROM ADOBE)
Thank you for contacting Adobe Customer Service.
We understand that you would like to know where you could find your
Serial Number for your product.
While we are glad to help, you can obtain information more quickly in
the future by searching our knowledgebase for information on this topic
and others such as trial software, upgrades, and licensing:
http://www.adobe.com/support/service/
Here are some places to look for your Adobe-branded product serial
number:
Single-user boxed product:
On a sticker affixed on the paper or plastic sleeve of your CD-ROM
Single-user download product:
You can find the number by logging into your Adobe.com membership
account. The serial number is located on the download screen under your
account.
Volume license or server product:
The serial number or PAC code for a volume license or server product is
located on your licensing account page. Login information is sent to the
contact person on your account.
You can find information on how to locate your Macromedia-branded
product serial number here:
http://www.adobe.com/go/tn_15290
If you cannot find your serial number in any of these places, please
contact our customer service team at 800-833-6687 for assistance.
For your records, your customer ID number is 133909632. The customer ID
number is the easiest way for us to access your account in our database.
In the future, please reference this number when you contact Adobe.
For more information on Adobe® products or services please visit us at:
http://www.adobe.com or contact Adobe customer services at 1 (800)
833-6687. Customer Service Representatives are available 6:00am-8:00pm
PST, 7 days a week.
Best Regards,
Jessica D.
Adobe Customer Service

A DAY LATE AND A DOLLAR SHORT

Better Business Beuro

The Better Business Bureau®
Serving San Francisco, Oakland, and Northern Coastal California
1000 Broadway Suite 625
Oakland, CA 94607
(510) 844-2000
www.goldengate.bbb.org

Adobe Systems Inc
601 Townsend St
San Francisco, CA 94103-4907
Telephone: (415) 832-2000

The BBB reports on members and non-members. If a company is a member of the BBB, it is stated in this report

BBB Definition:

report - A summary of activity reflected in a company's BBB file. Includes basic business background, BBB membership information, and Bureau complaint activity over the previous three years. Also reports may include any known government actions, advertising issues or other information that results from activity conducted by the BBB.

.

Entity:
File Open Date: December 2003
TOB Classification: Computer Software Publishers & Developers
BBB Membership: This company is not a member.

The Bureau has requested basic information from this company. The Bureau has not received a response. Without this information, the Bureau may not have current information concerning such things as the company's management or its nature of business.

Customer Experience

Based on BBB files, this company has an unsatisfactory record

BBB Definition:

unsatisfactory record - A company has an "unsatisfactory business performance record" with the Bureau is based on the experiences reflected in BBB files. This file condition results when the company has failed to resolve or respond to complaints, repeatedly failed to respond or resolve issues in a timely manner, failed to resolve the underlying issues for a pattern

BBB Definition:

pattern - More than 2 complaints involving the same allegations usually within 12 months that are significant in relation to the company's size and volume of business.

of complaints, failed to honor their commitment to mediate or arbitrate disputes or honor mediated agreements or arbitrated decisions, failed to substantiate, modify or discontinue false advertising claims that are challenged by the BBB, or failed to discontinue unauthorized use of the BBB name and logo, a Federally protected trademark.

with the Bureau due to unanswered complaints. The company has resolved

BBB Definition:

resolved - The company resolved the complaint issues.

some complaints presented by the Bureau, however, the Bureau did not receive a response to other complaints.

When considering complaint information, please take into account the company's size and volume of transactions, and understand that the nature of complaints and a firm's responses to them are often more important than the number of complaints.

The Bureau processed a total of 4 complaints about this company in the last 36 months, our standard reporting period. Of the total of 4 complaints closed in 36 months, 0 were closed in the last year.
Advertising Issues

BBB Definition:

Advertising Issues - Claims alleging print or electronic media advertised claims or practices misrepresent the service or product offer.

No Response

BBB Definition:

No Response - The company failed to respond to the complaint.

1 - Company failed to respond to the BBB to resolve or address the complaint issues.

Contract Issues

BBB Definition:

Contract Issues - Claim of alleged failure to honor contract or agreement, work performed without authorization, or invalid contract.

Resolved

BBB Definition:

Resolved - The company resolved the complaint issues.

1 - Company addressed the complaint issues. The consumer failed to acknowledge acceptance to the BBB.

Sales Practice Issues

BBB Definition:

Sales Practice Issues - Claims of alleged sales presentations made in person or by telephone that contain misrepresentations of the product or service, high pressure sales practices, failure to disclose key conditions of the offer, and verbal representations not consistent with written contractual terms or agreements.

Resolved

BBB Definition:

Resolved - The company resolved the complaint issues.

1 - Company resolved the complaint issues. The consumer acknowledged acceptance to the BBB.

Refund or Exchange Issues

BBB Definition:

Refund or Exchange Issues - Claim of alleged failure to honor company policy or verbal commitment to provide refunds, exchanges, or credit for products or services.

No Response

BBB Definition:

No Response - The company failed to respond to the complaint.

1 - Company failed to respond to the BBB to resolve or address the complaint issues.

Report as of November 21, 2006
Copyright© 2006 Better Business Bureau®, Inc.

BBB reports may not be reproduced for sales or promotional purposes.

The information in this report has either been provided by the company or has been compiled by the Bureau from other reliable sources.

As a matter of policy, the Better Business Bureau does not endorse any product, service or company. BBB reports generally cover a three-year reporting period, and are provided solely to assist you in exercising your own best judgment. Information contained in this report is believed reliable but not guaranteed as to accuracy. Reports are subject to change at any time.

