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Adobe

Customer Service Ratings and Comments

Adobe is ranked #213 out of the 301 companies that have a CustomerServiceScoreboard.com rating with an overall score of 28.01 out of a possible 200. This score rates Adobe customer service and customer support as Terrible.

NEGATIVE Comments

91 Negative Comments out of 96 Total Comments is 94.79%.

POSITIVE Comments

5 Positive Comments out of 96 Total Comments is 5.21%.

Issue Resolution

Reachability

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Terrible Overall Customer Service Rating
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  • My wife and I have been users of Adobe products for over 10 years. In 2007 we purchased Adobe Creative Suite 3 Design Premium. We have had trouble with the product ever since. Soon after installation the program stopped working. I was advised to reinstall the program. It still would not work. I finally had to hire a computer technician to deal with Adobe to fix the problem. This cost us $250. Since that time the program has stopped working three times. Each time the following message appears “Licensing for this product has stopped working. You cannot use the product at this time. You must repair the problem by uninstalling and then reinstalling the product or contact your IT administrator or Adobe customer support for help.”

    The last time this happened was on July 14. This time all attempts to reinstall the program failed. I called Adobe technical support. The person I talked to was unable to help. I was given a Case I.D. and told the issue was being raised to the next level. I am writing this on August 24. The problem still has not been resolved.

    I have talked to several Adobe technical support people. In no case was I able to reach people I had talked to previously. Each time I had to talk to a different person who could (or would) not connect me to someone that could help me. On August 11 I was finally called by a person (Manish Kuman) who said he would resolve the problem. He has been “working” on the problem ever since. On August 20 he called to say he was going to install Creative Suite 4 Design Premium on my computer. He took control of my computer and said he would call me back when he was finished. He never installed the program and never called me back. When I checked the computer in the late afternoon I found he had signed off. I also found that all my security programs (firewall, virus protection, spyware) had been disabled.

    I sent certified letters to the Adobe President & CEO, Mr. Shantanu Narayen on July 21 and August 3 describing the problem and asking for help. I have receipts that verify each letter was received. However, I have received no response from anyone to either letter. This is a strong indication, at least to me, that Adobe corporate management condones, and may even encourage, this type of customer abuse.

    Adobe management appears to have a callous disregard for its customers. I suspect that Adobe is systematically trying to bully its customers into unnecessarily upgrading their programs (at substantial cost) by selling programs that are designed to periodically fail and then setting up a byzantine technical support apparatus so that the customer cannot get timely help.

    Desuba 8/24/10 7:46AM

  • Amazingly, astoundingly unresponsive. I've spent 2 months using their support portal and calling weekly w/o one single reply from a human being either by phone or email. They promise to 'escalate' when I call.

    Got a email (auto-generated) 6/21/2010 approving my return for refund. About $1800 in question and it's now August almost 3 months later, still no refund. Can you float that amount month after month? BE VERY CAREFUL!

    Anonymous 8/9/10 11:44AM

  • In all my 20 years of experience with customer support, I have to say that Adobe has the WORST support I have encountered. My request was simple. We upgraded our InDesign CS2 version to CS5, but since there are bugs with CS5 and they didn't make it fully compatible with the CS4 products that we're using (brilliant Adobe software programmers!) we wanted to use the CS4 version. Easy enough, the license gave us the rights. First we had to pay for a download (yeah, they're charging about $30 to download!) and when it came to entering the serial number, the true colors of their customer support began. I've been communicating with their support team for over 2 weeks to get a serial number for a product that we purchased. Absolutely worst support ever. And when they say they'll get back to you within 24 hours, good luck. Even a huge company like Microsoft is easier to work with on things like this.
    I felt sorry for Adobe when Apple decided not to support Flash on their iPads, iPhones, etc. After this experience, I hope they loose that war.

    Frustrated 8/5/10 12:46PM

  • I tried to install my CS5 Master Collection on a Sunday, didn't work and the tech support is not open. It is now Thursday with more than 14 hours of time directly on the phone with them and also waiting for calls back from the elevated tech support. After three requests (different days) and promises that I would be called back in 1/2 - 1 hour, I call them back each day after waiting 4 - 5 hours after my call. Is there a problem? Sure is! Am I frustrated? Yes! My software doesn't work and resolution still is in the distance.. . . . .(Kind of makes 1 - 2 hour waits by other people in this forum a little trivial in comparison.)

    Frustrated Adobe Customer 8/5/10 11:52AM

  • If you (like millions of others online) use PAYPAL for online purchases, you better think twice before buying anything from Adobe.


    I purchased software a week ago with my PAYPAL account. Adobe hit my card for the purchase price then REJECTED the order because I (apparently) entered the wrong phone number on the order form. They gave me no option to call and correct the alleged problem. They just canceled the order and basically said sorry, go buy this through one of our retailers.


    But it gets better.


    Even though the order was cancelled, Adobe still FROZE the purchase amount on my PAYPAL account. It's been a week now and this money is still FROZEN ("pending" is the actual terminology).


    Calling Adobe customer service is an exercise in futility. All they can tell me is the order is canceled (I already know that) and I should place another order! Sure! Let's see if they cancel that order and tie up even more of my money.


    If they do the "someone will call you back in 24 hours" trick don't fall for it because I did and they don't call back. It's incredible to me that a company of this size would treat its customers with so much callous disregard. I guess they are just too big to care.


    The irony of this is, if the order was rejected because they suspected fraud, how would the victim feel about having their money frozen anyway? This is completely irresponsible on Adobe's part, and their inability to fix the problem (much less understand the problem) is annoying as hell.


    Before you buy anything from Adobe online you better know what you're getting into.


    I wonder how many Adobe customers use PAYPAL? This kind of sloppiness should make PAYPAL think twice about it's relationship with Adobe.


    Sending a copy of this to PAYPAL customer service also.

    CBNY 8/5/10 7:04AM

  • Our university bought a Adobe Creative Suite 3 Design Standard with one activation (aprox 500euros).

