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Blocked from downloading a PDF that I paid for; Adobe's auto bot is unhelpful

Forum|Forum|3 years ago
January 31, 2023
6 replies
68683 views

After several days it is plain that Adobe will not allow me to pose this issue to a person who will not first look to see if I have an active account. In other words, even though they have control over a product that I paid the creator for, Adobe will not allow me to get it. (I leased inDesign for the 2.5 years it took to get a book laid out and saved in hard copy files, but I can not afford to support Adobe every month; I am a retired professor, not a professional digital worker.)

Meanwhile, I have contacted the people I paid for it, but their very low level of sophistication about such things has them erroneously believing that since it is their content, and I bought a copy, I should be able to download it. They clearly do not understand the danger of doing business with Adobe.

This is the 5 point question I posed that Adobe ignores. If any of you know of any way to get past this stonewall, please let me know.

Case Number: ADB-27837060-Q7L8

Issue: Guidance with Product/Project

1. I do not have a current account with Adobe, so do not even look

2. My ONLY question is this: I PAID FOR a copy of a PDF. Morehouse School of Medicine, however, let you control their product.

3. I do not seem to be able to download the thing I paid for

4. Is there a way I can, or, if not, simply state plainly that you will not allow me to download it so I can present that to my Wellness doctor.

5. Thank you.

Feature request

This topic has been closed for replies.

Correct answer try67

In screenshot #1, next to the Link tool there's a button with an ellipsis icon (not shown in the actual screenshot, you cut it off just before it). Click it and then select "Download this file":

kglad

Community Expert

@williamd89979732

open the pdf in your file browser.

no matter what file type it looks like while you're saving, go ahead and save it to a new directory.

using a file browser, open that new directory after the save. what do you see is saved? (a copy and pasted here screenshot would be helpful.)

W

williamd89979732Author

Known Participant

When it opens, I see the PDF, but when I Save it, I get the document and accompanying folder of an HTML download instead of a PDF. SEE ATTACHMENT

davids65478741

Participant

This is almost a year old, but I had a similar problem and posting what worked for me. Got a new Mac and all my settings were gone. It's a Chrome thing. Here's a link that solved it.

https://www.howtogeek.com/721441/how-to-download-pdfs-instead-of-previewing-them-in-chrome-firefox-and-edge/

T

Test Screen Name

Legend

I think the big problem here is that the original poster has a problem (probably but not definitely a simple not knowing how to download correctly) but has decided on the cause ("Adobe want money"). He or she will not be diverted into actually looking at the problem or giving actual details, or a screen shot, just keeps insisting they know the solution ("pay Adobe") but want us to make this imagined problem go away (Beat Adobe until they change all their systems?). 29 replies for such a simple problem??

kglad

Community Expert

@Test Screen Name

yes, there are erroneous conclusions compounded by poor explanations compounded by weak basic knowledge.

but i have a grasp on what's going on (finally). now, getting the op focused (especially after a number of extraneous posts both by myself and everyone else) is needed.

W

williamd89979732Author

Known Participant

The problem: My Wellness M.D. has a PDF book for a class. I can buy hardcopy or (she says) download. I chose download. The medical school has it in Adobe’s cloud.

After I paid, I received this URL for the download:

https:// u15530258.ct.sendgrid.net/ls/click?upn=fFOwSBQPyxIp0933mnwJoLXEFgd0Z17Ry-2FV6kd35043MdTTpNs0EfTm3fk5htiZgBVdva5nrQYw-2BOCTquNIkZFtJppqaiAgEuI9WoulO7t2APTZrA1HN1xhOOxGr8L2LtdzPdDMgSUxkHI9GxyAxQrvphHieiW4nf8V1KEF2eSU-3De4GI_Eeaet7eONlRz3Yg9hianRF4gj6POZCSQyHcnMpxC3FG3WkGc-2FeTOPphf57UWZSHPwoxscw4rTmrfJF4Sxe4FN6V9LzAB44mGExL58w4q7-2FWDog3kWq82QmjsHQkbQhonNE1P3SiFLMGeKEh2BztiC-2BP4sabGqJr7Ut7B-2Bhl9-2FOZjQ5kmGDLLmzP9Z2AN62K5veSUT4zwVmcoKEOgeqU-2F4UWSWEygnDQ-2F9sdg6tffm4W1yNoYwN68g28IHHG4PPh9

When it opens, I see the PDF, but when I Save it, I get the document and accompanying folder of an HTML download instead of a PDF.

