Adobe: Bad Customer Service
I just held for 2 hours with Adobe tech support to get an unlock code for CS2 upgrade. (For background, that's what you need to do to validate an upgrade installation that won't recognize the original media you're upgrading from.) I was incorrectly transferred at least twice, waiting for 20-30 minutes at each transfer. When I finally got the unlock code, it didn't work and there wasn't a thing that they could do about it. When I offered that I was using Windows Vista (they never asked) customer service literally said "Ah-HAH! That must be the problem", blamed the whole thing on Vista compatibility, and helpfully suggested that I wait for CS3 or roll back to Windows XP.
I asked to be transferred to a supervisor, who told me that Microsoft wouldn't give Adobe the necessary components to test their software until just recently. I explained that I have personally tested software on the beta versions of Vista for two years, and that the final bits have been available for months.
What was worse than waiting for two hours or listening to made-up excuses is just that no remedy, not even a symbolic gesture, was ever offered. I suggested that it would be helpful if Adobe could contact me when an update is released, rather than expecting me to visit the website every day. She said "That's not possible, we have a lot of customers." Not possible? Hardly. Not practical? Maybe. Not willing? Bingo.
The thing that makes this all even crazier is that I was able to install CS1 without issue, and upgrade on top of that (on *gasp* Vista!) - solving my own problem. It's a shame that the people who I talked to today lacked the imagination (or, seemingly, the energy) to suggest it.
There are a couple of takeaways from all this that I intend to relay to my customer service people:
1) Don't make your customers wait interminably.
2) If your customer paid you and can't use your software, "tough noogies" doesn't cut it.
3) If you can't answer your customer's question, have someone get back to them who can answer it.
4) Throw me a frickin' bone, here. If there is no solution to be had, give the customer something - anything - to show that they're not just another $1000 to you. Maybe a reduced-price upgrade when it finally does arrive, maybe just a follow-up email to say "sorry we couldn't help you".
5) Don't try to throw something technical-sounding at your customer in the hopes that they won't understand it and just go away.
I know what it's like to not have an answer for someone who deserves one. I understand that everybody has a somewhat different capacity for problem-solving. I understand that customer service people are usually the people in an organization who are the least empowered to offer resolution. But PLEASE give the impression that you're trying.
I asked to be transferred to a supervisor, who told me that Microsoft wouldn't give Adobe the necessary components to test their software until just recently. I explained that I have personally tested software on the beta versions of Vista for two years, and that the final bits have been available for months.
What was worse than waiting for two hours or listening to made-up excuses is just that no remedy, not even a symbolic gesture, was ever offered. I suggested that it would be helpful if Adobe could contact me when an update is released, rather than expecting me to visit the website every day. She said "That's not possible, we have a lot of customers." Not possible? Hardly. Not practical? Maybe. Not willing? Bingo.
The thing that makes this all even crazier is that I was able to install CS1 without issue, and upgrade on top of that (on *gasp* Vista!) - solving my own problem. It's a shame that the people who I talked to today lacked the imagination (or, seemingly, the energy) to suggest it.
There are a couple of takeaways from all this that I intend to relay to my customer service people:
1) Don't make your customers wait interminably.
2) If your customer paid you and can't use your software, "tough noogies" doesn't cut it.
3) If you can't answer your customer's question, have someone get back to them who can answer it.
4) Throw me a frickin' bone, here. If there is no solution to be had, give the customer something - anything - to show that they're not just another $1000 to you. Maybe a reduced-price upgrade when it finally does arrive, maybe just a follow-up email to say "sorry we couldn't help you".
5) Don't try to throw something technical-sounding at your customer in the hopes that they won't understand it and just go away.
I know what it's like to not have an answer for someone who deserves one. I understand that everybody has a somewhat different capacity for problem-solving. I understand that customer service people are usually the people in an organization who are the least empowered to offer resolution. But PLEASE give the impression that you're trying.
posted by tom at 12:05 PM
22 Comments:
Gotta tell ya. Same thing happened to me when CS2 came out. It hung on install. Wouldn't recognize CS1. Spend over 2hours on phone tech support. They couldn't fix it so they offered to research and call me back. It took about an hour for them to call back but by then I had solved it myself by installing Photoshop 6 (or something). I do not expect Adobe to do better in the future and assume it to be the cost of doing business.