    We were unlucky and the computer where the software was installed cracked. So we call adobe and explain our situation. We just wanted adobe to unlock our activation code but they told us that we had a multi-license and that we should clean our computer. So I did that, and even format the computer. I wasted hours and days and health.

    After more than 10 calls another solution came out. To buy a new license and pay for it.

    A nightmare that came true.

    Toni 7/29/10 4:08AM

  • I found the Adobe website to be cumbersome when I was looking to initiate an online chat session for tech support. After clicking in circles, I finally just called, went through a lengthy menu to narrow down the kind of help I needed, and was informed by a recording that someone would call me back - by the way, this recording has some rather embarrassing noise problems. Someone did call me back, only to say that he only dealt with installs (even though that was not the option I selected from the phone menu). So I waited a while longer to be put through to a different tech with a heavy accent (which is why I prefer online chat), who then wouldn't even listen to the problem unless I first paid $39 for tech support. Of course, I did not pay and, therefore, am stuck with having to look for support from non-Adobe sources for using Adobe products. I would consider this very poor customer service from any company, but especially one that already charges such high prices for their products!

    Anonymous 7/27/10 4:01PM

  • WOW, just WOW.

    It's amazing how a company with impressive products has such brain-dead, piss-poor customer service.

    I spend hours and multiple phone calls trying to get a simple refund. The process took an entire month and it felt like I was pulling teeth.

    A REFUND. You know adobe? When I return an item to you and you send my money back?

    In my 40-something years on this planet as a consumer of goods and services I can honestly and wholeheartedly say: Adobe has the worst customer service I experienced.



    boomboom 7/27/10 12:42PM

  • This is yet another large corporation who having bought the world believes they can treat their customers any way they want to. I have contacted them with three separate issues in as many days and still don't have any of them resolved. I am tired of wasting my time talking to people with minimal knowleged and even less autonomy / authority. Adobe - I will do the best I can to avoid purchasing your products!!!

    Anonymous 7/25/10 1:05PM

  • I spent over 3 hours over 3 days and 3 calls trying to get CS5 installed.

    Yesterday they promised a technician who could get it installed on my computer would call me today at 2pm.

    It's 2:47.

    No call.

    Always loved the software, but not now that I can't even get it installed DAYS after I've spent huge sums of money for it.

    The tech support is beyond worst.

    I wish the English language had a word that adequately described the horrifying experience I've had with Adobe tech support.

    But it doesn't.

    This company is doomed.

    Dissatisfied 7/1/10 11:55AM

  • Adobe's customer service is one of the most ridiculous experiences I have had in a long time. I am super patient and rarely complain. To give you an idea of how bad it was, I almost blew a gasket. I was sent to 8+ people over two hour plus calls. Each person was like hitting the reset button on my problem as I have to reexplain the situation. I bought a volume license for 10 machines (thousands of dollars). Once that was known I was treated like steerage on the Titanic (while sinking). They told me I must buy a contract for $40 per question from an outside vendor. Funny thing... I was willing to pay! I just wanted help, and knew they had me by the balls. So what do you do? They would not even take my money for help. So, hours wasted and zero headway. Not like i can vote by purchasing other software. They get you no matter how bad they are.

    Anonymous 6/28/10 9:16PM

  • Adobe has fallen off the map in terms of customer service. I'm so sick of outsourced employees whose accents make it easier to give up than try to understand what they're saying. Adobe is so bureaucratic and inhuman in the way they dispense with customers issues. You repeat your problem over and over and over and they simply don't understand no matter how simple the request. Then they transfer you endlessly and the cycle repeats. Adobe products have dropped in quality the past several years, upgrades don't resolve problems that have been in the software for years and it's inexcusable for the price. This company will phase itself out in 10 years if it doesn't pick up the torch soon.

    Anonymous 6/22/10 11:29PM

  • While accepting the legitimacy of my complaint, and though willing to entertain the concept of a refund, the last "customer carer" was procedurally unable to do so until such time as a serial number would be issued to me...THE LACK OF WHOSE VERY PROVISION BY ADOBE IN THE FIRST PLACE WAS CAUSING ME TO ASK FOR MY MONEY BACK. An item is sold on the basis that it is available. A customer purchases it on that basis. Once parted from his money, the customer finds that the product is actually only available at some indeterminate time in the future. Unhappy, the customer asks for his money back. Sorry, the customer can't have his money back until the product has become available. This, after getting three different reasons ensuing from three different case numbers for why I couldn't download the program. Only today was I informed that it is, as yet, unreleased, but that it should be coming out in the middle of June; that would have been three days ago. Worthy of Kafka.

    D Browne 6/18/10 11:50AM

  • The most misleading service I've ever experienced. Assured me of things ahead of purchase that turned out to not be possible upon receiving unreturnable software (cross platform use of programs, etc.)
    No one there seems to know how their own products are supposed to work, and will string you along wasting your time for hours, and pass you around from department to department.
    Thousands of dollars and many hours on the phone utterly wasted.

    M.S. 6/10/10 4:12PM


  • I have reached a breaking point with Adobe and their lack of customer service. I just received notification that my case is closed and I would receive my refund in 2 to 4 weeks. This after waiting 3 1/2 weeks since the problem began. The problem started when one of Adobe's online tech persons sold me the wrong upgrade. I doubled checked the order and realized the error. I called support (which is a joke title) and was told the matter would be resolved in 24 to 48 hours with an email notification. I did not receive any notification after I called. Again, I called and was told it would 5 to 7 days. So I waited. Still no email or refund. I called a third time and was told it would be 5 to 7 days. In the meantime, I lost the time I had set aside to learn the new features because I had projects coming in requiring some of those features. After the 10 days, I had to call again. This time I was told I had to fill out a LOD form which should have been filled out the first time around. Now I have waited an additional 7 days and received an email saying my case is closed and it would 2 to 4 weeks before I get my refund. And then I will have to go through this ordeal and order the software again. Plus I lost out on the free shipping. That will absolutely ruin any shot of possible jobs I have lined up. I am a one person studio and cannot loose jobs. They may have millions in the bank and can loose a customer, but I cannot. Adobe has really screwed me over. I love the software but the customer service is worse than Quark. If there were alternatives out there, believe me I would be switching software. I need my refund NOW! Not in 2 or 4 weeks. They really should do a better job of training their tech and support people. They have no idea on how to help someone.

