This past weekend I had been looking forward to purchasing Photoshop/Premiere Elements 14 from B&H Photo for $89.99. The regular price is normally $149.99 and since this new version was coming out October 25th I felt I definitely needed to take advantage of the sale since the sale was going to go away midnight on Oct. 24th. I made the purchase and then was informed Sunday morning that due to some technical error, my purchase was being put on hold and would not be filled immediately. So B&H emails me back with an apology and an option for a refund. I take the refund and scout out Best Buy's website to see if they have a sale going on. They have the software for $99.99.
So I make my way to the nearest Best Buy around 11:30am and pick up a copy of the software. I waited to open up my copy because I had contacted Adobe Photoshop on Facebook to ask if this would be ok on my laptop even though I already have Creative Cloud Photoshop and Lightroom already on my laptop. I didn't want there to be any type of conflict. They respond back to question, 3 days later and inform me that there shouldn't be any issues. So today I decide to install the software via the DVD that was provided. Everything is going smoothly until I try to put in my access code that is inside of the box. The access code inside of the box is suppose to give me access to the serial number that I need to actually activate the software. So after re-inputting the code over 5 times, I pack up my laptop and the software and make my way to the Best Buy where I purchased it.
I arrive around 11:15am and request a reprint of my receipt. I then wait over in the Geek Squad area. The guy who reprinted my receipt informs me that Geek Squad only takes appointments and puts me in the system. So while I'm waiting the head Customer Service rep was nice enough to help me because I informed her of the situation. She double checks the transaction and states that it was rung up and activated properly at the register. So she suggests that I wait for my Geek Squad appointment which isn't until 12:45pm. As I waiting I call the Adobe Customer Service number that the head Customer Service rep provided for me.
Their sorry ass fucking number is 1-800-THERE ARE NOT ANY HUMANS HERE (1-800-833-6687). I called the first time and went through all the automated prompts to only find out that they don't deal with any issues whatsoever when it comes to their Photoshop/Premiere Elements 14 product. I call it 4 more times and try the same prompts again and receive the same response AGAIN. By this time my blood was boiling and I was already on Photoshop's Facebook site and left a steaming pissed off message but wouldn't you know apparently SOMEHOW it never showed up on their page. It's as though it was immediately deleted so that just FURTHER made me angry.
Eventually my 12:45pm appointment comes up and I go over to the Geek Squad counter. The rep who was helping me informed me that he had already seen this problem earlier with another customer. She was having the same issue. He stated that he informed her that unfortunately with it being Software they couldn't return it. Well as far as I was concerned that might have been what they told her. But I told them I'll be damn if that was the answer I was going to accept. I paid $100 plus taxes for a product that is not working and I expect more options than tough shit. So he got on the phone with an upper level of Geek Squad support called "The Board" and after speaking with them for over 10 minutes he informed me that they would do a special exception return if I choose because unfortunately this was not an isolated incident. I also couldn't help but noticed they had on one of their back shelves over 5 more copies of the software they had just pulled.
The Geek Squad rep recommended that I hold onto the software and maybe Adobe's servers might fix themselves by Wednesday. If it doesn't, return the software on Wednesday. This whole damn experience has left me not wanting to deal with Adobe ever again unless its Adobe Reader and even then I would be open to an alternative. The original reason I had bought the software was that I was hoping it would be easier to learn versus the regular Photoshop and to use to edit my pictures for my photography project. I was hoping once I learned how to use that I could use that as a stepping stone to learn about Photoshop. Yet this whole experience has me just wanting to cancel my subscription with Photoshop/Lightroom and just look for alternatives all together. I swear GIMP and Alien Skin Software are looking a whole lot better right now.
Now this evening I'm looking through Google searches and see that I'm definitely not the only person with this issue unfortunately. These were just a few reviews but I can not even imagine the customers who bought this and were disappointed as much as I am.
Adobe Forums
Amazon
B&H
It's damn shame you don't have problem pushing out a product that isn't ready for people to buy, but you sure as hell don't have a way to communicate easily to get in touch with you about your fuck ups. If your social media team is able to communicate better than your telephone hot-line number even with 3 days of lag time, I would say you need to definitely need to give a SERIOUS FUCKING RE HAUL of your customer service department in ALL ASPECTS!!!
I can only hope that those with MACS are having a better time than I am and the rest of us WINDOWS users.
Side note: I didn't use Adobe to make the main picture, I actually used something on my phone that is a hell of a lot more dependable.
UPDATE: I received contact on November 1st via Adobe's Photoshop Element's Facebook Fan Page from Bob Gager who has connections with Adobe. He has helped me tremendously with this situation and has even escalated the problem to the proper department within Adobe. Hopefully this issue will be rectified ASAP for the other customers who purchased this particular product. Again Thank you Bob, I really appreciate your help.
