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My Adobe Customer Service Story- AVOID ADOBE AT ALL COSTS

New Here ,
Mar 12, 2013 Mar 12, 2013

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Firstly, thank you for taking the time to read this forum post.

I make no apologies for the "dramatic" forum post title, but whence you read my story, you will hopefully heed it's notice. The fact also that it has took a long time to find the Forum of which to actually tell my story, reinforces Adobe's "shambles" of a service, as everything is confusingly named.

Even typing "customer service" into the search field yielded no results, which is just laughable, considering the amount of negative comments that Adobe recieves about it and having seen such posts myself, know for a fact that such posts exist.

I would like to add that I am a university student whom was buying Adobe software for use at home and because of it's use at my university for work on my Journalism and Media course.

On February 27th, 2013, I bought Adobe Creative Suite 6 Design Standard and Teacher Edition (Mac,English) for the price of £329.64. So far, all is simple.

THIS IS WHERE THE NIGHTMARE BEGAN, so hold on tight.

The next step was to provide student verification (as of course, the proffession that the software is aimed at is in the title, so absolutely I shall and I can fully understand the reasoning behind this process). For this I provided my University Student ID and uploaded it using the uploading page that Adobe provided.

I then recieved an email shortly after reading "Thank you for sending your proof of academic status. We will review the documents you have sent and will notify you shortly of your approval status. Thank you, Adobe Customer Care.". So far so good.

This is where it now all starts to go disastrously wrong and many stressful days and nights began.

Adobe should then have sent me an email, informing my of my approval status, yes or no. No such email arrived. In fact I recieved no email AT ALL AT ANY TIME. Feeling I had been left in limbo, I decided to visit Adobe's online chat service to enquire as to the approval status. After around 5-10 minutes of answering "canned, mispelt" questions, the chat advisor informed me that my evidence was not sufficient, not enough, and that I needed to provide additional information, such as course start and end date. Fair enough.

At this point I decided that I would cancel my order and wait until I had time to gather additional information together. I informed the chat advisor that I wished to cancel my order and the advisor informed me that they would do so whilst we were in chat. I then asked whether there would be a charge for this, in terms of whether the order would be charged. I WAS TOLD NO!

(The reason for the use of block capitals is that on their order confirmation email that was sent to me, it specifically states under IMPORTANT INFORMATION at point 2 that and i quote "To complete your order, you need to verify your academic status online using our Customer Support Portal. Only after receipt and validation of your identification will your product will be made available to you. For more information and instructions about valid forms of identification and how to submit, see our Proof of Academic ID page. Your credit card will not be charged until your order is processed.

The defintition (at least I believed this), was that processed meant until all information (additional information), was provided and approved, NO CHARGE SHOULD BE MADE TO MY CREDIT CARD BY ADOBE.

To put it bluntly, THERE WAS. All £329.64 was taken from my card by Adobe Systems (I know this to be true because my bank showed me this on their computer system in block capitals ADOBE SYSTEMS £329.64.

Now, since I cancelled the order, I naturally thought that it would take a few days for the money to be returned to my account and so I waited, understanding that financial procedures needed to be worked through.

Around 3-4 days, I found that the money had still not returned to my account and so I visited the bank to enquire about this and it was at this point I came into contact with Adobe Telephone Customer Service.

GOD HELP ANYBODY WHO HAS TO RING THIS SHAMBLES OF A SERVICE. IF YOU DO, LIKE I DID, I FEEL FOR YOU, TRULY.

From the word go, it was a total nightmare, the first call, we were waiting for over 20 minutes, which in terms of waiting and doing else but waiting, feels like an absolute lifetime. Eventually, we got through and was told by a advisor (who's english left much to be desired, so bad that my information had to be repeated and repeated multiple times), that the money would be returned within 24-48 hours. Ok, fair enough.

So I waited 48 hours (in fact, I may have waited longer than this) and went to check my bank account again, still NOTHING. So I visited Adobe Online Chat once again and was told the money would now take 5-7 business days.

So, so far I have been told conflicting information. Once again, I accepted this and continued with my life.