I am having a very similar issue with Acrobat 7. For the past 8 months, I keep getting an error message requiring me to re-activate the product. Finally, I (not Adobe's Activation group or their Customer Service group) found the fix in Adobe's own knowledgebase - it fit my situation exactly - exact same error message for Acrobat 7.0 on a single user EULA.

Customer service said it only applied to RAID arrays - not what the knowledgebase says. Then they said it only applies to distributions over a corporate network. Finally, they see it my way. But suddenly CS can't give me the patch (even though their own knowledgebase article says that it's CS that gives out the patch). I have to go back to Activcation.

Activation has to kick it "upstairs" and get approval and can email me the patch in 48-72 hours. Do they have any idea how much downtime that is?

I am writing to their VP of customer service in San Jose. After 2 hours on the phone this past weekend (probably 12-14 hours in the past six months) over this one problem and no patch yet, I am beyond frustrated.

If there were an option to Adobe, I would switch to it right now. I haven't been this frustrated since Office 95. Ack!

Brent

please share the contact info.

Actually, this is really getting strange.

Here is the phone number for Adobe's worldwide headquarters in San Jose, CA: 408/536-6000.

It would be interesting of a couple of different folks would call and see what they tell you and post back. Here's what I got in two different calls:

Call 1: There was no immediate info on a Customer Service Manager or VP. The operator had to talk with her supervisor. She then told me to address it to "Lambert Walsh, VP of Customer Service". But a Google search of Lambert Walsh shows he was a VP at McAfee and there's nothing on him since 2005. There's no one named Walsh or Lambert in the list of executives for Adobe. Doesn't mean it's not true - just suspicious. And nothing shows up in a Google or Zoominfo search related to Adobe. Hmmmm.

Call 2 - The woman (a different one than Call 1) said that there is no "customer service manager listed in the headquarters office". But, "if you send a letter addressed to Customer Service, it will be forwarded to Seattle where they handle those things." Uh huh. She asked if she could take down my info and I declined.

Also, check out the executive profiles at http://www.adobe.com/aboutadobe/pressroom/executivebios/

Take your pick and write a letter (notice the lack of anyone obviously in charge of CS for single end-users; they seem to have "corporate" covered). Adobe Systems, Inc. headquarters address is

345 Park Avenue
San Jose, CA 95110-2704

Today, I went online to open a customer service case (just making sure I did everything necessary before writing). The registration info for my Adobe product is no longer listed in My Account (it was listed on Sunday when I called). Fortunately, I have receipts and records. Thank goodness for Gmail (sometimes, so far).

Brent

I don't intend to speak as "the voice of Adobe" here, nor would I want to. As one who is familiar with the company, I can tell you that it's no picnic being employed at a place that's so disorganized. One has to wonder what the corporate headquaters is thinking-- the "new improved database" that we were recently assigned does little but crash and when the computer goes, the "new improved phone system" which is linked to it dies, too. Of course, managers say "take calls the best you can!", which is easier said than done when there's no database to look up customer information in and no way to appropriately transfer calls. We also now have the joyous task of informing customers who want to renew their tech support contracts that the ones they purchased last year for $159 now go for a whopping $1200. Since there's practically no support for free products like Reader or downloadable trials, a lot of people get left in the lurch when they encounter simple, everyday product issues that may require technical know-how. Don't get me started on photoshop album starter 3...

Please know that not every agent from Adobe is totally ignorant or uncaring. The policies there are rigid and unevenly enforced and a lot of people struggle to do the best they can.

woa!
this is a total mess.
if you purchased the product and you got the original activation codes,
why not go illegal, and use any key you can find on the net.
i mean, whats the harm? they already got your money and they are not fixing a basic problem. i mean it seems fair to me to solve your problem the best way you can.

also, might this mess be related to the acquisition of macromedia?
there's always a period of confusion when merging teams, databases and support from the two companies.

--------------------------------------------------
always outnumbered, never outgunned

I worked for a trade shop in Denver for 31 years and retired in 2002. I took care of the computers and knew most of the people in Adobe support in the 80's and early 90's. They had the best support available; bar none. I didn't deal with them much from the mid 90's until I retired because I could fix most problems on my own. After I retired on 02 the last thing I wanted to do was work on a computer. Last month I was looking for something to do and decided I need a new computer so I purchased a new Intel iMac. I installed Photoshop 7.0 and Freehand 10 and tried to install Illustator 10 but the Vise installer just quit. I called my buddies in Denver and they told me the installer looks for the old Illlustrator pref and if it doesn't find it, quits; but support can email you a .prefPane file which is a workaround. I called support and after 2 hrs. 14min. of being shuffled between CS and support I finally got a tech who informed me that they do not support Illustator 10 unless you have a service contract. As a registered owner of Photoshop, Illustrator, Freehand Graphics Studio, Acrobat, Pagemaker, Dimensions, and $6500 of fonts I expected more. I am teaching a Photoshop class at the local college next year and will have nothing good to say about Adobe support!

My dongle wasn't working. I was a little bit angry. :-)

Hello Designers, while I am not technically one of you I do empathize deeply with your Adobe pain. Being on hold with them for the past two hours has given me time to read this grocery list of crimes against humanity.

My company bought me Acrobat Professional 8. Simple stuff. The trial version is working fine but I've run in to similar serial number recognition problems, long hold times, incompetent customer service people and some strange discrepancy as to whether my purchase is a volume or retail order, the details of which I will spare you. Thank you for providing this forum, I had no idea the level of crap I was in for. I tend to blame myself out of habit, I won't make that mistake with Adobe.

