Beware of Adobe “Customer Support”
January 29, 2009
I’ve given some very positive reviews to Apple, Digidesign and M-Audio on this blog… and given shout-outs to Roland, Korg, Hammond, Neumann and others along the way. I’m not afraid to say what I like… and what I don’t.
Today, I take no joy in sharing a very negative review of Adobe’s customer support. But hopefully, those of you out there considering buying their products will benefit from this review just as much as with the positive ones. See the video for all the details:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KoTJiQsIrf0&fmt=22
In summary:
- In mid-December, I ordered a cross-platform upgrade from Dreamweaver 8 and Production Studio CS2 on Windows to Dreamweaver CS4 and Production Premium CS4 on Mac.
- I followed the guy’s instructions to the letter, faxing in a letter of software destruction so that they could send me full versions of the Mac software.
- I waited… and waited… and waited.
- I used their online support portal to send an email about the fax, asking them to verify they received it and that everything was going smoothly.
- They didn’t respond.
- I emailed again.
- They didn’t respond.
- A month had passed, so I called customer support. Some foreign lady said it was out of stock in the warehouse.
- So I waited some more.
- With almost two months having passed, I called again.
- This time, some foreign man said I should’ve listed something differently on the letter I faxed in.
- It would’ve been nice to know this two months ago. This is software I rely on to make my living, after all! One quick call or email from Adobe could have solved the problem in mid-December. Heck, they didn’t even have to take the initiative. I contacted them THREE times!!! But I never got the right answer.
- Instead, all I got was very poor support from people I could barely understand overseas.
- I hope the mainstream media or at least some trade publication picks up on stories like this so Adobe will be pressured to prioritize customer service. What they are doing to professionals like me is very unprofessional and disrespectful. And if it doesn’t stop, they’re going to be losing customers like mad… including me.