I then checked again and was told by an advisor that the order had been cancelled but got no word about money being put back into my bank account as it should have been AS IT WAS CANCELLED AND AS A RESULT, ADOBE WOULD NO LONGER HAVE NEEDED THE MONEY. It was now that I began to lose patience. I had given them the benefit of the doubt and trusted that the money would be returned, but NO. I was then told that no money would be refunded, despite the fact that Adobe had taken the money from my account and whats more WAS NOT TOLD OF THIS in any emails, which by law they have to do.

Now, I wish to write about the farce that is Adobe Online Live Chat.

Purely as a test, I spoke to a member of the team (with names literally as long as your arm and other parts of the body) and told them my problem, which I have already written a reponse. So the chat was ended. Around 2-3 seconds later, I logged back into the chat again, same name, same issue. Waited for varying times, sometimes 5-10 minutes and at one point ONE HOUR AND 15 MINUTES, and when I got through to someone, it was like I had never visited the chat before. I have never had this expierience ever. It was most strange and very annoying as time went on, as it meant having to repeat yourself each and every time.

After a while, I exploded. I decided that I would visit the bank in order to get the money back as by this point, it seemed that Adobe were wanting to keep the money and would go to any lengths to do so. The bank called them again and was told that THERE WERE NO RECORDS OF ME OR MY ORDER ON THE SYSTEM, EITHER THROUGH ORDER NUMBER (which they were able to find on a previous phone call), EMAIL ADDRESS (ditto) or BILLING ADDRESS (ditto). The bank rung a few days later and all this information seemingly reappeared again.

UNBELIEVABLE!

Anyway, long story short, after constant pressures each time by Adobe to "push us off the line" as it were, we managed to get Adobe to put down in writing that the order was cancelled (WHICH IT WAS, I HAVE PROOF OF THIS THROUGH THE MANY CHATS I TOOK PART IN AS WELL AS THE CONSTANT CLARIFIYING QUESTIONS FROM MYSELF, each time telling me the order WAS cancelled, along with the amount and that it would be refunded as they were no longer in need of it, WHICH THEY WERE NOT. IF THE ORDER IS CANCELLED, WHY WOULD ADOBE NEED TO KEEP THE MONEY?

All this took a very, very long time to get to the point of and it was a tiring and very stressful expierience, because whatever your background or profession, £329.64 IS A LOT OF MONEY NOT TO HAVE.

I am an Apple user and used to be sceptical of people when they spoke of Apple's fantastic customer service and their efforts to please the user. I always thought that they were just fanboys and drinking the "kool-aid" as it were.

Through the expierience with Adobe however, and through present chat sessions with Apple in regards to other matters, I can now fully appreciate how excellent APPLE's customer service is and now will always buy, where possible, software with this company. The simplicity and the ease of which Apple functions retail wise, I can now fully appreciate. It took a trainwreck called Adobe to tell me this!

My hatred and disgust of Adobe has led me to remove all traces of Adobe from my system, such is the expierience I suffered. This is the extent of which I am appaled by the company.

Of course, should I need to use Adobe software in the future, I will have no choice, but I personally will NEVER BUY ANY SOFTWARE OR INSTALL ANY PLUGINS WITH ADOBE IN THE TITLE EVER AGAIN!

I hope that in reading my story, you will take head and run as far away from this company as you possibly can.

YOU AS WELL AS YOUR BANK BALANCE, WILL THANK ME FOR IT.

Thank you for taking time to read my story and god bless you all!


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Adobe Employee ,
Mar 13, 2013 Mar 13, 2013

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Hi Matthew, I've sent an email to your icloud email address. Let's continue the conversation there. Thanks, Madison

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New Here ,
Apr 24, 2013 Apr 24, 2013

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I'd love to converse with you too M.M. Seriously, Adobe needs to address it's CS issues. I'm still steaming from my experience which has and will affect future expenditures on my part. Frankly, I think my experience trumps Mr. Duffy's. While (I think... I'm not totally sure because I haven't tested it out) that they FINALLY got my matter somewhat resolved I find it ludicrous that the process took most of 3 months and then the attitude is like..."thank you for playing". FINALLY giving me what I paid for after making me wait and jump through hoops to deal with a nightmare created entirely by incompetence on the part of Adobe is just SO far over the top for me as to defy description. If we have (or should have) learned anything in the past few years since 2008 it's that NOBODY is "too big to fail"

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Guest
Mar 16, 2013 Mar 16, 2013

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If, like MatthewDuffy, I could neither spell nor write correct English, before I posted a full-page rant (including SHOUTED COMMENTS and ignorant remarks about Indian names) I'd at least put my stuff through a spellchecker.

