Absolutely Atrocious Customer Support

[GokieKS]

I have/had a subscription that was yearly pre-paid.  I purchased a redemption code for another year (of the exact same plan - CC Photography 1TB) from a 3rd party retailer (Newegg), and like any normal sane person would, expected that when I redeemed the code it would extend my current plan.  Instead however it started a new plan, which created an overlap of about a month between when the old plan ended and new one starts.  So I contacted customer support, and the first rep told me that he/she would cancel the new plan and then send me a new redemption code within 5-7 days that I could then redeem when the previous plan ended.

That was on Nov. 20th.  Since then, I have heard nothing.  On Dec. 2nd (nearly 2 weeks later), I checked my account and saw that the new plan was still associated with my account, and that the support case was still showing as active.  So I replied to the support case detailing what the previous CS rep had said would happen, and included a screenshot of the conversation.

Fast forward another 2 weeks, on Dec. 17th, when my old plan was about to auto-renew, I checked again and found that the new plan had disappeared.  I went ahead and cancelled the old plan because I definitely did not want to be charged for another year, and then checked the support case and saw there has been no updates to it at all.  So I contacted CS again, and the only response I got was that my support case has been escalated and I would get a response in 24-48 hours.  It's now been two days since, and I once again have had zero communication from customer support, and since I had to cancel the old plan, also no access to the apps that I've paid for.

This is possibly the absolute worst customer service experience I've ever had, and I continue to have no way of actually reaching anybody who's capable of helping, because like every other tech company Adobe is doing the damndest to make sure you can't find a phone number to call, but instead have to deal with a useless AI virtual assistant.

[Jeffrey_A_Wright]

GokieKs, sorry for all the problems you have encountered through your purchase of a redemption code to use our services. I see that your support case ADB-42676510-G5H9 was updated yesterday. Please use the steps listed at https://adobe.ly/3MN2BOX to review your active case and provide any additional feedback. ^JW

[GokieKS]

Then there must be something wrong with the website because I see absolutely nothing on the support case details page except the comments that I added on Dec. 2.  I checked on two different browsers (Chrome, Safari), and found it was the same on both (screenshot attached).

[Jeffrey_A_Wright]

There is nothing for you to respond to right now, GokieK. The request is still being processed. I know this is a frustrating experience.

Please make sure that you check the return policy for any future redemption codes that are purchased, in case they are duplicate subscriptions or invalid.

Please bookmark https://adobe.ly/3Y8JMbo for more information. ^JW

[GokieKS]

OK, so when can I expect to actually get any sort of response?  It's literally been a month since the start of all this, and every single time-frame I've been given has been unmet.

And return policy is completely irrelevant here, as no retailer is going to accept return of a digital code that's been redeemed.  And I don't even want to return or refund anything - I simply want to have access to the plan that I paid for.

It'd be one thing if the new plan (that overlapped with the old one) was still on my account while this is going on, as that would mean at least I can still use Photoshop in the meantime.  But with it having been removed, and CS leaving me in limbo in providing a new redemption code to re-add the plan, it means I literally cannot use the service I paid for, and have no idea when I will be able to again.  How is that remotely acceptable?

[Jeffrey_A_Wright]

I am sorry, Gokeik, I don't have a timeframe to offer you. I have seen other posters receive a replacement redemption code, so I do have hope that this will be sorted out for you in the future. ^JW

[Nancy OShea]

Promotional offers from 3rd parties are typically for New Customers only.

Did you read the fine print before purchasing?

Have you contacted the 3rd party vendor about this?

[GokieKS]

It's not a promotional offer, it was a regular sale of a digital product, for one year pre-paid of the CC subscription: https://www.newegg.com/adobe-creative-cloud-photography-plan-with-1tb-1-year-subscription/p/N82E1683...

Speaking of fine prints, the description specifically mentions that the 1TB plan "is a different subscription than Creative Cloud Photography Plan 20GB. Purchasing this will NOT extend or renew Creative Cloud Photography Plan 20GB subscription with Adobe", which implies that it WILL extend/renew an existing 1TB plan.  Which, once again, is what any reasonable person would assume would happen when you redeem the code, instead of what actually happens (it creates a new plan on the same account), which is what lead to this mess in the first place.

[kglad]

plans that are exact matches extend current subscriptions.  plans that are not exact matches create new plans.

[GokieKS]

Yeah, that's not actually the case.  The plan I already had and the one I purchased the one year pre-paid redemption code for are both the same - Creative Cloud Photography plan with 1TB.  And when I redeemed the code, the exact same plan showed up on my account twice.

[kglad]

it doesn't look like you're the only one with this problem.  but newegg's not returnable/not refundable is a red flag that should stop everyone from purchasing.  

[Nancy OShea]

Unless it was for NEW CUSTOMERS only, in which case it would spawn a new plan instead of adding months to the existing one. 

[GokieKS]

Not accepting returns on a digital code is standard practice for basically every retailer, because they have no easy way to verify if it was used or not.  And it's not like Newegg is some shady unauthorized reseller or something - these pre-paid digital redemption codes are widely available from all sorts of major retailers:

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Photography-Photoshop-Lightroom-Subscription-auto-renewal/dp/B09J1H7HYG/

Best Buy: https://www.bestbuy.com/product/adobe-creative-cloud-photography-plan-1tb-1-year-subscription-apple-...

B&H Photo: https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1786747-REG/adobe_65321149_creative_cloud_photography_plan.ht...

Walmart: https://www.walmart.com/ip/Adobe-Creative-Cloud-Photography-Plan-1TB-storage-Windows-macOS-1-User-Di...

The list goes on and on.  And not on a single one of those product listing is it mentioned that it's for new customers only.  But they do all have the same verbiage about the 1TB plan being different from the old 20GB plan, which is a pretty clear indication that the product description they put up come from Adobe themselves.

[GokieKS]

Also, even IF it was for new customers only, it still would make no sense for it be redeemed on an existing account and then show up as a separate plan.  Every other promotion I've ever seen that was listed as for new customer only I've seen requires you to use the offer with a new account.

[Nancy OShea]

If you say so. 

I've never used Newegg. 

No experience with them or their Promo Codes. 

For a brief time I worked in the travel industry. And people would get themselves into an awful pickle by booking trips through 3rd party sites, and then their plans would change. 

3rd parties add another layer of complication to what would otherwise be a simple fix.