Adobe Cloud Price Increase

Report · Apr 16, 2013

I only use Photoshop and Lightroom, and my monthly subscription is going up from $30 to $50. I have been unable to find anywhere on the Adobe website to send a complaint. There seems to be no way to penetrate Adobe's defenses against customer contact. I found an online chat option but after 1/2 hour of waiting it simply dumped me back to the bottom of the queue. Does anyone have an email address for an Adobe customer service employee who is fluent in English? Thank you!!!

Report · Apr 19, 2013

Get used to the concept that the software you want to use is going to cost more and more. Lots more, as in twice as much twice as often.

Nobody cares how you feel about paying more as long as you pay it.

-Noel

Report · Apr 20, 2013

I couldn't care less whether someone cares how I feel. Not even sure why you brought this up. Are you constantly concerned about what people think of your morales and ethics?

I'll vote with my wallet; it's the only power the consumer has, and it only gets the upper brass' attention when a large enough amount of others feel likewise. In the event Adobe stays unreasonable with their pricing, I"ll just make due with what I have. I'm sure the feature differences between CS5 and CS7 won't be significant enough to make this upgrade quandry that difficult.

Report · Apr 20, 2013

Here's the thing. For those who have upgraded every time, Creative Cloud is a bargain and half that will save them a ton of money in the long run. For the rest, not quite so much, but when you think of it, isn't that the reward for "loyalty?"

Contrary to what some people think, buying every third or fourth version does not make you a loyal customer any more than one of your clients calling you every 5-7 years.

I never really intended to get this involved in this discussion but felt it was titled incorrectly and wanted to make sure it was clarified. I've done that and unless something else needs clarification or if you have a question that hasn't been answered here, I'll bow out.

I would advise you to stay tuned very closely in the next few weeks. MAX has typically been used for major announcements and that's coming up.

Bob

Report · Apr 20, 2013

Cool. Then Adobe introduces a pricing structure that doesn't entice every other or longer customers to purchase more often, but instead solidifies in the segregation of the customer base by ensuring that their products are firmly priced out of their range.

If I do business with a person, that business is 1-time. It's not an automated subscription and ensuring that more business is going to be done. I don't have a right to my client's money; I have to earn their trust that they will do business with me again because I was seen as a worthwhile investment. I don't expect my client to pay for a new website every year (in fact, I'd take that as an insult to my skills). If in the event they want to do business a couple years down the line, and my prices are now far out of their price range, I've basically just shunned us from each other.

I hear what you're saying Bob. You're of the 'pro' persuasion, and I'm of the 'con'. And if I COULD afford the Master Collection, I definitely see the Cloud pricing as great savings (I am glad that those who could afford that have great savings on getting the latest tools; I just hope Adobe gets to offering its other customers a similar offer) And I am giving Adobe until MAX to hear them out on what they're going to do with CS7. But at the same time, Adobe can't know there's an issue unless we pipe up (and yes, I've sent Adobe email directly to this end; I don't expect they monitor their forums for that kind of feedback)

Report · Apr 20, 2013

The likelihood of adobe Brass or major officers monitoring these form is us see 500 ft tall elephant from Pluto set down in Craft and speak fluent English.

Report · Apr 20, 2013

Aegis Kleais wrote:
I couldn't care less whether someone cares how I feel. Not even sure why you brought this up.

Heh, half the crap you've written above is about feelings... "Sinister" and "love" and Adobe "abusing" customers, and your "saying mean things" about Adobe...

You're right, vote with your wallet. If you can do without Adobe software, it's not valuable enough to you to justify buying it. It's not rocket science.

There's obviously some upper limit to how much people will pay. I would have thought, though, that the furious cracking/pirating/counterfeit activity would put downward pressure on Adobe.

-Noel

P.S., I'm all for inexpensive software that's a great value. I'm just not living in a fantasy world where I expect that to happen in the absence of healthy competition.

Report · Apr 20, 2013

Doesn't have to necessarily be inexpensive if it does the job. But what's bad is Pricing it out of the reach of Common people who want to use.

