Why is Adobe's Customer Service so bad?

[Guest]

I just spend several hours on the phone with Customer Service which is obviously not located in the US. The problem never did get resolved mostly because of the language barrier. Then the online options make it very difficult to lodge a complaint or try to get help. I had to go back to the 800 sales number and repurchase my software upgrade and cancel the previous order to create a workaround for the problem. Adobe doesn't have a great customer service reputation anyway--guess they don't care because they figure they have a captive audience--but it seems it gets worse every time I have to deal with it.

[WillChill55]

Good question.  I can't find an answer to a simple registration question. I only find, "contact support".  The chat doesn't work. This forum is like a zoo.  My Gosh, I can't even locate answers to find my animal. They want $39.00 per phone call to be able to tell me how to get the product I purchased to continue working on another operating system. I'm disgusted, and frustrated because I was improving my skills and was thinking of upgrading.

[pwillener]

WillChill55 wrote:

This forum is like a zoo.

Thank you!  However, most people who come here with a question or problem go away with an answer.  But you do not even attempt to post your question...

[the_wine_snob]

And if it is a specific Adobe product question, there are many, many product forums, that would be a better place, since this forum is for discussing the forums - not the products.

Good luck to the OP and to WillChill.

Hunt

[Phillip_M_Jones]

I can Sympathize with OP and WillChill.

I did post in Proper Group about my issue with the Acrobat viewer Plugin not working at all, on Mozilla based Products. It been posted about a week now. Not a peep Not even sorry we have no idea. (At least you'd know its been Looked at).with the included

I even copied the post with the included screen shot.  and put in a Bug Report.

Mac Problems have always been ignored or put on the Back burner. Despite the early adopters from the Macintosh folks Adobe would not exist as more than a Font House.  Every Product Adobe has originated first on the Mac Platform with exception of the Bought MarcoMedia Applications.  And yet Adobe has given us Ma users the one finger salute. Flash is not IOS as a Result of years of been Trodden on by Adobe, so Jobs enough is enough if they won't fix Flash issues It won't be on our iPhones, and iPads.

I soldier on answer Mac Acrobat Question when I can, who knows I might be the only one left doing so. So while this is not the right venue. You can only stand so much, and have to vent. Even though the bigwigs in the office won't know about it. or will laugh their a** off reading it. Even Intuit has a better reputation than Adobe.

[WillChill55]

I'm sorry I don't seem to be "most people", however, had I posted the question here I would have been chastised that it isn't the correct area.  Believe me I've made attempts to post my question but as I indicated, I could not locate the proper area.  I'm busy and unfortunantly don't have the pleasure or leisure of spending more than 15 minutes here.

My issue, thankfully, has been resolved because I was able to find the one phone number (google search, not here) to adobe support that wouldn't charge $39.00.

The person that started this discussion posted a legitimate question,  that caught my eye, because I don't understand why a world class software product maker has such an arduous way to get simple questions answered.  I suspect it is done this way (as with similar businesses) to limit or reduce the numbers of support requests, thereby reducing costs.

How difficult is it to simply have a list of workable phone numbers to support? 

[Guest]

That was my point exactly. It was out of frustration that I posed my original question. It was rhetorical, of course. There is no easy way to address real issues with customer service. It would not be that difficult to address basic customer service problems. Can you imagine what Adobe could do if they would treat their customers with respect and value the customers time as much as they do a dollar? They seem to forget they are selling a renewable product and if they have happy customers, they won't be reluctant to buy Adobe products--upgrades and new. I don't know if they read these threads or not but it is a lot easier to keep an existing customer than to find new ones. Maybe, just maybe, if enough people complain, they may at least give us a thought. I for one, am tired of dealing with companies that farm all their customer service issues to India or wherever. If their products are good enough to buy, they are good enough to support. Adobe needs to buck up and take some responsibility. So Adobe, what do you have to say for yourself?

[Claudio_González1]

Perhaps they will claim that their hands are tied because the Jive software does not include these features...

[professional_pirate]

Claudio González wrote:

Perhaps they will claim that their hands are tied because the Jive software does not include these features...

If this is correct then it is a cop out and passing the buck to somebody else.  It won't wash with customers because they need a proper service for the products they have paid for.

If Jive hasn't got the necessary features then they should get something else to replace it.  Adobe is a multi-billion dollar corporation and coming out with lame excuses is just not good enough. Even Professional Pirates give you a service that is the envy of the other fellow pirates!!!!