I recently ran into a similar licensing issue with an Adobe product (Dreamweaver) when I purchased a new laptop computer. I cannot say that the experience I took away from the incident was as unpleasant as yours, but I think it could have been handled in a less antagonistic manner. I literally had to coach the customer support rep through some trouble-shooting alternatives (the Socratic approach, so to speak) and when I finally got the guy to think about how to resolve the problem, he actually called me back within 30 minutes of our original conversation with a solution. Sadly, this type of support/service is the exception rather than the rule these days. I've been in IT management for a number of years so I have quite a bit of experience dealing with Telco vendors, software vendors, and a variety of hardware and peripheral suppliers every day. Without exception, customer support at every level and at almost every company I deal with has degraded to the point where it is noticeably counter-productive (i.e., waste an hour or two of your day to be no further ahead at the conclusion of the effort than you were at the beginning.). It seems to me that people simply don't take any pride in their work anymore, at least not the low-level (and invariably poorly trained) employees who man the first-level help desk at most technology companies (and in a broader sense, ANY company you deal with in professional or personal life). The only way I've found to deal with this trend is, unfortunately, to become a total horse's ass. I basically have to complain my way up the management chain until I find the one overworked soul who actually knows what he/she is talking about and can get a problem fixed. It might be naive, but I think that when companies start to realize how much money they're going to lose in the long run by cutting corners in customer support, they'll start to fix their own problems. I hope so, anyway.
M. McConnell
mmcconnell@american-nurse.com
I had several issues with them for my old company and i was just purchasing new licenses and upgrading a few from flash licenses. This is one thing that does concern me about the merger. We can complain all we want but where are we going to go to by software-apple competes in the video segment, quark somewhat in print but there is not much up against flash, photoshop, illustrator, acrobat, dreamweaver. Without competition there is no need for them to give us real answers as they know we'll figure it out on our own and buy the next upgrade anyways. I think adobe has done a great job with absorbing the dev practices of MM but i wish more of the customer service was brought over.
Hi Tom, I'm unhappy that you're not happy, and I don't know all details of the conversation myself (it sounds like this was an Adobe CS2 upgrade CD which was looking for the original installation...?), but I got cut short by the "Vista" comment... even if you didn't volunteer that at the start, the OS is usually one of the first qualifying questions that any technician would ask.
I had a blog post on emerging Vista issues the other week, with a live link to current technotes:
http://weblogs.macromedia.com/jd/archives/2007/01/vista_compatibi.cfm
I'm glad that you were able to satisfy the old "upgrade" CD by first installing the old software it was seeking on that new machine. I understand that some CS2 applications seem to run fine on the new OS while others have problems, but I don't see substantive descriptions in the technotes yet.
(I think the reason you got shut down quickly after disclosing the Vista angle is that new operating systems are called "unsupported systems", and were not part of the original sales guarantee... the technican him-or-herself would probably not yet have a Vista system to walk through diagnostics with you... using an "unsupported OS" means you're on your own. (At least that's what it meant during Macromedia days. ;-) Not satisfying, I know, but that's what I see of how the dynamics play out, when running old software on new OS.)
jd/adobe
I forgot to mention that Tim Buntel with Adobe would probably be interested in your experience. I seem to remember that he posted a note on his blog that suggested he be made aware of any problems with customer support at Adobe because it was a real concern to the "powers that be" immediately post-merger. His blog can be found at http://www.buntel.com/blog. I can't recall what his email address is but I'm sure you can find it there.
M. McConnell
mmcconnell@american-nurse.com
I appreciate all the comments. One thing I should probably mention is that while I occasionally had problems with Macromedia tech support, those problems were usually handled in a much more satisfactory way. Maybe I got a little spoiled. :)
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Just thought everyone who posted to this blog should know that nothing has changed at ADOBE 4 months after the first post.
I am also a Windows Vista user and was unable to install the upgrade to CS3. After three successful downloads, the install failed to launch and deleted all the *.tmp files. Three calls to support were so frustating and irrelevant that I decided to return the product. Which as of this writing is still unresolved.
Firstly: Adobe had already billed my credit card for a huge sum of money - even though I was unable to install the product, register, receive a serial number yada yada yada.
