How can I upgrade my CS6 from CS5.5 that is tied to another ID?

Question

Greetings.
I have contacted tech support by phone and chat and neither time did I get the help I needed.
My company bought CS5.5 a few years ago.  The woman that had my job at the time registered that version under her Adobe ID.  I recently purchased CS6 (upgrade-download version) and registered it under my Adobe ID.  When I run the installer and get to the part where I select a previous version, I choose 5.5 and enter the serial #.  It tells me that the serial # is not valid and to choose another.  I contacted support and they told me that they cannot help because the previous version is under another employees ID. 
This is not a very effective registration model.  People come and go from jobs all the time, to have them tie a software version to their personal ID is ridiculous.  Look at what has happened to me.  I cannot locate the old employee to get her information and tech support won't do anything.
How am I supposed to activate this software?  Is anybody from Adobe out there reading this?  After 4 phone calls and 2 chat sessions, I have no trust in technical support anymore.
Please, please advise!

Answer 1

Is the software owned by the company or the employee?  The software should have been registered under a company Adobe ID and not an employee.  It sounds like that serial number is now associated with the employee's own Adobe account and not the company so essentially she owns that serial number.  Your company doesn't sound too efficient when purchasing and managing their own software.
Your IT department should have had control of all software and ID's.  Have you checked with them to see if they have access to that account?  Is it possible the employee took the software with her when she left then installed it on her own computer?  That might be why your serial number no longer works.
Adobe's tech support stinks especially if you ask a question outside of their knowledge and what they have on a script.  They may as well have monkeys answering the phone.  Actually monkeys are easier to understand than the reps are.
Maybe somebody else will come along with a better resolution.  You should return the upgrade of CS6 and may have to either get the CC version or re-purchase the full-price CS6 while it is still available.