[Claudio_González1]

Pirate, there are several of us who have been complaining about the Jive software for years, since it was adopted to be precise. To no avail, as you can see.

[the_wine_snob]

Claudio,

I completely agree, and have never been supportive of Jive.

However, and I hang my head a bit, as I type this, knowing the pains, from the forum changeovers, like the ill-fated attempt, pre-Jive, I shudder to think of another changeover, even if the design was vastly superior. Guess that I would rather see the status quo, but see it greatly improved. I know that the likelihood of that is slim, but the thought of a changeover scares the heck out of me.

Now, Adobe has developed a team, to try and improve Customer and Technical Support, and I wish that team the best of luck. At least someone is trying to address the issues, that too many have reason to complain about. Adobe Customer and Technical Support was once, near the top for software companies. Times changed, and so did the focus on support, and things got pretty bad. Let's hope that a reversal is possible.

Hunt

[professional_pirate]

People don't seem to know that Adobe is an Indian company headed by Shantanu Narayen and staffed by Indians mainly in India but also in the States and other places.  The fact that it is listed on NYSE and headquartered in the USA, it doesn't make it an American company.  Chinese are doing the same; buiying American companies and then employing mainly Chinese workers who can adopt Chinese Customs and Cultures.

this being so, the culture and customs of the company are based on Indian standards where customers should be grateful that they have a product even if it doesn't work properly!!!

[professional_pirate]

WillChill55 wrote:

I'm sorry I don't seem to be "most people", however, had I posted the question here I would have been chastised that it isn't the correct area.  Believe me I've made attempts to post my question but as I indicated, I could not locate the proper area.  I'm busy and unfortunantly don't have the pleasure or leisure of spending more than 15 minutes here.

My issue, thankfully, has been resolved because I was able to find the one phone number (google search, not here) to adobe support that wouldn't charge $39.00.

The person that started this discussion posted a legitimate question,  that caught my eye, because I don't understand why a world class software product maker has such an arduous way to get simple questions answered.  I suspect it is done this way (as with similar businesses) to limit or reduce the numbers of support requests, thereby reducing costs.

How difficult is it to simply have a list of workable phone numbers to support? 

If your problem can't be resolved in these forums then I can guarantee that there is no solution for it.  Adobe staff won't be able to help you even if they charge you meagre $39 per incident.  Your best best chance is to keep asking in these forums or search the web.

Good luck.

[Ted_King]

I have to vote with WillChill55. Adobe forums are a mess as is the help program. Adobe's customer service is awful. No, that doesn't come close to the real customer experience but it will have to do for now.

[Guest]

Ted King wrote:

I have to vote with WillChill55. Adobe forums are a mess as is the help program. Adobe's customer service is awful. No, that doesn't come close to the real customer experience but it will have to do for now.

You are voting for the dead horse.  Support here is fantastic provided by people who are on "Back to Work" program financed by UK government.  The idea is they are required to help Adobe customers mainly with how to install the programs and all that nonsense.

If you are looking for somebody to teach you how to use Adobe applications then you are in the wrong place.  You need to go to your local college to learn these things.  Adobe can't run courses for the amount of money you have paid for the product.

These local volunteers are called MVPs and they are prepared to work for free here so that they too can learn something about Adobe and its products.  They are a wonderful bunch of people who have nothing else in life except to help people like you.

I hope this was not helpful to you because I didn't intend to.

John

[Ted_King]

You have got to be kidding! I am not surprised that Adobe has eliminated customer service, Quark was about five years ahead of them on that process but I am surprised that such a significant player in the industry would let such an unprofessional message appear on a page that will be associated with them.

John Waters, I suggest you reread your email. Support described as fantastic will never be provided by people who "are prepared to work for free here so that they too can learn something about Adobe and its products." So, you are just learning about the product but believe you can provide support?! Not likely.

For you to make comments about my reasons for visiting the Adobe forums is senseless. Please refer to your keeper for reasons why common sense is so important.

Obviously, Adobe relys on an army of sycophants to fill the forums with faux help to fend off the legions of annoyed users.

[Aviousaudio]

Good question! The support is as bad as Apple's- you might get adequate support for minor issues like "have you tried turning it on and off" if you pay them extra. This means the company doesn't take reapontibility for their own products- much like Apple.

I'm not allowed a call back from support

Chat won't activate (just opens a window with bold text saying "you know it would be easier if you just call us, I mean, it's only a 30 min wait and the price is just

1 USD/min, that we collect for our christmas bonuses, so..." ) and if i leave the window open for the whole day, nothing happens.