I'm with Flub Dub on this! What recourse could Adobe possibly have if I use an illegally hacked copy of their software, when I've already paid for a legitimate one? This seems like a company with it's ass on fire. The only down sides that I can see to getting a copy from an alternative source are that a) it kind of lets them off the hook and b) the chance of picking up some unwanted software along with it. Frankly, neither of those things bothers me as much as the thought of continued time wasted.

I spent $300 for the Solution Expert support plan. I haven't been able to connect to the phone number I received for my plan for the last few days. Hold, hold, hold. Hold, hold, hold some more. Disconnect. Call back. Hold, hold, hold. When I *have* been able to connect, 80% of the time, I've gotten a curt techie who is unable to help. I've been using Macs since 1983 and been in graphic design for 35 years. I've used Quark, etc. I'm no newbie, but sometimes things happen and I need to get help from the horse's mouth.

Now, I find out that Adobe is changing its support hours for my expensive plan. Nice:

This notice is addressed to Adobe Expert Support customers in North America who have an active Adobe Expert Support Program Service Agreement with a commencement date of January 1, 2006 or later. The current Adobe Expert phone support hours, Monday through Friday 6:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. Pacific Time and Saturday 8:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. Pacific Time are changing. Starting January 1, 2007, you may contact Adobe Expert phone support Monday through Friday from 6:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Pacific Time. Alternatively, you may submit support inquiries via our new customer support portal at https://www.adobe.com/support/portal/ 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

Guess what I won't be signing up for when it comes time to renew? That's $300 I'll be able to spend on something else. Like designers only work from 6am to 5pm M-F...and as we can see from some of the posts here, submitting a support ticket online with Adobe is like screaming your problem into the ether.

Then again, they can afford to be so arrogant and clueless. They're pretty much the only game in town. They already bought up most of their competition. I hope Quark is watching its back.

And if I'm only having problems in Adobe, then why do I need to set up a new Administrator user account? Yeah, like I want to reset up all the settings already in place in my current user account because my Adobe software is acting funky. And don't even get me started on Bridge...

I recently had purchased "Audition 2.0" from adobe. I thought it would be similar to thier former 1.5, but a few minor changes. This was not the case. I found that the way Audition saves "wav" files is a floating type of wav, that CANNOT be turned/converted" to MP3, s I need for radio station automation. I also found that it was hard to read, and does not meet ADA compliance for persons with sight problems. On Decmeber 1st, I had opened a webcase with them. Heard nothing back, contrary to thier "within 48 hour busness hours" disclaimeron thier site. Now I am out $350 plus taxes, not to mention my potential reputation for making deadlines.

By the way, chatting to Customer Service Reps online is never availible, when I log onto Adobe. It says 9AM to 5PM (pacific) . Strange to have those hours for several world-known programs, some professional "standards", used on so many computers, potentially billions. Same exact hours for phone support

By the way, Wav's open alot slower, in General, theses took 10 minuts to open gain in any other adobe program, to re-record for mp3 conversion. Luckily, work had another adobe program.

I think the way things are going and what I'm reading, maybe adobe needs alittle legal action. I'm glad I am not alone in being displeased. They are definitely breakin either a lemon law here (illegal in Ohio), breaking a slaes law, or breaching a contract. If that's what they are doing, Legal action needs to take place FOR EVERY INFRINGMENT that I see on here. That's probably the only way things will change.

I told them in an e-mail that I would not be quiet, if unsatisfied with the result. I am clearly not being quiet. As a broadcaster, it's my job not to be!

its kind of sad how all of you have wasted time complaining about adobe's customer service. first of all, you all need to realize that the person who answers on the other end of that phone line and says,"thank you for calling adobe, can i get your name?"
is a person just like you. they have feelings too. they arent trying to all as one make your day a living hell, they arent trying to see how many people they can transfer you to before you hang up, they are if anything not listening. you have to realize that every different person you talk to is a completely different person than the last and has different levels of communication and patience. you also have to realize that they WILL treat you how YOU treat them. if your an asshole as soon as they come on the phone, and all you have to say is that youve been on hold for 45 minutes, and youve been transferred 4 times then what do you expect them to say? they know that theres a long hold time, they hear about it over 100 times a day. adobe is constantly trying to keep up with the amount of people that are calling in each day. did you know adove reader is downloaded over 1million times a day? do you know how many of the people who are downloading it arent able to install and use it on their own? LOTS. so what do you think they do? they call adobe. they are busy, they are exhausted, and they are broken. broken spirited by all the assholes that call in to tell them that they suck at their job, that they have poor training, and that they are idiots. you dont know this person, youve never met them, and you do not know even the first thing about them besides their name that they gave you at the start of the call. if you come on the phone and work with them and LET them help you they will. if you are nice, and you give them a chance they will be patient with you, and do EVERYTHING in their power to get your problem solved. yes, your problem may cause you to need another department but is it their fault that they arent in the department you need? no. is it their fault that you didnt register your serial number, and that YOU! lost it. if you do not register your serial number they dont have a record of it. if you register it under the right information and not some junkmail email address that you never remember then if you lose your serial number then its YOUR fault. keep your shit together, and realize that Adobe's Csutomer service is what YOU make it. they are people too.
Thanks For Calling Adobe.

AdobeCS...

"Is it their fault that you didnt register your serial number, and that YOU! lost it."

