Adobe -- adventures in dealing with customer service

Posted Jan 19th 2008 9:10AM by Tom Taulli
Filed under: Products and Services, Consumer Experience, Adobe Systems (ADBE)

Since 2001, I've been a customer of Adobe's (NASDAQ: ADBE) great product, Dreamweaver. Basically, it allows for the development of sophisticated websites. The product has gone through a variety of iterations, with the latest being Creative Suite 3.

So on Friday, I purchased the upgrade for $199.00 and downloaded it. Things went well until the software asked for my serial number from one of the older products I purchased.

Unfortunately, I got rejected.

Yes, I had to call customer service (which is usually pretty dicey). All in all, the customer reps were pretty good, though, one of them said that my prior purchases were not eligible. I tried to get an explanation, but I really couldn't understand it. Keep in mind that I have paid a total of $1,579.84 on Dreamweaver products over the years (which does not include the $199 recent purchase).

While I wasn't happy about this, I was still willing to pay the price for the full version ($399.00). "Perhaps I can just pay the difference and get a new activation code," I said to the customer rep.

Yep, it was a stupid question. Basically, I have to wait 24 hours to call customer service again to request a return of the software (somehow the back-end system is kind of slow). I will then have to setup a new case number and write a letter to get a refund.

Then, after all this, I can then pay the $399 for the software.

How about that for customer service?

Tom Taulli is the author of various books, including The Complete M&A Handbook and The Edgar Online Guide to Decoding Financial Statements. He also operates DealProfiles.com.

Tags: ADBE, Adobe, Creative Suite 3, Customer Service, Dreamweaver, software downloads, software upgrades

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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

1-25-2008 @ 8:39AM

Hoxsie said...

I am so very glad to have read Tom Taulli's article and the first two follow-up comments. I was all psyched up to invest in ADBE this morning because it looked cheap, compared to peers. Now I know why -- if the described service is the norm, ADBE isn't a corporation I would chose as an investment!

1-25-2008 @ 10:33AM

amit said...

Adobe says if you hold Macromedia Dreamweaver 8, MX 2004, or MX then only you can get upgrade to dreamweaver CS3 at cost of 199$.

Correct me if I am wrong: You haven't read the eligibility criteria and purchased the wrong upgrade package. Right? well at least adobe gave you option of returning it back and getting money back.

1-19-2008 @ 2:19PM

Kevin said...

At least you can download software. When I try to download various programs or visit parts of the website, I'm directed to a page that says "Site Area Temporarily Unavailable" or that it's down for maintenance. This has been going on for days. I think they're having "issues". I still really like their software, but they're testing my patience.

1-20-2008 @ 1:18PM

Richard Rinyai said...

Companies have to realize that customers are the driving force of their bread and butter. They should take this case into account and try to correct their ways of dealing with complaints.

They should at least offer you a discount for your troubles.

Thanks,

Richard Rinyai
http://www.theprofessionalassistant.net