I want to put on record my superlative experience - which concluded literally last evening - of Adobe customer service. Be assured that I have nothing remotely to do with Adobe, and have bought just one product from them, almost 3 years ago.

Late in 2012 that product, Adobe Elements, started to display the message 'Licensing for this product has stopped working', along with the standard recommendation to visit the support site. I did so, and worked through the procedures specified there, none of which worked. (I run a 5-year-old Mac and had never upgraded the OS beyond 10.5.8 (Leopard).

I then contacted support through the Chat facility on the support portal. I got rapid responses there, but when the fixes they recommended also didn't work, the support response escalated into communication by email and, finally, direct phone calls to me, during the last couple of which both of the two Delhi-based support staff people who got involved with my case took control of my machine with my consent and patiently worked through a series of procedures until finally, last night, I once again had a working copy of Adobe Elements, running on my obsolete OS. This motivated me to Google 'Comments on Adobe customer service', where I stumbled on the post I'm now replying to.

I have never experienced from any other software vendor or indeed IT provider of any kind, this level of customer service. If enjoying its benefits constitutes 'drinking the Kool-aid', then all I can say is that it's good stuff! I am now a convinced fan of Adobe and of its Indian support people.

Tom Weymes, Dublin, Ireland.

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LEGEND ,
Mar 16, 2013 Mar 16, 2013

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I am glad that you received good Technical Support from Adobe. That is the way that it should be.

Now, I have seen various messages, over the years, that indicate that things are not always so good, but I have almost no personal experience, as I have only had to contact Adobe Customer Support (not the same as Technical Support), in the 20 years, that I have owned much of Adobe's portfolio, upgrading fairly constantly, and making good money with the software. My one experience could not have gone better, or more smoothly, unless they perhaps had sent be the entire Adobe Font Library from those days free. Still, one experience, long ago, does not reflect on either C/S, or T/S now.

Still, it IS nice to hear good stories, but those seldom get posted to the forum, as people are just happy to have received the support, and go about using their programs.

Thanks for taking the time to post, and good luck,

Hunt

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New Here ,
Mar 16, 2013 Mar 16, 2013

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Well I attest that their experience isn't unique. I first bought Adobe Master Collection CS4 through my university. After completing my Ph.D. and moving on to the "real world" I later upgraded it to CS5.5. I never had a hitch. Then in December 2012 my nightmare began. I called to upgrade to CS6; mind you this is again the full Master Collection. Even at my pay level this isn't an inexpensive purchase. When I called, they asked for my serial number, I gave it to them and we completed the transaction. Then I went to do the actual upgrade. Turns out they sold me the wrong upgrade.  When I upgraded to 5.5 I was told I had to have a volume licensing serial number. I don't care what you call it as long as it works LOL. Seems when they sold me the CS6 upgrade they provided me with a retail serial number. There is no way this is MY fault, the incompetent person who sold the package certainly should have been able, based on my serial numbers to sell me the right product.

When I called support, they did some kind of workaround. Well that's just great but the serial number listed under my account is still wrong. They later provided me with a number that would work. I STILL have the wrong number in my account information. I have spent hours both with online chat and on the phone trying to resolve this. My experience with CS reps was very much like the poor fellow who started this thread. I had reps treating me like I was an imbecile; like "let me explain to you how to log into your Adobe account". I was like seriously? At one point I finally said that I was really not trying to be arrogant but I explained what my educational background was,  who I work for and, in what capacity. Lets just say I work for a very large tech firm; I certainly can figure out how to log into my account. Also, given the fact that my ISSUE was/remains that the wrong number is listed anybody who was bothering to listen should have figured out that I knew how to log in. My saga just goes on and on. I won't bother to give a "blow by blow" description as it wiuld take pages.  To date, it is STILL not resolved. Since Adobe goes to such great pains to hide it's CS department I thinnk that when I return from vaction I'm going to have to appproach it through our corporate IT folks. I would imagine, given who I work for that somebody on our team has real contact info. There is no way somthing so simple should be made so overly difficult.It has, to say the least been a nightmare.