Clearly you must be from Adobe Customer service, you do not understand the problem... Adobe supplied serial numbers when they shipped CS2, It's just that many of them did not work.

I've never had complaints with Apple's CSR... Even my cell phone provider who I've had to call too often, has been reasonably responsive.

I am always patient and understanding with phone support, I speak to them as people... however, as the mouth piece of a company, they have to also be the ear piece. CS reps needs to listen and take note when people have real issues, and not just assume operator error.

Adobe is shitting on your head again!

http://www.adobeforums.com/cgi-bin/webx/.3bc3a183

My Initial post in this forum related to a CS2.3 Upgrade.
*less than six months ago*.

Now to upgrade to CS3 — and hopefully much more stable software,
I have yet to successfully quit from a CS2.3 program, always needs a force quit — Adobe wants me to spend ANOTHER $600.

I tried to call adobe, not one phone number, or menu option resulted in a human voice.

I am currently dealing with pretty much the same deal. I did ask for the refund and the proceeded to dick me around. Dammit if I wanted that I would ask my husband not some perfect stranger. I am currently going to there corporate office in Seattle, planning to talk to as many people as I can there. I am also sending an email to each corporate person I can about the situation. I am sick of computer companies thinking that they can rip off people. I am glad to see that other people have had simular experiences, but I am so sorry you guys had to deal with it. I do feel for everyone. I wish everyone the best of luck and anyone who knows someone or anything that might help me in my sitaution please email me.

I have been purchasing Macromedia/Adobe software as downloads rather than as disks for the past 6 years. I find it significantly more convenient than buying disks at a store.

For some reason, Adobe doesn't want to sell me software through their site anymore. I say, "For some reason" because the error message I get from the site is not correct. The site says my address information does not match that of my credit card. I've called my credit card company who told me that they are verfiing my card to Adobe.

The site said to call customer support. So after trying a second credit card and numerous variants of my address. I gave them a call.

The CSR who arrived on the phone (after 1:15 on hold - I had to drop the call and call back once) was nice. I could feel his pain as he tried to help me. All he could do is mail me disks. He didn't actually have anything to do with supporting the site. Nor did it appear that my problem would be addressed by anyone.

That seemed a bit dumb to me. I didn't want disks. I want to keep doing what I have been doing for six years.

I decided to call a different number. I'm in Canada so I tried the Canadian office. I got put throught to someone in corporate sales.

He tried to escalate my issue for me. He put me in touch with another guy who got me to send him a description of my issue. Two weeks and 3 "any progress" emails later, I haven't heard anything back.

Now time for a different approach. I had my business partner make the purchase using his account. He's on a PC. Maybe this would make the difference. At first, it seemed like it did. The transaction went through. Success! But the very next message after saying that the transaction was verified said that they were reviewing our order. The next day they emailed us to say they couldn't complete our order.

Time to start over again. I tried making the purchase myself again. It didn't work again. So I created a web case. THE NEXT DAY I received a reply. They said, "I understand that you are experiencing credit card issues as you
want to purchase Upgrade version of CS3 that is in your cart.

Your order for Educational version of Production Studio Premium and
Adobe Acrobat 8 Professional has been approved."

What? They understood that I am trying to upgrade to CS3 so they approved a purchase for an Educational version of Production Studio Premium and
Adobe Acrobat 8 Professional.

I still don't have my upgrade.

The sad part is, no one else seems to be in the business of creating tools for web designers anymore. If anyone out there is interested. There's a market for it. A market CRAVING attention.

I bought Photoshop elements from Sams Club on Saturday.

Tried to install it on Sunday but it didn't like the Serial Number on the label on the box.

Was happy to find they had Customer service on a Sunday but disappointed to find that a simple issue needed Tech support - only on Monday.

Called Tech support yesterday but they were unable to advise without me in front of my Notebook.

They said they operated until 5pm Pacific time so I called 25 mintues before then and listened some awful music for 25 mintues before I gave up.

This sounds as though it should be a simple issue but now after 3 phone calls and not able to install the product I wonder if there is a product that has reasonable editing capability so I can take my product back to Sams as it seems Adobe doesn't care about customers.

Steve

To me it was not just the holding that was so irritating, but the attitude of the service people was a comedy! Extremely rude and sarcastic. My wife finally found their corporate tele # and corp address - it was buried in their source code! Swear! Here it is (our letter has been drafted):
345 Park Avenue
San Jose, Ca. 95110
Phone: 408.536.6000
I wish there was another game in town as far as competition for these people.
Ralph

I won't bore you with all the details, but I have been trying to resolve an issue since May 1st and I have gotten nothing but lip service from Adobe Customer service. They have $1050 hostage and they cannot seem to find it. Everything is in "process." I have tracking numbers from Fed ex for a return etc., but they just tell me to be patient. It's coming to the point that I will have to take legal action soon and here is the rub - I NEVER get any e-mails confirming anything from Adobe. I have no real records except for some scanned jpegs of internal order documents that one nice customer service rep e-mailed me from her own account. I have tried to resolve this, but I think its a policy that their protocol is to just claim their "e-mail system" doesn't match my anti spam software - of which I have none. (I'm good at hitting the delete key) If I didn't rely on their software so much I would never do business with them again - but I do love their products and I've never had any techical issues. It's too bad they don't empower their customer service reps more. I'll let you know how it turns out - I've been "escalated" and have been promised a call from a "supervisor" within 24 hours - which to me means 3-4 days if I'm lucky. We'll see.

