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Adobe's unreasonable policy on providing serial numbers

New Here ,
Jul 29, 2011 Jul 29, 2011

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Two years ago I purchased the Adobe CS4 suite at an educational discount (I work at Columbia Univ.) that came to over four hundred dollars. After going through what seemed like an overwrought and needlessly complicated procedure to get a serial number, I installed the software. Recently I upgraded to a new computer and discovered that the email that contained the serial number had been inadvertently deleted. So I called Adobe to get it again. Even though I had registered the product and even though the person on the other end of the phone had all my information in his database, he refused to give me a serial number unless I could "prove" that I purchased it. This means tracking down the purchase on a two year old American Express statement, but even then I was led to believe by the Adobe employee that this might not be good enough. God knows what they are looking for.

In all my years of purchasing software *legally*, I have never run into such a brick wall. I am thoroughly disgusted and will urge all my colleagues not to deal with Adobe.

Louis Proyect

Columbia University Information Technology

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Community Expert ,
Jul 29, 2011 Jul 29, 2011

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I work at a University, and bought CS5 as soon as it was released last year

Not only did I make sure to put the serial number email into a folder so I would not delete it by mistake, I printed the email and put it in a folder in a desk drawer with all my other registration information AND I added that serial number to a text file that I copied to a flash drive

While the verification process might be easier, it really is not Adobe's fault that you were not careful with your information

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New Here ,
Jul 29, 2011 Jul 29, 2011

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Look, no other software company operates this way. I purchased ABBYY Finereader for $500 since I do a lot of ocr work. When a similar situation developed with a license, ABBYY had no problem getting me going.

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New Here ,
Jul 29, 2011 Jul 29, 2011

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Furthermore, most vendors supply the serial number in the package. Recently I bought VMWare Fusion. The serial number was in the box. I guess Adobe wants to prevent piracy but if it does so at expense of alienating people like me (an IT employee with an ability to influence software purchases), there's a penalty.

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Community Expert ,
Jul 29, 2011 Jul 29, 2011

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Adobe's retail software does include the serial number inside the package (and then people write to complain that Adobe won't give them their number when they lose the physical media and/or packaging) but Education software is very different due to the "up to" 80% price reduction 

The physical media is packaged without a serial number so it may be stocked for sale, and the serial number is sent out only after education status proof is provided 

Since you say you are an IT employee... you really should know about keeping information safe

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New Here ,
Jul 29, 2011 Jul 29, 2011

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Yeah, except that the VMWare Fusion was bought on an educational discount as well. The only company that I have ever run into that operates this way is Adobe. Frankly, I don't care what they do at this point. I can find alternatives to their products. I do plan to use my very large megaphone, however, to warn people to steer clear.

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LEGEND ,
Jul 30, 2011 Jul 30, 2011

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As this particular forum is for discussing, well the Adobe forums, Adobe will never see your complaint here.

I would contact Customer Service directly, and share your feelings. This is C/S and not Technical Service. That should get their attention, and perhaps at least getting them to think about doing things differently.

I have never had any educational versions, and my one and only S/N issue was years ago, but then C/S was very quick and helpful sorting my issue out. I could not have asked for better support - but that was then, and this is now, and my issue was also not with an educational version of a program, so that could well be another layer.

Good luck,

Hunt

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LEGEND ,
Jul 30, 2011 Jul 30, 2011

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If you registered it, you should have a account page on Adobe's website which has all your past registrations including their serial numbers...

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Guest
Aug 01, 2011 Aug 01, 2011

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Hi Louis,

I'm sorry you are having this problem. If you send your contact information (and this problem description) to adbecare@adobe.com we'll have someone look into it.

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LEGEND ,
Aug 01, 2011 Aug 01, 2011

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Now that is great service!

Hope that all works out for the OP.

Hunt

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LEGEND ,
Aug 04, 2011 Aug 04, 2011

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Given the telephone support person's reluctance, I wonder how many people call up and try to con them out of a serial number they don't actually own.  Yet another form of identity theft...  Sigh.

-Noel

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