Dreamweaver customer support woes...

Question

Hoping that someone at Adobe might actually read customer letters...
Bill Curry
Box 44, Port Maitland
Nova Scotia, Canada   B0W2V0
July 22, 2009
Shantanu Narayen
President and Chief Executive Officer
Adobe Systems, Inc.
345 Park Avenue

San Jose, CA 95110-2704 USA
Re: Dissatsfaction with Adobe Service
   Case 0202204015
   Case 0303346809
   Case 0202270349
   Case 0181023140
I am writing to express my dissatisfaction with your product, your licensing structure and more particularly your customer service. 
I am unable to run my copy of Studio MX 2004. I have attempted to install the software on my Mac Book Pro laptop, and the software returns an error code indicating it “has been activated too many times”. I can no longer run the software, and attempts to contact Adobe customer support over the last month have not yielded a response which would enable me to use the software I own, and have owned for some time. Currently this product is non-functioning and is of no use to me.
This problem has not been resolved.
At the same time as I tried to install this software, June 23, 2009, I called Adobe sales and was told by a customer service representative that I was eligible for an upgrade from Studio MX 2004 to a stand alone copy of Dreamweaver CS4 for the price of $199 US dollars. I agreed this would be easier than re-installing Studio MX 2004, and so placed the order on my credit card. I have since been charged $294.45 Cdn, which is the cost plus tax, shipping, duty and conversion of funds to Canadian dollars. When I received the copy of Dreamweaver CS4, I attempted to install it, the serial number returned a green checkmark, but the software then asked for the old serial number from MX 2004, and when I entered my serial number from my MX 2004 software, Dreamweaver indicated this was an invalid number. I called Adobe on July 9, 2009 and was informed that the original customer service agent had erred, and that my copy of Studio MX 2004 does not qualify for an upgrade to a stand alone product. I asked about returning the Dreamweaver product I had purchased, and was informed of your Letter of Destruction procedure, and the process to follow. I have followed your instructions to the letter.
I have returned your product Dreamweaver CS4 via the LOD and expected repayment of monies under your return policy.  I contacted your company about returning your product but I have gotten no response regarding this issue other than the fact you have received my LOD, it has now been almost a week since this last communication.
I have made four complaints to date through your Customer Service Portal.
On your website you advertise a 24 hour response time.  Two of my claims
have been open since June regarding the installation issue of the Studio MX 2004 software, and have simply been unaddressed other than to tell me to call Technical Support, which I have done with no resolution – and twice after being on hold for more than an hour I was disconnected. Two of the cases have been opened by Adobe staff in order to respond to my issues, but I have now been waiting over a month to have someone give the proper code so I might re-install my copy of Studio MX 2004. I find this a completely unsatisfactory response time.
I have telephoned your company eight (8) times since late June.  During those
eight calls I have been placed on hold for an unreasonable amount of time.
During my calls I have been disconnected numerous times.
I have called Adobe Corporate Headquarters twice.  When I called headquarters I was placed on hold each time, routed through to customer support and my problems were still not resolved.
When I contacted your first agent, on June 23rd, they assured
me that I would be upgraded from Studio MX 2004 to stand alone Dreamweaver CS4.
I have since been informed that this was promised to me in error.  I expect
that this promise be fulfilled as I am currently unable to run Studio MX 2004.
I used to be very impressed with Adobe products having owned Photoshop 3 and
having upgraded from PS 3 to 5 to 7 to CS 3 to CS 4.  Up until now I have had
no complaints.  However, this experience has caused me to reconsider my
loyalty to your products.
While my complaints with your products are of a personal nature, my
experience will affect the use of your product at my place of employment.
As Director of Tri-County Regional School Board in Nova Scotia, Canada,
and formerly as Technology Consultant for the Board, I make major decisions
regarding software that is run in all of the English speaking elementary,
middle and high schools in Yarmouth, Shelburne and Digby counties, Nova
Scotia, which encompasses over 8000 students.
The School Board currently owns hundreds of copies of Adobe products, and I personally own a 50 license copy of CS3, which I use when in-servicing staff.
If I do not receive a prompt and satisfactory remedy from your company I
will recommend that all of the schools under my care cease using any Adobe
products.  I will report my experience to the Nova Scotia Department of
Education and recommend that all schools in Nova Scotia cease using Adobe
products. 
As I have not yet received any response from your company about my
complaints, I have contacted the Better Business Bureau regarding customer service issues and VISA regarding the Dreamweaver CS4 purchase and return via LOD.
In conclusion, I am seeking the following remedies from your company:
1.  A written apology for poor customer service
2.  an upgrade from Studio MX 2004 to stand alone Dreamweaver CS 4
3.  Monies owing from the return of my original purchase based on your agent’s representation in the amount of $294.45 Cdn.
I hope that this matter can be resolved promptly and in a satisfactory
manner.  If it is not, I will stop using any of your products and recommend
they be pulled out of the schools in my board and throughout the province.
I look forward to your immediate response.
Sincerely,
Bill Curry
By Fax: [phone]
Cc
Ann Lewnes
Senior Vice President of Corporate Marketing and Communications
Kevin Burr
Vice President, Corporate Affairs and Communications

Answer 1

Bill,
I don't want to imply in any way that you have not been treated badly, because you have been. I hope you won't really take steps to deprive the students of your district the opportunity to learn Adobe applications which are industry standards and arguably the best available for many tasks.
I noted that your problem started initially with an Activation issue. Did you see an option to call activation support (activate by telephone) on the error screen? I've not had to do that with Dreamweaver, but I have with InDesign, and the experience was not unpleasant at all.
It is important to note that the activation number is a separate call center, not connected to "customer service" in any way (though it, too seems to be located in India). I think it's been about two years now since I had a problem (hard drive replacement, as I recall), and I called the number. The representative asked me for my serial number and why I needed to have my activation reset, and I was up and running again in five minutes. I've heard other customer service horror stories, but never any about the activation center. The only reason I can imagine for not receiving help with activation would be a pattern of excess activations in a short period that might be considered fraud. Is it possible you have been switching the activation between machines on a regular basis (not to commit fraud, but to allow you to work with properly licensed software in multiple locations)? Again, I don't know anything about the MX suite, but InDesign has a "soft" limit of, I believe, 20 activations before you must call and explain yourself. That counter resets automatically after a (unknown to me) period of time to allow for things like hard drive failures and system upgrades.
Again, there is no excuse for what you have experienced, but I'm not entirely surprised by some confusion about the different licensing criteria involved with pre-acquisition Macromedia products (which I believe Studio MX would be), and post-acquisition versions. I'm not entirely sure anyone knows what is allowed, what versions can be upgraded to what other versions, etc. It's possible to find conflicting information, I think, on different pages at Adobe.com, and the rules are even muddier outside the US. I agree, though, that if a representative promises you that you are eligible for an upgrade, the company has a responsibility to provide you with a working product at the upgrade price, even if it means shipping a full retail version.
I wish you luck.
Peter