When I tried to get thorugh to a person, Adobe’s AI would not permit me to go any farther if I could not provide an email to an active account (meaning they get money from me every month).

After wasting time trying to get past a one-trick AI, I came to the Community.

I TRIED POSTING AND GOT THIS ERROR MESSAGE:

Your post has been changed because invalid HTML was found in the message body. The invalid HTML has been removed. Please review the message and submit the message when you are satisfied.

I HAVE NOW “BROKEN” THE LINK BY INSERTING AN EARLY SPACE, BUT HERE IS THE URL AFTER IT GETS PROCESSED:

https://acrobat.adobe.com/link/track?uri=urn%3Aaaid%3Ascds%3AUS%3A1a5ef27d-2a29-4bc6-803d-8357ac09f29a&viewer%21megaVerb=group-discover

After wasting time trying to get past a one-trick AI, I came to the Community.

Jeffrey_A_Wright

Community Manager

William, I am sorry that you are unable to download a PDF file. Please respond to the questions asked in this discussion so that more assistance can be provided. Who did you purchase the PDF file from? Do you receive a specific error message in Acrobat when trying to open or download your purchase?

You can also use the process listed in https://helpx.adobe.com/x-productkb/policy-pricing/customer-support-portal.html if you need to update your active support case ADB-27837060-Q7L8 regarding the same question in your original post.

Moving this discussion to the Acrobat forum.

W

williamd89979732Author

Known Participant

Why does no one read full posts?

Bought from Morehouse School of Medicine.

The medical school foolishly assumed that Adobe's assurances that the document would be accessible was true and thereby sent me the link after I paid.

As I've said in the second or third response last week or week before: I worked with a publisher copy editing, designing, laying out and producing hard copy files of a book, renting inDesign for about 20 months in the process. I fully understand that years ago Adobe moved to a model that would require monthly money from anyone doing any production with their software.

What I need is for them to give me a clear statement that I know will show the people at the medical school not only that they do not have control over the distribution as they think they do, but also to show them that they need to stop giving Adobe monthly money and store a copy on their computer and send it themselves to people who pay for it. Understandably, Adobe would not want a cash cow to go dry.

Jeffrey_A_Wright

Community Manager

William, I understand that you are encountering problems opening a PDF file you purchased that is stored within Document Cloud. Unfortunately, support case ADB-27837060-Q7L8 has now closed because we did not receive a response.

I would encourage you to begin a new chat session at https://helpx.adobe.com/contact.html?rghtup=autoOpen and then use the process listed in https://helpx.adobe.com/x-productkb/policy-pricing/customer-support-portal.html if you have any additional unanswered questions about purchases. If you cannot establish a chat session, William, please click View other Contact Options in the top left-hand corner of the chat window to be given a phone number that is accurate for your country.

I know this is a frustrating situation, William. Please be patient and continue to utilize the process listed in https://helpx.adobe.com/x-productkb/policy-pricing/customer-support-portal.html to provide any clarification about who the PDF was purchased from, who manages the content, any needed invoices, or any other follow up that is required.

The support case will automatically close, so if you do not receive an e-mail notification, then please check the support portal each day so that you do not miss any crucial questions, William.

T

Test Screen Name

Legend

Please explain what you mean by "I do not seem to be able to download the thing I paid for".

