I ♥ APPLE

Exactly 30 days ago, I advised a co-worker to install a demo of Acrobat Pro. We have Adobe Creative Suite Premium 4 volume licensing at the office, but I really didn’t have the time to look up the serials and get it installed for her. I pointed her to the 30-day demo, thinking that before the trial ran out I could easily pop-in the serial and be on my way.

See, recently Adobe decided to re-configure something about the way it deals with volume licensing, and over-hauled the web-based tools I had been using. I got an email about it in advance, and it seemed like it would be no big deal. So long as I didn’t need access to my serials during this change-over time period, I would carry on as usual.

BUT, After they rolled out the new system, when I tried to login it walked me thru some kind of ‘upgrade’ process. I vaguely remember this, since at the time I was busy trying to get someone’s installs running so I could get back to work. I had to create a new login, which was no longer tied to my account, but rather my email as a user of this account. This may not be accurate, because since this time I have never been able to login with my email address. Instead, I have now been forced to use my boss’s email and password. I think I actually created that account, and his password security is a topic for another article.

The Demo is Over

My co-worker emailed me today, letting me know the trial period had expired. I had gone a whole 30 days without being able to get logged into the new Adobe Volume License system. Everytime I submitted that I had forgotten my password, the system declared that it had emailed me my new credentials.

No email ever arrived.

So, I logged in today with my other login/password and retrieved the serial number that says it works with Windows. I entered the serial and Acrobat says no dice. I check my typing and repeat, same.

Press 3 for Customer Service

After talking to someone at the Volume License Support phone bank, I was informed that our Volume License serial number would not work in the publicly downloadable demo. And further, to get a download link to a version that would work for my co-worker’s PC, I would have to pay $20.

Let me state that again:

Adobe wanted me to pay $20 to get a link, to download software that is already installed, so that I can activate it using a serial number I already have, after having paid them over $1500.

I tried to demonstrate the flaws in this logic to the woman on the phone, and she was ‘sorry I felt that way’. I was then transfered to the sales department; she was unable to actually sell me the product I so desperately needed. Once on the phone with them I was promptly disconnected, and had to call back.

When I called back, and was transfered from sales to Volume Licensing, he could not help me as a Volume License customer, and then transferred back. Repeatedly I was asked for Invoice numbers, or Purchase Order numbers, or other random intergers that for some reason it was my job to keep records of. Instead, I offered my Adobe User ID information and valid serial number, and was put on hold for 15 minutes.

It Doesn’t Feel Like Winning

I eventually convinced someone that this is absurd, and was told about the TLP. See, apparently I’m a TLP4.5 user, and if I was a TLP5.0 user I would have this link for free. But what luck, because Adobe is offering me a special opportunity to become a TLP5.0 user, and then I can get my download link….on Tuesday. Today is Friday.

It takes 24-48 hours to create a link for me apparently, and the Volume License center is closed on the weekends. Sidenote: That’s completely fine with me, everyone deserves a weekend. Go workers! I ended the call, and told my co-worker I could have her Acrobat install fixed sometime next week.

Customer service should feel like I win. When I get off the phone with your company, if I even need to call your company, I should come away thinking I got what I wanted. Adobe should know better, and I wish they had some real competition to teach them.