I can afford once ver couple of Years to upgrade because it gives me time to save up for it. I use DreamWeaver, Fireworks, Photoshop and LightRoom and Acrobat. But I am not a professional and I am Retired. I use these for my own website and I do volunteer For an Electronics Association I belong to. With my monthly income and paying my bills including I can not afford to pay for WebPremium through creative cloud it will simply break me up. Plus I don't have a Reliable Internet connection and the way creative cloud is set up for now in order use it you have to have a Perfect unbroken 24/7 Internet Connection. I simply don't have . Creative cloud corrupt for me and I'm having to constantly remove and reinstall. at least once a week. And Adobe is Pricing the product for people that have no choice but to use a DVD copy beyond what they can save up for. So I may end up having to continue what I have until the wheels fall out simply because of the expense. The situation won't be change unless That 500ft tal elephant from Pluto shows up.

Report · Apr 20, 2013

Phillip Jones wrote:
the way creative cloud is set up for now in order use it you have to have a Perfect unbroken 24/7 Internet Connection.

I don't think that's a design constraint. My understanding is that it must be able to call home and ask permission to run about once a month.

-Noel

Report · Apr 20, 2013

That may be what its supposed to do. But my experience That is there is the least bit of drop in signal I experience "Con not sync Warning then it loses connection Totally you have to re-sign in sometimes it wil most times it won't. The If you turn computer off It's a sure bet That you have to re-sign in. IF service was good enough to last the entire day without a sag. Then next time you open It automatically signs in. But that is rare. Maybe once every week or couple of weeks. and because of all this constant signing in I'm having to reinstall creative Cloud. Its more of Pain in the back end than usefully and if they are going to jack up the price on DVD versions Will mean I'll have simply quit doing anything on the computer other than read email.

The current situation If anyone was to ask me recommendation about Adobe products I wouldn't give a very high recommendation.

Report · Apr 18, 2013

You could always air the issue on FaceBook. Companies such as Adobe can't stand Bad press and if it passed along on FaceBook then the general public sees it not just adobe users a risk to the sales of product.

Report · Apr 17, 2013

gspam1 wrote:
I want to complain that Adobe doesn't offer it's customers any way to make a complaint.

World's #1 way of reducing customer complaints, for sure.

Somewhere there's a manager thinking, "I can save another $500K a year by reducing my underworked customer service staff".

A self-eating snake, it is.

-Noel

Report · Apr 20, 2013

gspam1 wrote:
I only use Photoshop and Lightroom, and my monthly subscription is going up from $30 to $50.

You will be better off buying the products separately on a DVD from Amazon and you only need to upgrade them every two or three years. There is absolutely no need to upgrade the products every time there is an upgrade. I upgrade the products every two versions; for example, I have got CS6 now and the next one won't be until CS8 or CS9 depending on what new features are there for me to benefit from.

Unforyunately, all companies are going for subscription model because people aren't buying new products. the existing products are sufficient for most users and the new versions are simply the new GUI layout which people couldn't care less.

Hope this helps.

Report · Apr 20, 2013

mytaxsite.co.uk wrote:
There is absolutely no need to upgrade the products every time there is an upgrade

You're aware that you can no longer get upgrade pricing if you don't actually buy EVERY upgrade, right?

-Noel

Report · Apr 20, 2013

Yes i am aware but if you do the math properly, you will find that you will still be better off buying every three or four years down the line. However, every body has different needs so they need to plan accordingly.

Report · Apr 20, 2013

Take Photoshop CS6X to start off with. Assume Adobe sticks with their declared new version rollout every 12 months. Assuming on average that a full product costs $700 and an upgrade costs $200... (COO = Cost of Ownership)

Person A buys PS CS6X in 2013 - $700 spent COO = $58.33/mo

Person A uses PS CS6X in 2014 - COO = $29.16/mo

Person A uses PS CS6X in 2015 - COO = $19.44/mo

Person A uses PS CS6X in 2016 - COO = $14.58/mo

Person A buys PS CS10X in 2017 - $1400 spent - COO = $23.33/mo

Person B buys PS CS6X in 2013 - $700 spent COO = $58.33/mo

Person B upgrades to CS7X in 2014 - $900 spent - COO = $37.50/mo (29% more expensive)

Person B upgrades to CS8X in 2015 - $1100 spent - COO = $30.56/mo (57% more expensive)

Person B upgrades to CS9X in 2016 - $1300 spent - COO = $27.09 (86% more expensive)

Person B upgrades to CS10X in 2017 - $1500 spent - COO = $25/mo (7% more expensive)