    Biff 6/10/10 1:11PM

  • I have never seen a company try so hard to avoid its own customers, or actively prevent feedback

    Anonymous 6/9/10 4:03AM

  • Their interest in the end user ranges from very bad to non-existent. "You bought it. It doesn't work. We'll send you an e-mail when it does"

    Geo 5/20/10 5:05PM

  • I have just spent 2 hours trying to get an "invalid serial number" error message corrected. I lost the contact number but called the chat line with the case number only to be told that they didn't know where to forward my call. And they had the case number!

    Bugpoppa 5/19/10 8:16PM

  • I love adobe products, but am extremely dissatisfied with their customer service.

    Strike 1. I attempted to purchase CS5 Design Premium, to my new address and email. The gent ordered CS5 Design Standard, to my parents address, with no email.

    Cancelled the order, even recieved a notice that the order was cancelled.

    Strike 2. Two weeks after recieving the order I WANTED, this old 'cancelled' order is being processed, charged to my account, and cannot be cancelled because it's been 'sent to the warehouse' for shipping. *cough*

    I'm told I have to wait for it arrive, and call them immediately to return it for a full refund. We'll try this, but their track record isn't good so far.

    Angry Pie Lady 5/19/10 9:54AM

  • adobe treats their customer like trash, someone needs to organize a class action suit against them for not supporting their software and just telling customers OH!!! it doesn't work with Windows 7 because they want you to spend another $1800 dollars for their next version that doesn't work with anything.

    angry123 5/5/10 5:41PM

  • Adobe has one of the worst customer service. It would be enjoyable to maybe once get someone on the phone that their primary language is English. All they do is repeat what you say which is patronizing. Additionally they never have a true answer. It is like riding a ferris wheel...you go round and round and never get anywhere.
    Horrible service! Would rather buy from another publisher!!!!

    capalm2002 5/3/10 7:25AM

  • I will never purchase another Adobe product in my life!! The support is just the worst I have ever seen. Software license stopped working on CS3. After 5 hours of support the first time the software was still not working. They were to have a specialist call me back. No one called. I called them waited on hold for one hour and was told there is help on the internet for my problem, I could not get her to even point me in the right direction. During the first phone call they had me change so much in my registry that none of my other microsoft programs will work. My system is a mess now! It is as if someone hacked it after they were done. Windows security alerts, Office programs will not open. Adobe needs a CLASS ACTION LAW SUIT filed against them for selling a product that does not work and selling us support that does not work

    Mary Ann 4/15/10 4:59PM

  • Adobe Premiere Pro CS4 cannot properly import Premiere Pro 2.0 project files without serious instability issues (it crashed and/or locks up). Adobe included HD editing capability as part of Premiere Pro 2.0 and advertised this capability, even though there was no ability in the 2.0 release to render HD output.

    This was sold as a way to edit HD now, and render in future releases. After spending several hundred hours editing HD projects, we are now faced with no ability to render these projects in HD without doing the editing all over again.

    Our projects vary in size, but average about 300 gb each, with some approaching the terabyte size.

    We have a case currently open with Adobe, but it has already been several weeks, and we are not getting any resolution. Worse than that, a week has passed without even an update from Adobe, and after calling them, I was told that I should be hearing from them, this was two days ago.

    It is apparent that we will be completing our current projects, and working at 1/4 the pace as we deal with contract crashes. We set autosave to 5 minutes, and often manually save every few minutes, and then copy the saved project file to a backup directory with a date and revision suffix.

    This is a total waste of productivity, and our direction now is shifting to how we can get our studio off of the Adobe software and onto an open source Unix/Linux based solution.

    7 year Adobe user 4/15/10 3:31PM

  • Adobe does not accept ownership for bugs in their software. We have a Photoshop Extended CS4 file that somehow thinks that there are no printers installed on a Windows XP/Pro computer. Only one Photoshop file causes this problem, this is obviously a bug in the software since their software wrote the Photoshop file.

    After two support cases, Adobe insists it's a file problem, and they are not responsible to support it. However, the file was created by their software.

    One would think that they would see this as a perfect opportunity to debug the file causing this problem, and to fix the problem. It is apparent that Adobe does not want to fix bugs, I am extremely disappointed with their support

    7 year Adobe user 4/15/10 3:22PM

  • I have not been able to find a place to file a formal complaint about Adobe's customer support service and this the first place I have found that I can try. Recently, I purchased PhotoshopCS4Student Edition for Windows7 and my pc crashes and I have not installed CS4 yet. So now I am done with pc.s and I buy Mac. I call Adobe to see if I can exchange the program for a Mac platform, they say no problem, they will sent PhotoshopCS4for Mac. The program comes in mail, but they sent me DesignPremCS4. Now if they want me to have that program I'll take it, but I need a serial number. I call support the first time and I get someone from another country who tries to help and transfers me to someone here in the states who tells me the are going to give me Design Premium for my troubles when the call gets disconnected. I call back several time and I spend 6 HOURS on phone with people from other countries that can barely speak English, I even had 1 guy who tried to lie to me and tell me he was in Georgia, Texas. Now maybe Texas has a city called Georgia but I doubt it. The next day I called the San Jose Corporate office to file a complaint and I got transferred to another country were I was told by a very apologetic man that he was sorry and hopes that I stay an Adobe customer. Now, I dont want anything more than the product I paid for, but heck, all they could do was say they were sorry?!?!? Adobe, you need change your customer service because it SUCKS!!!

    JRGT12 4/8/10 2:14PM

  • A nightmare dealing with Customer Service on a cross-platform exchange.

    c5nest 4/4/10 3:47PM

  • Adobe Customer Service are totally pathetic. I’ve tried almost every day for the last month to have them sort out my Adobe account without any success. I have 7 Adobe products but only 5 are listed in my Adobe account. They say the other 2 products are registered to me but they are in a different account. I’ve asked them to merge both accounts or create a new account but they seem incapable of doing anything. “Customer Service” doesn’t seem to be the correct title for these people. If I log a case with them they simply “close” or “withdraw” the case without rectifying the problem.