If there was other software that I could buy that did the job as well, I would have already made my last purchase based on this experience. That may be what the problem is; it's the culture of arrogance. Adobe knows nothing "really" competes with many of these products.  It's like that big software giant that makes OS's; they kind of go "hey buzz off...go buy your windows from someone else *chuckle*. It means they could care less about CS. Now of course the new thing is to get us all in the cloud. Forget it; I like the rest of us may eventually have no choice but it'll be a chilly day when I make that move as long as I can make my current stuff work I'm holding pat with what I have.

Message was edited by: jazzcat88

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Engaged ,
Apr 23, 2013 Apr 23, 2013

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I'm new to the Creative Cloud and my experience with Adobe customer service has been terrible!... So I can completely sympathize with the poster of this thread.  It really is scary how terrible the customer service has been.  For example, my first effort with Adobe Customer service was in an effort to transfer a CS6 license from one person to another.  After both myself and the potential seller of the license spent over 2 hours on the phone we were informed that it was not possible to transfer the license because although he had proof of his CS upgrades over the last few years, because he didn't have proof of the original license purchase over 6 years ago, the license couldn't be transfered... This, in itself, wasn't the problem.  The problem was that it took over 2 hours on the phone and numerous phone calls in order to get this information.  During this fiasco, it was annoying that Adobe customer service was treating me like I lived in Europe because when I originally created my Adobe ID I was living in Switzerland.  It is NOT possible to change your country after creating an Adobe ID!  Yes, this is not possible.  So Adobe was sending me emails containing contact info as if I was living in the UK.  When I tried to call from Canada the number they gave in their email, I reached an online chat line in the US! 

So, my second experience with Adobe customer service has been trying to get an Adobe ID that uses my main email, but lists my home country as Canada, where I've lived for the last 6 years.  I've called Adobe twice, and both times got transfered to their call centre in India, where after being put on hold numerous times, I was told that my case would have to be escallated, and they would get back to me within 24-48 hours.  Both times, Adobe never got back to me, although I did recently get an email telling me that they had tried (eventhough I had no missed calls and no messages left by anyone at Adobe).  I just called back and was told that the wait time would be over 2 hours!  I gave my phone number and await their callback.  No one that I've talked with seems to know anything technical nor is able to fix anything themselves.  I keep on repeatedly telling different people at Adobe my problem, and after an hour, they tell me that it's not possible to change my country, nor delete my old ID.  Now, after a number of hours on the phone, I've been told it's possible to merge my old Switzerland account with my new Canadian one.... but my case was 'escallated' and 5 days later nothing has happened and I've only received a canned/unresponadable email from Adobe.

I couldn't be more disappointed with Adobe's customer service.  The management at Adobe should contact GoDaddy and hire the same customer service companies that they have.  With GoDaddy, I've always been put in contact with someone within 5 minutes in the US who speaks english as a first language and has all the technical knowledge to solve my problem themselves without 'escalating the case' to someone else to be dealt with in 2 working days. Unfortunately, outsourcing their customer service to India has really lowered the quality of their service.  As the creative cloud starts generating more revenue for Adobe, they should syphon some of that cash into better customer service... or they will only frustrate their customers.

If their customer service quality remains so poor, it doesn't bode well in dealing with issues for my creative cloud membership in the future. 

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Engaged ,
Apr 23, 2013 Apr 23, 2013

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Update:  Adobe called back from India, and after another 15 minute conversation, they've told me that their is no way to merge my accounts... so the information I was given earlier is false.  Incredibly frustrating.  All I can say is, hope your Adobe software works as you want.  If you need help from a knowledgeable technician to solve any Adobe software problems or even just your Adobe ID, you won't be getting it from Adobe.

Still on hold with a guy in India, who is triple checking that I can't be helped.  At least this call is clear, the last 2 calls I've had with them I can bearly understand them half the time because the line is so garbled.