Good to hear all of this. I thought I was the only one going crazy with Adobe. My situation is (since it's still ongoing) that I bought a used copy of CS Production Premium from someone. Legit educational version. Go to install it, then to activate... oh no! 'Too Many Activations!' So I tell the original owner, it's no longer installed on their systems, and they call Adobe first. He was told by Adobe I was the one to get this fixed. So my turn to call. On the first call, I got disconnected. On the second call, I get a lady named Grace. She tells me to call customer service, and that she cannot help me. So I call customer service 3 times, and finally on the third time, I got a very nice lady. She told me about the 'transfer of ownership process.' I go to the Adobe website to d/l the form, but the link is broken. Time to call again! So I call again, and another lady e-mailed me the form. Too bad it was a Europe and Africa form, not a U.S. one. My blood begins to boil more and more. So I do some research, trying to find the U.S. form, I find it, and lo and behold, I find something that the Adobe reps were oblivious about. Educational versions can't go through 'transfers of activation.' I would have faxed it in, and nothing would have happened. After a while, I call Adobe one... last... time... And I get a nice filipino-sounding man, who was willing to just give me an authorization code, since he saw my history of calling for the product. Too bad I uninstalled it a day before. So I install it again, call again, and I get Grace, the lady who had never helped me, except for making me mad. She told me I had called way too many times about this product and refused to transfer me or give me any further assistance, she even accused me of changing my story every time I called. She finally transferred me to customer service, where I get another filipino-sounding man, and thank God for him! He was the only one to help at all, he confirmed to me that the 'transfer of ownership' would not work, I confirmed I knew the previous owner by proving I knew their registration info, and he told me to call the original owner and have them call the activation hotline and clear all activation and registry information. I probably could have told myself that, but it was the most help I had in weeks. There is at least one helpful person at Adobe, and you'll be lucky if you get him. If the original owners can't get this cleared, a refund is already in the works, and I'll most definitely switch to Avid or Final Cut Editing systems. As much as I'm absolutely hooked on Adobe, it's not worth the trouble if anything went wrong. Thanks a lot, Adobe customer service.

I wish I could say I feel your pain, but I purchased a "Design Bundle" directly from Adobe back in the days before "CS" came out. I have also purchased all my upgrades directly and I've never had a problem with any part of the process.

Unfortunately, when you deal with human beings, you are going to have miscommunications. When you deal with software companies, you're going to feel the effects of low profit margins via overseas "support staff."

I'm sure Adobe would love to sell all their wares over the internet exclusively. This would have the effect of freeing up a ton of support people because they wouldn't have to man a sales phone. Unfortunately, the net-using world hasn't completely gone broadband just yet so it simply isn't an option for everyone.

If for one have no desire to buy a full creative suite over the internet. If I'm spending that kind of money, I want commercially created DVDs, instruction manuals and I certainly don't want to spend hours downloading files only to have their server take a crap with only 2MBs left to finish the download...

As far as the serial number problems and the poor customer service regarding those matters - that's just unacceptable. It's too bad our customer service experiences with the product are so drastically different from the actual user experience with the software itself.

-----------
Visit Creative Guy for graphics and Mac OS tips, tricks, tutorials and commentary

Well here's my sad tale of Adobe-related woe.

I recently bought an upgrade version of Dreamweaver CS3. Then I found out that I am not allowed to upgrade to Dreamweaver from Studio MX. It did not say this anywhere on the website when I purchased the product by the way. But I though, oh well, if I don't qualify I'll just get credit for useless upgrade I downloaded and pay for the full version. Well guess what. Adobe has no way for you to do that.

So I started a web case and explained my problem. They said I had to "return" my upgrade version. They e-mail me a "letter of destruction" which I sign and e-mail back. I then get an e-mail back saying I didn't attach the "letter of destruction" to my e-mail. Well yes I did, but I try again. THREE times they accuse me of this. On the fourth try they finally admit they received the letter.

They then say, however, that they cannot process the return because they must have a phone case to "attach" it to. A web case isn't good enough. So I call customer service. THREE times I finally reach a rep after a long time on hold, start to tell them my story, and three times I am disconnected in the middle of the conversation.

I have no idea if any of them actually tried to create the phone case before they hung up on me. Perhaps the grand plan is to stall you until the 30 day return period is up? Keep in mind I was more than willing (and made it clear to everyone I spoke to) that I was more than willing to purchase a full version - I just wanted them to take the useless upgrade version back first! AARRRGGHHH!!

LOL - thanks for listening to me vent. Good luck everyone with your issues. I'll be trying again tomorrow.

Mary

Ow. Sympathies to everyone who has had to go around and around with Adobe's CS. I have a slightly different but related tale.

I bought a Macbook Pro and also bought CS2.3 anticipating the upgrade to CS3. I was watching Adobe's site for the launch of CS3. Right about the time of the launch (by launch I am talking about their big on-line show in April) and for a week or two after, when you went to their site to look at upgrade paths, there were several possibilities, based on which version you had. In the case of CS2.3, there was a $440 upgrade (because you already had Acrobat 8, and Dreamweaver, although Dreamweaver is upgraded to integrate better, supposedly). I still wasn't quite ready to order the upgrade.

Okay, a week or two passed, I went and checked the site periodically (oh, I should also mention that there was a brief period right around the launch that gave you a FREE upgrade, but you had to have purchased CS2.3 within a month of the launch, and I was about 10 days too early!) still thinking I will do the upgrade. Well, suddenly the upgrade page NO LONGER SHOWS THE $440 ugrade from CS 2.3! Instead, it's $595 from CS1.X and 2.X. So what has happened?