I can't e- mail because there's no e-mail address and I can't open a case on my own product...

So I'm seriously considering unregistering my product.

[mytaxsite]

@Aviousaudio

You will get the required support in these forums if you follow the basic procedures:

1) State your problem precisely and to the point;

2) Post your problem in the right forum;

Now in your post you have just posted, I don't see exactly what is the problem and which Adobe product is not opening correctly for you.

To select the correct forum, please use this link:

http://forums.adobe.com/index.jspa

There is a drop down list for you to select your product if the popular products shown as icons are not the ones you are using.

Good luck and post back and let us know if this all makes sense if the correct etiquette is followed in these community forums where the support is provided by mostly independent volunteers who are not paid by Adobe.

[Aviousaudio]

@mytaxsite.co.uk

wow... never tried that.. like 1000 times.

Thank you for your reply, though. I have seen lots of threds with my issue posted, with no comment or help whatsoever from Adobe.

Updated Photoshop CS5 doesn't suddenly support graphics tablet. Earlier version does.

No problem with graphics tablet- it's up to date and there's really no fail on that end. This is an incredibly embarrassing bug on Adobe's part. Very novice.

The fact that Adobe has received tons of messages on this issue but decided to once again neglect their true customers shows the company's true integrity.

[Guest]

My original problem is not with a specific program which is why you can't use the pulldowns. There is no area, at least that I can find for general customer service. Since my original post for this forum, it has gone from bad to worse. They sent the wrong backup CD--twice. I got charged twice for the software, even though they promised to only charge me once because of their error. I am having to dispute the charge (over $700) with my CC company. Adobe says they have no record of a credit or charge for this. The transaction doesn't show up on their records AT ALL. I had to send them a copy of my CC statement and they are looking into it. I think I am close to 2 dozen hours on the phone, or on hold, with them by now and still no resolution. Then they have the audacity to send me surveys asking how my experience with them was. You can believe I vented on there, even though it won't do any good. If there were any other choice for my graphic design program, I would never deal with Adobe again.

[Claudio_González1]

Unfortunatelly, I think that Adobe won't take notice until the drop in their sales begins to hurt...

[Aviousaudio]

@nobabycrib_13

sounds exactly like Apple- it's almost scary.

can't you report them to Consumer protection or whatever it's called over on your side? (I assume for some reason you're residing on the American platform..)

[mytaxsite]

can't you report them to Consumer protection or whatever it's called over on your side? (I assume for some reason you're residing on the American platform..)

It is not a good idea to advice anybody without knowing the actual problem.  For example, in one message this is posted:

Recently my graphics tablet just suddenly stopped working in Photoshop CS5. It works fine everywhere else and the mouse works fine. It now only places a dot where the first touch from the brush occurred, but does not follow brush strokes. This makes it completely useless...

The graphics tablet is up to date- it's photoshop that has a bug.

Now this suggests to me that there is something wrong with the tablet because things don't "Suddenly stop working".  Adobe software don't have a switch which can be turned on and turned off.  Software is software and if it was working one moment, it should continue to work forever unless some changes have been made to the device it is running on.  Now I don't own a tablet so I don't know how updates are supplied to them and so I don't have a solution for this particular problem.  It could be that the tablet was dropped and so it suddenly stopped working.  Now if this the reason, why should Adobe be reported to Consumer Protection?

Don't get me wrong.  I am not saying that Adobe products are the best on this planet because they are NOT.  I too am migrating to other software packages slowly.  For example I have dumped DW and moved to Microsoft Expression Web.  For graphics packages, I have started using offerings from Corel.

[Guest]

He was talking about me reporting them because they double billed me for software and won't credit my account for their mistake. That has nothing to do with a software problem.

Sent from my iPhone

[mytaxsite]

He was talking about me reporting them because they double billed me for software and won't credit my account for their mistake. That has nothing to do with a software problem.

OK I get it now.  If I were you, I would contact the credit card company and explain to them that Adobe have double charged the account and that contacting them (Adobe) is virtually impossible.  Let them sort it out for you.  Just reject the second charge and you are covered by credit card companies' policies for such events.

Generally, In United Kingdom ( I guess USA have the same rules) , it is a requirement that online retailers are required to have conspicuous contact address on their website or in an e-mail they send you in the event of a complaint about the goods or whatever.

I always buy my goods and software from Amazon because their customer service is the best IMHO.

Good luck.