Ok, not on hold and spending another 15 minutes having the guy tell me yet again that the country for an Adobe ID cannot be changed (I already knew this 5 calls ago).  I've now given up on having a usable Adobe ID with my main email address (the Swizerland account, which is not even accessable for some reason... but that's a whole other story).  Trying to transfer my Photoshop license from the Switzerland account to Canadian account.  I've been told this is possible. Wish me luck.

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Community Expert ,
Mar 16, 2013 Mar 16, 2013

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I have never had direct contact with Adobe support

When I bought CS5 Master Collection Education (I recently retired from a University) the process worked exactly as designed...

- I ordered the physical product and paid with my credit card

- The package arrived in a few days

- The package included a slip with an email address and instructions to send my proof

- I scanned my ID badge, and a recent pay slip (SSN covered) to prove I was a current employee

- About a day later I had an email in my inbox with my serial number

- I installed CS5 MC and have been using it ever since

I have, howver, had many contacts in the various forums for the CS5 products I use (I don't use all of Master Collection)

Starting out 3+ years ago I was all questions... now I provide answeres when I have something to say

That is NOT to say that anyone with a support problem is wrong in any way... I am just saying that the purchase process, and the products, worked as advertised... for me

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LEGEND ,
Apr 23, 2013 Apr 23, 2013

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weymest wrote:

If, like MatthewDuffy, I could neither spell nor write correct English, before I posted a full-page rant (including SHOUTED COMMENTS and ignorant remarks about Indian names) I'd at least put my stuff through a spellchecker.

Weymest, that's out of line I think.

Adobe needs to provide customer support people who can actually get things done right, and who use language the caller can easily understand.  Frankly, I think contracting customer support to India or any other foreign country for US customers is ridiculous!

My only contact with customer support, once in the last 10 years, having to do with activation after restoring a backup to a replacement computer, was a good experience - but that doesn't mean others might not have had a bad experience.  I feel for Matthew, frankly, and I can't blame him for the conclusion he's reached, nor for spouting off about it here.

Adobe, for the premium prices it charges, owes its customers excellent customer support.  It's as simple as that.

-Noel

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Participant ,
Apr 24, 2013 Apr 24, 2013

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Adobe needs to provide customer support people who can actually get things done right, and who use language the caller can easily understand.  Frankly, I think contracting customer support to India or any other foreign country for US customers is ridiculous!

No it is not ridiculous.  Adobe is no longer a US corporation;  It is an Indian Company operating in the US and globally with an Indian CEO employing Indians to perform main duties.  US customers can't be serviced by US citizens because there aren't enough in the US willing to work in the call center.

Those Americans who would want to work are likely to be illiterate or innumerate while you get highly educated Indians prepared to work in call centers around the world.  You don't abuse them just because you don't understand their accents.  I am British and I don't understand Australian or some American accents but this doesn't mean I should go around criticizing them. 

Duffy can continue complaining about service level (if he so wishes) but he should not involve Indians just because he can't understand them because of his privileged background isolated from people of other races.  He should learn to understand people's accents (and languages) because we are living in a global environment where Chinese and Indians will dominate (if not already dominating) the world's economies.

Matthew Duffy needs to know that these forums aren't meant to complain about quality of service;  These forums are to provide solutions and guidance in the use of Adobe products.  To complain about Adobe Services, he should contact the Adobe Head Office in his own country.

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Engaged ,
Apr 24, 2013 Apr 24, 2013

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professional.pirate.... I agree that noone here should be slamming Adobe's customer service based on ethnicity of a customer service rep. But I applaud Matthew Duffy's post here because if enough people complain publically, Adobe's reputation will suffer, and eventually, they might be inclined to address it.  Even if it does nothing more than allow him and others, including myself, to vent, it will do more than a call to Adobe's head office!  You think you would get any traction let alone even be able to reach anyone that could do anything about it by calling their head office?  That's like saying: "Don't post about Adobe problems on an Adobe forum.  Call their CEO and get him to fix the problem."  That's crazy talk.

Regardless, it is very tough for foreign call centers to match the service level of a well trained group of local technicians, even if they speak perfect english.  They could be rocket scientists speaking 5 languages fluently, but if they are not well trained in what they are supporting and don't have the power to make the changes a customer needs, they are nearly useless, and must 'escallate' everything more complicated than pushing 'enter' on their keyboards to someone better trained.  And this has been exactly my experience.  Every call has been 'escallated', and then NOT solved!  One can only listen to canned phrases like: "May I kindly place you on hold for a few minutes while I speak with my manager" so many times before you realize how much time you are wasting while getting nowhere!