Secondly: I never ever received a serial number, and no-one at Adobe has clue as to what that might be.
Thirdly: Three calls to customer service to somewhere off the continent were a huge waste of time.
Fourthly: I had returned their Letter of Destruction -- twice, to the email listed on the letter, and each time, it has come back to me requesting a serial number and to call customer service.
Fifthly: A totally frustrating and unresolved infinate loop of bad service.
Thanks for the vent. JD is your out there, read this.
Everyone else can manage their online stores -- Walmart anyone?
Wow...Lots of others with similar experiences with Dismal Customer Service at Adobe.
Here's a letter I just sent to some e-mails I scoured off the net of Adobe folks...not sure if it'll speed things up or bring them to resolution? Oh well, trying never hurt.
OK, so I'm not sure if you really care to read my plight, but I must tell you my experience with Adobe customer service has been appalling!
I have read several internet sites that referred to your e-mails. I don't know if you're interested in the treatment I have received and how most of your customers are treated, but maybe you do.
Here's my story....
I have been an Adobe customer for the past 10 years and have been through upgrade after upgrade and have to say that never ending upgrades are annoying, but for the most part have always lived up to their expectations.
Recently upon another one of my upgrades, it had appeared that I had 3 licences for DreamWeaver and somehow in error was charged for each of them even though I only had needed/used/activated one. I honestly was unaware of the "triplication" of licences that I had. Upon speaking with an order tech, I was told to go through the return process, which involved speaking with customer service, filling out a few forms and LOD's and voila, my situation would be resolved.
REALLY! That easy, super, so I completed all the requested forms and jumped through the hoops in the order directed.
2....3....4....5 weeks later and nothing. I called at regular intervals to check on the status and receivedd numerous exuses.
At week 3 it was that they did not have the LOD's...I resent them.
At week 4 it was that they were waiting on a tech to attach the faxed LOD's to my case.
At week 5 it was that they were in process of approving the return (wait, I thought that's what I was doing before?)
At weeks 6, 7, and 8 it was told to me that a Level 2 must review the case and I would hear back very soon (something like 48-72 hours)
At weeek 9.5 guess what, I received a call stating that the return was approved. I said "Great, Thank you!" to which they responded, "Would you like to go ahead and complete the return process now?"...I replied, "Um well didn't you just say it was approved?" She stated, "Well sir, we just have to route your call to the proper customer service team and they will finalize the return, it shouldn't take but 15 minutes or so."
I thought to myself, although I was in a meeting at the time and had stepped out to take the call, I really couldn't do it right then. So I asked if it could be completed without me or wheter or not I must provide additional information. I was instructed that they could set up a time to call me back...OK I thought, sounds good.
Next day I recieve a call and was put through the ringer about the return stating that there were evidently a few inaccuracies in which the first team who reviewed the case did not notice and that it was going to have to be re-reviewed.
OK so now I am steaming....after asking to speak to a manager and being transferred only to hear that there is no further information or help that they can give me. A level 2 support team must review it and get back to me.
This never happened, so we're now about 11 weeks out from the initial contact and I call back in to find out that the latest issue that was holding things up was that of the 3 licences I had, my most recent upgrade to CS3 was linked to a wrong serial number that was actually one of the returns I was making.
OK so problem solved, they re-routed/configured/attached or whatever they needed to do to make things right.
So I go through the return process again and get to the really satisfying part of them saying. "OK we're all ready to process the payment. Will that be all?" I said, "Well I just want to verify the address that the check will be going to...."
They responded, well it will be going directly back to your card that it was purchased on. (At this point let me remind you, the purchases were made 6 and 8 months before this time point) So I said "Well actually my account has changed and that card is completely paid and I don't want it to go there and have a positive balance on my card, since I have paid it off. So please send a check. They stated, "We cannot do that and that they would have to credit my card". Well unfortunately that's not what I wanted as I have just went completely "Credit Cardless" and no longer use them. They stated that they would have to have an account closure letter from the bank issuing the credit card sent to them in order to even consider sending a check. I stated that the account was indeed still open, but had changed numbers due to a few changes I made to my account....and that it didn't even matter anyway since I have since paid my card off and do not use them any longer. I was instructed that "Well, you could just use the card and spend the credit."