    Adobe Victim 4/1/10 12:04PM

  • I was excited about buying a new adobe product but no one could answer my simple basic feature question. I spent a half hour being routed around to different people. The next day I called the number on the Adobe site and I was charged $5 for the call. Adobe never made any mention of this charge.

    Ben 3/31/10 8:27AM

  • *Creative Suite 4 Design Premium would not install on my system. (Windows 7 64 Bit)
    *90 minute wait before talking to anyone using their 800 number.
    *Never got a response from the back and forth note support system in place on their website.
    Having a case number was useless to me.
    *I eventually resolved the issue myself.

    This is the worst technical support I've ever received.

    Anonymous 3/30/10 3:15PM

  • Adobe tech support and customer service has gone to crap. I can't understand any of the techs. Most of them seem to be reading canned comments out of a book and don't really know or understand the products. Photoshop is an expensive program and should have good support. If there was an alternative program I would buy it and leave them in a New York minute. They have enjoyed a market without much direct competition for a long time and they have become greedy and arrogant. This will lead to there demise.

    equis 3/26/10 6:45PM

  • I've been on hold for well over an hr now and their live chat option just says it is busy!

    Anonymous 3/22/10 2:37PM

  • I am a new customer to one of Adobe's products. I received a purchase order receipt from my company's purchasing agent with a link to download my newly purchased software. I was unable to log on to the site for the license as I am a new customer and the site will only accept established customers. I called customer service and gave up hope after staying on hold for 45 minutes. This customer service is horrible. If Adobe made a living from its customer service they would be, and should be, out of business!!!

    Anonymous 3/18/10 12:25PM

  • Their support is terrible. I explained from the beginning that I received a copy of Photoshop Elements bundled with my Wacom tablet and that the S/N for my product was not letting me activate the product on Mac OS. I called on the phone and confirmed I could receive a new serial number if I sent in a proof of purchase. They said proof of the Wacom tablet was good enough. I purchased the product in Japan, so I confirmed with the support staff on chat that they would accept a receipt in Japanese. They assured me they would send me a new serial number, no problem. So I dig through my receipts to finally find it, send a picture of the receipt, the CD, manuals, etc. They reply that they could not read my name on the receipt. Well, as anyone who has ever purchased anything in Japan knows, they do not put names on receipts here unless the product is shipped. I resend the receipt showing the entire thing and how my name is nowhere to be found. They reply saying the software should be listed as an item. Well, I did not purchase the software, I purchased a Wacom tablet which was bundled with the software. After all this headache they tell me that they cannot provide support for OEM software. Why is it my fault their serial numbers don't work? I paid extra for the tablet that is bundled with the software for no reason. Am I supposed to call Wacom about this? Why couldn't they tell me that from the begining? So much of my time was wasted, believing I could get a new serial number.

    Fortunately, Photshop Elements is very cheap software. I feel terrible for the people on this site who were out hundreds of dollars. While I was previously considering purchasing CS4, my own expereinces and those I have read here make me realize there is a serious risk of paying for software, having activation errors, spending days and days contacting support, and in the end not being able to use the software. Adobe, you have serious issues and you are not getting any more of my business until you can prove to me that you are willing to solve them. If piracy is killing your company (as your employee complains above) it is not because of losing business to people who want to use the sofware without paying (these people will never pay anyway), it is because you are losing business to people concerned that even after paying they will not be able to use your software. This is a real problem.

    Anonymous 3/18/10 12:07AM

  • I should have read the customer service responses before I bought Photoshop Elements 8. I NEVER would have purchased it. I had Elements 5 - no problem, but 8 is a different story. On hold for over a half an hour already and only music. Not one person.

    Anonymous 3/16/10 5:21PM

  • I've NEVER seen such terrible customer support. My company has spent many tens of thousands of dollars on Adobe products. I recently encountered an issue which was preventing me from completing a deliverable. Called support. After **4 1/2 hours** of holding, transferring, verifying information over and over and over, we were no further ahead. Had to give up.
    Another day, **another 4 hours** on the phone with Adobe, holding, being transferred, verifying account information over and over and over, we were told that it was a known problem, there was a solution, but in order to help us, we had to purchase a support ticket. No problem, we say. More transferring and holding. Purchased a ticket. Transferred back to tech support. After **another hour and a half** of holding, we had to give up for the day.
    Another day, **another 2 hours** on the phone, holding, being transferred, verifying account information and support ticket number over and over and over, I was told that it's a known problem and THERE IS NO SOLUTION.
    A combined total of MORE THAN 10 HOURS on the phone with them, to be told there is no solution - AFTER being told there is a solution, but to get it, we had to pay.
    There is no excuse for Adobe's treatment of customers, especially considering the price of their products. This company is the most unethical company with whom I have EVER dealt.

    sylvania 3/11/10 4:24PM

  • Adobe -- has NO Customer Service and NO Support -- how do you speak to a representative - explain your situation -- informed that you would be taken care of -- then put on hold for 30 min and disconnected.

    ADOBE BLOWS !!!!!!!!

    tennrunner 3/1/10 6:51PM

  • AWFUL AWFUL AWFUL customer support, the absolute worst. What sucks is you hand over an arm and a leg for their products and then you can reach anybody but a machine! I waited for 37 minutes and finally gave up.

    lepadus 2/8/10 12:28PM

  • After repeated calls to Adobe's "customer support", not once did I receive a return answer to a question, even though it was promised within 24 hours. Their products do not live up to their promotional material.
    This company has the absolute worst support I've ever experienced in over 30 years as a video/film professional.

    Anonymous 2/2/10 5:33PM

  • I was told by a customer service person that a download link would be emailed to me for an older version of Photoshop i owned.

    That email never came. I called back twice more, each time being told the issue was being "escalated" to another division, and that an email would follow.

