Serial number problem with CS6

Question

This morning, after running for over a year, the serial number that came with the copy of CS6 that I bought last August stopped working. I got an "invalid serial number error" and that was the end of CS6. I tried getting help from Adobe, but to no avail. The website was full of deadends or irrelevant pages. When I finally got into the chat cue, and I still don't know how I found it because I haven't been able to find it again, after an hour of waiting I had to go to work. With only 9 other people in line ahead of me.
So I've uninstalled and reinstalled CS6 twice, but it keeps telling me I have an invalid serial number. It is the serial number I registered with Adobe last year and that has worked since then. It is the same number that shows up when I look up "installed products" in my AdobeID account. Regardless, it is now inexplicably invalid. I found a post suggesting I run CC Cleaner. I did it--twice. I also adjusted file folder permissions on the Adobe program folder based on someone else's advice, but neither solved anything.
My impression is that it isn't an installation problem but that due to a mistake on Adobe's end, maybe due to an Adobe or MS auto update, my serial number now really is invalid, though it is paid for. This would mean there is nothing wrong with my installation, but just the serial number. With that in mind, and also that I don't want to deal with the aggravation any longer, I bit the bullet and bought...another copy of CS6. That's right, I will have paid twice for one copy because of a problem that is likely Adobe's fault. Congratulations Adobe! I came onto this forum so I could get an answer to the following question: who do I send the bill to? Who at Adobe reimburses their users when this kind of thing happens? If customer support had been better I might have been willing to hang in there while waiting for a fix, but it is obvious that none of the options available are made to assist customers so much as to drive them away. If I had known of an alternative software that could replace PS, Illustrator, and InDesign, I would have bought it instead.
AP

Answer 1

I know I won't get reimbursed, the question was rhetorical.
I bought the software through my university supplier of all our software, so it is legit. The point is that I paid for it, I should be able to use it. If it doesn't work, there should be a way to tell Adobe. I wouldn't be angry about it now if not for the fact I couldn't even send the information to Adobe.
This same thing happened with my copy of IBM SPSS and QVR's nVivo X10 software. The problem is that the way these software keys are installed happens to be very sensitive to system changes or even updates on the other end, at the developer's servers that maintain licenses. I understand why they have the keys, but the way they are implemented ruins the user experience for me. When I spend about two weeks every year fixing software glitches like this, that's my whole Christmas vacation , they need to improve the software because it is becoming more trouble than it is worth.
I wish there was a competitor for Adobe because I would love to spend my money there, even if it costs more, just to switch to another application and remind Adobe that their monopoly on the market could crumble if the customer experience starts going south.
AP