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New Here ,
Apr 24, 2013 Apr 24, 2013

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I couldn't agree more. By the by.. just TRY and get contact info to do something (seemingly) simple like email Customer "Service" with your issue. HA HA HA! They purposely do not provide that information, instead sending you to the twilight zone. The culture of arrogance reminds me of a certain company in Washington that thought they had a lock on the world. Suddenly.. BAM... from out of nowhere we see a startup (the big "G" in search) who is really putting a hurt on them. Same thing with hardware...the big "I" company who thought they were always going to be the ones "inside" running things has been slammed as the market runs to mobile and another new startup is dominating with the main chips. Good Customer Service breeds happy loyal customers who aren't shopping for alternatives.

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Adobe Employee ,
Apr 25, 2013 Apr 25, 2013

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Hi Jazzcat88 & Vanlazarus2013- I will take a look at both of your accounts and follow up via email with both of you shortly. I sincerely apologize for your poor support experience and will try to make things right. Thanks, Madison

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Engaged ,
Apr 25, 2013 Apr 25, 2013

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Thank you Madison for your help (I received an email with suggestions on how she can help me resolve my Adobe ID issue).  My opinion of Adobe Customer service just went up significantly.

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Community Beginner ,
Jul 09, 2013 Jul 09, 2013

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Pardon my jumping into another thread, but I am grasping at straws for support.

I have an open case at Adobe Customer Support: Case #0211055515

My husband & I are both teachers.  He has CS 5.5 and I have now joined CC.

Because my husband is hard of hearing, I used my email as his Adobe ID to handle tech support installation & questions for him. 

I wanted to associate my Adobe ID & CC account with my name and

link my husband's name & CS 5.5 with another Adobe ID.

Customer Support changed the Adobe ID to my name for me and then advised me

to fill out a transfer of license.  I downloaded & read:

"Important: Educational versions of Adobe-branded products are not eligible for a transfer of license."

We are not transferring a license, we just want to have separate accounts & Adobe IDs.

The last phone call from Customer Support was so difficult to understand that when they said my name, it sounded like they were asking for another person and I thought it was a wrong number.

Previously I have not had trouble speaking with tech support, but recently it has been very difficult to understand support calls and feel that my questions are understood as well.

I have not downloaded my CC, even though I have paid for it, as I don't want to create more problems while I have a support case open. 

Any advice most gratefully received!


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New Here ,
Jul 10, 2013 Jul 10, 2013

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OMG they can be such idiots....

As dumb as this sounds....the easiest thing (if you've made this purchase within the last 30 days) may be to have them do a refund. The other option is to spend countless hours trying to communicate with them unfortunately. I had one CS person driving me nuts with ridiculous simple crap like they'd attempt to explain to me how to log into my account. This indicated they were not paying attention at ALL to what I was saying. I finally had to say look... I'm not trying to be rude here but I have a flipping PhD in Anaytical chemistry....I can figure out how to log in. Now here's the saddest part. As soon as I identified myself as a PhD they stopped all the dumb stuff and said...oh.. I am so sorry... let me fix this immediately for you; as though my money was suddenly worth more? I don't know... but it's just a hassle to deal with them.

I've used Adobe products for years...my recent woes were the first time I needed CS..the experience was horrific.

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LEGEND ,
Jul 10, 2013 Jul 10, 2013

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The challenge with any telephone service organization is to get past the script, which if you have three connected brain cells you'll already have done before calling.

-Noel

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Community Beginner ,
Jul 10, 2013 Jul 10, 2013

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Is there any way to get tech support in the US, or a way to get to supervisor & above levels?

This last go-round where I was advised to do something which the Educational License

specifically prohibits makes me feel the problem will only get worse.

I would love to know there is someone, somewhere who can speak beyond the script.

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Adobe Employee ,
Jul 10, 2013 Jul 10, 2013

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Hi gemscribe, let me look at your cases and your account and I will follow up with you via email.