    Ha! Downgraded is more like it! Repeatedly, I emailed through my case number comments and questions. Everytime, I got the same "canned" response - I don't think people really look at these cases, computers just extract keywords from complaints and send out the most appropriate canned response.

    In my opinion, Adobe is devoid of corporate integrity, and a perfect example of how companies develop great products, grow quickly, and finally slam into a wall. I would not own Adobe stock now - having been through what I experienced, I can sense a growing incompetance in their leadership.

    iamanidiot 2/2/10 5:30PM

  • Wanted to charge me for a technical issue, because they termed it as a "How to issue", when the product was not working properly. I explained that this was disinenuous and she said that is their rules.

    Anonymous 2/1/10 8:18AM

  • ADOBE Customer support is THE WORST. After 70 minutes, most of which was waiting to talk to someone, I get a brand new person, and then get hung up on. I I reported a problem to them in May 2009 and it still isn't resolved. All I hear from them is "we haven't heard from you" The real situation is that I havene't heard from them

    Anonymous 1/28/10 10:59AM

  • These guys are the worst! I've been on hold for over 45 minutes now and "Live Chat" has been "BUSY" as well. Trying to get them verification that my college daughter is in fact in college. There's a limit on the number of MB for the verification process though and my daughter exceeded it with stuff they don't want. I'd just like to be able to delete the stuff they don't want from her case file so I can send them valid stuff. Are they listening??? So stupid!

    Beav 1/26/10 12:08PM

  • "Only" had to wait on hold for about thirty minutes, but both days I've called, I've been told the same lame thing by off-shore tech support who are obviously reading from a script: "I have to send your question to our higher authority, and I promise you they will email you within two days." Both times, same story. Both times, no email at all. I will not be buying Adobe's products again.

    Anonymous 1/22/10 11:54AM

  • Been on hold for 50 minutes so far. I'm sure it will be longer! Having dealt with Adobe Customer Service in the past I can say from experience Adobe has the WORST customer service I've ever dealt with in my entire life! SO BAD IN FACT THAT IF AND THAT'S A BIG IF! YOU EVER GET CONNECTED TO A REAL PERSON THE ODDS OF YOU BEING ABLE TO UNDERSTAND THEM ARE ABOUT .1%. I don't have anything against indians but I want to be able to understand the customer service reps I call or they're of no use to me and don't service me at all! THIS IS RIDICULOUS ADOBE CLEAN UP YOUR ACT!! THIS IS INSANELY UNPROFESSIONAL.

    By the way I'm calling because I bought CS4 for Windows 6 Months ago but will be purchasing a MacBook Pro tomorrow and want to get a Mac Serial Number. BUT AT THIS RATE I WILL NEVER GET THROUGH TO ANYONE!! #adobecustomerservicesucks (For lack of a better term it just SUCKS!)

    Anonymous 1/21/10 6:17PM

  • Have spent about 1.5 hours just trying to get a receipt on a purchase for my accounting department. Very inept service.

    Anonymous 1/20/10 8:32AM

  • Very bad customer service. I was on hold for over an hour twice before finally speaking with someone. Then put on hold for several times and transferred to several different departments before issue was resolved. Spent two hours on the phone with them. Not rude, but definitely not friendly.

    Rick 1/18/10 11:52AM

  • Today is Dec 15th and STILL no solutions from Adobe. I called and again faxed in receipt and have not received the promised call back from 2 hours ago.
    Sent in same info 3 x's now. had 2 phone msgs asking me to call back but did not leave a phone number. Actually had case closed twice. Spent 4 more hours on hold. Now 4 months later and no resolution. Adobe is best case for study on how to FAIL at customer service.



    Sent: Wednesday, September 16, 2009 6:32 AM

    Subject: RE: Told by tech service invalid serial #

    Can I get a solution reponse to this or even a return message----PLEASE!


    ________________________________________
    Sent: Tuesday, August 25, 2009 2:58 PM
    )
    Subject: Told by tech service invalid serial #

    Tech services transferred me 8-24-09 to customer service where I was on hold from 11:15am Eastern to 3:30pm.

    please contact me to resolve.

    This is 2nd request plus the 3 hr 15 min hold.

    Told by tech service invalid serial #


    Acrobat Pro 9 using on Windows XP Home

    Zebra3 12/15/09 10:12AM

  • After 30 minutes on hold, spoke to tech with thick accent (no doubt offshore support), who then spent 10 minutes registering our software and giving very basic solutions. the tech then put us on hold for 40 minutes with no updates, then the connection was lost. The tech had our contact info but did not email or call us. Attempted to dial back in, and waited another 30 minutes on hold before giving up. Tried submitting a web request - no response after 24 hours. Why would anyone actually PAY for this support??

    auntiea 12/9/09 12:33PM

  • Just brutal, two hours on the phone and I haven't yet spoken with someone who has used a mac or the software I have a problem with.

    Dan 12/4/09 7:58PM

  • The outsourced customer service agents are idiots.

    KB 12/4/09 2:09PM

  • I have a problem with Photoshop Premiere I have tried to use the Troubleshooting suggestions to no avail I have just tried to call the numbers listed on the site for Tech Support and customer services and both are unobtainable

    ROH 12/4/09 5:26AM

  • I have had a catalogue of problems with Adobe. I use the usual Flash, Adobe Reader plus PSE 7, Acrobat Pro, Premiere 7. Too many examples to list them all.

    Just one example: I lost my PSE 7 disc and set up a support request to see what I could do. Was told to download the trial version and enter my product key. Did that and it didn’t work. Spent ages on web and found out (not on Adobe site) that this didn’t work as I needed a disc version not a download version. Updated my support request with this info, gave up waiting for response and rang Adobe. Took ages and told same as before. Explained that it didn’t work and was told it would and to try again. Did that three times and still didn’t work.

    Rang them again and told to order new disc, gave address (PO Box) and credit card number. Card debited but no sign of disc. Received a message on support case asking for physical address not PO Box. Gave physical address and still no disc. Rang and gave physical address again. Still no disc. Credit card debited again (!!!!) and still no disc. Rang again and complained and given web address of download version that would work. That did work but still no disc. Received message on support site asking for physical address and still no disc after another four weeks.