I end up calling customer service. I enquire about this change. Well, actually I had to call a couple of times, the first time I was on hold for nearly an hour and just couldn't stay on the line any longer. So I called back again, get through, get transferred to a very nice gentleman (I wish I had noted his name because he was definitely a contrast to these horror stories!) He listens to what I am telling him. He tells me he believes me, and he's checking the product matrix (their internal list of products and upgrades). Ah-hah! That $440 upgrade is still in their product matrix, even though it's no longer on the site. So he tells me I need my serial number (just the main one) from my CS 2.3 purchase. I have the box right in front of me. He's going to connect me with Sales, and he will not hang up until he knows I'm connected.

This actually works! He verifies (so I can hear him) that I am now talking with Sales. He tells the sales person what is going on, I say thank you, he hangs up and the sales person requests my serial number, verifies it's good. I give him my credit number and he verifies the upgrade will be shipped.

About a week later I get it. I had to be somewhat persistant, I am glad I had checked things out on the website and noted the info. I got what I wanted, without too much pain, BUT I find it VERY INTERESTING that Adobe had that less expensive upgrade listed for less than a month, and then took it off the website. If I had not seen it earlier, I would not have known to ask, and would have paid an extra $150 I didn't need to!

Amy

Most of these large software companies have the same attitude towards support. They spend millions advertising and little for customer support. It is ridiculous how most of them dont even speak English. I just bought the CS3 and after one whole day of trying to install the POS I picked the phone and called support. It took me another day to be on the phone with them and figure out why the darn thing will not install. Well...finally I got to talk to one of the developers and he asked me to change a one line of code in my install file and Voila! it installed like a breeze. I wish they are all somewhat experienced...or at least speak the damn proper language.

----------------------------------------------------
Preface Media, Inc.
eCatalog|ePages|Virtual3D|LocateMe
www.PrefaceMedia.com

Anyone who had customer service issues should try this website www.planetfeedback.com You can post your complaints / compliments / suggestions / questions about pretty much any major company.

I had a issue with an airline company and had no success being reimbursed when I called their 800 number. Within few business days of posting my compaint on this website I was reimbursed.

I would defintely post your complaints on this site and hopefully your issues can be resolved.

This has gotten ugly, I never thought I would find customer service worse than my last landlord. Dear god, I mean, I though this kind of thing only existed in movies, but its so REAL!!
There has to be a better way, we are creative people and we have our dignity, let's think of a way to make them do it right. A petition, letters to the editor....perhaps a moderate scaled riot would work?
Adobe will not be remembered for revolutionizing the world of software but for discovering a rare new form of torture and oppression. I've never been so close to suicide as I was after the last call, where I listened to the hold music to the point of mental exhauston.
This is worse than a band that insults its fans.
I can't help thinking that this might actually be a symptom of someting ominous in the future for us...
They aren't just abusing the consumer trust but torturing their customer service representative by not supplying them with the tools to do their job and then heaving them on the front line facing justifiably irate customers, then grabbing a daquari and sitting back to watch to bloody results.
These are sick, sick people we are dealing with.

There, I've said my piece, I don't feel quite so ravaged, helpless and alone in the world, for now...until I muster for the next charge into every consumer's worst nightmare. God forbid I actually want to use the product I paid for..

I paid for an upgrade to Adobe's ColdFusion software and despite several phone calls I still haven't received the serial numbers (I don't need discs or boxes). They keep telling me that someone will get back to me or that it takes several days for them to place the order. The customer service people fail to grasp how frustrating it is for a customer to have to keep calling them up to ask the same thing over and over.

More to the point, if you have paid for a product the company has a legal obligation to deliver it. We're talking about $6,000 worth of upgraded software ($15K if bought from scratch). This is not the first time I've experienced terrible customer service from Adobe. It's a real shame that Adobe UK don't have a UK based department who can deal with these issues. I keep getting transferred to Holland or some other country. This is shameful behaviour for a company the size of Adobe.

Wow. I started this thread because I was looking for a place to vent. It looks as though so were a lot of other people. I want to thank everyone who continues to write. Adobe cannot continue to operate in this fashion, your very words are capable of creating the winds of change.

One of the most frustrating things about dealing with large companies is the complete disconnect you often find between one department to the next. One hand doesn’t know what the other is doing as the saying goes.

Some of the most annoying offenders are retailers with online, store and mail order sales. The last time I bought anything at JcPenney was a nightmare. There was a sale in the store; however, they were out of the particular item that I wanted. I was told to order it online. When I did, I was told that the sale did not apply to online items.

Senior management, I realize that you want to track your “channels;” however, I as the customer could really care less about how your income statement is organized. If you have a product that I want, I just want to buy it, at the lowest price available at the time. When I do pricing research, it should be between stores. It is ridiculous to have to price between channels at the same company.

However you would think, being a technology company, Adobe would have its act together. Sadly, this is not the case.

If you are in the creative industry, it is pretty much a given that you will be using an Adobe product. Since its purchase of Macromedia in 2005, it has the market cornered in the print and web design industries.

I use Adobe programs. I am not a high volume customer. I only upgrade when I really need to. But then I am not a high maintenance customer either. If I have an issue with one of the programs, I can usually find a resolution by researching it online.

However, I decided it was time to upgrade to Creative Suite 3. I was really interested in seeing the integration between the original Adobe and Macromedia products.

