Getting support for the dreadful Digital Editions

Question

I checked out a book from my library, & returned it on the expiration date using Adobe Digital Editions (ADE).
Then, because I wasn't done reading it, I checked it out again, (after the expiration period), and attempted to have Adobe reauthorize it.
What happened?  ADE went into a loop for several minutes, flashing a popup so fast I couldn't read it, ultimately telling me I'm not authorized to use the book.
Wait, I just checked it out!
Not wanting to waste too much time on software bugs, I checked out a different book.  This time, when the library due date arrived, I let the book expire without de-authorizing it in ADE.
I did, however, remove the book using ADE's delete book function.  Then, I went to the library.  The library crudware reported I still had the book checked out, and wouldn't let me download it.  Hunting around on my computer, I saw two 6 MB files in Adobe's Digital Editions folder:  they had the same title as the book I had previously used ADE to delete, dated when I ***first*** checked the book out from the library.  Oh, I guess ADE didn't remove the book as it reported.
Okay, I said, "I'll buy the **!@$$ book!"  I went to Google, and I bought the book, which gives me the right to read it on my ereader.  In google, the book opened just fine--I guess Google knows how to write software--and I could sit and read the book on my computer, where I don't want to read it.  Nope, I want to read it on my Sony ereader.  That requires I use ADE.  Bummer! 
So, I clicked the Google button to download the book.  I clicked on the book file as instructed.  Up pops a window from within the dreadful ADE:  "Document is licensed for a different user account."
I went to Adobe's website to report a bug.  They don't seem to take bug reports on this software, or if they do, they hide it well.  Somewhere, I found a forum in which someone with similar problems told one of the 20 or so people who have previously had this problem that they should delete ADE entirely & reinstall.  I tried that.  Result?  Now, ADE doesn't do anything when I click on the book title.
You folks at Adobe call this software?  I call it garbage.  And I know of what I speak, having 20 years of software design experience.
If I don't have access to the book I purchased within a week, I'll also call it a small claims case, and I'll look forward to seeing you in court, where at least if I'm made to waste 3 hours there'll be someone there to respond:  a judge.

Answer 1

In my opinion, I encountered a series of problems that not only look like they were caused by bad ADE software, they were caused by bad ADE software.
I did complain to my library about not being able to check out a book that had been turned in.  They pointed the finger at the provider of their library checkout software, which I had described in my post as crudware, (and I think they also mentioned problems with ADE).  But even when my library wasn't involved, Adobe's Digital Editions didn't work right, unless you call "working right" keeping me from reading on my ereader a purchased copy of an ebook.
After hours of digging, I found the apparent source of the problem:  my password and/or account were different at Adobe and at Sony.  How could "good" ADE software impose such an obscure requirement?
Adobe digital rights management software is supposed to work with numerous vendors and hardware platforms, no?  Requiring the passwords or the accounts be the same at Adobe and at Sony is not good software design, (especially if it's a hidden or undocumented requirement), because it requires users to know the internals of software assumptions.  If that's good software design, then it's good car design to require one to wear a matching shirt and pants before allowing one to start one's car.  Refrigerator won't work? It's because you forgot to put in matching ice cube trays.  Washing machine not running?  It's because you put a pair of mismatched socks in it!  If Adobe requires the Sony (or Barnes & Noble) account/password to match its account/password, it should not allow one to establish an account when that is not the case, or it should report that "error" clearly. 
Bad software requires users to perform "tricks" to get the software to perform its functions correctly.  Tricks are for magicians, not product users. Engineers should think of the "tricks" they can perform--i.e., in the design phase--to make a hardware/software experience pleasant and seamless.  For example, to buy a book in a bookstore, I
   (1) walk up to the cash register and pay for the book with cash or credit card, which authorizes me to read (and/or sell my copy of) the book. 
In my opinion, unless and until Adobe Digital Editions can make the process of ebook buying/authorizing that pleasant and seamless, it has failed its task.  As evidence of the bad ADE software about which I complained, I point to the pages of complaints in this forum, from apparently marooned ebook owners.
How did I ultimately "solve" the problem that didn't allow me to read the book I had purchased?  After spending hours fussing with Adobe's software, attempting to decipher its error messages, attempting to locate its documentation, (why no help pulldown, as in every other piece of Mac OSX software?), and then posting here, I gave up dealing with Adobe.  Not wanting to hassle with the small claims court suit I mentioned in my initial forum post, I contacted Google to have them rescind my purchase, which they did promptly, through a convenient link.  (How I love software that works right!)  I then contacted Sony, which spent another hour or so with me to diagnose and correct the problem, having me change my account information for Adobe and Sony, even though it certainly looked like it was Adobe digital rights management software that wouldn't let me authorize the book to my ereader.  (Thank you Sony!)
After about 7 hours of dealing with this problem, spread over several days, I bought the book again.  In that time, I could have flown across country, bought the book, and read the book on the return flight.  Software that makes tasks harder to perform is not "good" software.