Adobe Contact Fiasco...

[rpcrowe]

Adobe products are very good, they are the standard of the industry. However, IMO, their customer service leaves a lot to be desired. It has been virtually impossible for me to get a live person on the line and the one time I did, his accent and English fluency made him exceptionally difficult to understand.

He also provided me with incorrect information. I asked him if my wife's position as a professor emeritus from a local colege qualified her for an educational discount. It was obvious that he had never heard the term "professor emeritus" because he was very confused and then got back information, supposedly from a supervisor, that the a professor emeritus was not qualified to buy and register Adobe software at an educational discount. However I later found this piece of information lost within the Adobe website:

FROM ADOBE WEBSITE

http://www.adobe.com/education/purch...,resizable=yes

Education individual purchasers
Qualified individuals include:
Faculty and staff — teachers and staff employed by an accredited primary or secondary school, public or private university or college, school district, or board of education (including emeritus status professors)
My bolds...

My last try at contacting a human being ended in a fiasco. I provided my phone number for an Adobe representative to call me back. After the alloted time, my phone rang and I answered. THE LINE DISCONNECTED! The phone rang again five minutes later and the same thing happened. THE PHONE KEPT RINGING EVERY FIVE MINUTES AND ALWAYS DISCONNECTED. I couldn't get it to stop. I tried to contact somebody ANY LIVE PERSON at Adobe and found out that they are very secretive about contact information. I finally got through to a nice person in Adobe Sales working out of San Francisco, California. Normally, it is easier to contact any company's sales staff than customer support. She sent an email to India or some such place and about fifteen minutes later my phone stopped ringing. BUT, I still did not get the information that I wanted.

[FrankMi]

Hi Richard, from the link it looks like all she need is a copy of her paystub...

[Colin Southern]

Hi Richard,

I suspect that they're trying to steer people down certain paths when it comes to support; obviously - with as many customers as they have (and with the packages being so full-featured), they just can't afford for every customer to be able to just pick up the phone to ask them "why isn't this feature working" etc.

So instead they try to get people using the built-help (free) and then their forums (low cost) and finally, one-on-one support (most expensive for them).

I'm not saying that I agree with it (although I can see it from their point of view), but it is pretty common amongst many industries now. I think the emphasis has changed from the sellers "bending over backwards to help a customer" to a model where "the customers have do adapt themselves to whatever suits the seller".

[russellsnr]

Hi, Don't worry you are not alone with problems of communication with Adobe, I purchased a second user CS4 from a person who had upgraded from Adobe from the start then decided to purchase the full CS5 suite but he could not find the receipt from the CS4 upgrade purchase and when we tried to transfer the CS4 to me they would not listen at all, after lots of emails he finally got to speak to a live person who told him to please call back later when he the Adobe rep had spoken to a supervisor, two days later when he managed to get through again he was told without receipt he could not transfer to me although he had just purchased the full CS5 suite. Seems Adobe only want your money then you are just a number.
Russ

[shreds]

One day someone in a board room somewhere will wake up to the notion that call centres staffed by witless folk in some far off land reading from a script is not a good idea.

Most businesses reserve their real support for B to B communications rather than B to C unfortunately.

In so doing I would love to know the amount of Adobe customers driven to pirated internet copies.

[The Blue Boy]

Hi Richard,

Have you tried the "live chat" in the help menu? I got hold of a live and very knowledgeable person very quickly. Like you I only had a query but it was answered immediately.

[Paul in PDX]

I didnt bother calling when I went through the process of verification for the discount. I handled everything in email. They didnt give me any grief about my status as an ROTC instructor at the university. I sent them a memo from the university appointing me as an Adjunct Faculty member in a non remunerative status (guest instructor that is not paid by the university). If your wife has an appointment letter im sure the same will work for you.

Paul

[Colin Southern]

One day someone in a board room somewhere will wake up to the notion that call centres staffed by witless folk in some far off land reading from a script is not a good idea.

Most businesses reserve their real support for B to B communications rather than B to C unfortunately.

In so doing I would love to know the amount of Adobe customers driven to pirated internet copies.

Unfortunately, there's also a "flip side" to the equasion though ... providing one on one support costs big $$$. I haven't had any 1 on 1 interactions with Adobe, but from what people have said, the likes of Microsoft and Apple (and I'm sure many other global businesses) are no different. I'm sure that'd like to be able to provide more support, but it has to be paid for somehow (which I might add I'd be happy to pay for if I needed it).

[krispix]

I finally got through to a nice person in Adobe Sales working out of San Francisco, California. Normally, it is easier to contact any company's sales staff than customer support. She sent an email to India or some such place and about fifteen minutes later my phone stopped ringing. BUT, I still did not get the information that I wanted.

I ALWAYS go the 'Sales' route if I want to talk to a real person. I either say I'm contemplating buying something or I'm considering cancelling my contract, both contingent on me getting an answer to my question. Whichever way, it always works and the phone is answered quickly.

[Glenn NK]

. . . try to get people using the built-in help . . .

Apparently you're not referring to the on-line manual. ROF etc.

I use quite a bit of software in my work and hobbies (word processor, two spreadsheets, CAD drafting, anchor design, structural analysis, wood beam design, wave editor, midi editor). Every single one of them includes an excellent manual, and some of them are free or nearly so. The best one (wave editor) costs $50CAD for a lifetime license and updates, and the company is often online answering questions on their forum.

But A---- software? Not a chance. It's no surprise that other photo editing software is appearing.

And to me they seem to be the masters of bloatware.

If anyone comes up with an alternative to "darkhall", it will be gone in a flash.

Glenn

[NigelD]

I've used both the live chat and also phoned Adobe support and always found them knowledgeable and polite. I suppose it depends on the luck of the draw.