Comments on: An Open Letter to Adobe

By: Ryan D

Ryan D — Sat, 19 Jul 2008 05:54:48 +0000

Ordered CS3 upgrade on 7/12/08 – my credit card was charged immediately but as of today 7/18/2008 my order status is still listed as “pending” on the Adobe website. Called 800 number to find out what the hold up was – the operator saw my order but didn’t know what was happening with the physical shipment because “that data isn’t in our system” and told me to call back tomorrow and “you *might* be able to find out what was happening from someone”. This is when the alarm bells went off, I’m thinking they lost my order somewhere along the way and I will never get my software, just a 600 dollar credit card bill. I just asked to cancel the order altogether and have my credit card charge reversed. They said they can’t refund my order until I return the physical merchandise to them – but of course they don’t know when I’m going to get it, which was why I was calling in the first place!
This is unacceptable behavior for ANY business. I’m reporting them to the better business bureau and my bank for fraud.
Next time I’m going strait to Amazon of Buy.com

By: Alicia

Alicia — Mon, 04 Feb 2008 14:24:48 +0000

I am currently having the same issues with Adobe. I have been trying to upgrade to CS3 and I’m very frustrated. the problem is that Adobe IS a monopoly and there is nothing I can do but wait and call and call and wait!

By: Tony Zinnanti

Tony Zinnanti — Thu, 20 Dec 2007 01:13:57 +0000

I just canceled my Adobe Acrobat certification due to the complete lack of product support.

I cannot go out and consult on a product for which there are serious problems with licensing and basic support. It would be seriously counterproductive to promote such a product.

It’s a real shame because the products can be very good.

By: Cheryl

Cheryl — Tue, 16 Oct 2007 13:12:43 +0000

Ah….other people with Adobe problems. I ordered my upgrade from Macromedia Studio MX 2004 to CS3 Web Premium on the Canada website….seemed to work but I didn’t receive any confirmation so I called. Nothing on the system. So I placed an order on the phone and was told I would receive a confirmation shortly. No confirmation, so I called. Had a 1/2 hour call during which I told salesperson my name and was told that the customer number wasn’t mine, that it was registered to someone WITH MY NAME (ie. didn’t listen at all). Was told I would receive a confirmation. No confirmation (or receipt) ever arrived. Then the box arrived with all of the manuals (which I hadn’t ordered: the salesperson had just added them without my permission). And of course, no real receipt, so no way to know that I was charged for them until my credit card statement came. Now they are fighting me on it, refusing to do anything via email but I am loathe to call them considering they don’t follow up with their obligations when I do!

By: Eric

Eric — Mon, 17 Sep 2007 19:17:16 +0000

I am not impressed. I can’t even get to the web site to try to order. i tried to call in order and was on hold so long i just hung up. The is embarassing and i really wouldn’t do business with them unless my clients desired some Flash in their web sites.

I have never had such an unpleasurable experience buying software.

By: Gavin

Gavin — Wed, 18 Jul 2007 13:01:44 +0000

…only a month since I ordered it… no joy in getting a shipping date from Adobe despite 4 calls and an insistence on staying on the line. I now have the number for the distribution centre in Scotland – which I assume covers the UK. Am waiting for their callback in order to try and speed things along… if i get any joy i shall post the number for anyone else who wants it to call.

By: Steve

Steve — Tue, 17 Jul 2007 14:06:57 +0000

I ordered CS3 Production Premium upgrade Apr 23 from Adobe’s site. Never saw anything indicating a need to fax anything. Called in early June to inquire about status. Told it would arrive ~June 28. No show. Called again today, and was told they’re out of stock, and that they notified headquarters about this issue etc. I asked when I could expect to see it. They couldn’t even give me a ballpark idea. It’s now almost 3 months since I placed the order,and I’m still waiting. Meanwhile I have co-workers who ordered it from Amazon last week and already have it installed. This is pathetic!

By: A Nicholson

A Nicholson — Tue, 10 Jul 2007 09:26:46 +0000

Similar here – still waiting 2 and half months later.

Email receipt 25/4/07 – twice, never recieved.
Faxed reciept, recieved order confirmation 20/6/07
Still awaiting package, told it would ship 4/7/07

By: Neil

Neil — Thu, 05 Jul 2007 19:54:00 +0000

I had a very similar experience.

4/18/07 – Ordered free upgrade and faxed receipt.
6/7/07 – Call to check why not received. Shipped to wrong address, not used for over 2.5 years. Address not on my web account. Should receive new copy in 12 to 15 days. (note that I had 3 weeks vacation here)
6/15/07 – Still being processed wait 2 to 3 more days and call back.
6/22/07 – Can not determine status will call me back in 18 to 24 hours.
6/26/07 – Adobe called me back and said it will be shipping soon, but no tracking numbers.
6/29/07 – I called to get tracking number. Adobe determines that they cannot ship without faxing receipt. Order still not processed or shipped. Adobe gives me case number to attach to fax. Fax documents.
6/29/07 – Call back and ask for supervisor to make sure fax is ok. Supervisor assures all is ok, we review numbers and determine that case number was wrong on Fax (the one Adobe gave me), I will need to re-fax and call back to determine if fax is received. Customer service cannot see faxes until the next day.
6/30/07 – I call back and Adobe confirms fax receipt.
7/5/07 – I receive upgrade (along the way I was so mad that I demanded an overnight shipment.)

By: madcream10

madcream10 — Fri, 29 Jun 2007 19:53:09 +0000

I have CS3 Web Standard.
There is no option to upgrade to CS3 Web Premium.
I miss Macromedia.

By: Pat

Pat — Fri, 29 Jun 2007 18:22:02 +0000

… makes those “Photoshop CS3, $75″ which I resist every day seem more like an appropriate value!

By: Thomas - Technical Blogger Is Customer Service Dead? «

Thomas - Technical Blogger Is Customer Service Dead? « — Fri, 29 Jun 2007 18:07:32 +0000

[...] Rich Internet Application Mountaineer, about a problem a customer had with Adobe customer Service. Alex King wrote An Open Letter to Adobe, to detail the problems he has had with Adobe. In his letter Alex details the 2 month wait it took [...]

By: James Governor’s Monkchips » links for 2007-06-27

James Governor’s Monkchips » links for 2007-06-27 — Wed, 27 Jun 2007 23:29:17 +0000

[...] An Open Letter to Adobe | alexking.org Adobe please get your act together on this one. Your product upgrade experience is b0rked in many ways. This is a barrier to entry for version currency. Makes little sense. (tags: Adobe creativesuite) [...]

By: Vyoma

Vyoma — Wed, 27 Jun 2007 21:59:01 +0000

This is scary.

I presently work with GIMP. I have started to pool funds so that one day, I will one the holy grail.

But your experience with Adobe really puts a question mark on all that.

By: Jobe Roberts

Jobe Roberts — Tue, 26 Jun 2007 19:26:48 +0000

Adobe’s poor customer service is enough to put you off their products. If you install the trial software then buy a package you have to uninstall all and then reinstall using the DVD. Something the installation package should just automatically fix but doesn’t. If you call for support, they pass you around to several people (a two hour process for me) before they tell you why your serial number doesn’t work.
As for their website, it was pointed out to them that the Canada store is completely unavailable. One of their reps said there’d be a fix for it, but that was back in February and it still doesn’t work!
Adobe seems to be acting like a monopoly; time to find alternative products! I’ve already started using an app I like better than Dreamweaver (Mac only), but PS is hard to beat!