On January 3rd, 2008, I went online to adobe.com and ordered the upgrade. It was $599 for Creative Suite 3 Design Premium. A hefty chunk for an upgrade, but they are great programs and I had a discount code for 10 percent off.
I added the products to my card, applied the discount code and was thrilled to see that the 10 percent applied to the hard copy manual I was buying as well. Now that I think about it, if you are spending that much money on a software program, don’t you think they could at least include a hard copy of the instruction manual?

I entered my credit card number and placed the order. Problem. The amount charged did not reflect the discount.

I thought, “This should be an easy fix. I’ll just call the 800 customer service number displayed on every page.” This is minutes after the order was placed.
I called and reached the phone sales number and talked to a very nice lady who said that she couldn’t cancel the original order for me, but she would place a new one with the discount and then transfer me to another department who would cancel it.

I asked if I would be charged for both orders, to which she replied no. She said that the credit card was not charged until the order was shipped and that it took 24 to 48 hours to be in the “system.” So I placed the second order, which was exactly the same as the first, received the discount and was transferred to the next CS operator.

This second customer service department appeared to be an oversees call center. I explained the situation and said that I wanted to cancel the first online order. The CS rep said that the first order would not display in the “system” for 24 hours and I needed to call back the next morning to cancel it. I asked again if I would be billed twice and was again told no, the card wasn’t charged until the order was shipped and the first order wasn’t in the “system” yet.

This was in a 26 minute phone call on January 3rd initiated at 1:46 pm CST.
That evening I was checking my online bank statement and saw that both orders had been charged to my account, the first order for $685 and the second with the discount for $623. I called the 800 number listed on the charge. The customer service representative was very nice; however, said that there was nothing that they could do to help me and since it was at 10 pm, there was no one that they could transfer me to. She did not understand why the order had billed already because it was still showing as “pending” in the system, but she couldn’t cancel it and refund it.

She gave me yet another 800 number to call in the morning to cancel the order and said that yes, they would be able to refund the charge. I asked her to put a note or flag on the order so that both would not be shipped, and she said that she would.

So the next morning I called the customer service number I was given. I explained the whole situation and asked for the order to be canceled and the charge from the first order to be refunded. Then I was told that I had to wait until I received the order, call them back, give them the serial numbers from the discs on the duplicate order and then, only then, would they refund the charge on my credit card.

At this point, I got angry. I followed their “process,” went through all the phone transfers, and was told repeatedly that, “No, both orders would not be billed” and “Yes, the first order would be canceled.”

So I was transferred to a “supervisor.” I was told again that was the “process” and there was nothing that he could do and there was no one else I could talk to.

I called the corporate office in California and was transferred to a “Customer Care Specialist” after explaining the situation. He said that the customer service person was correct and that was the only way they could refund the “return.”

I said that I didn’t want the two orders, all I wanted was the discount on one. It was not a “return,” because I specifically said that I did not want the first one shipped. There was an error in the initial order.

I asked him, “Adobe is a multibillion dollar company (2.75 billion in revenue in 2005). You are telling me that this company, a company that produces software that ecommerce sites are built on, can’t even do an order correction?” No.

I told him it was completely ridiculous to me that a company the size of Adobe could not correct an order, particularly when the charge hadn’t even gone through. Mom and Pop shops running ecommerce sites on open source software can do that and Adobe can’t?

He again said that he had to have the serial numbers to do a “return.”
First, charges through a credit card processor have nothing to do with a company’s internal controls. I have one myself and my merchant account could not care less how I track those payments and orders. There is no reason that a credit could not have been issued for that initial order even if the order itself could not be modified (again ridiculous).

Second, I had been told over and over again that I could cancel that first order, and what is more, that it would not be billed.

He said, “As soon as the order is placed it is processed. There is nothing I can do about it.”

I told him, “Now you are lying to me because I was told several times that it wasn’t billed until it was shipped and it wasn’t even in the system for 24 hours.”

At this point he hung up on me.

And where am I left. I am left with an additional $685 charge on my account. I will have to wait 7 to 10 days to receive the TWO identical orders. Then I will have to call “customer service” again to do a “return” that will most likely take another week before my money is refunded. All over a $60 discount that was not credited on the first order.

To those ordering Adobe products, all I can say is be careful, document every exchange, and if you run into an issue, set aside a day to sit on the phone. If I had done a little bit of research ahead of time on Adobe customer complaints, I would have had known to be wary.

To the Adobe management:
You may think you have a stranglehold on the creative, design and development industries. However, no one is ever too big to fall.

Carla Alvarez
Legacy Marketing Services

Okay so i reckon at this point just about everybody who has read down this far in Shawn's post pretty much agrees that all is not happy in Adobe-customerland; and has not been for a long time. In fact according to RCH27 who has been using their products for 23 years, it has not been good since the mid to late 90's. He says he used to "know" most of the engineers through that time, who can remember the people they talk to there now?
I think it is pretty clear that we cannot blame the person on the phone, although they are the ones we take it out on as they represent the stupid, confusing policies that we are upset with. As least we should know this if Adobeagentsr and CS agent (after he got off his high horse and admitted he was trying the best he could and would rather change MANY things if he could) are to be trusted, which I have no reason to believe they can't.

What I don't agree with is AgentCS saying it was "kind of sad how all of you have wasted time complaining about adobe customer service" and I agree with twanda55 that maybe we should form and support group, not for our mutual self pity aspirations, but to actual make things better.