    Just left another message – the saga continues.

    Also, when are they going to produce Windows 7 / 64 bit versions of anything???

    Steve 11/27/09 3:31PM

  • Simply the worst Customer Service of any company I know!!! It takes an hour to get someone to answer their phones, another 30 minutes to get transferred to the person you need to speak with (assuming you are not disconnected), and then the person on the phone is completely incapable of accomplishing anything. This isn't one incompetent representative of the company...its everyone I've spoken with! They won't let you speak with a manager, no one will identify themselves (by this I mean a first name and a company ID number) so that you can speak to the same person twice. They say they will call when they have certain information related to my inquiry, but they simply never call. Amazingly I believe they have no intention of addressing any customer complaints...its just a delay tactic so the customers will stop calling.

    annoyed71 11/17/09 6:13PM

  • July 13 - bought Dreamweaver CS4 upgrade online; wouldnt install. Called Adobe and was told my Studio8 Dreamweaver wasn't an eligible upgrade (no mention of that in the online store); started refund process for $199 and Adobe deactivated the serial number for the upgrade I'd purchased. Told I'd get the refund in about 5 days.
    July 28 - after no progress re the refund, called Adobe again - was asked to send a Letter of Software Destruction. I did. Told the refund would appear on my Visa card statement within 2 billing cycles.
    August 31 - opened an online case, since still no refund.
    Sept 3 - got a form email that they were "reviewing" my refund request and it would appear on my credit card within 1-2 billing cycles.
    Oct 28 - still no refund. Called Adobe (India). Got no resolution. Asked to speak to a supervisor (not possible); asked to speak to someone in the US (not possible); told my case is in the "refund department"; was given a case escalation number, told I'd get an email from Adobe.
    Called Visa - told by them that because it's now 90 days past the purchase date, there is nothing they can do (Adobe knows this and stalls people). I am going to report them to the BBB in San Jose, CA. This is just unacceptable!

    AZArtist 10/28/09 12:10PM

  • I purchased an upgrade to Photoshop CS4 on July 31 in response to an Adobe email offering full-year on-line training. I have been trying ever since (today is Oct 26) to get access to the training. I've spoken to customer support, customer services, sales, and others. They cannot seem to handle this simple problem. I get switched from dept to dept, from person to person. I've been told someone will call in "24 to 48 hours" (always exactly tha). No one does, of course, I haven't mentioned my experience on hold -- hours and hours and hours.

    Bill 10/26/09 10:37AM

  • spent SEVEN WEEKS attempting to get a simple cross platform swap for cs4. called maybe two dozen times, waited on hold for countless hours, spoke to maybe 20 people in total (including several supervisors), was promised a call-back six times and never received one. finally buckled and bought the software all over again. I never thought I'd say this, but it actually is worth all that money just to never have to deal with those people (hopefully) ever again.

    Anonymous 10/21/09 7:32AM

  • Adobe is behaving shamefully re its appalling customer service. Are they mad, soon someone
    will respond and create serious competition. They have no foresight or honour.

    sue 10/19/09 6:12PM

  • Yup.. On hold for 1 hour and 25 mins. Pretty lame. I've listened to the same two crappy 'songs' about 8 times. I'm so bored I'm actually writing here.

    -Lonelyloserlimbo

    Anonymous 10/7/09 4:19PM

  • After purchasing a license for Adobe Professional and paying 700.00 dollars, multiple attemps and several hours on the phone wondering why I could not download the siftware they finally realized that I had to pay a additional 25.00 to have the down load link in my portal at the locensing software, They collected my money for a electronic version of a software but because they now charge a 25.00 dollar additional fee for a ELECTRONIC software to be downloaded, which Is really stupid, I could not use my software for three weeks. They transferred me to multpile departments, sent out a repair ticket, all this because their own staff was untrained on the new fee!!! So frustrating.

    Kathy R 10/7/09 8:02AM

  • All I wanted was a cross platform switch for 2 products. This just required a check of serial numbers (which were registered with Adobe), and payment of shipping.
    But it took just over SEVEN HOURS on the phone during which I spoke to 6 different people. They were all pleasant but really this is highly frustrating to say the least and a total waste of everyone's time. I have never experienced service so bad in my 60 years on this planet.

    argie 10/7/09 7:19AM

  • This is the fourth time I've tried to resolve a case of a simple cross-platform transfer of PS Elements from Windows to the Mac OS. To date I've been on hold for over 3 hours, talked to four reps, including one who identified himself as a supervisor, and have nothing resolved. I've opened four cases on their website without resolutions.

    This is without doubt the worst customer service I've ever encountered with any company. The real tragedy here is that Adobe doesn't read any of these e-mails or take any steps to resolve well known issues with its non-existent customer support.

    There are levels of paid customer support (silver, platinum, etc.) so I can only figure that they go to the head of the line, while we wait for hours.

    I'm hanging up now after 1:41 of hold without an answer.

    Mike

    FTRG8R 9/22/09 4:47PM

  • If I tallied the total number of hours I've spent on the phone with Adobe support (specifically Activation support), and sent them a bill, they would owe me a tidy sum of money.

    The worst experience I had was being on hold for 4.5 hours. You read that correctly, 4.5 hours. I ended up giving up and going home. The following day I did get in touch with them, and they sort of fixed the problem. Their support agents (overseas somewhere) would try a contact me after business hours, and on holidays. Never during normal east-coast hours.

    It then took a week or so for a manager at Adobe to call me back. Needless to say, we had a lengthy chat.

    Adobe treats their paying customers like pirates, and makes them jump through hoops to simply use the software they LEGALLY purchased (and spent a lot of money on at that).

    Adobe is a monopoly, and they know it.

    Schleppy 9/22/09 10:35AM

  • terrible customer service

    jamcc 9/18/09 11:33AM

  • You cannot deactivate your license for Photoshop Elements 6 Mac prior to upgrading to a new hard drive. When you install it on the new drive, it will not activate for this reason. 3.5 hours (no lie) on hold yesterday with no answer. Called first thing this morning and was polite, but when I mentioned that I had been on hold yesterday forever, the line suddenly went dead.
    I guess their motto is "we have your money, go to hell".