From that it doesn't seem to be anything to with Adobe, but you have a good reason to say it is. So please share what happens (without any personal info). If you get any error messages, share them in full (except personal info).

By the way, to use Acrobat Reader you DO need an account - it will keep asking you to sign in. An account is free. So this is not a requirement from Adobe to pay for anything.

kglad

Community Expert

@Test Screen Name and @try67

this has nothing to do with acrobat.

the op is unable to access the link to open/download a book. you can check the op's history to see the link yourself and open and download the book yourself.

apparently you only need to be signed in or you need a complient browser to access.

to @williamd89979732

try clicking your book link from a different browser.

try67

Community Expert

Your description of the issue is not very clear. What exactly did you buy, and from where?

Adobe does not block the download of any PDF file. In fact, it has no control whatsoever over who downloads what file, unless that file is located on its servers. If you can't download the file from the link you were given the issue is most likely with how the file was uploaded and/or shared by the author.

And no, you don't need to pay Adobe to open PDF files, either. You can do it using the free Adobe Reader, or one of a myriad of other PDF applications out there. In fact, most browsers have a built-in PDF plugin now, so you could just open it in your browser directly.

W

williamd89979732Author

Known Participant

Elsewhere, among the first two, maybe three, posts, I fully explain who created it, that it is stored on an Adobe server and that is why I need them to provide me with an actual refusal so that I can get the people I paid for it to get it to me by other means, but, unless I am giving Adobe money, I can not get in touch with a human being. The people at the medical school were taken in by how Adobe made it sound like others could easily download it from the Adobe cloud. SOMEwhere, no doubt, the limitations on who can access the cloud are stated, but probably miles away from the claim of how easy it makes it for others to secure the document. The idea that ANYone who wanted to would HAVE TO BE PAYING ADOBE AT THE TIME is more than likely never explicitly stated. Or is well-hidden in legalese somewhere.

kglad

Community Expert

no adobe subscription is needed if they shared their file correctly.

https://www.adobe.com/creativecloud/collaboration.html#:~:text=No.%20Anyone%20can%20view%20or%20comment%20on%20files,and%20content%20on%20the%20desktop%20or%20online%3F%20Yes.

the fact that i could download the file indicates that something local to your computer or network or browser is causing the problem.

have you tried changing those? eg different browsers?

kglad

Community Expert

what pdf?

W

williamd89979732Author

Known Participant

It is the PDF of what is also available in hard copy. Prepared and sold by a Medical School.
Do you need to know the title?

Neither my Wellness M.D. nor her assistant are sophisticated enough to know that Adobe will not allow anyone to download anything unless they have paid Adobe money.

I tried to get Adobe to state plainly that they had that requirement so that I could present it to them so that they send PDFs to paid patients instead of believing that Adobe would allow such foolishness as permitting a paid customer to download what they bought.

All the Chat, and now just the virtual assistant, the AI does is look for a current account on MY part, so I can't even get to a human being any more.

Let me know if you need any more clarity.

kglad

Community Expert

if the publication is a secret you don't need to reveal it. contact adobe support, maybe you can reveal more to them. there are 3 ways to contact adobe; chat, phone and twitter:

chat:
use a browser that allows popups and cookies
and click here, https://helpx.adobe.com/contact.html?rghtup=autoOpen
in the chat field (lower right), type AGENT
be patient, it can take quite a while to reach a human.

phone:
https://helpx.adobe.com/contact/phone.html

twitter:
tweet @AdobeCare

p.s. if you're contacted by anyone (via email or private message), it's much more likely to be a scammer than an adobe representative. ie, double check for an employee badge if contacted in the forums and look for an adobe.com domain in the email address if you click reply to an email. then check again and be very suspicious. any other method of contacting (or offering to contact you) is almost certainly a scam, https://community.adobe.com/t5/using-the-community-discussions/staying-safe-in-the-adobe-support-community/td-p/12919684/redirect_from_archived_page/true

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