This was the closest I could get to 0% by the end of the year before the upgrade-per-year person started being cheaper. That means these prices promote those who cannot afford the more expensive prices to wait 5 versions before upgrading. I'm sure Adobe doesn't want this. Now look at Person A doing the same thing, but upgrading every 2 years (like as was previous to the current upgrade policy)

2013 - $700, on PS CS6X - COO = 58.33/mo

2014 - $700, on PS CS6X - COO = 29.16/mo

2015 - $900, on PS CS8X - COO = 25.00/mo

2016 - $900, on PS CS8X - COO = 18.75/mo

2017 - $1100, on PS CS10X - COO = 18.33/mo

The end result? Adobe's current policy gets them an additional 37% revenue by having a 1-version back policy vs. a 2-version back.

Report · Apr 20, 2013

There is still the trick of upgrading during the grace period: http://helpx.adobe.com/x-productkb/policy-pricing/upgrade-policy-product-announcement.html?PID=21599...

Report · Apr 20, 2013

Thje problem everyone is worried about is: what comes after this grace period? And still worse, what about those many countries where the cloud versions are not available??

Report · Apr 21, 2013

Claudio, I believe what Pierre is proposing goes something like this:

a) You have Photoshop CS5

b) You wait until less than a month before Photoshop CS7 is released

c) You buy the upgrade to Photoshop CS6 at the upgrade price

d) Adobe gives you a free upgrade to Photoshop CS7 when it's actually released

It seems to me to carry some risk to do this, because you're relying on Adobe to follow past policies of being "nice" and giving you that upgrade. Policies change.

Thing is, Adobe will feel no slump in sales right before release from people with cloud subscriptions, so policies designed to mitigate that slump will surely be re-examined.

-Noel

Report · Apr 21, 2013

That's what I thought Pierre was proposing, but I see no answer to either of my two questiions.

Report · Apr 21, 2013

What answers are you hoping for?

Either Adobe will give a free copy of the next version or they won't. I don't believe anyone not at Adobe can say with authority, and I'm quite sure no one at Adobe will be willing to say.

Regarding the second question... Are you hoping for Adobe to say what's going on regarding cloud licensing in countries where it's not currently available? I don't know of specific cases, but I imagine there are legal hurdles in some countries regarding signing people up to charge them money repeatedly going into the future. Other than hypothetical discussions between us users, I imagine it will be the same answer as above.

Part of me wishes that it was illegal to set up recurring charges to credit cards here in the US as well, as people do occasionally have trouble with signing up with nefarious operators then being unable to stop being charged repeatedly (not saying this has anything to do with Adobe).

-Noel

Report · Apr 21, 2013

Noel Carboni wrote:
Part of me wishes that it was illegal to set up recurring charges to credit cards here in the US as well, as people do occasionally have trouble with signing up with nefarious operators then being unable to stop being charged repeatedly (not saying this has anything to do with Adobe).
-Noel

Amen to that some customers of Microsoft and Adobe should file a Class action suite to prove these type arrangements are illegal.

Report · Apr 21, 2013

My mother, back when she was alive and in her later years, was duped into subscription-based purchases of various things on the implication that it would increase her chances of winning the big giveaway prizes. Would you believe that even after I closed her credit card account the credit card company continued to send her bills for ongoing charges - for 9 months after?!? To terminate the trouble, it finally took a letter on legal letterhead informing said credit card company that the account was legally closed and the credit card company had damned well better start rejecting the charges because they weren't going to be paid.

-Noel

Report · Apr 21, 2013

Many people can't afford these arrangements and and 80% of the USA either don't have Internet or have bad Internet connection. Many are still using POTS, or using DSL over Potts, or Cable that haven't been updated in 30 years or more. For Creative Cloud to work in its current incarnation you must have a Perfect connection to last as long as your computer is running.

Even now for me on Comcast Best Consumerpackage and at least 7 or 8 times a day I get the warning about unable to sync files. which indicates a dropped connection. If it continues I'll never be able to sign up even if I could afforded it.

Report · Apr 20, 2013

mytaxsite.co.uk wrote:
You will be better off buying the products separately on a DVD from Amazon

Can't do that anymore for Creative Suite products, either: http://boblevine.us/adobe-quietly-confirms-the-end-of-boxed-creative-suite-software-sales/

Bob