    Zonker 9/18/09 6:47AM

  • Frustrated Customer 9/16/09 2:48PM

  • At 71 minutes. These guys should be ashamed of themselves, charge $1500 for software and put the money where? Not into the only asset they've had - customers with some loyalty....

    Anonymous 9/16/09 8:47AM

  • I was on hold with Adobe customer support for over an hour a couple of days ago and actually got through! To PORTUGAL! Come to find out that my call somehow got switched over to PORTUGUESE support. Portuguese? Sorry, I don't speak Portuguese. AND he couldn't reroute the call because he didn't know how. At least I think that's what he said after asking me to call back. CALL BACK? He had to be kidding. This situation is getting dire for Adobe. To bad they have such a stranglehold on the graphics industry...

    princessp 9/16/09 8:42AM

  • 4 hours and holding. No one has answered yet. This is day two. My hard drive crashed and it will not let me re-activate Adobe Acrobat 8 since it was not DE-activated from the previous computer (the one that crashed!!!!!). So here I sit on hold just to re-install the software. I was going to just buy the next update, but after reading these reviews, I think I am going to look at Bluebeam PDF Revu or some other program. Too, Bad, I have bought and used every version of Adobe Acrobat Professional since version 4.0. Lets see, that would be almost $600.00 invested in their product. I guess someone else can use my investment monies!!!!!!!

    Tony 9/15/09 1:07PM

  • Attempting to get a license transfer to a new machine. (They lost my CS4 registration which compounds the problem.) Request via the CS support portal has gone unanswered for 3 days. Phone call today was on hold for just under 2 hours. No human ever came on line.

    Anonymous 9/15/09 12:25PM

  • Adobe robbed me of $200. I bought the wrong upgrade and tried to get a refund; I had to jump through all their hoops. I filled out a Letter of Destruction stating I would destroy the software. I then faxed that and my receipt to them; waited a month, called and they said they never got it. I faxed it again; again they didn’t receive it. I then emailed a PDF of both documents to them. They initially said they only got the first page; I corrected them by having them look at the 2nd page in the PDF document. They said they’ll send a check; no check. Called back… again they said didn’t get the receipt. Another correction and they said they would expedite the ticket. 1 month later still no refund. I called again and they said they would email me information about getting a credit on my credit card. No email. I can’t even try using the software because they’ve already disabled my serial number.

    NoRefund 9/14/09 7:08AM

  • Adobe has no customer service to speak of when trying to get answers. It is not unusual to have to wait on line for 1 1/2 to over 2 hours to get to a customer support rep.

    Anonymous 9/11/09 4:59PM

  • I was on hold yesterday for 3 hours and 7 minutes...when God saved me and disconnected the line when I went through a tunnel on the bay bridge. What's going on Adobe? Do you have a donation site or mailing address setup that funds can be sent to get customer service working?

    ihateadobe 9/11/09 2:06PM

  • Pathetic would be kind. I've tried contacting customer support as they over-charged my credit card. I have hung up four times after waiting 37, 47, 53 & 79 minutes......Pathetic....

    EndlessHold 9/11/09 12:14PM

  • We're seeing a few of the conversation participants getting their problems resolved through this small effort - please be sure to spread the word that Adobe's team is engaged in the conversation and speaking directly to customers who are still struggling to find a way to get help.

    We're hoping genuinely that the company will press forward, stay communicative and proactive with the issues (fires) that get brought to their attention.

    Feel free to forward the link to the conversation:
    http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=123258472738&index=1

    Regards,
    Cindi

    cindi 9/10/09 8:38PM

  • I stopped wasting my time trying to contact customer service after 3 hours and 31 minutes. I took screen captures because I want my time back from Adobe. That is just absurd.

    commonwheel 9/10/09 2:42PM

  • http://www.adobe.com/aboutadobe/contact.html

    Finding the contact information was never a problem it's there in plain site.

    But contacting them is another story now a days.

    Because they upgraded there phone system, and now no one answers.

    Bubbles 9/10/09 1:18PM

  • Since my upgrade has not arrived, nor have I received any shipment info (which last week I was on hold for a total of 5 hours for 2 calls) I have now been on hold for 2 hours 45 minutes and counting... and yesterday i tried to reach them with no success... (total of 3 hours).. and don't bother emailing- they responded over a week later.

    NPV_designs 9/10/09 11:16AM

  • I was on hold yesterday for over 2 hours and again today for just under 3 hours! What is going on at Adobe customer service?????

    I submitted two questions. One was answered, sending me back to the telephone number that never answers and the other question wasn't answered.

    Anonymous 9/2/09 6:05PM

  • Been on hold for customer service for 1 hour 31 minutes and still waiting!

    Anonymous 8/31/09 4:54PM

  • OMG-i've been on hold for 1 hour 2 minutes and counting. Still no pick up! This is ridunkulous.

    NPV_designs 8/31/09 11:34AM

  • I don't understand why they make it so darn difficult to find the Adobe phone number. It seems they just want people to buyer their products and ignore them after that.

    Anonymous 8/31/09 8:46AM

  • I am sorry, but this is "ridiculous". We made a $200.00 purchase from Adobe yesterday, and we need help with the download. We attempted to call yesterday, and were put on hold for 25 mins...(we eventually hung up at 5pm). We tried again today, and the customer service kept us holding for 45 mins !!(with no resolution) We even tried the online tech support that's offered...unbelievable...they expect payment for helping (or not helping) after we purchased a product and are having a problem with it. Are you kidding me? This is horrible customer service.

