Moved out of the US, reluctant to start a new account

[SWinston]

I've been an Adobe customer since there was an Adobe. I worked in a corporate art department in the States and we were all over Adobe products and services from the beginning.

I've since left that job and moved to the UK as a freelance. I just went to upgrade my Photoshop before the deadline...and the sign in won't let me change my country. I could start a new account, but I feel bad walking away from my old account and 20+ years of customer relationship.

Am I just being silly? I mean, I don't suppose they hand out gold stars, but I don't really want a whole new account and I'd at least like to use my same old email address (which hasn't changed). Is this something somebody behind the scenes can fix? If not, are there any complications that will arise from my upgraded products being registered to a different account than the original? Thanks for any help...

[Phillip_M_Jones]

This won't be a Helpful answer. No you not being silly.

Have you tried going to Adobe's main website and signing in using you Username and Password then changing your country?

If it doesn't take the should be some numbers you ca call on the site

Or use the mailto:adbecare@adobe.com

[John Hawkinson]

As I understand it, there is no good way to do this, and worse you may not want to. You may find that non-US pricing is not to your liking.

[SWinston]

Yep. Won't let you change it. That screen actually suggests starting a new account, which is probably what I'll have to do.

I'm resigned to non-US pricing. It sucks, but what're you going to do? That's what VAT will do for  you (remember that, 'K?).

[Jacob Bugge]

SWinston,

Is there a reason, or necessity, to change anything at all? If it has anything to do with the country you are currently in, you may have the option of going, or having someone do it for you, back there.

[Dave Merchant]

Many online storefronts will detect a customer's location by IP address, and will then place limits on the payment options (e.g. if you say you're in the USA you can't pay with a UK bank account). Software is subject to UK VAT, so buying it remotely from the US site and not subsequently paying the duty on 'import' is a crime.

Having said that, if someone is temporarily abroad but retains citizenship of their home nation (along with tax and bank accounts) they can declare the purchase domestically and buy using their US bank or credit card details, just as if they flew back home and walked into a store. A US customer who purchases software in the USA is perfectly entitled to use it anywhere in the world they happen to travel, but they can't directly-declare the purchase as an expense against their UK tax return as it was never 'imported'.

[SWinston]

I'm here for good and I want to pay with my UK credit card and have a box shipped to my UK address. I know, I know...sweet, old-fashioned thing, asking for a physical disk, but I'm a worrier.

Oh, well. I'll drop a line to customer support and, failing that, new account it is. Thanks for your help, everyone.

[SWinston]

Just to follow up, in case this comes up again. I contacted customer services through their chat application. No, there's no way to change your country. I had to set up a new account with a new email, which the rep did for me as we chatted. Then he (I think; the name was foreign to me) transferred my product registration to the new account.

To do this, I had to verify the US billing address I had registered it under -- which took a couple of tries, since I had registered it to my old work address rather than my home address. That was stupid of me, because I paid for it myself, not my employer. But, fortunately, that wasn't a sticking point.

All resolved. The chat application worked quite well. Wave goodbye to SWinston, as I log out and retire this account....

[the_wine_snob]

Good news, and thank you for taking the time to share your success (well, partial, at least).

Good luck,

Hunt