PSE 10 - multiple failed installs; I give up

Question

Adobe staff and forum members,
I really wanted to upgrade to PSE 10 (and in fact, I felt sort of forced to because PSE 8 does not support the RAW files for my new camera) but I ended up getting so frustrated last night that I returned my downloaded copy of PSE 10 and PRE 10 (the combo pack).  I got PSE 10 to run for a day or two, then it began crashing immediately upon launching the Organizer. I did several uninstalls and reinstalls to no avail, then spent about two hours on the phone with two customer service reps yesterday, doing multiple installs/uninstalls, multiple downloads of the files, etc.  I finally gave up and did the return, but I'm writing to express my extreme displeasure with the quality of this product and the download option for getting the files.  Customer service was of little help, and the second person I dealt with was abrupt and didn't explain what he was asking me to do.  He had me opening what I thought was an online chat to discuss the problem, but it turned out that I was allowing him to take over the desktop on my computer and work on my machine.  I am extremely uncomfortable with someone half a world away taking over my machine, for both security reasons (and he was changing security settings on my machine without asking or explaining) and because it will make it harder for me to replicate what he did in the (very likely) event that I have to address the same problem in the future.  I was also irritated that he didn't clearly ask me if it would be okay with me to take over my machine; this sort of request seems like something that should be very clearly requested and explained.
After it became pretty clear that my downloads were failing multiple times, I was offered the option to order disks and handle the install that way, but of course there is an extra cost for that option, which I was trying to avoid in the first place. (And I'm not at all sure that going that route would result in a complete, trouble-free download and installation.)
Overall, I don't feel that Adobe does a very good job of readying its products for launch and testing them thoroughly in various user configurations. I'm not a techie, but I see lots and lots of frustration on the forums and in various other places regarding perceived premature launches, poor customer support, etc. I realize software has to work on an almost infinite variety of machines and configurations, but it just doesn't seem like it should be this hard to install and use a product. What's more inexcusable to me, though, is Adobe's customer service after the sale. As I said, the second rep was abrupt, didn't explain what he was doing, and didn't solve the problem. It's also difficult to deal with international-based customer service at times when there are language or accent difficulties, which are particularly challenging when you're dealing with something complicated and technical. I tried in vain to reach someone in the US sales office this morning to complain, but the telephone system does not give you an option to talk to someone without knowing a name or extension.
In short, Adobe has lost a customer and it's a shame for all concerned.  PSE has a lot of powerful and neat features that I hoped to learn more about and use, but it's just not possible at this point for this user.
26kel

Answer 1

26kel I apologize for your experience.  If you can please private message me with your e-mail and phone number I can review your previous interaction and provide feedback to the technician and his supervisor.