    Anonymous 8/26/09 1:12PM

  • My hard drive failed, no recovery. I needed to reinstall and activate my Dreamweaver CS4 product so I called and was on hold for about an hour. I finally talked to someone who was very difficult to understand and she said she increased my number of copies and to give it a day and it should self register. I went on vacation after that so a week or so later I tried again today, same thing. I call and was on hold for 1 hour 22 minutes and finally hung up, called again and was told I needed to call 632-636-8451, I repeated it twice. Called it, not a valid number, now once again I am on hold for who knows how long. I paid for this product I really should be able to license and use it without so much hassle.

    bjrobins 8/17/09 1:15PM

  • Horrible is an understatement! I submitted the letter of destruction and transfer request forms on June 9th to the Adobe CS Portal & still have no resolution!!! I've spent DAYS on the phone talking to support reps (from India) who have no clue what they are talking about. Several times I was disconnected from them and had to start all over from the beginning. There is zero continuity between calls & worse yet, they don't even have access to the case filed on their own portal!!! They told me they could not access my pdf file submitted on their portal & that I need to resubmit! So once again they opened a new case & I am going to upload the exact file I sent 2 months ago! Frustration is max@@!!! I will tweet this too! If I could use other software I would, but Adobe has the market on design software!

    Anonymous 8/13/09 10:50AM

  • Adobe customer service is HORRIBLE! I've invested 85 minutes so far this morning, yielding only frustration and NO VIABLE SOLUTION!!! After waiting 25 minutes on hold (with quite possible the WORST HOLD MUSIC EVER...please dial this number if you don’t believe me: 1.800.833.6687), I finally got through to an actual human (routed to the wrong department) and was placed back in the hold queue for and additional 20 minutes. From here I was disconnected for no apparent reason and have been forced to start the process over. This time around, I reached a human in 9 minutes (improvement?....I think not) and explained my situation to yet another person who cannot or will not help me. I am, yet again, in hold hell...and quickly losing faith in a product line that I hold dear. WTF???

    TaraWujcik 8/7/09 10:37AM

  • I purchased a CS4 upgrade on the last day of a sale. It was after Support hours but well before midnight. The Website didn't reflect the sale price (a $200 difference), but I purchased it figuring I could get the refund with no problem.

    After 2 or 3 calls, they recognized the over-charge and agreed to the refund. That was four months and many phone calls ago!

    Finally, I got fed up and asked for a full refund. I faxed the Letter of Destruction as requested, and guess what? That refund hasn't been processed yet either.

    While Adobe products are generally good, their customer service is the worst I've ever experienced.

    Anonymous 8/6/09 11:15PM

  • Bought software in late Nov. I decided to return within 2 weeks. Called MacMall and got sent to Adobe. They told me how to do that and what to send. I did. Got promised check that, like the above, never arrived. Each time they ask me for something else but never even email me to say something is "missing." I've now tried four times, too.

    Bottom Line: I'll avoid buying anything from Adobe ever again.

    IAgree 7/27/09 10:40AM

  • We're currently involved in an ongoing 8 month hassle with Adobe over a simple refund. We have been promised a check three different times, all of which required us to wait about 2 months for our check to appear. This says nothing of the literal hours we have spent on hold waiting to get a person to "resolve" this.

    Each time we have been asked for a different bit of info, and we have complied with each request sending it email, fax, and postal service. They will not contact you if something is missing -- they just wait for you to call them after another 2 months has gone past adding another two mos. of interest charges to pay your credit card folks. Now they want a piece of paper we were never sent as a requirement to give us our money back.

    FYI -- once you hit the 90 day mark, the credit card company can no longer assist you in disputing the charge, a fact my credit card rep suggested Adobe is well aware of. They also know that unless you have purchased tons of things that add up to thousands, it can cost you more to seek legal advice and redress to get back YOUR money than the original amount!

    AS it's now been nearly eight MONTHS since the initial transaction, and we have escalated it to the BBB to see if they can get anywhere with them.

    Caveat Emptor!! Buyer BEWARE!!!

    anythingbutAdobe 7/27/09 10:36AM

  • Yeah - same experience here. I actually thought the first customer service rep would be able to help, but he seemed powerless to veer from his scripted answers. I'm now on hold waiting for my third person who is supposed to be a supervisor. We'll see.

    hein2020 7/7/09 3:47PM

  • I spoke to 4 Adobe reps out of India. Spend around 1.5 hours on the phone and, at the end, achieved nothing but a lecture on how to talk to Adobe's ignorant outsourced "support".
    As a rule, their representatives do not listen to what customer tells them. The issue has to be described 2-3 times (from my experience). Then they all keep on the phone until their resources are exhausted and they switch you to another inept worker...

    Dmitry 5/22/09 10:30AM

  • Adobe support is a wasteland of worthless phone call passing nit wits. I was passed around five different phone center employees from India, they all asked the same questions and none of them could help me. All I wanted was an eRecipt for the tec support service I was charged for on my credit card.

    Adobe products are good but the phone support for customer service is crap.

    Anonymous 3/16/09 11:09AM

  • Submit your comment >>
  • I have just spent four hours with the air upgrade on elearning suite 2. Finally, I was transferred to partners connection helpdesk. He could not help me, not because he did not have the solution, but because I was not in his segment.

    I see why ASTD recommended articulate

    Hate these guys even at educational pricing (which aint cheap)

    Will never recommend them.
    t malone

    will never recommend this produc 7/14/10 3:58PM

  • I only had to wait about 1 minute to get help. They had my photoshop working again in about 10 minutes. A very pleasant experience.

    Anonymous 6/10/10 7:29PM

  • My computer died and I had to buy a new one. I had already used both of my cs3 installs, and could not deactivate the one on my dead comp. I called Adobe they walked me through the process of installing on my new comp through verification over the phone. Took less than 5 minutes. The person I spoke with was hard to understand. He sounded indian and spoke way too fast.

    Anonymous 8/5/09 5:00PM

  • The number worked like a dream and I actually talked to a very helpful woman (in India I think?) and she solved me problems right away.

    Couldn't even begin to find the customer service number on Adobe's site. You guys saved the day. Thanks!

    Anonymous 12/19/08 7:45AM

  • Thanks for the phone number! This really did work and I actually talked to a competent person who fixed my problem immediately....yay!

    Anonymous 10/28/08 12:21PM



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