I again stated that that was not what I wanted, since I don't use the cards any longer and also want to deposit funds into the account in which I paid my card off with. Furthermore, even if it did get deposited to the card the credit card company would not issue me a check for a positive balance.
So again it was "elevated" to a level 3 support technician and that I would receive word within the next 48-72 hours of whether or not a check refund was authorized.
3 weeks later, here I sit. I have called the last 2 days and have not gotten anything further than, "A level 3 team is reviewing your case and you will hear something...SHORTLY!"
OK so at this point, I don't know what to do. Every time I call, I get someone overseas who cannot directly help me and only can give an "Update". I have been going through this for over 15 weeks and I am FURIOUS. I will soon be writing to the Better Business Beaurau and sending letters to local news agencies.
Respectfully,
Rick Lohre
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Since December 4th I have accumulated 5 case numbers and 5 order numbers all to get my CS3 premium platform switched from Win to MAC. It all started when CS3 Win took my Vista PC to hell and did not return it - I decided then and now I was done with Win and switched to an iMac. Each time I have called to get status on my order, I have run across nothing but over-hyped gushing customer service representatives that try to convince me that they are solving my issue, only to call back in a day to find that there were errors with my order and I have to start all over again! GRRRR
Well ... I can tell you that their service in 2008 has NOT improved. If I had a choice, I would never want to deal with them again - ever, too bad they have sort of a monopoly.
They had me wait for 3 hours for a tax error, they charged a US tax so I explain to them that they could not charge US tax to foreigners and as a Canadian citizen I pay taxes to Canada and that the online invoice specifically said to call this number to avoid the US tax ... the tech asked if I had an exemption Number - again I told them I was not a US resident thus did not NEED any type of US tax exemption, that foreigners do not pay taxes on products delivered outside of a country, they asked if my credit card showed the address in Canada, of course it does, why else would I call ! But still, they said, we were on the same continent ... ok so ? one continent 2 countries, 2 governments, different taxation duh ... what so strange about this ... LOL, than they said Canada was a "state" of the US ... ok India is far, but not that far
In the end I asked to speak with someone in North America, so the supervisor send me to this 1.800.624.9896 - a Dell company, so I gather this Dell must have a very bad customer service as well because it appears they are outsourcing the tech and sales support to the same company in India as Adobe ...
So after 3 hours ... I never got them to credit the tax charge - and I never got Adobe service in the US .. but I have Dell's number, remind me never to buy from Dell ;-)
It is the most horrible service I have ever had ... and it's Adobe's, ... I dunno what they are smoking, but must be real good ... .
i work for a call center at adobe and everyone that works there could care less about you guys. When i recieve calls i try to be of most help and service as i can because i know the way adobe treats its customers and employees is horrible. Ive got one more month, hopefully i dont die of the stress.
If what you say is true, then you're only verifying my assertion. If customer service doesn't care about the customer, then it's bound to be poor. I'm glad you do your best in the face of poor treatment. If only I were directed to your line when I call in for help!
Don't be fooled by ADobe Spin surfing these threads trying to make 'things right'. Adobe is the new Microsoft - squash all dissent - eliminate all competition.
Until people STOP upgrading, Adobe will continue to ignore its customers and partners.
We are all suffering.
Ditto your experiences a thousand times.
I am having the same experience trying to reinstall CS2 on my computer. They tell me that they don't provide support for it any more.
Does that mean I that they are going to refund me the money I spent on it since they won't let me reinstall it? I don't recall purchasing a 2 or 3 year license for the product.
I would highly recommend that nobody upgrade or purchase any Adobe products for this reason. I don't think the company is doing well. If Adobe goes under you will never be able to reinstall your products and you will loose thousands of dollars.
I get more tired just reading everyones issues with Adobe. I am currently in their Adobe HELL. I can't believe how much time I have spent on the phone. When I ask for a supervisor, I swear I just get put on hold while they "help" someone else. Hours later, I am still waiting for a call from an elusive supervisor and somehow I doubt they will be able to assist me. How can the decision makers be more protected than a leader of your country? I am so weary of repeating my story and explaining my situation...I can't type it out here right now. If any one knows how to get to a supervisor/decision maker please let me know.
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