We are sincerely sorry for the frustrating experience and will do our best to get this sorted quickly!

Thanks,

Madison

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Community Beginner ,
Jul 10, 2013 Jul 10, 2013

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Thank you Madison for such a quick response, I am very encouraged!

Looking forward to following up with you,

Lael

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New Here ,
Jul 10, 2013 Jul 10, 2013

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I certainly wish you the best of luck. While Noel's response above  might have been a "tad" abrasive ( three connected brain cells?) he is also correct in that it can be a challenge to get the CS reps off of their scripts. I find it to be a sad commentary that they can make such huge errors and then we the consumer have to spend countless hours resolving the problem. When I consider what my income is and factor the time it took me to resolve my problem it winds up with me having paid 3 times as much money to resolve the issue as I paid for the product. I give full consideration to that recent experience with each piece of mail I get from Adobe trying to get me to take the CC plunge. I consider it all the way to the trash can. Thankfully the product itself is good....very good. In fact they have no rival in my honest opinion.

Perhaps someday they will round things out and have service that matches the quality of the product itself. It might be a small thing, but that poor service is why I for example still use Lightroom 3 (which a friend bought me) instead of upgrading to Lightroom 5 regardless of how many improvements have been made.

Again. best of luck to you.

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Community Beginner ,
Jul 10, 2013 Jul 10, 2013

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All time speed record & success in handling the issue!

Warmest thanks to m.m.murphy who quickly checked my support record, emailed me the proper steps to follow and-

Shazam!  Two accounts with the appropriate Adobe products - Oh Happy Day!

I can now hook up with CC feeling free from 'identity problems'!

It's my wish that anyone who haunts the forums searching for help finds it as quick and seamless as I did.

In my thanks to m.m.murphy I expressed the wish for a clear protocol that defines when basic Customer Support would get

'bumped up': automatically referred to a higher level of support.  I was advised first by an agent to do something that was against

Adobe policy & license, then by another agent to just to keep everything under one account.

I wonder if my question to Support had been correctly understood in the first place, at m.m.murphy's level the assistance was quick,           clear & concise.  If I had been referred to higher support handling like this, I would scarcely have blinked and been very reassured.

With so many going to CC, I hope this will mean expansion of support and easy access to higher levels when needed.

Oh joy, off to create & teach!

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Explorer ,
Jul 12, 2013 Jul 12, 2013

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Yeah, I'm getting an "Unexpected File Format" in Flash CS6. Flash has a "Fatal Error and will begin shutting down", then I try to reopen my document that crashed and am NOT ABLE to .. prompted with that error message. I called "Technical Support" and They kept saying "Addo-Be", not "Uh-dobie" and then they put me on hold for a bit, then said they'd have to charge me.  Hello, I'm a CC Group subscriber.. I shouldn't have to pay a dime.

Guess I'll waste more time looking thru Flash forums on the web. Adobe has no "Customer or Technical Support"..

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New Here ,
Jul 12, 2013 Jul 12, 2013

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Madison,

I'm glad you were able to resolve this woman's issue. The sad thing is that you had to. Adobe could be SO much better if they got "old school" with CS. There was a saying I often heard when I was  younger; "the customer is always right". The customer should be shown some respect. I had a situation with a certain computer manufacturer; the laptop they shipped me had a DVD player that was DOA. Some kid in CS who was still in diapers when I built my first system wasted hours of my time to confirm what I had said at the outset...it's broke LOL. they finally shipped me a replacement;a refurbished drive for my brand new laptop. Now the fact is, that DVD player is still working today 8 years later but my newer laptops were not purchased from that company. I DID insist that I should be compensated for my wasted time and the fact they shipped me a refurb replacement. The solution was they gave me a credit to apply to another purchase. I used it to buy a printer from them which worked well for several years and I bought another one from them. Had Adobe taken a similar approach... like say asking me if I'd like a copy of Lightroom to go along with my Master Collection or if I would like a credit I could apply in the Adobe store I'd have been a far more satisfied customer. It's great that we have these forums to halp us with problems that arise so we can access the "great think tank" of users but it would really be a good thing if could fix problems instead of creating new ones.

Message was edited by: jazzcat88

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