I live in Singapore and am in process of taking my photography and other art work to a second profession, I called the Customer Service number because I wanted to talk to someone about the advantages I would get from CS3 vs the product i am using today, and to know if extended was really going to give me any additional benefits to what I know I want to do at least now.
So I called the phone number for Customer Service in Hong Kong, yeah no local number in Singapore so I had to pay long distance for this "wonderful experience". Upon passing over all my information, twice, to two different people in the same department (I called a second time just to make sure the first person really was not able to help me); I got to find out that even though I wanted to spend a little over $1000 USD with them, my questions were to technical for both agents, and both told me all that information was on their website..... That was it, just "go to our website".... The funniest thing was when I asked “what web address?”, meaning, "okay dude if I was able to find the right information on the website myself first I probably wouldn't be talking to you right now, what is the exact url I should type in to take me to this conrincopia of online information that will answer the exact question I just asked you"; I got back both times "www.adobe.com"... Like no shit, where do you think I got your phone number from?
So I eventually found a few more resources after trying harder on the website myself, but still don't have all the information I wanted to make my decision, but have a far better impression of what life will be like after purchasing when I want help.

I probably will but the CS3 and Lightroom they seem to be the best out there on the market, and I can't find enough evidence that the 3D elements of Extended will give; but one thing I now have plenty of evidence on is that I want the service to be better.

I think that all of you would rather that to be the case also, and have other things to blog about rather than how Adobe Sucks. Right?

So here's the question, if you could change 1 thing at adobe customer service what would it be? Just one thing, not the laundry list of ALLLLLLLL the things that we should change; if they made one change now what should it be?

Once we know this we tell Adobe, tell Lambert Walsh, who is their World Wide Vice President of Customer Care.
(I guess one sad reality that sticks out from sanpabloguy's research is that Adobe as a company does not think high enough of Customer Care to have it listed among the VPs they have on their corporate site)

Now I know not everyone who reads this will post anything, hey it is the less committal thing to do.
After all it could fail, we could do this and nothing will change, but I can guarantee if we do not do this, nothing will change.
.

Well, after having the audacity to enquire from Adobe as to where my copy of CS3 had got to after ordering it on 26 January, and being told "someone might call me back" to let me know and "there is no complaints procedure", I thought an email to Matt Thompson would be in order.

This is the response I got:

Thanks for reaching out to me. I am sorry about the customer
exrperience that you have been going through. Lambert Walsh
is responsible for our customer care team. He will follow up with you.

Nothing says "we care about our customers" than a stock response (complete with spelling mistake) to a non-person after charging your credit card and singularly failing to Perform. If they weren't the only option in the market, me and my money would have walked long ago...

ADOBE I HOPE YOU READ THIS - I AM SO PI**ED OFF...

Sorry, joined this community after finding this post - just so I could have a rant at how totally inadequate and disjointed Adobe customer services is - who ever heads up this particular aspect of Adobe should be sacked !! Appauling performance - should be ashamed of yourselves...

1. Ordered a new version of Acrobat professional 8 online.. ok so far, fairly simple process..

2. Realized I had actually ordered the wrong version - my error. Not a problem I thought I'll just cancel the order on the website.... after trawling the website for half an hour to find this option ? - not available... I'll phone them instead

3. I phone the number listed on the website. Eventually after 30 mins of listening to music. I get to talk to a real person (well sort of - the language barrier presented a bit of a problem !!) - I am prompted for my customer number - which i duly reel off - not recognised - punches a few more keys - still not recognised. Eventually after giving my DNA sequence they manage to track me down. After 5 mins of questioning we eventually track down the order in question. Can I cancel it then or change the order to the correct product version (PC instead of MAC) ? - "no" - "what do you mean?" - "my manager will have to do that for you - will escalate it" - what about refunding my credit card "again - my manager will have to authorise that" OK - Can I order the correct version whilst I am on the phone - "No" - "Why not?" - "you'll have to order it online" - "OK". I am given a new customer number ??
3. So safe in the knowledge that my order has been canceled, I then braveley go online and order the correct version...All goes well

4. ...Until the following monday a package appears on my desk. Sure enough its the product I canceled..

5. Repeat step 3. This time I type customer number into phone system - safe in the knowledge that this must be ok, not recognised. Again Eventually get through to a real person.. What is your customer number (I am reading this from the invoice sent with the product that I thought I had cancelled) - not recognised. (At this stage I'm think ff sake - who writes these shitty systems for Adobe).. So we try the order number from the invoice - not recognised - I'm getting exasperated now and quite short with the poor guy on the phone "Why don't any of your systems appear to work" - "they do sir, this is just a glitch"..
Eventually we realize that the order number on the email confirmation and the order number on the invoice are completeley different; also the customer number on the invoice conveniently has the first character missing - of course why would you want the order number to actually refer to the order all the way through the system - thats just too simple !!. After about 15 mins we manage to scrape together the information required to return the product and get a refund - this now becomes my problem as I have to pay the postage cost for an order that I cancelled over a week ago - and of course if for any reason it does not return to the depot - i do not get a refund !!! nice one.

When I actually enquired as to why my order was not cancelled in the first place as requested. The answer was "because i ordered it online - the system processed it too quickly" ?? "But it was not despatched until 3 days after that" - "I dodn't know sir it should have been cancelled".... Aggghhhh - Its now ten days later i still do not have a refund for the software I returned - I'm not sure if I have the energy to chase this up again..

ADOBE your customer service is Sh1t...Please do something about it!!